Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

UEMX 3653: Water and Wastewater Treatment

Title: Palm Oil Mill Industrial Wastewater

Group Assignment: CI 13

Name ID
Aravinda Reddy A/L Thiakarajan 2006150
Hwong Yu Yi 2101606
Joshua Chang Hao Hong 1905947
Ko Jia Jin 2102279
Ong Chong Xian 2006615
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Objective....................................................................................................................................5
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................6
Characteristics of the industrial wastewater and the major contributing pollutants................11
Regulation/Environment Act...................................................................................................13
Wastewater Treatment Plant....................................................................................................15
Assess the Treatment Performance..........................................................................................18
Analytical Methods..................................................................................................................18
Conclusion................................................................................................................................19
Reference..................................................................................................................................20
Introduction
In tropical nations like Indonesia and Malaysia, where the environment is hot and
humid, palm oil, the fastest-growing and most important vegetable oil in the world, has
caused a natural resource boom. To separate the palm oil from the fresh fruit, a palm oil mill
processing plant incorporates a number of procedures, including bunch stripping, sterilizing,
and fresh fruit bunch (FFB). A hectare of palm oil produces between 10 and 35 tones of FFB
per year, therefore the total area undergoing palm oil cultivation in 2017 was close to 5.77
million hectares (ha), or 2.23% of Malaysia's arable land. The productive life of an oil palm
tree is about 20 to 25 years, although the lifetime is over 200 years. While the initial harvest
can be done 32–38 mon after planting, the plant marketplace is open between 11–15 mon.
Palm oil production peaks after 5–10 years, or 45–56% of FFB. Oil is produced from the
fruit's mesocarp. Kernel accounts for about 40–50% of the yield. The fruit's mesocarp and
kernel produce about 17 t/ha per year, and 5.8 tons of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) can be used to
produce 1 tons of crude palm oil (CPO).

Based on oil extraction process' significant production of by-products such as oil palm
trunks (OPT), oil palm fronds, empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm pressed fibers, palm kernel
shells, and palm oil mill effluent, the development of this industry has significantly boosted
the economy and contributed to environmental pollution (POME). These byproducts and
effluents' release into the environment has negative consequences and pollutes the
environment. With an annual production rate of around 50 million tons, Malaysia has
emerged as a significant POME producer on the international stage. The high levels of
organic acids, carbohydrates, minerals, and proteins found in POME make this waste source
an ideal nutrition for the growth of biomass. POME specifically refers to an industrial waste
that should not be released into the environment before being treated. Both the aerobic and
anaerobic approaches for treating POME. In an aerobic digester, the process involves the use
of oxygen. Lower retention times are needed to encourage anaerobic digestion because
bacteria multiply quickly in aerobic conditions. Authorities on climate change point to palm
oil mills as the second-largest source of methane generation in Malaysia, behind landfills
(53%). Thus, the main source of methane or biogas that contributes to global warming is
palm oil mills. Because of its high rate of production with low consumption of energy and
adaptability in using a variety of organic pollutants enriched with carbohydrates, such waste
molasses, dairy effluent, sewage sludge, and POME, this anaerobic digestion process has
been widely used in treating POME.
 Even though not the only waste produced during the production of fresh fruit bunches
is palm oil mill effluent (POME) (FFB). However, it's also the most costly and challenging
waste for mill owners to manage. This is due to the fact that tonnes of volume are produced
all at once. The treatment of POMEs is still seen as a burden by the palm oil industry rather
than as an essential step in the production process or even a source of revenue (Ma A.N.
1999). Due to the simplicity and low cost of this disposal approach, raw or inadequately
treated POME is being dumped into surrounding rivers or on to undeveloped land.
Nevertheless, excessive amounts of untreated POME suffocate aquatic life and deplete a
body of water's oxygen supply. As downstream residents are typically impacted, many small
and large rivers have indeed been destroyed by such discharge. The frustration of the
villagers of Keningau and Murat, who constantly publicized the incident of pollution to the
media in an effort to inform the public that palm oil mills are contaminating the Ongom,
Ambual, and Punti rivers, was evidence of this. The Pegalan River lowlands' water source has
been severely harmed by oil and soil contamination, according to complaints from the Murat
village.

