Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent by a Microbial Consortium Developed from Compost Soils

Abstract

A method for the aerobic treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) was investigated in shake-flask experiments using a consortium developed from POME compost. POME was initially centrifuged at 4,000 g for 15 min and the supernatant was enriched with (NH4)2SO4 (0.5%) and yeast extract (0.25%) to boost its nitrogen content. At optimum pH (pH 4) and temperature (40°C) conditions, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the effluent decreased from 10,350 to 1,000 mg/L (90.3%) after 7 days. The total bacterial population determined by plate count enumeration was 2.4 × 106 CFU/mL, while the fungal count was 1.8 × 103 colonies/mL. Bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, and Bacillus were isolated, while the fungal genera included Aspergillus, Penicillium, Trichoderma, and Mucor. When the isolated species were each inoculated into separate batches of the raw effluent, both pH and COD were unchanged. However, at 75 and 50% POME dilutions, the COD dropped by 52 and 44%, respectively, while the pH increased from 4 to 7.53. POME treatment by aerobic method is sustainable and holds promising prospects for cushioning the environment from the problems associated with the use of anaerobic systems.

Utilization of moringa oleifera and nanofiltration membrane to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME)

“…Due to acidic conditions and effluent‘s unstable particles, the coagulation‘s tendency to extract suspended solids is more significant because there is an increased likelihood of interaction between the coagulant and particles. A similar pH trend was observed when aerobic treatment was used to treat palm oil mill effluent [25].…”

Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent Using Membrane Bioreactor: Novel Processes and Their Major Drawbacks

“…First, BI is the ratio of BOD to COD elements contained in a given POME sample [37,41]. It measures the strength and treatments strain requirements [42,43].…”

Physicochemical characteristics of soils treated with palm oil mill effluent in three localities in Imo State, Nigeria

“…Studies on the use of microbes to encourage enhanced degradation of POME polluted soil have been documented. Iwuagwu & Ugwuanyi [8] observed that microbial activity in raw POME could be enhanced by addition of yeast isolates (Saccharomycess sp), while the treatment of POME by a microbial consortium developed from compost soils was investigated by Nwuche et al [9]. The researchers revealed that when isolate species of microbes were inoculated into aerobic diluted POME effluent, the COD and pH of the effluent reduced to approximately 44% of the initial concentrations.…”