Adsorption of Fe3+ by a living microalgae biomass of Scenedesmus obliquus

Abstract

In this work, the green microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus was tested for his Fe³⁺ removal ability in his living state.

To avoid poisoning by heavy metals, the green microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus used in the form of paste obtained after incubation, for seven days in the treated wastewater, and centrifugation.

The findings showed that this method achieved total removal of Fe³⁺in less time, with a lower cost of materials, and with less complexity than the method commonly used which uses absorption.

This method avoids four disadvantages of the current method, which 1) need a long time to achieve total removal of heavy metals, 2) is a slower process which needs greater time and cost, 3) cannot be used for any heavy metal that requires an acidic environment in order to avoid precipitation, and 4) slows the growth of algae and causes mortality of algae due to the acidic environment and prolonged exposure of algae to toxic heavy metal.

The maximum Fe³⁺ removal was estimated to use 16g/l of living algal cells to remove 25g/l of Fe³⁺ with pH=3, T°=30°C and 80tr/min during 20min.