Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of operating conditions on palm oil mill effluent (POME) using activated sludge treatment. The operating conditions examined are initial pH, hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading rate (OLR), initial mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS), solid retention time (SRT), and molasses concentration added as a carbon source. The efficiency of activated sludge was evaluated by treating the anaerobic treated POME under aerobic conditions based on the F/M ratio of 0.3 kg BOD/kg MLVSS.day. The best operating condition for initial pH, HRT, OLR, initial MLVSS, SRT, and molasses concentration were found to be 6.5 ± 0.1, 48 hours, 650 ± 20 mg/L, 2000 ± 200 mg/L, 10 days and 50 mg/L, respectively. However, the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in POME ranging from 62 – 68% and 60 – 65% respectively for all best conditions. In fact, the removal of BOD still does not meet the Department of Environment (DOE)’s discharge standard limit of 20 mg/L. Therefore, further investigation and study of POME treatment need to be carried out in order to find a better solution to meet the DOE discharge standard.
Highlights
A Palm oil industry is one of the very important agricultural based industries in Malaysia for the past decades
Maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction was at a value of 68% which occurred at initial pH of 7.5
The ideal initial pH of Palm oil mill Effluent (POME) is around pH 6.5 to 7.5. pH 6.5 was chosen as the optimal for the following study because above this value, the pH of POME after treatment will exceed the maximum value allowed by the standard
Summary
A Palm oil industry is one of the very important agricultural based industries in Malaysia for the past decades. According to the statistic of Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in year 2016, total 453 of palm oil mills in Malaysia have produced about 110.33 million tonne of Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) [1]. A researcher estimated that approximately 0.50 - 0.75 tonnes of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) will be discharged for every tonne of FFB from mill [2]. Total POME discharged to the river in year 2016 was estimated in the range of 55.17 - 82.75 million tonne. According to a research paper, fresh POME which is generated by Palm Oil Mill is hot, acidic (pH between 4.0 to 5.0) and brownish colloidal suspension containing high concentration of organic matter, COD (50,000 mg/L), BOD (25,000 mg/L), total suspended solids (40,500 mg/L) and oil & grease (4,000 mg/L) [3]. Discharge of dark brownish coloured of POME into river will inhibit the growth of aqua organism by reducing the penetration of sunlight and affect the photosynthetic activity [5]
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