Wastewater Converted to Biofuel Via Oleaginous Microorganism Consortium

Oleaginous microorganisms are able to produce up to 70% of their weight in oil as lipids and their use as a biofuel feedstock is partially limited by the cost to cultivate them. Municipal wastewater has the potential to be a growth medium for these microorganisms due to the fact that wastewater contains carbon and other trace nutrients that a microorganism requires. With this new growth medium, these microorganisms have the potential to treat the wastewater as well as accumulate oil for biofuels. This study is focused on enhancing the consortium's growth through the addition of xylose and glucose into autoclaved municipal wastewater. Preliminary results show that the microorganisms reach stationary phase within 24 hours of cultivation on autoclaved municipal wastewater amended with lignocellulosic sugars. The maximum cell mass was 0.8g/L and a reduction in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) to a minimum within 24 hours of cultivation. The oleaginous microorganism consortium's doubling time on municipal wastewater amended with lignocellulosic sugars is approximately 2.5 hours. These results show that these microorganisms can thrive by utilizing lignocellulosic sugars added to municipal wastewater to produce oil. Using wastewater treatment facilities will enable millions of gallons of oil to be produced across the nation.