Arthrospira (Spirulina) in tannery wastewaters. Part 2: Evaluation of tannery wastewater as production media for the mass culture of Arthrospira biomass

Abstract

Mass blooms of Arthrospira (Spirulina) have been reported in waste stabilisation ponds treating tannery wastewaters and have been linked to a reduction in odour emissions in these systems. However, these blooms are unstable and unreliable, forming and disappearing in an apparently unpredictable manner, and they have remained poorly understood. Controlled production of Arthrospira biomass in this medium could not only be used to enable a more predictable control of odour in these systems (as detailed in Part 1 of this report), but could also provide a biomass product with external value. Technoeconomic studies of microalgal biomass production have identified the cost of growth media formulation as a critical driver in the profitability of the algal biotechnology enterprise. Apart from the potential feed value of Arthrospira biomass as a product, the renewed interest in, and possibly marginal economics of, biofuels production from the microalgae has refo cused attention on the possible advantages of wastewater use as low-cost production media.

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