Effect of photoinhibition on microalgal growth in open ponds of NIT Rourkela, India

The aim of wastewater treatment should think beyond water purification to minimize the waste generation as well as the use of non-renewable resources to make the treatment process as sustainable. Currently, microalgae have been utilized in tertiary treatment methods to address water-energy nexus through biofuel production. The present paper focus on the mathematical modeling of microalgal lipid production along with carbon dioxide sequestration potential of open ponds of National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NITRKL). The model incorporates the site-specific data of solar radiation to derive the bioenergy content of microalgal biomass by photon energy balance. NITRKL has the average microalgal biomass production potential as 54.13 g.m-2.day-1 and the maximum growth has been predicted in the month of April. Scalability of microalgae and their introduction as wastewater treatment tools necessitate these modeling studies as a preliminary work for the better comprehension of the effect of climate on the microalgal growth rate.