The College of Engineering, Diyala University discussed a master dissertation on the bioremediation of Chlorella algae for antibiotic removal from aqueous solutions by the postgraduate student, Ms. Abeer Yahya Khalaf.

The dissertation aimed at studying the efficiency of microalgae in removing the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and rifampicin from contaminated water, these antibiotics are considered dangerous pharmaceutical contaminants due to the difficulty of removing them using conventional methods.

The dissertation included a comparison of the performance of live and dead algae in a batch system and the use of dead algae immobilized with PVA-Sodium Alginate polymers within adsorption columns to study their efficiency in continuous flow systems. 

The dissertation evaluated the effect of several operational variables, such as pH, temperature, contact time, initial concentration, and algae dosage in the batch system, as well as the flow rate in the continuous system. 

The dissertation reviewed that Chlorella sorokiniana algae have high efficiency and good stability in removing the studied antibiotics, with a removal rate of 100% for both antibiotics, with the possibility of reusing the stabilized algae for several cycles in continuous treatment systems.