Recovery of Polyhydroxyalkanoates from Cooked Mussel Processing Wastewater at High Salinity and Acidic Conditions

Alba Pedrouso, Andrea Fra-Vazquez, Angeles Val del Rio and Anuska Mosquera-Corral
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Alba Pedrouso: CRETUS Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gomez de Marzoa s/n, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Andrea Fra-Vazquez: CRETUS Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gomez de Marzoa s/n, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Angeles Val del Rio: CRETUS Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gomez de Marzoa s/n, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Anuska Mosquera-Corral: CRETUS Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gomez de Marzoa s/n, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biodegradable polymers that can be intracellularly produced by microorganisms valorizing organic-rich wastes. In the present study, a PHA production system was fed with mussel cooker wastewater after acidogenic fermentation. Besides low pH (4.0 ± 0.3) and high salt (21.7 ± 2.9 g NaCl/L) concentrations, this wastewater also contained nitrogen concentrations (0.8 ± 0.1 g N/L), which were previously reported to be a challenge to the PHA accumulating bacteria enrichment. Bacteria with a PHA storage capacity were selected in an enrichment sequencing batch reactor (SBR) after 60 days of operation. The enriched mixed microbial culture (MMC) was mainly formed by microorganisms from phylum Bacteroidetes , and genera Azoarcus, Comamonas and Thauera from phylum Proteobacteria . The MMC was able to accumulate up to 25 wt% of PHA that was mainly limited by the wastewater nitrogen content, which promoted biomass growth instead of PHA accumulation. Indeed, when the presence of nutrient was limited, PHA stored in the accumulation reactor increased to up to 40.9 wt%. This work demonstrated the feasibility of the enrichment of a MMC with a PHA storage ability valorizing the fish-canning industrial wastewater at low pH, which is generally difficult to treat in wastewater treatment plants.

Keywords: fish-canning industry; industrial wastewater valorization; low pH; mixed microbial culture; PHA; value-added products (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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