IDENTIFICATION OF MICROORGANISMS IN AN ANAEROBIC BAFFLED REACTOR (ABR) FOR METHANE PRODUCTION

Anaerobic digestion process is one of the alternative methods to convert organic waste into methane gas which is a fuel and energy source. Activities of various kinds of microorganisms are the main factor for anaerobic digestion in the Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) which produces methane gas. Observations on microorganisms in the ABR showed that, there exist a small amount of protozoa (5%) and fungi(2%) in the system, but almost 93% of the microorganism population consists of bacteria. It is definitely clear that bacteria are responsible for anaerobic biodegradation of organic fraction of municipal solid waste. Three groups of bacteria are involved in the anaerobic digestion: the hydrolytic and fermentative bacteria, the acetogenic bacteria and the methanogenic bacteria.