Performance and microbial community variations of a upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for treating monosodium glutamate wastewater: Effects of organic loading rate

To investigate the effect of the organic loading rate (OLR) on anaerobic treatment of monosodium glutamate (MSG) wastewater, a lab-scale up-flow anaerobic blanket (UASB) reactor was continuously operated over a 222-day period. The overall performances of COD removal and methane recovery initially exhibited an increase and subsequently decreased when the OLR was increased from 1 g-COD/L/d to 24 g-COD/L/d. At the optimal OLR of 8 g-COD/L/d, superior performance was obtained with a maximum COD removal efficiency of 97%, a methane production rate of 2.3 L/L/d, and specific methanogenic activity of 86 mg-CH4/g-VSS/d (feeding on glutamate), with superior characteristics of sludge in VSS concentration, average diameter of granules, and settling velocity. According to the results of the specific methanogenic activity, the methanogenic pathway was more inclined to pass through acetate than through hydrogen. Methanosarcina instead of Methanosaeta, with Methanobacterium and greatly increased Firmicutes, dominated in the UASB reactor after long term operation. These results support that the OLR had a substantial effect on both the treatment and energy recovery efficiency of MSG wastewater as well as on microbial community variations in the UASB reactor. [Display omitted] •Methanogenic degradation of monosodium glutamate wastewater was validated.•Optimal COD removal and CH4 recovery performance was obtained at OLR below 8 g/L/d.•Maximal glutamate removal capacity of the UASB reactor reached 18 g-COD/L/d.•Methanobacterium and Methanosarcina were dominated after long-term operation.•The OLR had a substantial impact on the microbial community variations in the UASB.