Resource recovery using enriched purple phototrophic bacteria in an outdoor flat plate photobioreactor: Suspended vs. attached growth.

Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) can produce single-cell protein from wastewater at high yields. Growing in a biofilm vs suspended can improve product quality and consistency. This study compares suspended and attached growths of enriched PPB cultures in an outdoor flat plate photobioreactor treating poultry-processing wastewater.

Outdoor demonstration-scale flat plate photobioreactor for resource recovery with purple phototrophic bacteria.

To make purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB)-based technologies a reality for resource recovery, research must be demonstrated outdoors, using scaled reactors. In this study, a 10 m long PPB-enriched flat plate photobioreactor (FPPBR) with a volume of 0.95 m was operated for 253 days, fed with poultry processing wastewater.