Review on carbon dioxide fixation coupled with nutrients removal from wastewater by microalgae

Abstract

Abstract The application of microalgae in carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation coupled with wastewater treatment has been regarded as a promising and cutting-edge technology in recent years, but it still faces some problems. The CO2 fixation capacity and nutrients removal capacity of microalgae should be considered simultaneously under various environmental conditions. Moreover, breeding microalgae using a photobioreactor is required and critical for CO2 fixation and wastewater treatment. In addition, the related influenced factors, mechanisms and kinetics of CO2 fixation and nutrients removal by microalgae remains complex and unclear. Thus, this work provides an updated review of the literature regarding the application of microalgae in the remediation of wastewaters from different sources coupled with CO2 fixation, discusses the main interactions between biological or environmental factors and how they can influence nutrient removal and CO2 fixation efficiencies, and further focuses on their mechanisms and kinetics. It is found that blue-green algae are most suitable to fix CO2 integrating treated wastewater, but more microalgal strains with excellent anti-fouling performance, tolerance to high concentrations of CO2 and NH3–N performance need to be screened. Additionally, wastewater and gas conditions during the cultivation process should be optimized in research and applications, and development of innovative photobioreactors with low cost is also required. Furthermore, modelling mainly focuses on estimating biomass yield, nutrient removal rates and CO2 fixation rates, while laboratory modelling results deviated from the natural modelling results. Finally, this paper also provides insight into what should be done in future work to support the development of CO2 fixation coupled with wastewater treatment by microalgae.