Document Type : ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Authors
1 School of Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Jl. Tgk. Syech Abdur Rauf, Darussalam, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
2 Chemical Engineering Department, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Jl. Tgk. Syech Abdur Rauf, Darussalam, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
3 Electrical Engineering Department, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Jl. Tgk. Syech Abdur Rauf, Darussalam, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The utilization of stabilization pond system for landfill leachate treatment is hindered by its requirement for expansive land areas and extended retention periods. Although the system effectively removes organic compounds, its ability to eliminate nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is comparatively limited. Consequently, the leachate subjected to treatment often falls short of meeting the mandated standards for effluent quality. In response to this challenge, a research study was undertaken to investigate the potential of utilizing a consortium comprising microalgae and bacteria in the treatment of landfill leachate.
METHODS: The microalgae, bacteria, and leachate utilized in this study were sourced from a leachate treatment facility located at the Aceh regional domestic waste management unit in Blang Bintang, Aceh Besar, Indonesia. The two glass photobioreactors were operated batch-wise, where the first was provided with a combination of air and carbon dioxide, and the other was solely exposed to air. The pollutant removal efficacy in the leachate effluent was assessed through the measurements of chemical oxygen demand, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate concentrations. Subsequently, macroscopic identification of microalgae and bacteria species was also conducted.
FINDING: Utilizing a consortium of microalgae and bacteria has demonstrated efficacy in treating leachate, resulting in a notable reduction of contaminants within the effluent. The symbiotic association between microalgae and bacteria in the context of leachate waste treatment is evident. The bacteria’s metabolic actions result in carbon dioxide emission, which subsequently serves as a substrate for the photosynthetic activities of the microalgae. The microalgae facilitate the transfer of oxygen, produced through photosynthesis, to the bacteria to support their metabolic processes. Therefore, introducing exogenous carbon dioxide to the consortium yields minimal discernible effects, given that the bacteria adequately fulfill the carbon dioxide requirements of the microalgae. This discovery enhances the efficacy of leachate treatment techniques by leveraging the utilization of pre-existing mixed cultures of microalgae and bacteria found in leachate facilities.
CONCLUSION: This study evaluated the microalgae-bacteria consortium’s effectiveness in reducing leachate pollutants. The consortium exhibited a significant capability, achieving a 75 percent reduction in chemical oxygen demand and successfully eliminating a range of contaminants. Additionally, it demonstrated effective removal of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, with removal rates reaching 75 percent. Notably, the consortium showed a 99 percent removal rate for phosphate compounds. Even with the introduction of carbon dioxide, the pollutant removal remained consistently high, suggesting that the addition of carbon dioxide did not significantly influence the overall process.
Graphical Abstract
)
Highlights
- Applying a microalgae-bacteria consortium sourced from leachate treatment ponds for treating leachate effluent has proven highly reliable in efficiently removing various pollutants, including organic compounds, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate;
- The application of a microalgae-bacteria consortium in leachate treatment demonstrates a symbiotic association, as the consortium efficiently removes pollutants while engaging in the production of oxygen by microalgae and carbon dioxide by bacteria, with these by-products then utilized for the organisms’ metabolic activities,
- The presence or absence of additional carbon dioxide gas does not result in a significant difference in pollutant removal, as the need for carbon dioxide to facilitate microalgae growth has already been fulfilled through bacterial processes.
Keywords
Main Subjects
©2024 The author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
PUBLISHER NOTE
GJESM Publisher remains neutral concerning jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
CITATION METRICS & CAPTURES
Google Scholar | Scopus | Web of Science | PlumX Metrics | Altmetrics | Mendeley |
CURRENT PUBLISHER
GJESM Publisher
)
Letters to Editor
[1] Letters that include statements of statistics, facts, research, or theories should include appropriate references, although more than three are discouraged.
[2] Letters that are personal attacks on an author rather than thoughtful criticism of the author’s ideas will not be considered for publication.
[3] Letters can be no more than 300 words in length.
[4] Letter writers should include a statement at the beginning of the letter stating that it is being submitted either for publication or not.
[5] Anonymous letters will not be considered.
[6] Letter writers must include their city and state of residence or work.
[7] Letters will be edited for clarity and length.
Send comment about this article