Background: The utilization of microalgae as a renewable energy is an important aspect in solving shortage of future oil reserve in 15 years. One of the renewable energy sources is microalgae biodiesel. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a wastewater that has a high content of organic materials. These organic materials can be used as growth nutrients for microalgae. Chlorella pyrenoidosa is one of the most potential microalgae used as a raw material for the production of biodiesel since it contains lipids (8%-35%). Methods: Chlorella pyrenoidosa was cultured on the POME medium with concentrations of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%v with addition of synthetic nutrients (urea: TSP) at the ratios of 2:1 ; 1:2 ; 0.5:1 in a 500 mL Erlenmeyer flask, at pH 6-8, aeration using aquarium pumps, and using LED lights (3000 lux). Results: It was revealed that at POME concentration of 25% and with addition of urea: TSP at a ratio of 2:1, the optimum specific growth rate (0.306/day) with the highest number of cells was 3.530 × 107 cells/mL and the highest lipid content was 36% of its dry weight. The removal efficiency of POME could be obtained from the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen, and orthophosphate (P-PO4 ), which was 70, 90.42, and 81.12%, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results, under appropriate culture conditions, C. pyrenoidosa can produce lipids with good use of nutrients contained in the POME medium.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.