Fermentation and kinetics characteristics of a bioflocculant from potato starch wastewater and its application

Potato starch wastewater was used as fermentation medium for Rhodococcus erythropolis to produce bioflocculant. Kinetics of cell growth and bioflocculant production were firstly constructed. After fermentation for 60 h, 0.97 g of bioflocculant with polysaccharides nature was extracted from 1 L of fermentation liquor. Kinetics characteristics showed that cell growth and bioflocculant production could be simulated well with Logistic and Luedeking-Piret equations, respectively. When R. erythropolis was in logarithm growth phase, COD, ammonium, and TP of the potato starch wastewater medium were rapidly down to 1736, 188, and 146 mg/L, respectively, from 7836, 975, and 712 mg/L, while the medium’s exactly pH value was almost not changed. Furthermore, bioflocculant flocculation can be used as an effective pretreatment way for potato starch wastewater, and it was feasible in actual treatment projects in Ronghua Starch Co., Ltd., Sichuan Province.