eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 0973-1245 2015-12-25 12 3 2333 2344 10.13005/bbra/1909 4212 article Majid Rasouli 1 Yahya Ajabshirchi 1 Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi 2 Mohsen Nosrati 2 Soheila Yaghmaei 3 Department of Biosystem Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Biotechnology Group, Chemical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Pilot scale experiments were performed on the digestion of dairy cow manure in a semi-continuous process using a mixed plug flow reactor (MPFR) to determine the effects of organic loading rate (OLR), temperature and mixing levels on production biogas and methane yield. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied for the design and analysis of experiments with the optimization of OLR, temperature and mixing level during the biogas production process. Experiments were designed as per the central composite design technique. Four cubic mathematical models were derived for prediction of the responses. The optimization study has been carried out to identify the highest yields achievable when the factors temperature and mixing are minimized. In process optimization, maximum values of biogas production and methane yield were achieved as 0.570 m³/m³ day and 0.113 m³/kgVS added, respectively, with an OLR of 3.15 kgVS/m³ day, temperature of 37.66 °C and mixing regime of 20.32 rpm for 10 min per 2 hours. https://www.biotech-asia.org/vol12no3/process-optimization-and-modeling-of-anaerobic-digestion-of-cow-manure-for-enhanced-biogas-yield-in-a-mixed-plug-flow-reactor-using-response-surface-methodology/ Anaerobic digestion; Bio-gas; Mixed plug flow reactor (MPFR); Response surface methodology (RSM); Optimization