INVESTIGATION OF PHYSIOLOGIC AND KINETIC EFFECTS OF BROILER FERTILIZERS ON MICROALGAE GROWTH AND BIOMASS PRODUCTIVITY

Abstract

The effects of broiler fertilizer, obtained from Broiler Research Unit of Gazi University, Turkey, on microalgae growth, chlorophyll concentrations, productivity and CO₂ fixation rate were investigated. A series of experiments including pH, temperature, initial biomass concentrations and light intensity were studied. Chlorella vulgaris and Phormidium animale adapted to broiler fertilizer, as a newly produced culture media, quickly and showed improvement in almost every concentrations. The maximum biomass yield was obtained as 0.777 g/L for C. vulgaris at pH 8 and was obtained as 1.34 g/L at pH 7 for P. animale. C. vulgaris improved better than P. animale in this new broiler culture medium. This study contains the important and rare results of a research that show the transformation of the broiler fertilizer to an aquatic culture media; moreover, the new culture medium has reduced both the disposal of environmental waste and the cost of production of microalgae. Microalgae biomass produced in this culture medium could be used as an organic fertilizer in further studies.