Anaerobic Treatment for Palm Oil Mill Effluent Using Covered In-the Ground Anaerobic Reactor (CIGAR)

Wastewater from crude palm oil mills contains high organic matter, which potentially produces biogas through anaerobic digestion processes. The design and operation of an anaerobic bioreactor require a good understanding of the reaction kinetic in the bioreactor. This study aimed to evaluate the biogas production from POME and to determine the kinetic parameters of microbial growth and the substrate utilization rates in a CIGAR. An experiment was conducted using a 5-m3 bioreactor with a working volume of 4.4 m3. Wastewater from the Bekri palm oil mill was stored in a 5-m3 tank. After stabilization, the wastewater was loaded into the reactor at a rate of 100 to 250 L/d, corresponding to a COD loading rate of 1.373-3.097 kg·m-3.d-1, and an HRT of 18-44 days. Monod, Contois, Moser, and Shuler kinetic models were evaluated. The results showed that the Shuler model performed best for microbial activities, while the first order reaction model performed best for the substrate utilization kinetic. The maximum specific growth rate (μmax) for the Shuler model was 0.052 d-1 and the saturation constant (Kso) was 0.119. The maximum substrate utilization rate constant (ks) was 2.183 d-1 and biomass yield (Yx/s) 0.024 kg/kg. The maximum average efficiency of anaerobic degradation (34.4%) occurred at a feeding rate of 100 L/d with methane yield of 0.120 Nm3/kg of removed COD. This value is relatively low compared to the maximum potential of 0.350 Nm3/kg CODr.

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Investigation of Temperature Effect on Start-Up Operation from Anaerobic Digestion of Acidified Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12132473 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (13) ◽

pp. 2473 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Muhammad Arif Fikri Hamzah ◽

Jamaliah Md Jahim ◽

Peer Mohamed Abdul ◽

Ahmad Jaril Asis

Keyword(s):

Anaerobic Digestion ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Biogas Production ◽

Oxygen Demand ◽

Culture Conditions ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Start Up ◽

Working Volume ◽

Palm Oil Mill ◽

Mesophilic Temperature

Malaysia is one of the largest palm oil producers worldwide and its most abundant waste, palm oil mill effluent (POME), can be used as a feedstock to produce methane. Anaerobic digestion is ideal for treating POME in methane production due to its tolerance to high-strength chemical oxygen demand (COD). In this work, we compared the culture conditions during the start-up of anaerobic digestion of acidified POME between thermophilic (55 °C) and mesophilic (37 °C) temperatures. The pH of the digester was maintained throughout the experiment at 7.30 ± 0.2 in a working volume of 1000 mL. This study revealed that the thermophilic temperature stabilized faster on the 44th day compared to the 52nd day for the mesophilic temperature. Furthermore, the thermophilic temperature indicated higher biogas production at 0.60 L- CH 4 /L·d compared to the mesophilic temperature at 0.26 L- CH 4 /L·d. Results from this study were consistent with the COD removal of thermophilic temperature which was also higher than the mesophilic temperature.

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Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) utilization for bio-hydrogen production targeting for biofuel : optimization and scale up

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20186702003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 ◽

pp. 02003

Author(s):

Joni Prasetyo ◽

S.D. Sumbogo Murti ◽

Semuel Pati Senda ◽

Andi Djalal Latief ◽

R. Dwi Husodo Prasetyo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hydrostatic Pressure ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Biogas Production ◽

Liquid Waste ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Active Sludge ◽

Working Volume ◽

Palm Oil Mill ◽

In The Beginning ◽

Biogas Productivity

Indonesia is the largest palm plantation that reaches 32 million tonnes palm oil production per year with 84 million tones Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) as liquid waste. POME contains many organic substances. The quality of POME for its utilization is generally measured in COD which has range 30000 -100.000 ppm. Microbial convertion for biogas especially for bio-H2 enrichment, the active sludge was pretreated physically to suppress methanogenesis microbes. H2 Biogas production was conducted at pH 5-6. Additional 10% phosphate buffer was done in the beginning only. The production of H2 biogas was influenced by hydrostatic pressure in closed batch system. Inoculumsmedium ratio also influenced the H2 biogas productivity, reached 0.7 ml/ml POME with more than 50% H2. Scaling up anaerobic in 2.5 L working volume bioreactor, H2 biogas productivity reached 0.86 ml/ml POME by 10% inoculums because of no hydrostatic pressure. In bio-reactor, H2-CO2 in H2 biogas was affected by the amount of active sludge. In the beginning of H2 biogas, H2 reached 80%. However, at subsequence process, fed batch, with retention time 2.5 day and 3 days H2 biogas production, the active sludge was accumulated and caused the decreasing H2, finally only 46% at the 3rd day. The consortium tended to produce more CO2 as the result of primary metabolite rather than H2. Raising inoculums to level 15% improved productivity only in the beginning but H2 content was getting less, only 59%. Additional feeding would cause more accumulation sludge and more decreasing H2 content to 31% on the 3rd day. Thus, the ratio of active sludge and substrate availability must be controlled to gain optimum H2. Limited substrate will cause the direction of bio-conversion more in CO2 rather than H2.

