Executive Summary : | The paper business has been regarded as one of the significant sources of environmental pollution due to its rapid global growth (Lindholm-Lehto et al., 2015). When pulp is processed, many dangerous chemicals and water are used, producing a vast amount of hazardous waste (Singh et al., 2015). The massive amount of effluent that is treated physically and biologically in pulp and paper mills results in immense sludge (Priadi et al., 2014). Traditional sludge management techniques include burning, which releases greenhouse gases, and landfilling, which results in leachate contaminating ground and surface water. Concerns about energy security and climate change are growing as the world's energy consumption rises. A flexible technology for producing renewable energy through non-oxidative metabolism, anaerobic digestion offers a possible substitute for managing sludge from the paper industry. Anaerobic digestion is now used commercially as a substitute for and complements fossil fuels. So, in the current research, we will use anaerobic digestion to treat the sludge from the paper industry. In order to improve the hydrolysis stage, we will conduct a biological pretreatment assay using previously isolated different bacterial cultures. This will be followed by a biochemical methane potential (BMP) study with a batch study and different F/M ratios to achieve high degradation and improved methane production from sludge samples. To maximize methane generation from sludge samples, the operation of a lab-scale continuous anaerobic reactor will be investigated with various organic loading rates (OLR). |