Efficacies of Various Inoculum Sources on Methane Production from Agro-industrial Wastewaters

One key factor in reactor start-up is inoculum seed. Normally, the indigenous seed is used; however, it is not available near the new biogas plant. The exogenous seed from different wastes treatment system should be considered. This study selected inoculum seeds and wastewaters from various agro-industrial wastewaters based on carbohydrate, lipid and protein manufacturers including a concentrated rubber factory (RB), cassava starch factory (CS), palm oil mill factory (PO), swine farm (SW) and soymilk processing factory (SM). A 5 x 5 inoculum seeds and a wastewaters factorial experimental design were investigated in batch operation mode at an organic loading of 2 g COD l-1 and 37 °C incubation. The results showed that all of the inoculum seeds can be used to degrade the exogenous wastewaters to methane. It was noted that the inoculum seeds can be applied to other sources of wastewater. The efficacy of inoculum seeds to start-up the anaerobic reactor depends on the initial activity and biodegradability of wastewater composition.