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Improved biogas production from palm oil mill effluent by a scaled-down anaerobic treatment process

World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology ◽

10.1007/s11274-009-0197-x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 505-514 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

M. F. Basri ◽

S. Yacob ◽

M. A. Hassan ◽

Y. Shirai ◽

M. Wakisaka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Treatment Process ◽

Biogas Production ◽

Anaerobic Treatment ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Palm Oil Mill

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Enhancement of Thermophilic Biogas Production from Palm Oil Mill Effluent by pH Adjustment and Effluent Recycling

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr9050878 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 878

Author(s):

Apinya Singkhala ◽

Chonticha Mamimin ◽

Alissara Reungsang ◽

Sompong O-Thong

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Biogas Production ◽

Optimal Dose ◽

Methane Yield ◽

Ph Adjustment ◽

Oil Palm Ash ◽

Palm Oil Mill ◽

Archaea Community ◽

Effluent Recycling

A sudden pH drops always inhibits the anaerobic digestion (AD) reactor for biogas production from palm oil mill effluent (POME). The pH adjustment of POME by oil palm ash addition and the biogas effluent recycling effect on the preventing of pH drop and change of the archaea community was investigated. The pH adjustment of POME to 7.5 increased the methane yield two times more than raw POME (pH 4.3). The optimal dose for pH adjustment by oil palm ash addition was 5% w/v with a methane yield of 440 mL-CH4/gVS. The optimal dose for pH adjustment by biogas effluent recycling was 20% v/v with a methane yield of 351 mL-CH4/gVS. Methane production from POME in a continuous reactor with pH adjustment by 5% w/v oil palm ash and 20% v/v biogas effluent recycling was 19.1 ± 0.25 and 13.8 ± 0.3 m3 CH4/m3-POME, respectively. The pH adjustment by oil palm ash enhanced methane production for the long-term operation with the stability of pH, alkalinity, and archaea community. Oil palm ash increased the number of Methanosarcina mazei and Methanothermobacter defluvii. Oil palm ash is a cost-effective alkali material as a source of buffer and trace metals for preventing the pH drop and the increased methanogen population in the AD process.

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Odour Intensity Assessment at Different Area of a Palm Oil Mill Using Olfactometry Method

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.802.472 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 802 ◽

pp. 472-477 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nurashikin Yaacof ◽

Nastaien Qamaruz Zaman ◽

Yusri Yusop

Keyword(s):

Palm Oil ◽

Emission Rate ◽

Anaerobic Treatment ◽

Cooling Pond ◽

Intensity Assessment ◽

Offensive Odour ◽

Volatile Organic ◽

Odour Concentration ◽

Volatile Organic Acids ◽

Palm Oil Mill

Malaysia is one of the world’s largest palm oil exporters, amounting to 39 % of world palm oil production and 44 % of world exports [1]. Palm oil mill usually engaged with odour problem that came from the wastewater treatment pond that released odourous compounds such as ammonia, volatile organic acids, and sulfides. This study was done to investigate odour nuisance from palm oil mill operations and odour emission rate at United Oil Palm (UOP) Mill, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. Odour assessment was done on-site at four points and odour sample was taken from four anaerobic treatment ponds. Flux hood method was used and the samples were analysed by using the olfactometry method with six panels. It was found that in the UOP mill, the highest odour emission is from the anaerobic pond 2 with the average specific odour emission rate of 10.88 OUE/sm2, follow by cooling pond, acid pond and anaerobic pond 1. Besides knowing the main source of the odour, this study was run to find the intensity and offensiveness of the palm oil mill odour. A simple questionnaire was asked to the six panels about the odour intensity and odour offensiveness, and the average for both was at 5 (very strong odour) and 3 (definitely offensive odour). Higher level of offensiveness and intensity will increase the odour complaints, but by knowing those levels, it will help in deciding the limit of odour concentration that can be released and the threshold of odour that can be accepted by humans.

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Effect of organic acid profiles during anaerobic treatment of palm oil mill effluent on the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Journal of Fermentation and Bioengineering ◽

10.1016/0922-338x(96)85038-0 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 82 (2) ◽

pp. 151-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Mohd. Ali Hassan ◽

Yoshihito Shirai ◽

Noriko Kusubayashi ◽

Mohd. Ismail Abdul Karim ◽

Kazuhiro Nakanishi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Acid ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Rhodobacter Sphaeroides ◽

Anaerobic Treatment ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Palm Oil Mill

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Comparison of Performance of an Intermittent Aeration Membrane Bioreactor and a Conventional Activated–sludge System in the Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Journal of Applied Membrane Science & Technology ◽

10.11113/amst.v7i1.53 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

S. Annop ◽

P. Sridang ◽

P. Chevakidagarn ◽

K. Nopthavorn

Keyword(s):

Activated Sludge ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Membrane Fouling ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Palm Oil Mill Effluent ◽

Oil And Grease ◽

Stage Of Development ◽

Working Volume ◽

Dissolved Oxygen Control ◽

Palm Oil Mill

The main objective was to compare the performances and the removal efficiencies of two biological treatment systems, a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) and a simultaneous activated sludge (AS), for treating Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME). Two lab scale units of SMBR and AS with a working volume of 24 L were operated under favorable biological conditions and minimized membrane fouling intensity. To achieve both carbonaceous and nitrogen removal, the cyclic air intermittent and dissolved oxygen control were performed into SMBR and AS with the influent flow rate about 16 L/d respectively. In terms of organic removal and membrane performance, the SMBR showed good removal efficiency to treat high strength wastewater with organic loading variation of POME. The average removal rates of TCOD, BOD, Turbidity, Color, Oil and Grease, NH3–N, TKN were 69±2, 76±2, 100±1, 37±21, 92±6, 67±4 and 75±10% respectively. Results pointed out the benefit of membranes retained totally the active compositions of biomass in each stage of development. The AS showed the limitation of sedimentation phase for sludge and oil separation. The characteristics of sludge in SMBR showed healthy floc formations and good settling after 240 h. The concentrations of COD and BOD in permeate were around 870±53 and 37±13 mg/L.

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