title: Polyhydroxyalkanoate recovery and effect of in situ extracellular polymeric substances removal from aerobic granules.
abstract: Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) recovery from aerobic granules was investigated using four cell digestion agents, namely, sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, acetone and sodium chloride. Simultaneously, the removal of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and its effect on PHA yield were investigated. The highest PHA recovery yield was obtained using sodium hypochlorite, accounting for 89% cell dry weight (CDW). The highest PHA was recovered after the sodium hypochlorite completely removed the EPS from the aerobic granules. The average molecular weight (Mw) of the PHA recovered using sodium hypochlorite was 5.31 × 10(5)g/mol with only 1.8% molecular weight degradation. The energy and duration analysis for PHA recovery revealed that the sodium hypochlorite method required the least amount of energy and time at 0.0561 MJ/g PHA and 26 h, respectively. The PHA that was recovered was a P3(HB-co-HV) co-polymer.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gobi
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: chvel@usm.my.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Vadivelu
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000737:chemistry*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010802:Phylogeny; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Aerobic granules; Extracellular polysaccharide (EPS); PHA recovery; Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)