The three reactions that make up this process are hydrolysis, acidogenesis, and
methanogenesis. Fermentative bacteria break down complex chemical substances into
monomers like amino acids, monosaccharides, and fatty acids during the hydrolysis process.
Simple monomers are broken down into hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and acetate in the second
stage, which act as originators for the third process, which results in the production of
methane. Due to the high concentration of COD, limited generation of excess sludge, and
potential for energy production, anaerobic digestion is a good choice for severely polluted
wastewaters.
Objective
In this report we are supposed to perform study on Palm Oil Mill Industrial
Wastewater, as stated in the title. We will investigate the Palm Oil Mill Industrial
manufacturing process and examine the specific industrial effluent produced. The features
and significant contaminants in the specific industrial wastewater will be determined. Then
we'll look into the regulations for treated wastewater. Finally, we must propose a wastewater
treatment system for Palm Oil Mill Industrial Wastewater.
Literature Review

Bunches or pieces of freshly picked fruit are brought in from the fields. In order to
verify the quantity of fruit delivered to the processing site, fresh fruit is typically unloaded
into wooden boxes that can be weighed on a scale. A weighbridge is used in extensive
facilities for weighing trucks carrying materials (Palm Oil Processing). Genetics, tree age,
agronomy, environment, harvesting method, handling, and transport are just some of the
factors that play a part in palm oil's final composition and quality. A small-scale processor
can have little to no impact on many of these variables. It is possible that measures could be
taken to regulate harvesting methods and the care taken with the produce after it has been
picked. Figure 1 is the step flow chart for the palm oil-making process, and Figure 2 is the
simplified flow diagram of the palm oil mill.

Figure 1: Step flow chart for palm oil manufacturing process

Figure 2: simplified flow diagram of the palm oil manufacturing process

 High-temperature wet-heat treatment is used to sterilize or cook loose fruit.
Sterilization is done with pressurized steam, while cooking typically uses hot water. The
process of cooking has multiple benefits. Wet heat weakens the fruit stem and makes it easy
to remove the fruit from bunches on shaking or tumbling in the threshing machine, making it
ideal for large-scale installations in which bunches are cooked whole (Palm Oil Processing).
Proteins with oil-carrying cells distributed on a microscopic scale can be solidified with heat.
When pressure is applied, the oil-containing cells can clump together thanks to protein
solidification (coagulation) (Akhbari et al., 2019). When fruit is cooked, the pulp structure is
weakened, softened, and the fibrous material and its contents are more easily separated
during digestion. When exposed to high temperatures, the oil-containing cells in the
mesocarp are partially disrupted, helping to make oil release easier. Gums and resins can be
chemically dissolved by steam's introduction of moisture (Palm Oil Processing). When the
gums and resins are used for frying, they cause the oil to foam. It is possible to dissolve some
gums and resins in water. Others can be removed during oil clarification by being broken
down into water-soluble components via wet steam (hydrolysis). Hydrolysis of the fruit
causes the removal of any starches that are present.
 Due to the high temperature and pressure of the steam, the moisture in the nuts will
expand significantly during the sterilization process. Reducing the pressure causes the nut to
contract, separating the kernel from the shell wall and allowing the kernels to move more
freely within their shells. In order to crack a nut, it is necessary to first separate the kernel
from the shell wall. The preceding makes it clear that sterilization (cooking) is one of the
most crucial steps in the oil processing process, as its success assures the attainment of many
other key stages. However, it is crucial to ensure the sterilizer is completely devoid of air
during the sterilization process (Akhbari et al., 2019). There is a high risk of oxidation during
sterilization because air acts as a thermal insulator, and oil oxidation rates rise sharply at
higher temperatures. If oil is over-sterilized, it loses some of its bleaching strength. The
sterilization process is also largely responsible for the discolouration of palm kernels, which
reduces the press cake's protein value and results in the extracted oil's poor bleach capability.

