Utilization of palm oil mill effluent for polyhydroxyalkanoate production and nutrient removal using statistical design

• Published in: International journal of environmental science and technology (Tehran) 2014-04, Vol.11 (3), p.671-684
• Main Authors: Din, M. F. Md, Ponraj, M, Van Loosdrecht, M, Ujang, Z, Chelliapan, S, Zambare, V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Biopolymer; Biopolymers; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Effluents; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Science and Engineering; Nitrate removal; Nutrient removal; Original Paper; Palm oil mill effluent; Phosphate removal; Soil Science & Conservation; Statistical design; Vegetable oils; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water treatment
• ISSN: 1735-1472; 1735-2630
• DOI: 10.1007/s13762-013-0253-9

The optimization for poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate production was carried out with nutrient removal efficiency for total organic carbon (TOC), phosphate, and nitrate from palm oil mill effluent waste. The experiment was conducted in a fabricated fed-batch reactor and the data obtained was analyzed using central composite rotatable design and factorial design for response surface methodology as a systematic approach for designing the experiment statistically to obtain valid results with minimum effort, time, and resources. The analysis of numerical optimization with propagation of error showed that 66 % of poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate production can be obtained with nutrient removal of TOC and nitrate by 19 and 3 %, respectively. However, phosphate removal efficiency was not found to be much effective. More over, the chemical oxygen demand: nitrogen phosphate (509 g/g N), chemical oxygen demand: phosphate (200 g/g P), air flow rate (0.59 L/min), substrate feeding rate (20 mL/min), and cycle length (20 h) were the optimized variables for maximum poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate production and nutrient removal.