RK
Authored
12 records found
From waste to self-healing concrete
A proof-of-concept of a new application for polyhydroxyalkanoate
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production is a promising opportunity to recover organic carbon from waste streams. However, widespread application of waste-derived PHA as biodegradable plastic is restricted by expensive purification steps, high quality requirements, and a fierce comp
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Scaling-up microbial community-based polyhydroxyalkanoate production
Status and challenges
Conversion of organic waste and wastewater to polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) offers a potential to recover valuable resources from organic waste. Microbial community-based PHA production systems have been successfully applied in the last decade at lab- and pilot-scales, with a tota
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(Bio)fouling is the most common problem in membrane processes used in water production. It is also a reported unavoidable problem, with mitigation strategies being frequently ineffective in addressing this problem. An ultrapure water plant (UPW) in Emmen (The Netherlands), fed wi
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Towards mainstream anammox
Lessons learned from pilot-scale research at WWTP Dokhaven
The aim of this research was to study the biological feasibility of the Partial Nitritation/Anammox (PN/A) technology to remove nitrogen from municipal mainstream wastewaters. During stable process operations at summer temperatures (23.2 ± 1.3°C), the total nitrogen removal rate
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Seemingly trivial secondary factors may determine microbial competition
A cautionary tale on the impact of iron supplementation through corrosion
Microbial community engineering aims for enrichment of a specific microbial trait by imposing specific cultivation conditions. This work demonstrates that things may be more complicated than typically presumed and that microbial competition can be affected by seemingly insignific
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This model-based study investigated the mechanisms and operational window for efficient repression of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in an autotrophic nitrogen removal process. The operation of a continuous single-stage granular sludge process was simulated for nitrogen removal
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Purple phototrophic bacteria for resource recovery
Challenges and opportunities
Sustainable development is driving a rapid focus shift in the wastewater and organic waste treatment sectors, from a “removal and disposal” approach towards the recovery and reuse of water, energy and materials (e.g. carbon or nutrients). Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) are re
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Purple phototrophic bacteria for resource recovery
Challenges and opportunities
Sustainable development is driving a rapid focus shift in the wastewater and organic waste treatment sectors, from a “removal and disposal” approach towards the recovery and reuse of water, energy and materials (e.g. carbon or nutrients). Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) are re
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Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life
How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
Carboxydotrophic metabolism is gaining interest due to its applications in gas fermentation technology, enabling the conversion of carbon monoxide to fuels and commodities. Acetogenic carboxydotrophs play a central role in current gas fermentation processes. In contrast to other
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Pilot-Scale Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production from Organic Waste
Process Characteristics at High pH and High Ammonium Concentration
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulating microbial enrichment was established on volatile fatty acids (VFAs) containing leachate derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The enrichment was based on a 12-h feast-famine batch cycle and an exchange ratio of
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Biochemical conversion
Anaerobic Digestion
This chapter describes the anaerobic digestion process for production of methane-containing biogas from various feedstocks. Anaerobic digestion is a biotechnological process by which a complex organic feedstock is first converted into a range of simpler water-soluble organic comp
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Pilot-Scale Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production from Paper Mill Wastewater
Process Characteristics and Identification of Bottlenecks for Full-Scale Implementation
In this study, the suitability of paper industry wastewater for production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) was investigated in a pilot reactor in an industrial setting. The pilot plant was designed as a three-step process comprising (1) anaerobic fermentation for maximization of th
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Contributed
8 records found
Steering Product Formation in Anaerobic Digestion Systems
The effect of elevated CO2 partial pressure on the fermentative degradation of pyruvate and butyrate by a mixed microbial consortium
In the context of steering product formation in anaerobic digestion systems, the present thesis work elaborates on the potential role of elevated CO2 partial pressures as an environmental driver that may influence end-product selectivity from methane towards compounds from the ca
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Mixed-Culture Anaerobic Acidogenic Fermentation of Cabbage
Decoding Community Selection
Dating back to 10,000 B.C.E., fermentation has served as a vital tool primarily for food preservation. In the nineteenth century, Louis Pasteur put forth the proposition that the occurrence of fermentation is predominantly facilitated by the presence of microorganisms. Pasteur’s
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PHA biosynthesis, recovery, and application
A circular value chain for production of self-healing concrete from waste
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of biopolymers produced intracellular
by a range of different bacteria.PHA have attracted widespread attention as
an environmental friendly replacement of fossil-based polymers, because they
have thermoplastic and/or elastomeric properties
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Polyhydroxyalkanoate production by municipal waste activated sludge
Tackling scaling-up process challenges
Microbes are the gears that sustain all forms of life in planet Earth and are expected to become key players in the transition towards a more sustainable society. In this thesis, microbes from sewage sludge are used for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates, biodegradable polym
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Poison to Products
On harnessing the power of microorganisms to convert waste streams into new chemicals
One of the main challenges society currently deals with is the depletion of fossil fuels. To navigate this issue, we must embrace the concept of circularity and turn waste into a resource. Waste streams are omnifarious and their conversion into new chemical building blocks is not
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Exploring Microbial Diversity
Extending the boundaries of biopolymer production using parallel cultivation
Quickly, the show is about the start. Date: 3.5 thousand million years ago, location: planet Earth, event: life. Naturally, life is starting small, even microscopically tiny. Life in the form of microorganisms endures eons of time in which the world changes. They survived, failed
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Aerobic Granular Sludge
Effect of Substrate on Granule Formation
Discharging untreated wastewater will contaminate the surface waters and can lead to spread of diseases and long term ecological damage. The most common method for treatment is by the activated sludge process. In this process, nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and COD are remov
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Life on N<sub>2</sub>O
On the ecophysiology on nitrous oxide reduction & its potential as a greenhouse gas sink in wastewater treatment
With its rapidly rising concentration in the atmosphere and its high global warming potential, N2O is arguably the greenhouse gas of the 21st century. The research carried out within the Nitrous Oxide Research Alliance (NORA) – of which this thesis forms part of – focused on the
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