Operational parameters influenced on biogas production in zeolite/anaerobic baffled reactor for compost leachate treatment

Nowadays, anaerobic processes are used for leachate treatment and biogas production that can be used as a source of renewable and eco-friendly energy. However, for optimal performance of the anaerobic system for gas production, an appropriate method must be used to reduce the inhibitors in the leachate. In this study an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) was used for investigating impact of OLR on biogas production and changes of alkalinity and pH. In order to decline inhibitors concentration on anaerobic microorganisms, zeolite was considered as a media and changes of biogas production was surveyed in different filling ratios. The highest produced biogas at the filling ratios of 10 %, 20 and 30 % were 0.6, 0.63 and 0.9 L/day, respectively and OLR increasing resulted in increase in produced biogas. The values of alkalinity and pH remained in the optimum range for methanogenic bacteria. In all three filling ratios, concentration of ammonia increased with increasing organic loading rate but it has not adverse effect on biogas production. Despite of high concentration of heavy metals, anaerobic baffled reactor with zeolite provided suitable condition for anaerobic microorganisms and biogas production.