Process conditions affect properties and outcomes of polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulation in municipal activated sludge

Ángel Estévez-Alonso*, Beatriz Altamira-Algarra, César Arnau-Segarra, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, Robbert Kleerebezem, Alan Werker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
34 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The developments of mixed culture polyhydroxyalkanoate production has been directed to maximize the biomass PHA content with limited attention to polymer quality. Direct comparison of PHA accumulation literature is challenging, and even regularly contradicting in reported results, due to underlying differences that are not well expressed. A study was undertaken to systematically compare the commonly reported process conditions for PHA accumulation by full-scale municipal activated sludge. A biomass acclimation step combined with a pulse-wise feeding strategy resulted in maximum average PHA contents and product yields. pH control and active nitrification did not result in observable effects on the PHA productivity. Under these conditions a high molecular weight polymer (1536 ± 221 kDa) can be produced. Polymer extraction recoveries were influenced by the PHA molecular weight. A standard protocol for an activated sludge PHA accumulation test including downstream processing and standardized extraction has been developed and is available as supplementary material.

Original languageEnglish
Article number128035
Number of pages10
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume364
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Bioplastics
  • Feeding strategy
  • Molecular weight
  • Polyhydroxyalkanoate
  • Waste activated sludge

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