Evaluating Fertilizer-Drawn Forward Osmosis Performance in Treating Anaerobic Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) is a potential alternative to recover and reuse water and nutrients from agricultural wastewater, such as palm oil mill effluent that consists of 95% water and is rich in nutrients. This study investigated the potential of commercial fertilizers as draw solution (DS) in FDFO to treat anaerobic palm oil mill effluent (An-POME). The process parameters affecting FO were studied and optimized, which were then applied to fertilizer selection based on FO performance and fouling propensity. Six commonly used fertilizers were screened and assessed in terms of pure water flux (Jw) and reverse salt flux (JS). Ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4), mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP), and potassium chloride (KCl) were further evaluated with An-POME. MAP showed the best performance against An-POME, with a high average water flux, low flux decline, the highest performance ratio (PR), and highest water recovery of 5.9% for a 4-h operation. In a 24-h fouling run, the average flux decline and water recovered were 84% and 15%, respectively. Both hydraulic flushing and osmotic backwashing cleaning were able to effectively restore the water flux. The results demonstrated that FDFO using commercial fertilizers has the potential for the treatment of An-POME for water recovery. Nevertheless, further investigation is needed to address challenges such as JS and the dilution factor of DS for direct use of fertigation.

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Preparation and Characterization of Polysulfone/Polyphenylsulfone/Titanium Dioxide Composite Ultrafiltration Membranes for Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment

Jurnal Teknologi ◽

10.11113/jt.v65.2336 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

Author(s):

N. Ismail ◽

W. J. Lau ◽

A. F. Ismail ◽

P. S. Goh

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Treatment Process ◽

Pure Water ◽

Water Flux ◽

Effluent Treatment ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Efficient Treatment ◽

Pure Water Flux ◽

Palm Oil Mill ◽

Bsa Rejection

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the largest pollutant discharged into the rivers of Malaysia. An efficient treatment system is highly desirable in palm oil mills in order to control the effluent discharged to any water bodies. In this study, composite ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were successufully prepared by incorporating polysulfone (PSF)/polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) blend membranes with inorganic TiO2 nanoparticles in the range of 0–4 wt%. Prior to POME treatment process, the properties of the resulting membranes were first characterized with respect to pure water flux, BSA rejection, hydrophilicity and structural morphologies. Of the membranes tested, it is found that membrane without TiO2 incorporation demonstrated the highest pure water flux, i.e. 82.81 L/m2h with BSA rejection of 98% when tested at 2 bar. The decreasing water flux with increasing TiO2 loading in the membrane is mainly due to the high viscosity of the dope solution which delayed the phase inversion process and resulted in reduced surface pore size. For the POME treatment process, the results showed that UF membrane could effectively treat the wastewater by removing up to 87% BOD3, 90% COD and almost complete elimination of turbidity.

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Performance of Nanofiltration-Like Forward-Osmosis Membranes for Aerobically Treated Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Chemical Engineering & Technology ◽

10.1002/ceat.201700339 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 303-312 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Wan Nur Ain Shuhada Abdullah ◽

Woei-Jye Lau ◽

Farhana Aziz ◽

Daryoush Emadzadeh ◽

Ahmad Fauzi Ismail

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Forward Osmosis ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Palm Oil Mill

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Reclamation from palm oil mill effluent using an integrated zero discharge membrane-based process

Polish Journal of Chemical Technology ◽

10.1515/pjct-2015-0068 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 49-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

A.L. Ahmad ◽

I. Idris ◽

C.Y. Chan ◽

S. Ismail

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

Agricultural Waste ◽

Value Added ◽

Beta Carotene ◽

Suspended Solid ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Water Recovery ◽

Zero Discharge ◽

Palm Oil Mill

Abstract This research emphasizes eloquently on membrane technology for treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) as it is the Malaysia’s largest and most important agro based industry. Findings established significant quality improvement with an efficient recovery of water from palm oil mill via innovative membrane application. Conventional bio-methods, whilst adhering to the Department of Environment’s (DOE) discharge regulations, produces brownish liquid which pales in comparison to the crystal clear water obtained through membrane treatment. The pre-treatment process consists of coagulation-flocculation using green environmental coagulant bases such as Moringa oleifera (MO) seeds. The ultrafiltration polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and thin film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis were vital for the membrane processes. The system gave 99% suspended solids reduction in suspended solid and 78% of water present was successfully recovered. This technology guarantees water recovery with drinking water quality; meeting the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standard or could be recycled into the plant with sludge utilization for palm oil estates, thus enabling the concept of zero discharge to be executed in the industries. In addition, green and healthy antioxidants such as oil and beta-carotene can be recovered from POME further demonstrate. Silica gel showed better performance in separation of carotenes from oil at temperature 40°C using adsorption chromatography with 1154.55 ppm. The attractiveness of this technology, enabling the utilization of reuse of agricultural waste into potentially value added products.

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Reduction of Total Suspended Solids, Turbidity and Colour of Palm Oil Mill Effluent using Hybrid Coagulation-Fltrafiltration Process

Journal of Applied Membrane Science & Technology ◽

10.11113/amst.v23n1.144 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

Author(s):

W. Q. Ng ◽

S. O. Lai ◽

K. C. Chong ◽

S. S. Lee ◽

C. H. Koo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Suspended Solids ◽

Pure Water ◽

Total Suspended Solids ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Transmembrane Pressure ◽

Permeate Flux ◽

Coagulation Process ◽

Palm Oil Mill ◽

Uf Membranes

High consumption and production of palm oil have led to the massive generation of palm oil mill effluent (POME). This study was intended to reduce the total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity and colour using hybrid coagulation-ultrafiltration process. POME was pre-treated with coagulation process using polyaluminium chloride (PAC) and optimization of operating condition for coagulation process was performed. The coagulation results revealed that optimum pH, dosage of coagulant and rapid mixing speed were pH 4, 600 mg/L and 200 rpm, respectively. It achieved the highest percent reduction of TSS, turbidity and colour with 99.74%, 94.44% and 94.60%, respectively. Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane was fabricated using polyethersulfone (PES), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle. Different concentrations ranging from zero and 1.0 wt% of TiO2 nanoparticles were added into the dope solution. The characterization studies of UF membranes confirmed that higher concentration of TiO2 provided higher pure water permeability and more porous structure in the UF membranes. The amount of TiO2 in membrane only affected the permeate flux but had no obvious effects on the reduction of TSS, turbidity and colour. The optimum transmembrane pressure was found to be 3 bar, resulting in the greatest reduction of TSS, turbidity and colour.

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