ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to evaluate the anaerobic treatability of brewery wastewater and the effectiveness of the granular bed anaerobic baffled reactor system, developed by the author and his team. This evaluation is carried out at the premises of one of the biggest breweries in Scotland. The chapter also aims to determine the effects of salinity and reactor configuration on the effectiveness of seaweed anaerobic digestion. Marine macroalgae or seaweed is regarded as potentially an important source of feedstock for the production of bioenergy through anaerobic digestion. However, seaweed salinity has been reported as an impediment to effective digestion. Seaweed anaerobic digestion requires long periods at low Organic loading rate (OLR) to enable effective acclimatization of microorganisms to the inhibitory constituents. The chapter investigates the factors affecting co-digestion of seaweed with terrestrial plant biomass, garden peas. It also shows two-stage digestion to be more effective than a single stage digestion in ensuring process stability.
