INTEGRATED CHLORELLA VULGARIS INTO ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS IN ENHANCING NITROGEN-LADEN WASTEWATER REMEDIATION AND LIPID PRODUCTION

The symbiotic relationships between activated sludge and microalgae were explored for bio-remediating wastewater and producing lipid simultaneously. Various inoculation ratios of activated sludge to microalgae (AS:MA) biomasses were employed to unveil the mechanism of NH4+-N removal in relation to lipid production from algal-bacterial biomass. The presence of nitrifiers in converting NH4+-N into oxidized nitrogen had greatly enhanced the total nitrogen removal in the co-cultivation bioreactors as compared with the individual culture of either activated sludge or microalgae.