Bhattacharjee, MeenakshiSiemann, Evan2015-05-112015-05-112015Bhattacharjee, Meenakshi and Siemann, Evan. "Low algal diversity systems are a promising method for biodiesel production in wastewater fed open reactors." <i>Algae,</i> 30, no. 1 (2015) The Korean Society of Phycology: 67-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.4490/algae.2015.30.1.067.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/80199Planktivorous fish which limit zooplankton grazing have been predicted to increase algal biodiesel production in wastewater fed open reactors. In addition, tanks with higher algal diversity have been predicted to be more stable, more productive, and to more fully remove nutrients from wastewater. To test these predictions, we conducted a 14-week exﾭperiment in Houston, TX using twelve 2,270-L open tanks continuously supplied with wastewater. Tanks received algal composition (monocultures or diverse assemblage) and trophic (fish or no fish) treatments in a full-factorial design. Monocultures produced more algal and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) mass than diverse tanks. More than 80% of lipids were converted to FAME indicating potentially high production for conversion to biodiesel (up to 0.9 T ha-1 y-1). Prolific algal growth lowered temperature and levels of total dissolved solids in the tanks and increased pH and dissolved oxygen compared to supply water. Algae in the tanks removed 91% of nitrate-N and 53% of phosphorus from wastewater. Monoﾭcultures were not invaded by other algal species. Fish did not affect any variables. Our results indicated that algae can be grown in open tank bioreactors using wastewater as a nutrient source. The stable productivity of monocultures suggests that this may be a viable production method to procure algal biomass for biodiesel production.engThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Journal articlebiofuelfatty acid methyl estermonocultureopen reactorwastewaterhttp://dx.doi.org/10.4490/algae.2015.30.1.067