title: Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate during treatment of low-phosphorus-content wastewater.
abstract: To evaluate whether poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production and wastewater treatment could be combined in a single biological process, a bench-scale sequencing batch reactor was operated with sequential anaerobic and aerobic stages and removal of excess sludge at different stages of treatment. The reactor treated synthetic wastewater with a high organic and low nutrient content, simulating industrial wastewater. Chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency was more than 90% in all cases. Poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate accumulation was significant, although it did not appear to be induced by oxygen limitations during the anaerobic stage. Sphaerotilus natans was apparently the dominant PHA-accumulating organism at the end of each reactor run and corresponded to a PHA accumulation of 16 to 20% of the total dry cell mass. Before S. natans dominated the reactors, PHA accumulation was approximately 17% when biomass was removed at the end of the aerobic stage and 6.6% when sludge removal also occurred during the anaerobic stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
authors.forename: Maura A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Drnevich
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Noguera
mesh_terms: D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D010758:Phosphorus; D011091:Polyesters / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D010758:Phosphorus