Stable year-round nutrients removal and recovery from wastewater by technical-scale algal Turf Scrubber (ATS)

•One-year study to nutrient removal and recovery in 3 technical-scale ATSs.•Up to 84 % (50.7 mg L−1) and 99 % (9.9 mg L−1) of TN and TP were removed.•Biomass productivity of up to 10.5 g m−2 d−1.•Light intensity was the most effective variable for nutrients recovery.•Estimated production costs of nutrient-rich ATS biomass are 2.27 € kg−1. In this study, three technical-scale Algal Turf Scrubber (ATS) systems were continuously operated in a greenhouse over one year to evaluate the nutrient removal and recovery ability. The independent and interdependent effects of water temperature and light intensity on dependent variables, such as nutrient removal and recovery, were identified via mathematical modelling. Over 7 days, the average total nitrogen and phosphorous removal rates and efficiencies were 30.93 and 8.95 mg/L and 51.2 and 89.5 %, respectively. Based on a statistical regression matrix, the quadratic models were chosen to analyze data on nutrient removal and recovery. In this study, light intensity was the dominant variable for ATS performance. Significant positive correlations were found between nutrient removal and recovery, and biomass productivity. The annual production costs for dried algal biomass, N and P were 2.27, 40 and 156 € kg−1, respectively. Our results indicated that the ATS technology can be efficient and cost-effective in nutrients removal and recovery from wastewaters.