Figure 3: Fruit sterilizer

 Fruit in spikelets on a central stem makes up the fresh fruit bunch. In manual
threshing, the fruit-bearing spikelet is detached from the stem of the bunch using an axe or
machete, and the fruit is then separated from the spikelet by hand. Mechanized systems use
either a rotating drum or a fixed drum fitted with rotary beater bars to separate the fruit from
the bunch while retaining the spikelet on the stem. Typically, processors on a smaller scale
lack the equipment to produce steam for sterilization purposes. So, the fruits are threshed and
then boiled in water. Spikelets and the rest of the whole bunch soak up a lot of water while
cooking. Using high-pressure steam, bunches can be heated more quickly and with less water
loss. Most small-scale operations thresh the bunches before they are cooked to loosen the
fruits, while high-pressure sterilization systems thresh the bunches after heating. Bunch waste
(empty bunches) is a fuel source for small-scale operators. Larger mills often burn waste to
recover the potassium-rich ash, which is then used as fertilizer on the plantation.

The palm oil in the fruit is extracted during digestion by rupturing or otherwise
breaking down the oil-containing cells. A typical digester is a cylindrical vessel heated by
steam and equipped with a central rotating shaft carrying several beater (stirring) arms
(Kramanandita et al., 2014). The rotating arms of the beater pound the fruit. The oil's
viscosity can be lowered by pounding or high-temperature digestion of the fruit, which
removes the exocarp and disrupts the oil cells started during the sterilization process. Most
small-scale digesters lack the heat insulation and steam injections that keep their contents at
elevated temperatures during this operation due to cost and maintenance concerns (Palm Oil
Processing). At the time of digestion, when metal wear is greatest in the milling process,
contamination from iron is at its most severe. An increase in oxidation and rancidity of oil is
possible when it is contaminated with iron.

Crude palm oil is extracted from the digested mash through a screw press. Oil, water,
and solids help compensate for crude palm oil at this point; a vibrating screen separates the
solids. The digested material can be processed in two ways, each yielding oil. The 'dry'
system, which uses mechanical presses, is one option (What are the steps in palm oil
production?). The other technique, known as the "wet" method, involves using hot water to
"leach out" the oil.
 The purpose of clarification is to free the oil from any contaminants that may have
been drawn to it during extraction. Palm oil, water, cell debris, fibrous material, and "non-
oily solids" comprise the fluid from the press. The non-oily solids make for a very thick
mixture (Palm Oil Processing). Therefore, hot water is added to the press output mixture to
dilute it. When the emulsion is broken by applying heat, the diluted (added water) mixture
acts as a barrier, allowing the heavier solids to settle to the bottom. At the same time, the
lighter oil droplets rise to the surface . A 3:1 ratio of water is used.

Figure 4: Clarifier

A screen is used to separate the coarse fibre from the diluted mixture. The strained
mixture is boiled for an hour or two to extract as much water as possible, and then the palm
oil is allowed to settle to the bottom of the large tank via gravity. The transparent oil is
transferred to a holding tank. There are traces of water and dirt in this clarified oil
(Kramanandita et al., 2014). Keeping the oil's moisture content between 0.15 and 0.25
percent prevents the free fatty acids from increasing via autocatalytic hydrolysis. Any
remaining moisture can be removed by re-heating the decanted oil in a cooking pot and
skimming off the dried oil from any engrained dirt (Palm Oil Processing). Three distinct
sections make up a continuous clarifier's design: one for processing the crude mixture, one
for drying the decanted oil, and one for storing the refined oil in a heat exchanger shell.
Clarifier effluent is discharged into specially built sludge pits. In smaller mills, the sludge is
not further processed. A common use for the accumulated sludge is as a weed killer in the
processing area, where it is often stored in buckets for easy transport.

The refined and dehydrated oil is stored in a tank before being shipped from large-
scale mills. Oil is typically kept at a temperature of around 50 degrees Celsius, using either
hot water or low-pressure steam-heating coils, to avoid solidification and fractionation, as the
oxidation rate of oil increases with storage temperature. Storage tank iron contamination is
possible if the tank is not lined with a protective coating. To store their finished product, most
small-scale mills place the dried oil in plastic or recycled petroleum oil drums and keep them
in a cool, dry place.

