Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate during treatment of tomato cannery wastewater.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production was achieved using tomato cannery waste coupled with a mixed microbial culture during wastewater treatment. The two-stage PHA production process comprised a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), operating under a periodic feast-famine regime, to accomplish simultaneously wastewater treatment and selection of PHA-accumulating microbes, followed by a batch reactor for the production of PHA-rich biomass. The SBRs were efficient at removing soluble carbon (84%), ammonia (100%), and phosphorus (76%). Meanwhile, PHA-accumulating microbes were enriched under the SBR operating conditions, and PHA content on a cell-weight basis was within the range 7 to 11% in nonfiltered wastewater and 2 to 8% in filtered wastewater. Subsequently, batch studies were implemented with varying loading rates, ranging from 0.4 to 3.2 food-to-microorganism ratios. A maximum 20% PHA content on a cell-weight basis was obtained. Based on the experimental results, a PHA biosynthesis-degradation kinetic model was developed to (1) aid in the design of a pilot- or full-scale PHA production process coupled with wastewater treatment and (2) determine optimal conditions for harvest of PHA-rich biomass.
Liu
Hsin-ying
HY
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.
Hall
Patrizia V
PV
Darby
Jeannie L
JL
Coats
Erik R
ER
Green
Peter G
PG
Thompson
Donald E
DE
Loge
Frank J
FJ
D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D007700:Kinetics; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
D007220:Industrial Waste; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D010100:Oxygen