When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
What do living matter and plastics have in common? Chemical composition, of course! Polymers contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen — just like our bodies and the food we eat. Which means that the waste of human activity (such as biological wastewater) can be used to make polymers, which can be very useful.
Polymers called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) can be produced by anaerobic bacteria by metabolizing renewable organic carbon sources. PHA polymers are biodegradable thermoplastics and can be used as a substitute for conventional petroleum-based plastics, which is good, because they have a lower environmental impact. Applications of PHA bioplastics are mostly in the medical and pharmaceutical industries due to their biodegradability and biocompatibility. Their uses include sutures, patches, stents, tissue regeneration scaffolds, nerve guides, grafts, implants, wound dressings, and other medical products.
Several individual strains of bacteria can produce PHA from sugar sources, but now the Swedish company AnoxKaldnes has developed a novel concept: using biological wastewater to produce PHA.
Instead of using a pure culture of PHA-producing bacteria, the complex bacterial flora in a wastewater treatment plant is being employed. The process configuration and conditions are used to favor the enrichment of PHA producers. In this way, the wastewater can be transformed into an important raw material for society.
The scientific team from AnoxKaldnes, together with researchers from the University of Rome (Italy) and VERI (France), investigated whether PHA can be efficiently produced during municipal wastewater treatment. The results of their investigation have been published in the latest issue of Water Science & Technology:
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polyesters with comparable properties to some petroleum-based polyolefins. PHA production can be achieved in open, mixed microbial cultures and thereby coupled to wastewater and solid residual treatment. In this context, waste organic matter is utilised as a carbon source in activated sludge biological treatment for biopolymer synthesis. Within the EU Project Routes, the feasibility of PHA production has been evaluated in processes for sludge treatment and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production and municipal wastewater treatment […] Laboratory- and pilot-scale studies demonstrated the feasibility of municipal wastewater and solid waste treatment alongside production of PHA-rich biomass.
It didn’t take long to get from knowledge to action. An initiative of AnoxKaldnes – along with KNN Bioplastic and the Friesland Water Authority in the Netherlands – has resulted in a pilot installation to test bioplastic production at the wastewater plant in Leeuwarden. The Swedish ambassador, Håkan Emsgård, inaugurated the “Creating Bioplastics from Wastewater” pilot plant on January 29, 2014, marking 400 years of mutual trade relations between Sweden and the Netherlands. This was a good first step in the Netherlands’ goal of a regional circular production chain for bioplastics.
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