Harvesting Scenedesmus obliquus via Flocculation of Moringa oleifera Seed Extract from Urban Wastewater: Proposal for the Integrated Use of Oil and Flocculant

Alejandro Ruiz-Marin, Yunuen Canedo-Lopez, Asteria Narvaez-Garcia, José del Carmen Zavala-Loría, Luis Alonso Dzul-López, María Luisa Sámano-Celorio, Jorge Crespo-Álvarez, Eduardo García-Villena and Pablo Agudo-Toyos
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Alejandro Ruiz-Marin: Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, Campeche C.P. 24180, Mexico
Yunuen Canedo-Lopez: Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, Campeche C.P. 24180, Mexico
Asteria Narvaez-Garcia: Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, Campeche C.P. 24180, Mexico
José del Carmen Zavala-Loría: Project Department, Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana, Campeche C.P. 24560, Mexico
Luis Alonso Dzul-López: Project Department, Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana, Campeche C.P. 24560, Mexico
María Luisa Sámano-Celorio: Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Industrial de Cantabria (CITICAN), 39011 Santander, Spain
Jorge Crespo-Álvarez: Polytechnic School, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Eduardo García-Villena: Polytechnic School, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Pablo Agudo-Toyos: Polytechnic School, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: The objectives this study were to examine the integrated use of oil–coagulant for the direct extraction of coagulant from Moringa oleifera (MO) with 5% and 10% (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 extractor solution to harvest Scenedesmus obliquus cultivated in urban wastewater and to analyze the oil extracted from MO and S. obliquus . An average content of 0.47 g of coagulant and 0.5 g of oil per gram of MO was obtained. Highly efficient algal harvest, 80.33% and 72.13%, was achieved at a dose of 0.38 g L −1 and pH 8–9 for 5% and 10% extractor solutions, respectively. For values above pH 9, the harvest efficiency decreases, producing a whitish water with 10% (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 solution. The oil profile (MO and S. obliquus ) showed contents of SFA of 36.24–36.54%, monounsaturated fatty acids of 32.78–36.13%, and polyunsaturated fatty acids of 27.63–30.67%. The biodiesel obtained by S. obliquus and MO has poor cold flow properties, indicating possible applications limited to warm climates. For both biodiesels, good fuel ignition was observed according to the high cetane number and positive correlation with SFA and negative correlation with the degree of saturation. This supports the use of MO as a potentially harmless bioflocculant for microalgal harvest in wastewater, contributing to its treatment, and a possible source of low-cost biodiesel.

Keywords: coagulation-flocculation; harvest microalgal; Moringa oleifera; Scenedesmus obliquus; biodiesel quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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