There is a combination of fibre and palm nuts in the press residue. In smaller-scale
operations, the nuts and fibre are separated manually. The fibre is covered and heated for
about two or three days by its internal exothermic reactions. Spindle presses are then used to
extract a technical oil from the fibre for use in soap production. Typically, the nuts are dried
and sold to businesses that will turn them into palm kernel oil.

The recovered fibre and nutshells heat the steam boilers in large-scale mills. The
turbines are powered by superheated steam, which provides electricity to the mill. A
depericarper separates the nuts in the press cake from the fibre during the large-scale kernel
recovery process. This is followed by drying and cracking in centrifugal crackers, where the
kernels can be extracted. Winnowing and hydro cyclones are typically used to separate the
kernels from the shells. Next, the kernels are dried in silos until they reach a moisture content
of 7%, at which point they are packaged.

Figure 5: Spindle press

Characteristics of the industrial wastewater and the major contributing pollutants.
The palm oil business is now growing swiftly and becoming a significant agriculture-
based industry in Malaysia. The number of palm oil mills has increased somewhat, from 10
mills in 1960 to 410 operating mills in 2008. In Malaysia, at least 44 million tonnes of POME
were produced, and that number is rising every year in large part due to the government's
initiative to support the palm oil business (Kamyab et al., 2018). The manufacturing of a lot
of by-products during the extraction of the palm oil has led to environmental pollution, even
though the palm oil sector has received much praise for its contribution to economic
prosperity and quick expansion. While producing crude palm oil, wastewater known as palm
oil mill effluent (POME) is created from sterilisation, hydrocyclone waste, and separator
sludge. Separator sludge and steriliser effluent are the two main sources of POME, and they
both contribute to the wastewater's highly polluting characteristics (Poh, Yong and Chong,
2010). Due to its extremely polluting qualities, direct discharge of POME harms the
environment, notably in Malaysia, where 53 million tonnes of POME were created in 2008.
This is because 3 tonnes of POME are produced for every tonne of crude palm oil produced
in palm oil mills (Poh, Yong and Chong, 2010).

The general characteristics of raw palm oil mill effluent are presented in Table 1.

Parameters Concentration Range Current Discharge Limit

Chemical oxygen demand

15,000–100,000 mg/L -
(COD)

Biochemical oxygen demand

10,250–43,750 mg/L 100 mg/L
(BOD)

Total suspended solids

5000–54,000 mg/L 400 mg/L
(TSS)

Oil and grease 130–18,000 mg/L 50 mg/L

Temperature 80–90 ˚C 45 ˚C
pH 3.4–5.2 5–9
Table 1: General characteristic of raw POME (Baidurah, 2021).
 The raw POME is a thick, brownish-coloured slurry that is viscous and colloidal, with
high water contents (95–96%), suspended particles (2-4%), and oils (0.6-0.7%). POME is an
acidic material with a foul smell, high COD and BOD values, and the potential to be
simultaneously sensitive to environmental conditions (Baidurah, 2021). It is a nutrient-rich
substance that has a brownish hue because of the presence of carotene (8 mg/L), pectin (3400
mg/L), tannin, phenolic (5800 mg/L), and lignin (4700 mg/L) (Baidurah, 2021). POME is
well-known for being a significant issue in every oil palm facility because of its massive
abundance and disposal issues. By discharging POME directly into the ground, vegetation is
immediately killed by clogging and water logging of the soil. Aquatic pollution occurs from
the effluent's discharge into a waterway since it depletes the water supply. In extreme
circumstances, river water consequently turns brown and has a viscous quality in addition to
an awful odour. Fish and other aquatic organisms are dying off more frequently, and locals
are losing access to the water sources for drinking and fishing. Therefore, the development of
efficient POME treatment methods is of the utmost importance.

