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Yecong Li

Other affiliations: University Of Minnesota, Waseca
Bio: Yecong Li is an academic researcher from University of Minnesota. The author has contributed to research in topics: Biomass & Wastewater. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 21 publications receiving 3961 citations. Previous affiliations of Yecong Li include University Of Minnesota, Waseca.

Papers
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TL;DR: The results of this study suggest that growing algae in nutrient-rich centrate offers a new option of applying algal process in MWTP to manage the nutrient load for the aeration tank to which the centrate is returned, serving the dual roles of nutrient reduction and valuable biofuel feedstock production.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth of green algae Chlorella sp. on wastewaters sampled from four different points of the treatment process flow of a local municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP) and how well the algal growth removed nitrogen, phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and metal ions from the wastewaters. The four wastewaters were wastewater before primary settling (#1 wastewater), wastewater after primary settling (#2 wastewater), wastewater after activated sludge tank (#3 wastewater), and centrate (#4 wastewater), which is the wastewater generated in sludge centrifuge. The average specific growth rates in the exponential period were 0.412, 0.429, 0.343, and 0.948 day(-1) for wastewaters #1, #2, #3, and #4, respectively. The removal rates of NH4-N were 82.4%, 74.7%, and 78.3% for wastewaters #1, #2, and #4, respectively. For #3 wastewater, 62.5% of NO3-N, the major inorganic nitrogen form, was removed with 6.3-fold of NO2-N generated. From wastewaters #1, #2, and #4, 83.2%, 90.6%, and 85.6% phosphorus and 50.9%, 56.5%, and 83.0% COD were removed, respectively. Only 4.7% was removed in #3 wastewater and the COD in #3 wastewater increased slightly after algal growth, probably due to the excretion of small photosynthetic organic molecules by algae. Metal ions, especially Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, and Mn in centrate, were found to be removed very efficiently. The results of this study suggest that growing algae in nutrient-rich centrate offers a new option of applying algal process in MWTP to manage the nutrient load for the aeration tank to which the centrate is returned, serving the dual roles of nutrient reduction and valuable biofuel feedstock production.

970 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Liang Wang1, Yecong Li1, Paul Chen1, Min Min1, Yifeng Chen1, Jun Zhu1, Roger Ruan1 
TL;DR: A process combining anaerobic digestion and algae cultivation can be proposed as an effective way to convert high strength dairy manure into profitable byproducts as well as to reduce contaminations to environment.

661 citations

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Wenguang Zhou1, Yecong Li1, Min Min1, Bing Hu1, Paul Chen1, Roger Ruan1 
TL;DR: Twenty-seven facultative heterotrophic microalgae strains capable of growing on concentrated municipal wastewater (CMW) for simultaneous energy crop production and wastewater treatment were found, among which 17 strains were proved to be tolerant to CMW.

367 citations

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TL;DR: The results in this study indicate that fast growing algae are a promising source of feedstock for advanced renewable fuel production via microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP).

352 citations


Cited by
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TL;DR: The current research on this topic is reviewed and the potential benefits and limitations of using wastewaters as resources for cost-effective microalgal biofuel production are discussed.

1,402 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the major nutrient components of different wastewater streams, the mechanisms of algal nutrient uptake, nutrient removal performance of various species of microalgae when cultured in wastewater, and current micro-algae production systems are discussed.
Abstract: Disposal of wastewater often results in high nutrient loading into aquatic environments, which may lead to favorable conditions for undesirable phytoplankton blooms. Microalgae are efficient in removing nitrogen, phosphorus, and toxic metals from wastewater under controlled environments. If key nutrients in the wastewater stream can be used to grow microalgae for biofuel production, the nutrients can be removed, thus significantly reducing the risk of harmful phytoplankton overgrowth. This review paper summarizes the major nutrient components of different wastewater streams, the mechanisms of algal nutrient uptake, nutrient removal performance of various species of microalgae when cultured in wastewater, and current microalgae production systems. Finally, new algae cultivation technologies applicable for biofuel production and nutrient recovery in polluted water bodies are discussed.

1,249 citations

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TL;DR: The use of high rate algal ponds (HRAPs) for nutrient removal has been in existence for some decades though the technology has not been fully harnessed for wastewater treatment as mentioned in this paper.

984 citations

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TL;DR: Algae capable of accumulating high starch/cellulose can serve as an excellent alternative to food crops for bioethanol production, a green fuel for sustainable future.

976 citations

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TL;DR: The practical problems that are facing the microalgae biofuel industry will be depicted, covering upstream to downstream activities by accessing the latest research reports and critical data analysis and several interlink solutions to the problems will be suggested with the purpose to revolutionize the entire microAlgae Biofuel industry towards long-term sustainability.

829 citations