Anaerobic granular sludge bed (AnGSB) bioreactors were supplemented with activated carbon carriers and combined with distributors (e.g., acrylic resin board, stainless steel net and plastic net) installed at different locations to investigate the effect of distributor/carrier on biohydrogen production efficiency. The results show that plastic net stimulated the substrate/microorganisms contact and Sludge granulation, thereby leading to a Much better H(2) production performance when compared with those obtained from traditional CSTR. The highest H(2) production rate (7.89 L/h/L) and yield (3.42 mol H(2)/mol sucrose) were obtained when two pieces of plastic nets were installed at both 4 cm and 16 cm from the bottom of AnGSB Without carrier addition and the bioreactor was operated at a HRT of 0.5 h. For the AnGSB installed with two pieces of plastic net distributors, addition of carriers led to significant improvement on the H(2) production efficiency at a longer HRT (1-4 h) when compared with the carrier-absent system. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.