Title: Consumption of nitrogen and phosphorus in human urine by Spirulina platensis

Authors: Chenliang Yang, Ming Li, Chengying Yu, Gurevich Yu, Hong Liu

Addresses: Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100083, China. ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100083, China. ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100083, China. ' Institute of Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia. ' Bioengineering Department, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100083, China

Abstract: In this paper, Spirulina platensis with relatively high nutrition was cultivated to treat human urine. The cultures were maintained at 28°C ± 0.5°C and irradiated with mixed lights of red and green at a light intensity of 150 W/m². The consumption of nitrogen and phosphorus in human urine by Spirulina platensis was studied, and the treating process was analysed in detail. The results showed that nitrogen and phosphorus in human urine could be consumed by Spirulina platensis; the consumption of Total Phosphorus (TP) and Total Nitrogen (TN) could reach to more than 99.99% and 99%, respectively; and 1.05 g dry biomass could be obtained by treating 12.5 mL Synthetic Human Urine (SHU). This not only makes sewage purification but also obtains much fresh Spirulina platensis, which can be used as feed, fertilizer and biofuel.

Keywords: human urine; Spirulina platensis; consumption; nitrogen; phosphorus; urine treatment; irradiation; dry biomass; total phosphorus; total nitrogen; sewage purification.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBT.2008.017987

International Journal of Biotechnology, 2008 Vol.10 No.1, pp.45 - 54

Published online: 25 Apr 2008 *

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