The major contributing pollutants are soluble organic matters, suspended solids and
leftover oil. The existence of soluble organic materials in discharged POME reduces the rate
of oxygen in the water due to an increase in bacteria, and this occurrence puts fish and other
marine life in danger (Hosseini and Abdul Wahid, 2013). High levels of total suspended
solids will decrease dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and increase water temperature. This is
since water molecules are outperformed by suspended particles in terms of heat absorption
from solar radiation. Following that, conduction is used to transport this heat to the local
waterways. Levels of dissolved oxygen will decrease because warmer water cannot store as
much oxygen as colder water. The number of solids in the water will also affect how clear it
is. Despite the value of the fats and edible oils produced from palm fruits, POME still
contains residual oil that has an impact on the environment. Oily wastewater treatment and
disposal, such as POME, is currently one of the major environmental issues. Although palm
oil mill wastes have been around for a while, their effects on the ecosystem are now
increasingly apparent. The removal of oily waste is necessary to avoid issues that are
dangerous pollutants, especially in aquatic environments where they are very poisonous to
aquatic creatures (Kamyab et al., 2018).
Regulation/Environment Act
There are various regulations connected to palm oil industry under EQA 1974. EQA
1974 applies to two categories of palm oil industries: the growth requirement of palm oil
farms and the environmental protection of palm oil mills. Regulations under the EQA 1974
apply to the palm oil industry. For example, Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities)
(Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 2015, Environmental Quality (Prescribed
Premises) (Crude Palm Oil) Order 1977, Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)
(Crude Palm Oil) Regulations 1977, Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Open
Burning) Order 2003, Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005, and
Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014.

The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact

Assessment) Order 2015 states that the goal of this Order is to assure that land development
alternatives are ecologically responsible and sustainable, and that environmental
repercussions are recognized and considered early in the production design. According to the
Order, any land use planning schemes of other agricultural states into plantations for palm oil
with a total area of 200 hectares or more must submit a Preliminary Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) Report to the DOE under Schedule 1, Environmental Quality (Prescribed
Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987.

Furthermore, under the terms of this Order, the construction of waste-to-energy (WtE)
facilities in the industry of palm oil are subject to the completion of an Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) to DOE. Penalty: A fine of up to RM 500,000 or jail for up to 5 years, or
both, with an extra fee of RM1000 per day if the project is developed without the permission
of the EIA report. There have been 5 authorized EIA assessments on the palm oil cultivation
construction process with fields ranging between 350 to 950 hectares since 2015

Moreover, order on Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil)

1977 the aim of this Regulation is to establish that all palm oil producers are subject to DOE
licensing. Penalty: A fine of up to RM 25000 and imprisonment for up to 2 years, or both,
and a further fine of RM1000 each day if the offense is continuing after the Director General
has given notice. Malaysia now has 461 authorized facilities for palm oil factories.

The goal of the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil)
Regulations 1977 is to ensure that the effluent from palm oil mills meets the stated limit
values and standards. This Regulation is critical for reducing environmental problems caused
by the integrity of palm oil mill wastewater.

POME has a high content of organic matter that degrades which is partly due to the
existence of exposed palm oil. The release of inadequately treated POME has a negative
effect on the environment shown in (Table 1). POME, on the other hand, has chemicals that
can encourage the development of microalgae. Microalgae naturally occur in several palm oil
mill procedures, a phenomenon called as "algae bloom," lowering water quality. Since
POME contains a huge amount of organic and inorganic compounds that are harmful to
ecosystem quality, microalgae have been proposed as a possible candidate for removing these
pollutants and breaking down the biological compounds found in it.

Table 1

Punishment: A fine of up to RM 25,000 or prison for up to 2 years, or both, or an

extra fine of RM1,000 each day if the offence is continuing after the Director General has
given a notice (non-compliance with license condition). Currently, DOE has taken the effort
to evaluate the guideline and given criterion of palm oil mill wastewater in order to
accommodate current technology and practices and further preserve the industry's
sustainability.

