Affiliations 

  • 1 Puritek Research Institute, Puritek Co. Ltd, Nanjing, China
  • 2 UAGB Biotech Sdn. Bhd. Cheras Traders Square, Cheras, Selangor 43200, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tang, Hong Kong. Electronic address: djlee@ntu.edu.tw
Bioresour Technol, 2021 Oct;338:125509.
PMID: 34271500 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125509

Abstract

Safe disposal of effluent from palm oil production poses an environmental concern. The highly polluting effluent is customarily treated by unsustainable open ponds with low efficiency, direct emissions, and massive land use. This study looks into an application of integrated anaerobic/oxic/oxic scheme for treatment of high strength palm oil mill effluent. The anaerobic reactors functioned as a prime degrader that removed up to 97.5% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), while the aerobic reactors played a role of an effluent polisher that further reduced the COD. Their complementing roles resulted in a remarkable removal of 99.7%. Assessment of emission mitigation and biogas energy revealed that yearly energy of 53.2 TJ, emissions reduction of 239,237 tCO2 and revenue of USD 1.40 millions can be generated out of electricity generation and heating. The integrated scheme provides a viable and sustainable treatment of the high strength palm oil mill effluent.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.