Study of Industrial Wastewater Treatment by a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Case Study: Cookie Factory Wastewater

In this study, the effect of light wavelength on growth rate and lipid production of Synechocystis was investigated. Continuous cultivation system had been used to have uniform cell density and avoid self-shading, in order to obtain more precise results. Based on previous studies, red light is more efficient than other colors of visible spectrum for cultivation of Synechocystis, however the optimum wavelength in red light spectrum is still unknown. In order to determine the most efficient wavelength of red light, five different wavelengths, including 600, 635, 660, 670 and 730 nm were used for growing Synechocystis in a chemostat setup. The results revealed that 635 nm was the most efficient wavelength for cultivation of Synechocystis in both terms of biomass production yield and growth rate. These findings can be attributed to the existence of phycocyanin, the principal light-harvesting supercomplex in Synechocystis, which absorbs maximally at around 620 nm. The results also indicated that cell size and fatty acid profile of Synechocystis is almost the same for different light wavelengths, however the maximum light is absorbed at 635 nm.