Engineering Bulletin #102 front cover - PALMOILISpalmoilis.mpob.gov.my/publications/POEB/poeb117.pdf · KEMENTERIAN PERUSAHAAN PERLADANGAN DAN KOMODITI MALAYSIA ... FEATURE ARTICLES

PALM OIL ENGINEERING BULLETIN NO. 117 1

Engineering Bulletin #102

front cover

LEMBAGA MINYAK SAWIT MALAYSIAMALAYSIAN PALM OIL BOARD

KEMENTERIAN PERUSAHAAN PERLADANGAN DAN KOMODITI MALAYSIAMINISTRY OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES, MALAYSIA

www.mpob.gov.my

ISSUE NO. 117 (Oct. - Dec. 2015)

ISSN 1511-9734

PALM OIL ENGINEERING BULLETIN NO. 1172

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EDITORIAL BOARD

ChairpersonDatuk Dr Choo Yuen May

MembersDr Ahmad Kushairi Din

Dr Lim Weng SoonAb Aziz Md Yusof

SecretaryIr N Ravi Menon

Malaysian Palm Oil BoardMinistry of Plantation Industries and Commodities,

Malaysia6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,

43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.Tel: 603-8769 4400Fax: 603-8925 9446

Website: www.mpob.gov.my

© Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 2015All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Products and services advertised in thisPalm Oil Engineering Bulletin do not

connote endorsement by MPOB.

Editorial

see page 2

CONTENTS

Editorial

TRAINING AND SEMINARSMPOB Training Programme 2016

MPOB Conferences and Seminars 2016

FEATURE ARTICLESAn Integrated Anaerobic-Aerobic Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent to Achieve Zero Discharge

Biotec Ferti-Irrigation System for Palm Oil Mills in Colombia

Zero Discharge using Flash Evaporation of POME at Atmospheric Conditions

TITBITS Innovative and Prudential

Hydrocyclone vs. Claybath Separator for the Cracked Mixture

DATASHEET Typical Specification of Refined Kaolin (Peninsular Malaysia)

1

7

11

8

T

19

25

55

he palm oil millers appear to be under severe pressure when there is a discussion touching on

the impending maximum limit of the biological oxygen demand (BOD) that the Department of Environment (DOE) intends to enforce in the near future for the palm oil mill effluent discharged into the water course. Even though this topic had been in the air for more than a decade now, some of the mill owners are hoping for a change in the policy. The implementation of BOD limit of 20 mg litre-1 for industrial waste water has been set not only in Malaysia but also in other countries. Many millers feel that there are no systems currently available in Malaysia to limit the BOD levels for palm oil mills to below 20 mg litre-1. Systems are always available but mill owners are shying away from acquiring the systems claiming they are expensive, and the systems are able to deliver the set limits but not consistently.

In this issue, all the feature articles presented are associated with palm oil mill effluent (POME) discharges control. Different types of systems to even eliminate POME are discussed so that we can have zero discharge. A field trial had been tried out at the palm oil mill technology center (POMTECH) mill at Labu by MPOB researchers with the aim of establishing zero discharge. This research also touches on the possibility of recovering biogas, bio-fertiliser and recycled water with practically no discharge. The treatment system is quite complex comprising pre-treatment-biological processes and membrane separation.

Another article on ferti-irrigation system by Biotec is also included in this issue. The system tried out in Colombia on recycling the nutrients and organic matter extracted from the crop to the soil. According to Biotec, the savings are claimed to be approximately USD 800 ha-1 yr-1. Some of the senior millers may still remember the anaerobic digested effluent

63

57


from page 1

CALL FOR ARTICLESPersonnel of the palm oil mills are invited to send in articles of relevance to the palm oil industry in Malaysia for publication in Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin. By sharing your expertise you will be helping the industry and the nation as a whole. The topics of interest are:

1. Plant modifications done in your mill that resulted in improvements in milling operation or main-tenance.

2. Innovations done in your mill that produced improvements in the operation of the mill and that you are willing to share them with others.

