Print Email Facebook Twitter Exploring the Limits of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production by Municipal Activated Sludge Title Exploring the Limits of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production by Municipal Activated Sludge Author Pei, R. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology; Wetsus, Centre for Sustainable Water Technology) Estevez Alonso, A. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology; Wetsus, Centre for Sustainable Water Technology) Ortiz-Seco, Laura (Wetsus, Centre for Sustainable Water Technology) van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology) Kleerebezem, R. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology) Werker, A. (Wetsus, Centre for Sustainable Water Technology) Date 2022 Abstract Municipal activated sludge can be used for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production, when supplied with volatile fatty acids. In this work, standardized PHA accumulation assays were performed with different activated sludge to determine (1) the maximum biomass PHA content, (2) the degree of enrichment (or volume-to-volume ratio of PHA-accumulating bacteria with respect to the total biomass), and (3) the average PHA content in the PHA-storing biomass fraction. The maximum attained biomass PHA content with different activated sludge ranged from 0.18 to 0.42 gPHA/gVSS, and the degree of enrichment ranged from 0.16 to 0.51 volume/volume. The average PHA content within the PHA-accumulating biomass fraction was relatively constant and independent of activated sludge source, with an average value of 0.58 ± 0.07 gPHA/gVSS. The degree of enrichment for PHA-accumulating bacteria was identified as the key factor to maximize PHA content when municipal activated sludge is directly used for PHA accumulation. Future optimization should focus on obtaining a higher degree of enrichment of PHA-accumulating biomass, either through selection during wastewater treatment or by selective growth during PHA accumulation. A PHA content in the order of 0.6 g PHA/g VSS is a realistic target to be achieved when using municipal activated sludge for PHA production. Subject activated sludgebiopolymersmunicipal wastewater treatmentpolyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)resource recovery To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cebaa9a1-45c6-46bb-af89-42ff6de2187a DOI https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c03043 ISSN 0013-936X Source Environmental Science & Technology (Washington), 56 (16), 11729-11738 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 R. Pei, A. Estevez Alonso, Laura Ortiz-Seco, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, R. Kleerebezem, A. Werker Files PDF acs.est.2c03043.pdf 7.6 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:cebaa9a1-45c6-46bb-af89-42ff6de2187a/datastream/OBJ/view