Furthermore, the purpose of the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Open

Burning) Order 2003 is to prohibit any open burning on peat soil. This is critical in order to
avoid local haze caused by peatland fires. Penalty: A total of RM 2,000 per offence for
multiple crimes. However, the aim of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes)
Regulations 2005 is to ensure that scheduled waste management, which includes processing,
storage, and disposal of scheduled wastes in palm oil mills, is done effectively. It is critical to
avoid the environmental risks that may result from the scheduled trash. Penalty: A maximum
of RM 2,000 per offence for multiple crimes.
Wastewater Treatment Plant
The palm oil industry has been confirmed as a potential threat to the environment due
to discharge of effluent that can cause air, soil, and water pollution. Hence, we have
recommended an appropriate wastewater treatment plant to treat the effluent that produced by
the palm oil milling process. The aims of wastewater treatment for palm oil industrial is to
recover the usable materials such as oil, sludge, and water from effluent and to minimize the
waste generation that can cause pollution to environment. The integrated wastewater
treatment process mainly routed in pre-treatment, biological process treatment, membrane
separation, biogas utilization and sludge treatment has been created to fulfil the
characteristics of palm oil industrial wastewater.

Figure 1: An integrated treatment process for palm oil industrial wastewater

First and foremost, the pre-treatment that includes a rotary screen and a grit separator
which helps to screen the gross solids and unexpected mass in the raw palm oil mills effluent
(POME). After that, the POME is subjected to oil-water separation in an oil separation tank.
By removing the gross solids and pollutants from the POME, it can prevent suspended solids
to from entering to the primary settling tank and protect the downstream equipment from
being damaged by unexpected mass. Apart from that, oil separating helps to collect the
sludge oils that extracted from POME. Then, the POME is passing through a cyclone grit
separator to separate the sand due to high solid content in POME. Meanwhile, an equalisation
tank as known as EQ tank act as a buffer for the raw materials to enhance the effectiveness of
POME treatment and stabilize the operational parameters. At the same time, a cooling tower
is installed to lower the temperature of influent of anaerobic process to the optimum range.
After undergoing the equalising in EQ tank, the characteristics of POME such as biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS) are
relatively lower as compared to the raw POME (S.K. Loh, 2013). Next, the POME that going
through the treatment of EQ tank will be coagulated and flocculated by dosing selected
chemicals in the dosing tank to eliminate the suspended solids and residue oils. The dosing
will act as a storage tank that discharge the POME at the rate required by the treatment plant
and it can also adjust the pH of POME to maintain at neutral value.

Figure 2: Pre-treatment process

After the pre-treatment, the POME will continue to the biological treatment which
involves anaerobic and aerobic process. Anaerobic digestion is a well-established wastewater
treatment technology currently as it is a bacterial process that conduct without presence of
oxygen. The anaerobic expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) process played an important
role in degrading most of the organic matter. This is because the anaerobic EGSB helps to
reduce the amount of suspended solid in POME. Hereafter, the suspended solid of effluent is
removed by the dissolved air flotation (DAF) and discharged to the attached growth aerobic
tank that allowed the biomass growth acclimatization media and effluents pass through its
surface. As half of the sludge from the DAF will be recycled to anaerobic EGSB tank, which
implies that half of the recycled sludge was biodegraded during anaerobic treatment (J.
Wang, 2014). The COD and BOD of POME are reduced significantly in the biological
treatment which using the integrated anaerobic and aerobic system. Thus, it shows that
efficient of the treatment system is high. The treated water after the biological treatment will
undergoing a water reclamation system which included ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis.
This system provided a final treatment stage to improve the quality of effluent. In this
treatment stage, clarification will be carried out by the ultrafiltration to remove any
macromolecules in the treated water before the removal of salt ions by using reverse osmosis.
After treated water passed through the ultrafiltration, the reverse osmosis will apply pressure
to the treated water in order to remove various types of large molecules and ions. Reverse
osmosis concentrates up to 40% recovery of wastewater is collected as a liquid fertilizer
which high in potassium. The remaining 60% recovery wastewater is recycled back to use in
the cooling tower in the palm oil mills. The quality of water is having an improvement in
term of colour, odour, and turbidity from stage to stage. At the final stage, the recovery of
wastewater collected at reserve osmosis is odour-free and clear.