3. Any special work done in your mill that directly resulted in improvements in OER and product quality.

Please submit your article to us and we shall be pleased to publish them in Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin. Feel proud to have your articles published in this Bulletin that is circulated throughout the industry and MPOB offices worldwide.

application in the field using sprinkler system. Now that system has given way to new systems that does not cause clogging of the pipes.

In addition, there are many other systems available in the market and one interesting system being POME free zero waste system that uses specially cultured bacteria working in thermophilic environment to evaporate the moisture content in a mixture of POME and shredded empty fruit bunch (EFB) leaving solid organic fertiliser. The bacteria generate enough heat to provide the latent heat of evaporation of the POME. One mill is already in operation using this system in Sabah. It is always a prudent move to oversize the capacity of the POME treatment system so that there is no build-up of POME or EFB along the flow line.

Many POME evaporation systems are also being investigated for zero effluent discharge. One such system is presented in this issue. In this system, the technique called ‘fracturing’ involves high speed rotating turbine that creates a fine mist which is projected into the air. This way the POME is transformed into a mist, broken up into microscopic droplets that remain suspended in the air due to its light weight. As the surface areas of the droplets are increased, they are easily flash evaporated accomplishing the zero discharge of POME.

The millers can start surveying the various systems that are installed in Malaysia palm oil mills and recommend to their company chief a good system that is economical to operate without sacrificing operational efficiency.


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CODE NO. TITLE DATE VENUE

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Feature Article

P

An Integrated Anaerobic-Aerobic Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent to Achieve Zero Discharge

Loh Soh Kheang*, Mee Ee Lai*, Muzzammil Ngatiman*,Lim Weng Soon* and Choo Yuen May*

* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

alm oil processing operation is in-variably accompanied by the dis-charge of a substantial amount of

palm oil mill effluent (POME) which is recog-nised as an environmental pollutant by the Department of Environment (DOE). The conventional practice of anaerobic diges-tion and the recently developed tertiary treatment technologies (aerobic) of POME are able to meet the current regulatory ef-fluent discharge requirement of biological oxygen demand (BOD) at below 100 mg litre-1. The Malaysian palm oil processing techniques has been undergoing evolution-ary changes over the past few decades and is still progressing, thus assuring the nation of healthy competiveness of the palm prod-ucts in the world edible oil market.

But the existing technologies are unable to consistently meet the proposed stringent BOD regulatory requirement of 20 mg litre-1

to be imposed by the DOE. This article in-vestigates the possibility of integrating the anaerobic-aerobic processes to transform and recover the POME into several high value-added products i.e. biogas, bioferti-liser and recycled water; hence achieving zero-effluent and resulting in the BOD lim-it of less than 20 mg litre-1

attainable at its

final discharge.

Generally, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is one of the most versatile crops in the tropi-cal region, notably in Malaysia and Indone-sia. The palm oil is extracted from the fruit of E. guineensis via a number of processes viz. sterilisation, stripping, digestion, press-ing, clarification, purification and vacuum drying. In the process, about 70% to even 100% of POME is produced as a ratio to fresh fruit bunch (FFB) processed. POME, a highly polluting wastewater that is thick with a distinct offensive odour and has a high organic matter content, but is non-toxic as no chemicals are added during oil extraction (Ahmad et al., 2009).

In untreated form, POME will cause considerable environmental problems due


Feature Article

to its high BOD (~25 000 mg litre-1), chemi-cal oxygen demand (COD) (~50 000 mg li-tre-1), oil and grease (O&G) (4000-8000 mg litre-1), total solids (40 500-63 000 mg litre-1) and suspended solids (SS) (18 000-30 000 mg litre-1) (Ma et al.,1996; Loh et al., 2009).

POME is commonly treated using con-ventional biological treatments via pond-ing systems. This type of treatment remains largely inefficient due to the high BOD loading, low pH and colloidal nature of the SS in the POME (Stanton, 1974; Ahmad et al., 2005). As such, proper POME treatment is vital to ensure a sustainable palm oil mill-ing that can concurrently protect the envi-ronment (Ahmad et al., 2009). With tech-nological advances over the years, many emerging processes e.g. combined aerobic and anaerobic digestions, physicochemical treatments and membrane filtration may possibly provide the palm oil industry a so-lution in current problematic POME treat-ment including overcoming the more strin-gent regulatory effluent discharge limits of BOD 20 mg litre-1 that cannot be consist-ently met by most of the technologies em-ployed.

