Potential of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) as Medium Growth of Chlorella sp for Bioenergy Production

Abstract

Energy is essential and vital aspect for development in Indonesia. Biodiesel has received much attention as renewable energy in recent years according to lack of petroleum energy. One of potential biodiesel is produced from microalgae. Earlier research was reported that palm oil mill effluent (POME) is potential medium to be used as microalgae to grow because contain high nutrient source. The objective of the research is to determine growth rate and biomass productivity in Chlorella sp cultured in POME concentration using urea as nitrogen source. Chlorella sp was cultured in 20-70% POME using additional urea with concentration of 0.1 g/L and 1 g/L at a flask disk, pH 6.8-7.2; aerated using aquarium pump and fluorescence lamp 3000-6000 lux as light source. The biomass concentration was measured using spectrophotometer Optima Sp-300 OD at 680 nm wavelength within 15 days cultivation to calculate specific growth rate. At the end of cultivation, Chlorella sp was filtered and measured as dry weight. Result indicated that Chlorella sp at 50% POME and 1g/L urea showed a higher specific growth rate (0.066/day).