The polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulation performance of mixed microbial culture utilizing fruit juice industry wastewater at various organic loading rates and sludge retention times
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35208/ert.1552378Keywords:
Fruit juice industry wastewater, mixed microbial culture, feast and famine regime, polyhydroxyalkanoates, sludge retention time, organic loading rateAbstract
Using an enriched mixed microbial culture, the potential of fruit juice industry wastewater as a feedstock for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate was investigated. Wastewater was fed directly into the feast and famine sequencing batch reactors. A PHA content of 35 times higher than that of the inoculated activated sludge was achieved with a step-wisely increasing organic loading rate as a preliminary enrichment strategy. Then, the sludge retention time and organic loading rate were optimized for a maximum PHA content of the biomass. SBRs were operated with enriched sludge at various sludge retention times including 2 d, 4 d, 6 d, and 8 d at a constant organic loading rate of 2 g COD/L.d, and the highest polyhydroxyalkanoate content, 68% g PHA/g VSS, was produced at a sludge retention time of 2 d. Then, organic loading rates of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g COD/L.d were employed where sludge retention time was 6 d. Polyhydroxyalkanoate contents of 14 and 58% g PHA/g VSS at OLRs of 0.5 and 2.0 g COD/L·d were obtained. It was found that mixed microbial culture with higher OLRs (greater than 1.5 g COD/L.d) and lower SRTs (below 6 d) possessed better PHA storage capacity in this study. Consequently, the strategy of utilizing low-cost substrates, such as filtered fruit juice industry wastewater can serve as an inexpensive and readily available feedstock for PHA-producing microorganisms.
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