Abstract

This study investigated the biodegradability of composting leachate and biogas production in different Organic Loading Rates (OLRs) in lab-scale series AMBR-ASBR bioreactors, Anaerobic Migrating Blanket Reactor (AMBR) and Anaerobic Sequencing Batch Reactor (ASBR). The raw Leachate with OLRs of 1.04-19.65 gCOD/L. d went into the AMBR reactor and then into the ASBR reactor with hydraulic retention time of 24 h. The produced methane and biogas were measured by GC-TCD and gas meter. The results showed that the best removal efficiency for BOD5, COD and readily biodegradable COD (rbCOD) in AMBR-ASBR hybrid reactor were 99.43, 97.35 and 99.79, respectively. The maximum amounts of biogas and methane production were 16.37 and 9.99 L in OLR of 10.08 gCOD/L. d. With the increase in OLRs, biogas production also increased, but in higher OLRs (18.52 gCOD/L. d) with a sudden increase in OLR, methane and biogas production decreased. Moreover, the ratio of the biogas production to inlet COD was 1.35 L (R-2 = 0.994), that is equal to the ratio of produced biogas (L) to inlet Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) (g) (R-2 = 0.972). Thus, considering OLRs effects, it was observed that the AMBR-ASBR hybrid reactor as a novel series system could be remarkably efficient in compost leachate treatment and increasing biogas production.