title: Fermentative effluents from hydrogen producing bioreactor as substrate for poly(beta-OH) butyrate production with simultaneous treatment: an integrated approach.
abstract: The feasibility of bioplastics production as poly(beta-OH)butyrate (PHB) was studied with individual volatile fatty acids (VFA) and acid-rich effluents from a biohydrogen producing reactor (HBR) as primary substrates employing aerobic consortia as biocatalyst under anoxic microenvironment. Butyrate as substrate showed higher PHB productivity (33%) followed by acetate (32%), acids mixture (16%) and propionate (11%) among synthetic VFA studied. Acid-rich effluents from HBR yielded higher PHB productivity (25%) especially at lower substrate loading conditions. Decrement observed in PHB production (from 25% to 6%) with increase in substrate load might be due to the presence of high concentration of residual carbon along with acid metabolites. Neutral redox operation showed effective PHB production compared to acidic and basic conditions due to associated higher metabolic activity of the biocatalyst. The integrated approach helped to treat additional COD from acid-rich HBR effluents apart from by-product recovery.
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering and Environmental Centre, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500 607, India. vmohan_s@yahoo.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Venkata Mohan
authors.forename: M Venkateswar
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: G Venkata
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Subhash
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Sarma
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005285:Fermentation / Q000502:physiology*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011091:Polyesters / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D018508:Water Purification; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D006859:Hydrogen; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates; D010100:Oxygen; D011091:Polyesters; C003182:poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates