Electrocoagulation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent as Wastewater Treatment and Hydrogen Production Using Electrode Aluminum

Abstract

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is highly polluting wastewater generated from the palm oil milling process. Palm oil mill effluent was used as an electrolyte without any additive or pretreatment to perform electrocoagulation (EC) using electricity (direct current) ranging from 2 to 4 volts in the presence of aluminum electrodes with a reactor volume of 20 L. The production of hydrogen gas, removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and turbidity as a result of electrocoagulation of POME were determined. The results show that EC can reduce the COD and turbidity of POME by 57 and 62%, respectively, in addition to the 42% hydrogen production. Hydrogen production was also helpful to remove the lighter suspended solids toward the surface. The production of Al(OH)XHO at the aluminum electrode (anode) was responsible for the flocculation-coagulation process of suspended solids followed by sedimentation under gravity. The production of hydrogen gas from POME during EC was also compared with hydrogen gas production by electrolysis of tap water at pH 4 and tap water without pH adjustment under the same conditions. The main advantage of this study is to produce hydrogen gas while treating POME with EC to reduce COD and turbidity effectively.

Removal of Solids from Palm Oil Mill Effluent and Paint Wastewater Using Electrocoagulation Technique

“…The steadiness of removal efficiency in POME at 1.5-3A corresponds to steadiness in the generation of bubbles observed during electrocoagulation of POME. This result is in agreement with the findings of Chantaraporn [14] and Yaakob [25] who reported that moderately high current density results in high removal efficiency in POME.…”

“…Although POME exhibits high BOD and COD; however, electrocoagulation treatment method was effective in reducing dissolved organic substances. This was evident in the reduction in BOD and COD after the treatment [19].…”

Pengaruh Jarak Antara Elektroda Pada Reaktor Elektrokoagulasi Terhadap Pengolahan Effluent Limbah Cair Pabrik Kelapa Sawit

“…Dihasilkannya hidroksida akan menarik partikel-partikel yang tersuspensi sehingga menyebabkan koagulasi. Gas yang dihasilkan juga membantu pemindahan padatan yang tersuspensi [3,15].…”

Production of biogas and performance evaluation of existing treatment processes in palm oil mill effluent (POME)

“…Electrocoagulation is a definitely cost-effective and sustainable choice to meet the discharge standards limit. Numerous EC processes have been tested as a pre-treatment step or posttreatment step of a biological process used for the treatment of POME [126][127][128][129]. Sontaya and coworkers investigated the efficiency of an electrocoagulation process to remove the colour and COD using a 10 L batch reactor applying iron as electrodes in POME.…”

“…Nasution and his coworkers also used aluminium as electrode to investigate the production rate of hydrogen gas, removal of COD and turbidity without using any additive or pretreatment of POME. They showed that it removed 57% of COD and 62% of turbidity and produced 42% of hydrogen [129]. Daud and his coworkers determined the optimum conditions for POME using aluminium pairs as electrodes.…”