초록
Biological methane production from the raw and the ozonated palm oil mill effluent (POME) were conducted in 0.5 L batch reactors using UASB mixed culture as a microbial seed. All measurements were conducted in duplicate and experimental conditions with varying POME concentrations in the range of 3,000 to 40,000 mg L<SUP>-1</SUP>, under mesophilic condition (37@?C) and pH 7.0. Comparative results of methane production from the raw POME versus the ozonated POME indicated that the ozone pretreatment of POME (mg COD: mg ozone = 102.78) elevated the biodegradability of the POME constituents and enhanced effectively the methane production yield and rate for most cases. The kinetic parameters data were fitted with modified Gompertz equation. The ozonated POME concentration of 15,000 mg L<SUP>-1</SUP> gave the maximum methane production potential of 624.4 mL and yield of 273.8 mL g<SUP>-1</SUP> COD. The concentrations of volatile fatty acids and ethanol were negligible at the highest methane production yield.