This article demonstrates that a zero dis-charge of POME is possible via recovering usable materials such as oil, sludge and water from the effluent and minimising the generation of waste without the need for discharge into the environment. An inte-grated anaerobic-aerobic treatment was ex-ploited to evaluate its efficiency in treating POME towards zero discharge.

EXPERIMENTAL SET UP

A zero discharge POME treatment pilot plant (Figure 1) was installed at Kilang Kelapa Sawit Labu, Sime Darby (Loh et al., 2013). This plant was equipped with a complex concrete tank functioning as a pre-treatment and aerobic/clarifier system, followed by a biological treatment system and lastly a series of ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) used for reclamation. The biological anaerobic and

aerobic treatment systems consisted of two units of advanced anaerobic expanded granular sludge bed (AnaEG®) steel tank with diameter and height of 6 m and 16 m respectively, which were designed for running in series or parallel using a set of valve, two buffer tanks and a bio-contact aerobic tank (BioAX®). The two modules of UF used had a nominal molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 100 000 g mol-1 and the ESPA-2 RO membrane (Hydranautics, USA) has 99.6% NaCl rejection rate. A set of biogas purifier and a biogas gas engine generator set were used to transform biogas (methane) into electrical energy.

The plant was assessed based on 10 hr operation over a 12-month period (October 2010 to September 2011). Important parameters of POME such as BOD, COD, SS, ammoniacal nitrogen and total nitrogen were analysed based on the methods developed by DOE, Malaysia (1995) while other parameters such as volatile fatty acid (VFA), total alkalinity, pH and temperature were in accordance with the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (APHA, 2005).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Integrated Anaerobic-Aerobic POmE Treatment

The developed integrated ‘zero discharge’ treatment process (Figure 2) mainly routed in ‘Pre- treatment - Biological Processes - Membrane Separation’ and operated at mesophilic condition was able to digest and degrade the high organic content of POME effectively. In the AnaEG® tanks, the POME was anaerobically digested and degraded before the treated water was discharged to the BioAX® system via aerobic digestion, followed by further degradation of organic compounds the membrane bioreactor (MBR). Via this route, the removal of COD and BOD was 94% and 96.5% and after MBR, the removal rate reached >99% (Table 1). Other parameters such as the SS, Kjedahl nitrogen,


Feature Article

Source: Loh et al. (2013).

Figure 2. Process flow of the zero discharge treatment technology of palm oil mill effluent (POME).

Figure 1. The pilot plant of zero discharge treatment technology of palm oil mill effluent (POME).

Dosing TankEQ tankOil/water separator

Rotary screen

Raw POME

AnaEG® ‘Nano’ air floatation

COD: 75 000 ppmBOD: 75 000 ppmSS: 18 000 ppm


Feature Article

ammoniacal nitrogen and VFA were also reduced significantly.

While treating the POME anaerobically, the AnaEG® was capable of producing bi-ogas amounting to 52.7 m3 hr-1 with a bi-ogas production rate of 15-21 m3 biogas per m3 POME; and the biogas produced had an average compositions of 65%-70% CH4, 25%-30% of CO2 and 200-1500 ppm of H2S. It is thus computed that for every tonne of COD removed in the AnaEG®, about 340 m3 biogas could be produced (Table 2).

The treated sludge recovered from the AnaEG® system could be thickened as a good fertiliser (Table 3). It contained a higher percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) compared to the untreated ones.

