Parametric study of a brewery effluent treatment by microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus

► Microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus (So) cultivated in a synthetic brewery effluent. ► Growth of So and reduction of COD, of total nitrogen and of total carbon. ► Influence of light/dark photoperiod, light intensity and culture aeration. ► Most adequate operating conditions for the So cultivation in this effluent. This work analyses the potential of using microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus (So) for a brewery wastewater treatment and biomass production. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total carbon (TC) was followed in time, and the influence of light exposure, light intensity and culture aeration was studied. Results show that the most adequate conditions for cultivating So in this effluent are the aerated cultures, exposed to a 12h period of daily light, at 12000Lux intensity. At these conditions it is obtained a maximum of 0.9g of dry biomass per liter of culture, after 9days, for a maximum reduction of 57.5% and 20.8% of COD and TN, respectively, after 14days, and 56.9% of TC, after 13days, corresponding to the final values of 1692mg O2/L COD, 47mg N/L TN, and 1mg C/L TC.