ABSTRACT
The removal of nutrients by Scenedesmus sp. in a high-rate algal pond, and subsequent algal separation by coagulation-flocculation or flotation with ozone to recover biomolecules, were evaluated. Cultivation of Scenedesmus sp. in wastewater resulted in complete NH3-H removal, plus 93% total nitrogen and 61% orthophosphate removals. Ozone-flotation obtained better water quality results than coagulation-flocculation for most parameters (NH3-N, NTK, nitrate and nitrite) except orthophosphate. Ozone-flotation, also produced the highest recovery of lipids, carbohydrates and proteins which were 0.32⯱â¯0.03, 0.33⯱â¯0.025 and 0.58⯱â¯0.014â¯mg/mg of biomass, respectively. In contrast, there was a low lipid extraction of 0.21â¯mg of lipids/mg of biomass and 0.12-0.23â¯mg of protein/mg of biomass in the coagulation-flocculation process. In terms of biomolecule recovery and water quality, ozone showed better results than coagulation-flocculation.