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Chlorella vulgaris , a marine microalgae strain adaptable to 0–50 g L −1 of salinity, was selected for studying the coupling system of saline wastewater treatment and lipid accumulation. The effect of total nitrogen (TN) concentration was investigated on algal growth, nutrients removal as well as lipid accumulation. The removal efficiencies of TN and total phosphorus (TP) were found to be 92.2–96.6% and over 99%, respectively, after a batch cultivation of 20 days. To illustrate the response of lipid accumulation to nutrients removal, C. vulgaris was further cultivated in the recycling experiment of tidal saline water within the photobioreactor. The lipid accumulation was triggered upon the almost depletion of nitrate ( −1 ), till the final highest lipid content of 40%. The nitrogen conversion in the sequence of nitrate, nitrite, and then to ammonium in the effluents was finally integrated with previous discussions on metabolic pathways of algal cell under nitrogen deficiency.

The combination of tertiary wastewater treatment and microalgal lipid production is considered to be a promising approach to water eutrophication as well as energy crisis. To intensify wastewater treatment and microalgal biofuel production, the effect of organic and inorganic carbon on algal growth and nutrient removal of Scenedesmus obliquus were examined by varying TOC (total organic carbon) concentrations of 20-120mgL(-1) in wastewater and feeding CO2 concentrations in the range of 0.03-15%, respectively. The results showed that the maximal biomass and average lipid productivity were 577.6 and 16.7mgL(-1)d(-1) with 5% CO2 aeration. The total nitrogen, total phosphorus and TOC removal efficiencies were 97.8%, 95.6% and 59.1% respectively within 6days when cultured with real secondary municipal wastewater. This work further showed that S. obliquus could be utilized for simultaneous organic pollutants reduction, N, P removal and lipid accumulation.