Abstract
A pilot scale anaerobic fluidised bed reactor (AnFBR) of 2000 L capacity was studied to determine its performance to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME). The pilot plant was operated at ambient temperature with diluted POME as substrate. It took 17 days for the start-up of the reactor with pre-seeded sand media. The AnFBR was capable to remove a large portion of organics at relatively shorter retention time. Maximum and minimum COD removal efficiency of 85% and 65% were attained at a loading rate of 4.0 and 13.8 kgCOD/m3.d. BOD and TSS removal rates varied within the range of 64% - 91% and 68% - 89%, respectively. The AnFBR exhibited low sludge production with lower sludge volume indices (SVI). Maximum and minimum effluent indices for the effluent were 35 mL/g and 11 mL/g, respectively. Low SVI values indicated that, anaerobic fluidised bed reactors generate less sludge with fast settling properties. Promising performance at ambient temperature and for detention time shorter than the present practices supported the possibility of AnFBR to treat POME to meet the new requirement set by the DOE Malaysia.
Highlights
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the single largest source of industrial wastewater pollution in Malaysia
A few technical problems, such as leaking through improperly welded joints, pump malfunction and breakdown of the piping system delayed the full operation of the pilot plant anaerobic fluidised bed reactor
chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate was considered as the controlling parameter to study the start-up performance
Summary
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the single largest source of industrial wastewater pollution in Malaysia. High rate treatment systems are necessary to treat POME to protect the river system from water pollution. Anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewaters is a well-established technology, which has been proven to be the cheapest and versatile method for a wide range of application [2]. New process innovations like high-rate filtration, fluidised bed [3] up-flow sludge blanket [4] and hybrid reactors [5] have already emerged as today's most viable anaerobic treatment technology. Among them anaerobic fluidised bed reactor (AnFBR) has been used for wastewater treatment since early 1970s. The overall performance of a pilot plant anaerobic fluidised bed reactor in treating palm oil mill effluent (POME) is reported in this paper
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