Tertiary treatment of dairy industry wastewater with production of Chlorella vulgaris biomass: evaluation of effluent dilution

Secondary wastewaters from the dairy industry may cause eutrophication of water bodies when not properly treated, mainly because they contain nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. Tertiary treatment using microalgae could be an adequate solution for Minas Gerais State, largest Brazilian milk producer, contributing to reduction environmental impacts, well providing biomass oil extraction, obtaining active compounds inputs (including proteins) animal feeding. In this work, dilutions (with distilled water) secondary wastewater were evaluated cultivate Chlorella vulgaris in a bench-scale tubular photobioreactor. The results indicate feasibility industry, after treatment, microalgae, showing cell growth like that obtained control cultures (Bold basal medium). without dilution (100% wastewater) provided best condition production. showed no differences Bold medium (control) terms protein, lipid content, or fatty acid profile.