Influence of temperature on mixed microbial culture polyhydroxyalkanoate production while treating a starch industry wastewater
The influence of temperature on the production of enrichment biomass and polyhydroxyalkanoates by activated sludge was evaluated within a practical case study. Two laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were operated in parallel over 131 days to treat a wastewater from a potato-starch modification facility, and produce surplus activated sludge biomass with PHA accumulation potential. The SBRs were operated similarly but at different temperatures (15 and 25 °C). Temperature did not influence wastewater treatment performance (average 97% COD removal).