Aerobic dynamic feeding as a strategy for in situ accumulation of polyhydroxyalkanoate in aerobic granules

Aerobic dynamic feeding (ADF) strategy was applied in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) in aerobic granules. The aerobic granules were able to remove 90% of the COD from palm oil mill effluent (POME). The volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in the POME are the sole source of the PHA accumulation. In this work, 100% removal of propionic and butyric acids in the POME were observed. The highest amount of PHA produced in aerobic granules was 0.6833 mg PHA/mg biomass. The PHA formed was identified as a P (hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) P (HB-co-HV).