In the pilot scale reclamation system installed, the treated water went through a string of filtering systems via UF and RO to enhance the effluent quality. The UF removed any macromolecules in the

TABLE 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF TREATED PALm OIL mILL EFFLUENT (POmE) AND REJECTED REVERSE OSmOSIS (RO) WATER AFTER THE INTEGRATED ZERO-DISCHARGE

TREATmENT

aParameter Raw POmE After biological treatment UF permeate RO permeate

Chemical oxygen demand, COD (ppm)

76 896 ± 119 774.9 ± 10.9 701.1 ± 3.7 ND

Biological oxygen demand, BOD3 (ppm)

27 500 ± 100 20.0 ± 9.4 < 20.0 ND

Turbidity (NTU) - 111.0 ± 7.9 0.8 ± 0.05 0.4 ± 0.01

Suspended solid, SS (ppm)Kjedahl nitrogen (ppm)Ammoniacal nitrogen (ppm)

27 000 ± 82

60 ± 636 ± 1

289.6 ± 15.0

2.9 ± 0.6723 ± 3.89

ND

NDND

ND

NDND

Note: UF – ultrafilteration, RO – reverse osmosis, ND – not detectable (< 0.5 ppm). a Values are means ± standard deviations (SD) (n = >99); wherever applicable.


treated water while the removal of the salt ions was through RO. In this treatment, approximately 40% of the RO concentrated rejected water was collected containing high potassium as a liquid fertiliser. The other 60% of the RO permeate of boiler grade was recovered and may be recycled back for use in the boiler and cooling tower in the palm oil mill.

Table 2 shows the quality of water after anaerobic-aerobic biological treatment, and further downstream UF and RO treatment. The results showed that the pilot plant had the ability to reclaim water with boiler grade quality and at the same time COD and BOD of the final discharge were at values almost undetectable. Visual inspection showed the colour, odour and turbidity of the water from each treated stage had improved. At the final stage of RO, the RO permeate collected was odourless and clear.

Overall, the proposed ‘zero discharge’ integrated POME system gave >99% removal of COD, BOD, SS, Kjedahl nitrogen


Feature Article

TABLE 2. EVALUATION OF AN ANAEROBIC SYSTEm (AnaEG®) IN BIOGAS PRODUCTION

Parameter Unit Average value a

(CV%)b

Plant capacityBiogas generation

m3 day-1

m3 day-15

474.6 ± 97.4 (20.5)Efficiency of biogas production m3 biogas hr-1 52.7 ± 10.8 (20.5)Influent m3 day-1 31.4 ± 5.1 (16.2)Upflow velocity m hr-1 0.062 ± 0.010 (16.1)Influent COD mg litre-1 47914.4 ± 13584.3 (28.4)Effluent COD of AnaEG1 mg litre-1 2764.4 ± 371.4 (13.4)Effluent COD of AnaEG2 mg litre-1 2780.0 ± 399.7 (14.4)Volumetric loading rate kg COD/m3.day 1.642 ± 0.467 (28.4)COD removal rate % 93.7 ± 2.0 (2.1)COD reduction kg day-1 1399.0 ± 419.8 (30.0)Efficiency (in POME injection) m3 biogas m-3 POME 15.31 ± 3.05 (19.9)Efficiency (in COD reduction) m3 biogas kg-1 COD 0.34 ± 0.14 (41.2)

Note: a Values are means ± standard deviations (SD) (n = >99); wherever applicable. b CV - coefficient of variation; wherever applicable. COD - chemical oxygen demand. POME – palm oil mill effluent. Source: Loh et al. (2013).

TABLE 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF BIOFERTILISER DERIVATIVES DERIVEDFROm UNTREATED EFFLUENT, TREATED EFFLUENT (sludge) AND CHICKEN mANURE

Parameter Untreated effluenta Treated effluentb

Nitrogen, N (%) 0.61a 1.78b

Phosphate as P2O5 (%) 0.30a 0.97b

Potassium as K2O (%) 6.68a 20.63b

Calcium as CaO (%) 2.19a 6.13b

Magnesium as Mg2O (%) 1.46a 6.54b

Cation exchange capacity, CEC (miliequivalent/100 g)

10.95a 16.91b

Note: a,b Values were compared using F-test. Values with the same letter are not significantly different.



Feature Article

and almost 99% ammoniacal nitrogen (Table 1). Additionally, the system could remove completely the colour, odour, turbidity and O&G with a final pH of 8.33 for the POME treated. Based on this performance, the plant has potential to be scaled up.

