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A novel approach to recycle bacterial culture waste for fermentation reuse via a microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor system

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Abstract

Biochemical production processes require water and nutrient resources for culture media preparation, but aqueous waste is generated after the target products are extracted. In this study, culture waste (including cells) produced from a lab-scale fermenter was fed into a microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor (MFC-MBR) system. Electrical energy was generated via the interaction between the microbial consortia and the solid electrode in the MFC. The treated wastewater was reclaimed in this process which was reused as a solvent and a nutrient source in subsequent fermentation. Polarization testing showed that the MFC produced a maximum current density of 37.53 A m−3 with a maximum power density of 5.49 W m−3. The MFC was able to generate 0.04 kWh of energy per cubic meter of culture waste treated. The lab-scale fermenters containing pure cultures of an engineered Pseudomonas spp. were used to generate 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC), a high value platform chemical. When the MFC-MBR-treated wastewater was used for the fermenter culture medium, a specific bacterial growth rate of 1.00 ± 0.05 h−1 was obtained with a PDC production rate of 708.11 ± 64.70 mg PDC L−1 h−1. Comparable values for controls using pure water were 0.95 ± 0.06 h−1 and 621.01 ± 22.09 mg PDC L−1 h−1 (P > 0.05), respectively. The results provide insight on a new approach for more sustainable bio-material production while at the same time generating energy, and suggest that the treated wastewater can be used as a solvent and a nutrient source for the fermentation production of high value platform chemicals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by Hirosaki University Grant for Exploratory Research by Young Scientists, the USDA-Hatch Multistate project S1041, Scholarship from China Scholarship Council (#201406510014) and a grant from National Science Foundation (#1358145).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Jian Li & Zhen He

  2. Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Yuan Zhu, Liangpeng Zhuang & Barry Goodell

  3. MOE Key Laboratory of Wooden Material Science and Application, Beijing Forestry University, Qinghua East Road 35, Haidian, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yuan Zhu

  4. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Yuichiro Otsuka & Masaya Nakamura

  5. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8561, Japan

    Tomonori Sonoki

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  1. Jian Li
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  2. Yuan Zhu
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  3. Liangpeng Zhuang
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  4. Yuichiro Otsuka
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  7. Tomonori Sonoki
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  8. Zhen He
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Correspondence to Barry Goodell, Tomonori Sonoki or Zhen He.

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Li, J., Zhu, Y., Zhuang, L. et al. A novel approach to recycle bacterial culture waste for fermentation reuse via a microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor system. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 38, 1795–1802 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-015-1420-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-015-1420-9

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