Pollutants analysis during conventional palm oil mill effluent (POME) ponding system and decolourisation of anaerobically treated POME via calcium lactate-polyacrylamide

Abstract

The conventional palm oil mill effluent (POME) ponding system is unable to fully decolourise the effluent which is aesthetically important. Several parameters, such as low molecular mass coloured compounds (LMMCC), lignin-tannin, ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the cooling pond, are much higher than for the fresh raw POME. The analysis of the POME from each pond revealed that the removal of lignin-tannin is insignificant after anaerobic ponds and hence physicochemical treatment is necessary. The POME colloid repulsion in the aerobic pond is greater than in the anaerobic pond. The coagulation/flocculation process was utilized to destabilize the anaerobically treated POME (AnPOME) colloid and calcium lactate was chosen as a coagulant. The best polymer order was identified based on an overall removal performance. The best polymer can be arranged as QF23912 (58%) > QF25610 (57%) > AN1500 (51%) > QF24807 (50%) > AN1800 (47%). All tested polymers have similarity in removing NH 3 -N. It can be concluded that calcium lactate-cationic polymer has potential as a pre-treatment for AnPOME.

The potential of fermented cottonseed oil-mill effluent as inexpensive biofertilizers and its agronomic evaluation on medium-textured tropical soil

“…Therefore, further study is needed on the interaction of fermentation duration and application rate of this wastewater to enhance its fertilizer value in crop production while averting any environmental hazards of such means of its disposal. Due to the observed phytotoxicity of the cottonseed oil-mill effluent, other pre-treatment options for this wastewater should also be explored such as chemical oxidation and biological treatment (Yaser et al 2013) as well as coagulation and membrane separation (Zahrim et al 2014).…”

Decolourisation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (Pome) Treatment Technologies: A Review

“…The discharge of coloured treated POME into a river, though less toxic, is often objected by the public on the visible colour appearance as a sign of pollution (Zahrim et al, 2009). Although the conventional ponding system is upgraded with anaerobic system, anaerobically treated effluent (AnPOME) still consists of dark brown colour (Zahrim et al, 2014). Reuse of AnPOME is one of the alternatives to reduce the impact to the environment, but its dark colour makes the AnPOME unattractive for reuse application (Ratpukdi, 2012).…”

“…The colour of the effluent is due to plant constituents such as lignin, tannin, humic and fulvic acid-like substances and phenolic compounds as well as repolymerisation of colouring compounds including anaerobic fermentation by-product, e.g melanoidin (Zahrim et al, 2014;). The lignin content in POME is around 1700-7890 mg litre -1 contributing to brownish colour of the POME (Poh et al, 2010).…”

“…Meanwhile, flocculation encourages the get together of the destabilised particles, where they stick and form larger aggregates (Bratby, 2006). According to Zahrim et al (2014), lignin-tannin removal is enhanced by a polymer coagulant, i.e. calcium lactate-cationic polyacrylamide.…”

Estudio de la generación de gas metano a partir del agua residual del proceso de extracción de aceite crudo de palma en biodigestores experimentales

“…En las diferentes etapas del proceso de extracción de aceite crudo de palma, como esterilización, clarificación y purga de calderas, se genera una importante cantidad de agua residual [2]. Se estima que al extraer una tonelada de aceite crudo, se descargan de 2.5 a 3 m 3 de agua residual conocida como POME (Palm Oil Mill Effluent) [3], la cual debe ingresar a un sistema de tratamiento previo para que pueda ser vertida al alcantarillado o hacia un cuerpo de agua receptor. Debido a las elevadas temperaturas y concentración de materia orgánica, el tratamiento se inicia comúnmente con procesos anaerobios [4].…”