Wastewater treatment for the production of microbial biomass

1. A method for growing microbial biomass comprising:

(a) providing a wastewater stream;

(b) determining the concentration of micronutrients selected from the group consisting of aluminum, boron, cobalt, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, and any combination thereof, in the wastewater stream;

(c) determining the biological oxygen demand (BOD) normalized dose of the micronutrients;

(d) modulating the concentration of at least one micronutrient in the wastewater stream to provide a micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream, whereby said micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream has (i) a BOD normalized dose of aluminum between about 60 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 285 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (ii) a BOD normalized dose of boron between about 115 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 300 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (iii) a BOD normalized dose of cobalt between about 50 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 500 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (iv) a BOD normalized dose of magnesium of at least about 100 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (v) a BOD normalized dose of manganese between about 65 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 220 mg/day/lb BOD/day; and (vi) a BOD normalized dose of zinc between about 115 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 275 mg/day/lb BOD/day; and

(e) growing microbial biomass in the micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus and BOD in step (b), wherein the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and the BOD is modulated in step (d) to provide: (i) a BOD:nitrogen ratio of at least 100 mg/liter BOD:6-20 mg/liter nitrogen; and (ii) a BOD:phosphorus ratio of at least 100 mg/liter BOD:0.5-2 mg/liter phosphorus.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the settled sludge volume after sixty minutes (SSV 60 ) exhibited by the micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream following the growing microbial biomass of step (e) is reduced when compared with the SSV 60 of the wastewater stream prior to the modulating of step (d).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the growing of step (e) is carried out for a period of about 1 or more mean cell residence times (MCRT), and wherein the modulated wastewater stream obtained after step (e) exhibits a settled sludge volume after sixty minutes (SSV 60 ) which is at least 10% less than the SSV 60 exhibited by the wastewater stream prior to the modulating of step (d).

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said growing of step (e) is carried out for a period of about 3 or more mean cell residence times (MCRTs), and wherein the modulated wastewater stream obtained after step (e) exhibits a settled sludge volume after sixty minutes (SSV 60 ) which is at least 10% less than the SSV 60 exhibited by the wastewater stream prior to the modulating of step (d).

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said growing of step (e) is carried out for a period of about 3 or more mean cell residence times (MCRTs), and wherein the modulated wastewater stream obtained after step (e) exhibits a settled sludge volume after sixty minutes (SSV 60 ) which is at least 20% less than the SSV 60 exhibited by the wastewater stream prior to the modulating of step (d).

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the modulated wastewater exhibits an SSV 60 which is at least 30% less than the SSV 60 exhibited by the wastewater stream prior to the modulating of step (d).

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the modulating of step (d) comprises increasing the concentration of at least one micronutrient in the wastewater stream substrate.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the modulating of step (d) comprises decreasing the concentration of at least one micronutrient in the wastewater stream.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein said decreasing the concentration comprises ion-exchange or precipitation of the at least one micronutrient.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein said decreasing the concentration comprises decreasing, during or prior to the providing of step (a), the concentration of the at least one micronutrient in a production process generating the wastewater stream.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the modulated wastewater stream comprises (i) at least about 50% (w/w) protein; (ii) at least about 6.5% (w/w) crude fat; (iii) at least about 4% (w/w) of 60% saturated fatty acids; and (iv) at least about 0.004% (w/w) Coenzyme Q10.

13. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising mixing a growth factor in the wastewater stream.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the growth factor is selected from the group consisting of yeast extracts, molasses, brewery wort press water, palm oil mill effluent, and waste products.

15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the growth factor is added following the modulating of step (d).

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the providing of step (a) includes obtaining the wastewater stream from a food processing plant.

17. A method for growing microbial mass comprising:

(a) providing a wastewater stream;

(b) determining the concentration of a plurality of micronutrients in the wastewater stream, the micronutrients including aluminum, boron, calcium, cobalt, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, and determining the concentration of the macronutrients nitrogen and phosphorus in the wastewater stream;

(c) determining the biological oxygen demand (BOD) normalized dose of one or more of the micronutrients in the wastewater stream;

(d) modulating the concentration of at least one of the one or more micronutrients in the wastewater stream to provide a micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream, whereby said micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream has (i) a BOD normalized dose of aluminum of between about 60 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 285 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (ii) a BOD normalized dose of boron of between about 115 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 300 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (iii) a BOD normalized dose of cobalt varies of between about 50 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 500 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (iv) a BOD normalized dose of magnesium of at least about 100 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (v) a BOD normalized dose of manganese of between about 65 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 220 mg/day/lb BOD/day; and (vi) a BOD normalized dose of zinc of between about 115 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 275 mg/day/lb BOD/day;

(e) modulating the concentration of at least one macronutrient in the wastewater stream to provide a macronutrient-modulated wastewater stream that has (i) a BOD:nitrogen ratio of at least about 100 mg/liter BOD:6-20 mg/liter nitrogen; and (ii) a BOD:phosphorus ratio of at least about 100 mg/liter BOD:0.5-2 mg/liter phosphorus; and

(f) growing microbial biomass in the macronutrient-modulated and micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the modulating of step (e) includes adding phosphorus in the form of phosphoric acid.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the modulating of step (e) includes adding nitrogen in the form of one or more of urea, ammonium nitrate, anhydrous ammonium and animal manure.

20. A micronutrient composition for growing bacterial mass comprising a mixture of micronutrients, the micronutrients comprising: aluminum; boron; calcium; cobalt; magnesium; manganese; and zinc, wherein the micronutrient composition is used to modulate the concentration of the micronutrients in an wastewater stream, wherein adding the micronutrient composition to the wastewater stream, the micronutrient-modulated wastewater stream has (i) a biological oxygen demand (BOD) normalized dose of aluminum of between about 60 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 285 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (ii) a BOD normalized dose of boron of between about 115 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 300 mg/day/lb BOD/day: (iii) a BOD normalized dose of cobalt of between about 50 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 500 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (iv) a BOD normalized dose of magnesium of at least about 100 mg/day/lb BOD/day; (v) a BOD normalized dose of manganese of between about 65 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 220 mg/day/lb BOD/day; and (vi) a BOD normalized dose of zinc of between about 115 mg/day/lb BOD/day and about 275 mg/day/lb BOD/day.