Quantification of polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulated in waste activated sludge

Quantification of polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulated in waste activated sludge

Pei, R. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology; Wetsus, Centre for Sustainable Water Technology)
Vicente-Venegas, Gerard (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)

2022

Polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulation experiments at pilot scale were performed with fullscale municipal waste activated sludge. Development of biomass PHA content was quantified by thermogravimetric analysis. Over 48 h the biomass reached up to 0.49 ± 0.03 gPHA/gVSS (n=4). Samples were processed in parallel to characterise the distribution of PHA in the biomass. Selective staining methods and image analysis were performed by Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy. The image analysis indicated that nominally 55% of this waste activated sludge was engaged in PHA storage activity. Thus even if the biomass PHA content reached 0.49gPHA/gVSS, the accumulating fraction of the biomass was estimated to have attained about 0.64gPHA/gVSS. The combination of quantitative microscopy and polymer mass assessment enabled to distinguish the effect of level of enrichment in PHA storing bacteria and the average PHA storage capacity of the accumulating bacteria. The distribution of microbial 16S rRNA levels did not follow a measurable trend during PHA accumulation.

Activated sludge
Biopolymer
Image analysis
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)
Staining
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d0c1a509-9b20-4db7-b2e1-fe0f61adbcf3

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118795

0043-1354

Water Research, 221

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 R. Pei, Gerard Vicente-Venegas, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, R. Kleerebezem, A. Werker