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 degrees C). Temperature did not influence wastewater treatment performance (average 97% COD removal)