Abstract

Palm oil industries have become the main sector to boost the economic revenue in tropical countries, especially in South East Asia. In the recent years, the global production of palm oil reached 72 million metric tons in 2018, increasing from about 68 million metric tons in 2017. During that period, Malaysia is currently the second world producer of palm oil after neighbouring country Indonesia. Both countries are the leading exporters of palm oil with 84 % of worldwide production. A detailed analysis of the palm oil business in Malaysia, the environmental issues that have arisen, and the treatment technology used to effectively treat palm oil mill wastewater are reviewed to gain an understanding of environmental sustainability. In Malaysia, most of the oil palm plantations are owned by private conglomerates (61 %), followed by the independent smallholders (16 %), the Federal Land Development Authority (13 %), state agencies (6 %), the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (3 %), and Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (1 %). However, the rate of deforestation has increased due to the expansion of oil palm plantations in Malaysia. Palm oil mill effluent is also considered as one of the major environmental issues since it reduces the water quality index. Some techniques are implemented to treat palm oil mill effluent, such as anaerobic ponding systems, integrated anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors, coagulation and flocculation, thermochemical treatment, vermicomposting, membrane filtration, photocatalysis, moving bed biofilm reactors, and zero liquid discharge. Zero liquid discharge method is considered an appropriate method since this method provides a better waste recovery.

Highlights

  • The oil palm tree originated in Africa and was first planted about 100 years ago (Awalludin et al, 2015)

  • Waste products generated during oil palm processing consist of liquid waste (POME) and solid waste such as oil palm trunk (OPT), oil palm fronds (OPF), empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm juice fiber (PPF), and palm shells

  • Every country has a different department that is responsible to control the quality of POME, for example, Malaysia has the Department of Environment to ensure POME meets the regulation with the biological oxygen demand (BOD) level at 100 mg/L (Hashiguchi et al, 2020)

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Summary

Abrar Muslim

Chemical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia. Malaysia is currently the second world producer of palm oil after neighbouring country Indonesia. Both countries are the leading exporters of palm oil with 84 % of worldwide production. The rate of deforestation has increased due to the expansion of oil palm plantations in Malaysia. Palm oil mill effluent is considered as one of the major environmental issues since it reduces the water quality index. Some techniques are implemented to treat palm oil mill effluent, such as anaerobic ponding systems, integrated anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors, coagulation and flocculation, thermochemical treatment, vermicomposting, membrane filtration, photocatalysis, moving bed biofilm reactors, and zero liquid discharge.

Introduction
Indonesia Malaysia Rest of the world India EU China USA
Malaysia Oil Palm Industry Situation
Peninsular Malaysia Sarawak Sabah Malaysia
Environmental Impact
Waste generation from palm oil mills
Air quality impact
Control of air emissions
Conventional oxidation ponds
Solid wastes converted into fertilizer and livestock feed
Current Status of Palm Oil Effluent Treatment
Anaerobic ponding treatment
Membrane filtration
Adsorption Microbial degradation
Disadvantage Releasing of titanium dioxide to the environment
Thermochemical treatment
Membrane filtration technology
Photocatalysis treatment
ZLD treatment
Findings
Conclusions
Full Text
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