Microalgae are an excellent vehicle for significant triglyceride production, which can be transformed chemically into biodiesel fuel. However, large volumes of water are necessary for successful microalgae cultivation. With ever-increasing demands for clean potable water, it makes sense to investigate using non-potable waters, such as wastewater and brackish waters, for microalgae culturing. The current research aim is to investigate whether the microalgae strains Dunaliella salina, and Neochloris oleoabundans are good candidates for industrial triglyceride production and treatment of wastewater by comparing their growth in the basic media versus growth in wastewater media that has additional sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and sodium phosphate dibasic (Na2HPO4) or dipotassium phosphate (K2HPO4) (depending on the corresponding media). Although both the control and experimental group of D. salina did not culture at all, the N. oleoabundans experimental group showed significant growth, decreased the levels of nitrate and phosphate (Table 3), and had a lipid percent of 78.54 (Table 4). Therefore, microalgae might be a great candidate for industrial feedstock production and treatment of wastewater. 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew Alexander

Department of Chemical and Natural Gas Engineering