Figure3: POME treatment process

Furthermore, as the anaerobic digestion in the treatment plant will generate biogas
with a high proportion of methane which can be used in generating electricity. Therefore, the
biogas will undergo purification in a desulphurization system that using chemical treatment.
The produced biogas can be used as generating electricity after the process of
desulphurization. Partly of the electricity will be utilized in the pilot plant while most of the
electricity produced will be sold. Apart from that, the biofertilizers have been regarded as an
alternative to chemical fertilizers to enhance soil fertility and crop production in sustainable
farming (J. Wang, 2014). The treated sludge can be recovered as biofertilizer from the pre-
treatment and DAF in aerobic tank. The application of biofertilizers that derived from treated
sludge can enhance the fertility of soil due to the treated effluent contains higher percentage
of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which is good in fertilizing.
Utilization of biogas and biofertilizer from organic wastes
Assess the Treatment Performance
Typically, processing of FFB results in the production of palm oil mill effluent
(POME) and oil palm wastes. Pollutants in the effluent should be removed by POME
treatment before discharge. In order to measure temperature, pH, biological oxygen demand
(BOD), sludge volume index (SVI), and dissolved oxygen, the performances of anaerobic
and aerobic ponds were evaluated in this study (DO). The experiments led to the application
of mesophilic temperature in anaerobic ponds for improved process stability. The pH data
showed a trend of fluctuation between the lower and higher control limits, and the pH value
rose from one pond to the next. It appeared that the final discharge's BOD and SVI were less
than 100 mg/L and 10 mL/L, respectively, indicating low levels of pollution and adequate
capacity for settling biomass/solids. Generally below 2 mg/L, DO was near to normal. The
experimental results showed that POME may be effectively treated while adhering to the
regulations, which is important for environmental sustainability in this industry domain.

Analytical Methods
According to (Akhbari n.d.), analysis method for the characterization and inspection
of water and wastewater were used to measure the concentrations of COD, BOD, pH, volatile
suspended solids, oil and grease (O&G), total solids (TS), total volatile solids (TVS),. For
COD, the spectroquant termoreactor was utilised in conjunction with a colorimetric method
with a closed reflux procedure. A portable BOD/DO metre is available from Malaysia's
Hanna Instruments (M) Sdn Bhd for BOD and DO. The absorbance of COD samples was
measured using a spectrophotometer set at 600 nm. The pH was determined using a pH
metre, model pH 700. A ProDSS 4-port digital sampling system, made by YSI-USA, was
used to quantify turbidity. For incubation, a shaker incubator was employed.
Conclusion
Within this part of the assignment, we had determined the types of treatment process
and their characteristics of palm oil wastewater through our research from online resources,
journals and articles. We had gone through as much research as we could and, finally, came
up with an ideal Palm oil Treatment Plant, to treat the wastewater before disposing.

To sum up everything that has been stated so far, it is important to treat the oil palm
waste before they are off to dispose. The reason for the circumstances is because of the
safeness of oil palm waste towards aquatic life, where if the oil palm waste was not treated
properly and they are disposed to into river and the oil palm waste will cover the surface of
the river which could cause the risks of danger to the aquatic life as the oxygen cannot
penetrate into the water in the river.
Reference

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oil mill processing and environmental assessment of palm oil mill effluent treatment.
Environmental Engineering Research. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from
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Baidurah, S. (2021). Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment. [online] Available at:

[Link] [Accessed 23 Nov. 2022].
Environmental Sustainability Report for Palm Oil Industries (Department of Environment
(DOE) Perspective). Enviro Knowledge Center. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2022, from
[Link]

Hosseini, S.E. and Abdul Wahid, M. (2013). Pollutant in palm oil production
process. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 65(7), pp.773–781.
doi:10.1080/10962247.2013.873092. [online] Available at:
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J. Wang, Oct 2014. Zero Discharge Performance of an Industrial Pilot-Scale Plant Treating
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Mahmood-2/publication/266373139_Zero_Discharge_Performance_of_an_Industrial_Pilot-
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