Palm Oil Clinker as a Waste by-Product: Utilization and Circular Economy Potential

Abstract

Conservation of natural resources to create ecological balance could be significantly improved by substituting them with waste by-products. Palm oil industry operations increases annually, thereby generating huge quantity of waste to be dumped into the landfill. Palm oil clinker (POC) is a solid waste by-product produced in one of the oil palm processing phases. This chapter is designed to highlight the generation, disposal problems, properties and composition of POC. The waste to resource potentials of POC would be greatly discussed in the chapter starting with the application of POC in conventional and geopolymer structural elements such as beams, slabs, columns made of either concrete, mortar or paste for coarse aggregates, sand and cement replacement. Aspects such as performance of POC in wastewater treatment processes, fine aggregate and cement replacement in asphaltic and bituminous mixtures during highway construction, a bio-filler in coatings for steel manufacturing processes and a catalyst during energy generation would also be discussed. Circular economy potentials, risk assessment and leaching behavior during POC utilization would be evaluated. The chapter also discusses the effectiveness of POC in soil stabilization and the effect of POC pretreatment for performance enhancement. Towards an efficient utilization, it is important to carry out technical and economic studies, as well as life cycle assessments, in order to compare all the POC areas of application described in the present review article. POC powder has proven to be pozzolanic with maximum values of 17, 53.7, 0.92, 3.87, 1.46, for CaO, SiO2, SO3, Fe2O3 and Al2O3. Therefore, the present chapter would inspire researchers to find research gaps that will aid the sustainable use of agroindustry wastes. The fundamental knowledge contained in the chapter could also serve as a wake-up call for researchers that will motivate them to explore the high potential of utilizing POC for greater environmental benefits associated with less cost when compared with conventional materials.

Pristine and Magnetic Kenaf Fiber Biochar for Cd2+ Adsorption from Aqueous Solution

“…Biochar has a negative surface charge with high surface area and large pore volume [48]. Those features allow biochar to be a sufficient and promising adsorbent due to distinct adsorption on oxygenated functional groups, electrostatic attraction to aromatic groups, and precipitation on the mineral of biochar [49][50][51]. The biochar-based metal oxide can extract negatively charged oxyanion from an aqueous solution by using the high surface area of biochar as a medium to embed metal oxide with contacting chemical properties [52][53][54].…”

Adsorption Behavior of Methylene Blue Cationic Dye in Aqueous Solution Using Polypyrrole-Polyethylenimine Nano-Adsorbent

“…A large variety of adsorbent materials such as carbon material [17], chitosan [18,19], nanocellulose [20], cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), palm oil agriculture waste [21][22][23], cotton stalk [24], jackfruit leaves [25], guava leaves [26], yellow passion fruit waste [27], neem leaves powder [28], rice husk [29], and granular activated carbon (GAC) have been tested in the removal of different dyes [30]. Because of their refractory and dangerous nature, many dyes are not easily degradable and hence remain in water supplies for prolonged periods of time [31].…”