Table 4 provides an indication on the eco-nomic feasibility of the biogas plant and the potential energy production from a typical 60 t hr-1 palm oil mill (based on basic finan-cial model) (Loh et al., 2013).

CONCLUSION

The palm oil milling industry has the potential to adopt zero discharge of POME to ensure sustainable development while protecting the environment. POME can be advantageously recovered and reused for many different applications. Various valuable end products can be potentially

TABLE 4. ECONOmIC ANALYSIS OF THE BIOGAS SYSTEm(for a typical 60 t FFB hr-1 palm oil mill)

material Production rate/Conversion factor Quantity

Fresh fruit bunch (FFB) - 60 t hr-1 or 432 000 t yr-1

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) @ 65% of FFB processed 39 t hr-1 or 39 m3 hr-1

Biogas (based on COD reduction*) @ 21 m3 m-3 POME 819 m3 hr-1

Potential energy from biogas @ 20 000 kJ m-3 16 380 000 kJ hr-1 or 4 550 kJ s-1 or 4 550 kW

Power output/size of power plant @ 30% thermal efficiency 1.4 MWPotential electricity to the grid @ 80% utilisation factor x 7200 hr

yr-1 (300 days x 24 hr)8 064 000 kWhr yr-1

Potential of electricity sales @ RM 0.40 kWhr-1 RM 3.2 million yr-1 or RM 67.2 million/21 yr

Total CAPEX (AnaEG®) @ RM 7 million MW-1 RM 9.8 millionTotal OPEX per year @ 2.25%/yr of CAPEX RM 220 500 yr-1

Net profit per year Annual electricity sales – OPEX RM 3.0 million yr-1

Payback periodTotal CAPEX (BioAX®)

RM 9.8/3.0-

3.3 yrRM 2.0 million

Note: * IPCC default value = 0.25 kg CH4 kg-1. COD - chemical oxygen demand. CAPEX - capital expenditure. OPEX - operational expenditure.


harnessed and utilised to increase mills’ revenues to bring quicker returns to the huge investment made in POME treatment and management.

REFERENCES

AHMAD, A L; ISMAIL, S and BHATIA, S (2005). Ultra filtration behaviour in the treatment of agro-industry effluent: pilot scale studies. Chem. Eng. Sci., 60: 5385-5394.

AHMAD, A L; CHONG, M F and BHATIA, S (2009). A comparative study on the mem-brane based palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment plant. J. Hazardous Material, 171(1-3): 166-174.

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSO-CIATION, APHA METHODS (2005). Stand-ard Methods for the Examination of Water & Wastewater. 21st Edition.


Feature Article

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT (1995). Revised Standard Methods (1985) for Analysis of Rubber and Palm Oil Mill Efflu-ents. Second edition.

LOH, S K; LAI, M E; NGATIMAN, M; LIM, W S; CHOO, Y M; ZHANG, Z and SALI-MON, J (2013). Zero discharge treatment technology of palm oil mill effluent. J. Oil Palm Res. Vol. 25(3): 273-281.

LOH, S K; CHOW, M C and SUKIRAN, M A (2009). Determination of actual status of palm oil mill effluent (POME) in palm oil mills. Viva No. 455/2009 (05).

MA, A N; TAJIMA, Y; ASAHI, M and HANIF, J (1996). A novel treatment process for palm oil mill effluent. PORIM Technology No. 19: 201-212.

STANTON, W R (1974). Treatment of efflu-ent from palm oil factories. The Planter, 50: 382-387.


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Feature Article

P

Biotec Ferti-Irrigation System for Palm Oil Mills in Colombia**

Edwin Lugo* and Hector Posso*

* Biotec International Asia Sdn Bhd C-10-2, Block C, Setiawalk, Persiaran Wawasan, Pusat Bandar Puchong, 47160 Puchong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Note: ** Translated by Juliana Pinzón Restrepo. E-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

alm oil mills extract palm oil from the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) for hu-

man consumption as well as for produc-ing biodiesel. Since palm oil molecules are made up of only carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, the nutrients and minerals present in the crop will remain in the by-products generated by the palm oil mills. With a proper by-products manage-ment, the mill could reduce, if not avoid to-tally the application of chemical fertilisation of the palms for the increased profitability and the sustainable production of palm oil. The main by-products during the FFB pro-cessing operation are empty fruit bunches (EFB) (200-220 kg t-1 of fresh FFB), mesocarp fibre (130-140 kg t-1 FFB), shell (100-110 kg t-1

FFB) and palm oil mill effluent (POME)(0.7-1 m3 t-1 FFB).

