Biogas Production from Palm Oil Mill Effluent Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Integrated with the Aerated Condition

Abstract

In this study, the performance of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) with the aerated condition at discharge voltages of 15, 20, and 25 kV on the production of biogas; CH4, H2, CO, and CO2 and the removal of COD and BOD from POME were investigated. The experimental results showed that the aerated condition with a rate of 2.5 L/min at a high voltage (25 kV) produced CH4, CO, and CO2 that was 9.4, 21.5, and 19.6 times higher than the non-aerated one, respectively. The maximum cumulative volume of CH4, H2, CO, and CO2 was 95.4 ± 8.92, 0.94 ± 0.71, 3.06 ± 0.73, and 2.45 ± 0.35 mL/mg COD, respectively, under the aerated condition at 25 kV and the experimental data fit well with the polynomial regression (R2 > 95) for the initial biogas production. The decrease in COD and BOD was greatly affected by the high discharge voltage under the aerated condition, resulting in a high removal rate. These findings suggest that good performance was observed when the DBD was integrated with the aerated condition under the optimum discharge voltage. The study can give information on the optimum condition in a laboratory scale to produce CH4, H2, CO, and CO2, as well as the reduction of organic pollutants from POME.