Usharani G.

Recycling of Lignite Fly Ash for Spirulina Platensis Cultivation Usharani G.

Lignite fly ash (LFA) is the by-product of thermal power station. In India, Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) liberates tonnes of LFA as a waste product and the liberated LFA highly pollutes the soil and water bodies. The Blue Green Algae Spirulina platensis grows well at alkaline pH and the pH of the LFA is also alkaline. The LFA also contains an array of micronutrients and macronutrients which favours the growth of Spirulina platensis. In order to minimize the environmental pollution and recycle the LFA waste, the present work was planned to utilize the LFA at different concentrations for the laboratory cultivation of Spirulina platensis. In this present study, Spirulina platensis was cultivated in the conical flasks containing Zarrouk?s medium alone [SP1] and Zarrouk?s medium with three different concentrations (0.5 g/l [SP2], 1.0 g/l [SP3], and 1.5 g/l [SP4]) of LFA supplementation. Among the four different supplementations used, SP4 which contains 1.5 g Lignite fly ash in one litre of Zarrouk?s medium highly induces the growth and protein content of Spirulina platensis when compared to other supplementations.