Developing a kinetic model to describe wastewater treatment by microalgae based on simultaneous carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous removal

Abstract This work developed a kinetic model that could be used to describe wastewater treatment by microalgae using multiple and simultaneous contaminant removals, linking them to biomass production. Based on literature, kinetic models commonly used in wastewater treatment by microalgae were tested in published data and demonstrated limitation in kinetic prediction. In this sense, a sequential study to develop a kinetic model that could be applied and validated in similar random bioprocesses was made. For the contaminant removal, the n-th order kinetic model was the most efficient. On the other hand, for biomass production, the Monod (one limiting substrate) and Silva and the Cerqueira (multiple limiting substrates) models were considered efficient to describe wastewater treatment using COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)/TOC (Total Organic Carbon), nitrogen and phosphorus content. The search for kinetic constants to describe biomass production was considered suitable, with a satisfactory predictive error of the calibrated model.