There have been many significant microbiological, biochemical and
technological advances made in the understanding and implementation of
anaerobic digestion processes with respect to industrial and domestic
wastewater treatment. Elucida- tion of the mechanisms of anaerobic
degradation has permitted a greater control over the biological
parameters of waste conversion and the technical advances achieved have
reduced the time and land area requirements and increased the
cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the various processes presently in
use. By- product recovery in the form of utilisable methane gas has
become increasingly feasible, while the development of new and superior
anaerobic reactor designs with increased tolerance to toxic and shock
loadings of concentrated effiuents has established a potential for
treating many extremely recalcitrant industrial wastestreams. The major
anaerobic bioreactor systems and their applications and limitations are
examined here, together with microbiological and biochemical aspects of
anaerobic wastewater treatment processes. London, June 1986 S. M.
Stronach T. Rudd J. N. Lester v Table of Contents 1 The Biochemistry of
Anaerobic Digestion 1 1. 1 Kinetics of Substrate Utilisation and
Bacterial Growth 3 1. 1. 1 COD Fluxes and Mean Carbon Oxidation State
3 1. 1. 2 Bacterial Growth and Biokinetics 4 1. 1. 2. 1 Growth and
Single Substrate Kinetics 4 1. 1. 2. 2 Multisubstrate Systems . 8 1. 2
Kinetics and Biochemistry of Hydrolysis 8 1. 3 Kinetics and Biochemistry
of Fermentation and J1-0xidation . 11 1.