Abstract
In this work, the process performance of an anaerobic batch reactor for the methane production from glucose-containing wastewater was studied. The anaerobic sludge taken from UASB reactor was operated on flax retting wastewater and activated seeding sludge from Zenin wastewater treatment plant. The anaerobic batch reactor was operated at ambient temperature, a hydraulic reaction time (HRT) of 24 h, and different chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rates from 10 to 50 kgm(-3) d(-1) without and with pH control at 7. The results showed that at the optimum COD loading rate of 40 kgm(-3) d(-1) and pH 7. At these optimum conditions, the highest methane yield was 0.95 l methane/g glucose consumed. Under the optimum COD-to-nitrogen (COD: N) ratio of 100:2.4, the system with pH controlled at 7 gave the highest specific methane production rate of 30 l methane l(-1) d(-1).