High strength milk permeate derived from ultra-filtration based cheese making process was treated in an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (AMBBR) under mesophilic (35 degrees C) condition. Total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) removal efficiencies of 86.3-73.2% were achieved at organic loading rates (OLR) of 2.0-20.0 g TCOD L(-1) d(-1). A mass balance model gave values of methane yield coefficient (Y(C/S)) and cell maintenance coefficient (k(m)) of 0.341 L CH(4) g(-1) TCOD(removed) and 0.1808 g TCOD(removed) g(-1) VSS d(-1), respectively. The maximum substrate utilization rate U(max) was determined as 89.3 g TCOD L(-1) d(-1) by a modified Stover-Kincannon model. Volumetric methane production rates (VMPR) were shown to correlate with the biodegradable TCOD concentration through a Michaelis-Menten type equation. Moreover, based on VMPR and OLR removed from the reactor, the sludge production yield was determined as 0.0794 g VSS g(-1) TCOD(removed). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.