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Updated: Jul 27, 2026

Continuously-stirred Anaerobic Digester to Convert Organic Wastes into Biogas: System Setup and Basic Operation
Published on: July 13, 2012
Two-phase anaerobic digestion for enhanced valorisation of whiskey distillery by-products
Anga Hackula1, Rajas Shinde2, Daniel Hickey1
1SFI MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Architecture, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Abstract:
The valorisation of whiskey by-products was assessed and compared in three anaerobic digestion systems. The systems produced similar methane yields, which could satisfy up to 44% of the thermal energy demand at a distillery. Using methane generated from by-products would displace natural gas and reduce the distillery's carbon footprint. Two-phase systems had higher methane content (ca. 75 %vol) than the traditional system (54 %vol) and furthermore, unlocked opportunities for volatile fatty acid production. The potential value that could be generated from the extraction of butyric acid and caproic acid was approximately €6.76 million for a 50 million litre alcohol facility (0.14 € per litre of whiskey). All three anaerobic digestion systems showed the potential to valorise whiskey by-products and convert current linear distillery production processes into circular repurpose and reuse production processes.
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