Aplicación de técnicas de biorremediación para la eliminación de contaminantes mediante el uso de biomasa microalgal

Nowadays, wastewater treatment is a key issue in modern society and is receiving great attention worldwide. This work deals with the study of two bioremediation strategies with microalgae to treat wastewater, and eliminate emerging pollutants present in aquatic environments. A first strategy consisted of using biosorption processes to eliminate contaminants such as oxytetracycline, ibuprofen and triclosan by means of the live and dead biomass of the Phaeodactylum tricornutum microalgae, demonstrating that this biomass is very suitable in these processes due to its efficiency, ease of obtaining and being respectful with the environment. A second strategy consisted of using bioaugmentation techniques using the biomass of the microalgae Chlorella protothecoides, in a consortium with activated sludge and the bacteria Brevundimonas diminuta to improve the elimination of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and decrease the chemical oxygen demand concentration of wastewater. It was shown that different types of consortia increased the growth and nutrient removal capacity of C. protothecoides, reducing the concentration of nutrients to levels below the legal limit, thus improving the quality of effluents.