Issue 02/2017

From Science and Research
the stringent definition of biopolymers, introduced by Pittmann
and Steinmetz [17] around 20 % of the world wide biopolymers
could be produced on WWTPs in Germany.
A rough estimation, with data provided by EU member
states, leads to a theoretical possible PHA production on
European WWTPs of nearly 880,000 [16]. This correlates
to approximately 116 % of the worldwide PHA production,
regarding the stringent definition.
Conclusion
Based on the results it can be concluded that it is possible
to produce PHA out of material flows of a municipal waste
water treatment plant.
The presented calculations and results clearly indicate
that it would be possible to produce high amounts of PHAs
on WWTPs in the European Union. The potential analysis
showed that waste water treatment plants could be used as
a significant source for biopolymers and waste water can
play an important role as a substituent for plant-based raw
materials in the PHA production. With an upgraded operation
more than twice of today’s worldwide biopolymer production
could be produced on WWTPs in the EU and thus contribute to
a recycling of the organic material contained in waste water.
It has to be mentioned though that more research is
necessary to verify experimental results at a larger scale.
References
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polyhydroxyalkanoate production in bacteria”. In: Trends in Biotechnology
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[2] Dias, J.M.L. et.al. (2006). “Recent advances in polyhydroxyalkanoate
production by mixed aerobic cultures: From the substrate to the final
product”. In: Macromolecular Bioscience 6, 885–906.
[3] Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Guzik, M., Kenny, S., Babu, R., Werker, A., O’Connor,
K., (2013). Carbon-rich wastes as feedstocks for biodegradable polymer
(polyhydroxyalkanoate) production using bacteria”. In: Adv. Appl. Microbiol,
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R
O
[4] Chanpratreep, S. (2010). “Current trends in biodegradable PHAs”. In:
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[6] Chen, G.-Q. and Q. Wu (2005). “The application of polyhydroxyalkanoates as
tissue engineering materials”. In: Biomaterials 26, 6565 –6578.
[7] Wolf, O., M. Crank, M. Panel, F. Marscheide-Weidemann, J. Schleich,
B. Hünsing and G. Angerer (2005). “Techno-economic Feasibility of
Large-scale Production of Bio-based Polymers in Europe”. In: European
Commission - Joint Research Centre EUR 22103 EN.
[8] Pittmann, T. and Steinmetz, H. (2013). “Influence of operating conditions
for volatile fatty acids enrichment as a first step for polyhydroxyalkanoate
production on a municipal waste water treatment plant”. In: Bioresource
Technology 148C, 270-276
[9] Pittmann, T. and Steinmetz, H. (2014). “Polyhydroxyalkanoate production
as a side stream process on a municipal waste water treatment plant”. In:
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[10] Dionisi, D., M. Majone, G. Vallini, S. Di Gregorio and M. Beccari (2005).
“Effect of the applied organic load rate on biodegradable polymer
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Biotechnology and Bioengineering 93, 76–88.
[11] Albuquerque, M.G.E., M. Eiroa, C. Torres, B.R. Nunes and M.A.M. Reis
(2007). “Strategies for the development of a side stream process for
polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from sugar cane molasses”. In:
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[12] Johnson, K., R. Kleerebezem and M.C.M. van Loosdrecht (2009). “Modelbased
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[13] Pittmann, T., (2015). “Herstellung von Biokunststoffen aus Stoffstroemen
einer kommunalen Klaeranlage” (production of biopolymers from streams
of a municipal waste water treatment plant) Ph.D.-thesis. University of
Stuttgart.
[14] DWA, (2012). “Performance comparison of municipal waste water
treatment plants in 2012”, dwa: German association for water, wastewater
and waste. Deutsche Vereinigung fuer Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und
Abfall e.V. Theodor-Heuss-Allee 17, 53773 Hennef, Deutschland.
[15] ATV, (2000). “ATV-DVWK-A 131 – dimensioning of single-stage activated
sludge plants”; DWA German association for water, waste water and waste.
[16] T. Pittmann and H. Steinmetz, (2016). “Potential for polyhydroxyalkanoate
production on German or European municipal waste water treatment
plants”, In: Bioresource Technology 214, 9-15.
[17] T. Pittmann and H. Steinmetz, (2016). “Produktion von Bioplastik auf
kommunalen Klaeranlagen”, In: Wasser und Abfall 05/13, 37-41.
www.tbf.ch
Municipal Waste Water Treatment Plant
(generic photo, no PHA production) (photo:TBF+ Partner AG)
O CH CH 2 C
n
Figure 1: General chemical structural formula of PHA
Table1: Input data used during the potential analysis.
Parameter Unit Value Literature
Actual connected people equivalents (PE) on German WWTPs Mio. PE 109.0 [14]
Proportion of PSP*-PEs regarding total PEs in Germany % 92 [14]
Amount of primary sludge per PE L/(PE · d) 1.1 [15]
Total solid concentration of primary sludge/acidified material g/L 35 [13]
VFA concentration g VFA
/m3 7,653 [13]
Retention time and withdrawal at the first production step d und %/d 4 und 25 [13]
Total solid concentration in the aerobic reactors 2a /2b g/L 5.0 [13]
Loading rate for PHA production kg VFA
/m3 1.2 [13]
Retention time and withdrawal at reactor 2 a d und %/d 2 und 50 [13]
PHA proportion based on cell dry weight Gew. % 28.4 [13]
*PSP = German WWTPs with preliminary sedimentation potential (PSP = more than 10.000 PE)
bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/17] Vol. 12 21