Two sets of experiments were run in parallel to determine algae
growth, nutrient removal, and lipid productivity in municipal
wastewater and dairy wastewater. The municipal wastewater experiment
monitored algae growth under semicontinuous operation
for 18 days to study the effects of CO2 levels and hydraulic residence
times HRTs on algae growth and nutrient removal. Control
cultures with addition of air only no CO2 were used to
simulate the carbon limitation typical of wastewater ponds and to
differentiate the effect of CO2 addition on productivity. In the
dairy wastewater experiment, lipid productivity and nutrient removal
were monitored during 15 days of batch growth to study
the effect of the growth cycle on lipid content.