Screening of nutrients for improving flocculation performance of fungal bio-flocculants
Flocculating agents are widely used in industrial processes, such as wastewater treatment, downstream process and food fermentation. Generally, synthetic organic polymer or inorganic coagulants (alum, ferric chloride, lime, etc.) are used for water and wastewater treatment. The use of these chemic...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Kulliyyah of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/55053/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/55053/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/55053/6/55053.pdf |
| Summary: | Flocculating agents are widely used in industrial processes, such as wastewater treatment, downstream
process and food fermentation. Generally, synthetic organic polymer or inorganic coagulants (alum, ferric
chloride, lime, etc.) are used for water and wastewater treatment. The use of these chemical coagulants is
harmful to environment and health. On the contrary, the bio-flocculants are generally safe and environment
friendly. Bio-flocculants are mainly composed of macromolecular substances, such as polysaccharides and
proteins. The bio-flocculants production is affected by many factors such as nutrients of culture medium and
nutrient concentration. In this study, screening tests were conducted aiming to find suitable nutrients and
nutrients concentration of two potential strains (RWF-5 and RWF-6), which was measured in terms of
reducing turbidity in Jar test. RWF-5 and RWF-6 showed good flocculating activity while malt extract was
used as nutrient source compared to sucrose, yeast extract and starch. Supernatants of RWF-5 and RWF-6
cultured with malt extract were able to reduce turbidity from 900±10 NTU to 46 NTU and 195 NTU
respectively. As such, bio-flocculants produced by these fungi have potential to be used in water and
wastewater treatment industry. |
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