Abstract: To exploit high-efficiency anaerobic reactors, the performance of compartmentalized anaerobic reactor (CAR) was investigated in lab-scale. The results showed that CAR could reach a high volumetric efficiency. The organic loading rate(OLR), volumetric chemical oxygen demand removal rate and volumetric biogas production were 110.97?g/(L·d), 84.35?g?/(L·d) and 57.00?L/(L·d), respectively. The concentrations of chemical oxygen demand(COD) and volatile fatty acids (VFA) during high-loading were 18.49 and 37.52 times as high as their counterparts during common-loading stage, which provided a greater driving force for the anaerobic reaction. The working performances were good when CAR was away from the OLR saturability, but they became unstable when CAR approached to the OLR saturability.