Biodegradable polymers from organic acids by using activated sludge enriched by aerobic periodic feeding

This article describes a new process for the production of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs) based on the aerobic enrichment of activated sludge to obtain mixed cultures able to store PHAs at high rates and yields. Enrichment was obtained through the selective pressure established by feeding the carbon source in a periodic mode (feast and famine regime) in a sequencing batch reactor. A concentrated mixture of acetic, lactic, and propionic acids (overall concentration of 8.5 gCOD L(-1)) was fed every 2 h at 1 day(-1) overall dilution rate. Even at such high organic load (8.5 gCOD L(-1) day(-1)), the selective pressure due to periodic feeding was effective in obtaining a biomass with a storage ability much higher than activated sludges. The immediate biomass response to substrate excess (as determined thorough short-term batch tests) was characterized by a storage rate and yield of 649 mgPHA (as COD) g biomass (as COD)(-1) h(-1) and 0.45 mgPHA (as COD) mg removed substrates (as COD(-1)), respectively. When the substrate excess was present for more than 2 h (long-term batch tests), the storage rate and yield decreased, whereas growth rate and yield significantly increased due to biomass adaptation. A maximum polymer fraction in the biomass was therefore obtained at about 50% (on COD basis). As for the PHA composition, the copolymer poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate/beta-hydroxyvalerate) with 31% of hydroxyvalerate monomer was produced from the substrate mixture. Comparison of the tests with individual and mixed substrates seemed to indicate that, on removing the substrate mixture for copolymer production, propionic acid was fully utilized to produce propionylCoA, whereas the acetylCoA was fully provided by acetic and lactic acid.