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Assessment of the Effects of Methanotrophic Growth Conditions on Methane Biocatalysis for Lipid Production: An Initiative towards Climate change Mitigation
* , , , , , , , *
1  University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Academic Editor: Nunzio Cennamo

Abstract:

Methanotrophs are bacteria that can consume methane as their sole carbon and energy source to produce a wide variety of bio-products such as lipids. The lipids derived from methanotrophs are vital precursors for the production of green fuels and oleochemical feedstocks. Thus, this research aimed to establish the suitable growth conditions for methanotrophs consortium present in wastewater sludge that maximizes methane consumption, biomass concentration, yield coefficient and lipid content. Growth parameters were varied to study the effects of two media types [nitrate mineral salts (NMS) and synthetic wastewater (SW)], initial pH (4.0 and 6.8) and CH4 to air ratio (1:1 and 1:4 vol.) on the bioconversion of CH4 to lipids. After 18 days of incubation, the consortium that was cultivated in SW medium, at pH=4.0, and CH4 to air volume ratio of 1:1 showed the highest CH4 consumption of 43.24 ml/L which also corresponds to the highest lipid content of 459.33 mg/L. These results provide the basis of conditions for further optimization. Additionally, the findings highlight the potential of natural microbial consortium to convert methane into lipids using wastewater as medium that could address concerns on GHG emissions as well as for value-added resources recovery

Keywords: Activated sludge; Lipids; Methane consumption; Methanotrophs growth conditions
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