Diseño y prueba piloto de un reactor tubular cerrado de microalgas de alta tasa para el tratamiento de aguas residuales y recuperación de recursos

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the biggest problems related to environmental pollution is the lack of integral wastewater treatment systems. Many rural communities do not have an adequate sanitation service, and in some cases the wastewater is discharged directly to the receiving body without any prior treatment; this causes a great deterioration in ditches, lakes, groundwater and rivers. In view of this problem, the creation of a decentralized wastewater treatment system was considered. The chosen model was a closed tubular photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation and wastewater treatment. The photobioreactor has four parts: the solar receiver, drive system, aeration system and a reserve tank. The photobioreactor design allows two types of operation: discontinuous mode (flow recirculation) and continuous mode. Once the photobioreactor was built, it was taken to the facilities of the “Ucubamba” wastewater treatment plant to perform the tests of its operation. In the first instance, the development of the biomass within the photobioreactor was determined to obtain an inoculum to be used in the subsequent treatment process. Finally, the efficiency of the photobioreactor in the treatment of wastewater was analyzed by verifying the variation of the control variables (BOD, pH, total coliforms and thermotolerant coliforms). The tests showed promising results because after five days of treatment the parameters studied comply with the Ecuadorian norm "Calidad ambiental y descarga de efluentes en cuerpos de agua dulce"