ABSTRACT
Several industrial activities are responsible for the release of sulphate and other sulphur compounds into freshwater streams. In addition, the levels of sulphate can be further increased due to the intrusion of seawater. This chapter summarizes and discusses the implications of the main findings of this thesis for the optimization of electron donor for sulphate reducing systems. In sulphate reducing systems, competition between complete oxidizing sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB), incomplete oxidizing SRB, methanogens, fermenters and acetogens play a great role. For biological sulphate reduction processes, the choice of electron donor presents a big effect on the overall cost of the process. As such, methane appears to be a good alternative to the currently utilized electron donors. In practice, bioprocess control for anaerobic processes treating wastewater is not an easy task as it involves full understanding of the process dynamics. There are three main aspects to consider when developing an adaptive process control: control strategy, monitoring and modelling.