Biotec is a Belgian based group of compa-nies dedicated to find solution and innova-tive concepts for the efficient management of waste organic matter in tropical regions. There are three core technologies that Biotec has developed to optimise the utilisation of organic agricultural waste. Those are:

• anaerobic digestion for biogas produc-tion;

• composting systems to produce solid organic fertiliser; and

• organic liquid fertilisation systems using treated effluent and anaerobic sludge.

This article focuses on the organic ferti-irrigation system, a model enabling the profitable usage of treated effluent and organic sludge (organic matter and nutrients) from anaerobic digestion. The system is designed to recycle minerals (nutrients) and organic matter extracted from the crop back to the soil from which they were abstracted.

Biotec manages organic matter and in particular the by-product of tropical agro-industries. Our objective is to protect the environment while generating renewable energy (biogas) and ensuring sustainable agricultural practices.We implement projects and operate plants to achieve the hightest level of satisfaction of our customers.

Biotec International Asia Sdn Bhd (807700-A)C-10-2, Block C, Setia Walk, Persiaran Wawasan, Pusat Bandar Puchong 47100, Puchong, Selangor, MalaysiaT: +603-5879 1410 F:+603-5891 0461 E: [email protected]


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ORGANIC FERTI-IRRIGATION SYSTEM FROM BIOTEC

Each cubic meter of POME contains: • 33 kg of organic matter;• 1 kg of nitrogen;• 0.5 kg of P2O5; and• 2 kg of K2O.

On the other hand, it is not recommend-ed to apply raw POME directly to the field because:

• degradation of raw POME in the soil will compete with the plants for the nitrogen;

• raw POME will clog the soil porosity, causing poor soil aeration leading to increased soil erosion due to low water infiltration; and

• degradation of raw POME will generates bad odour.

However, the treated and stabilised POME as well as the organic sludge can be applied to the field as fertiliser for oil palm. These organic fertiliser could substitute 100% chemical fertilisation with an annual savings up to USD 800 ha-1 yr-1 depending on the region. At the same time, it can im-prove soil physicochemical and biological properties as well.

The American Palm Oil Council (APOC) has highlighted the benefits of organic mat-ter and nutrients content of the anaerobic sludge and POME in their Sustainable Palm Oil Practices section of their publication.

The nutrients requirements of the oil palm depends very much on the age of the palms, type of soil, intensity of rainfall, agronomic practices and harvested yield. On average, in Colombia 143 palm ha-1 import is between 300 and 600 kg of nutrients from the soil (Hartley 1987; Uexkull y Fairhurst s.f.). Part of this nutrient generally returns to the soil by pruned fronds, male inflorescence and radicular system renovation when they degrade.

Ng (1972) reports that matured oil palm plantation, producing 25 t FFB ha-1, absorbs 192, 26, 251, 61 and 99 kg of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca), respectively. However, only a relatively small fraction of nutrients are extracted from the soil by the harvested crop. Ng pointed out that the harvested crop of 25 t FFB ha-1 contained only 73, 12, 93, 21 and 18 kg of N, P, K, Mg and Ca, respectively. As a consequence, oil palm fertilisation with treated effluent and/or organic sludge must be done using the total nutrients absorbed by the palm using the nutrients extracted from the by-products generated during FFB processing. Both ways are appropriate. Nonetheless, it is recommended to organise the liquid effluent application as a substitute for the total replacement of nutrients during the first three years, after which the dose can be progressively lowered.

Biotec and Conil (1997) reported the significance of the treated effluent as an organic fertiliser for mature oil palm crop (Palmar Santa Helena, Tumaco, Colombia). The data collected during a five years research over 20 ha, showed that areas fertilised with organic fertiliser increased their fruit productivity yield in a range of 40.7% and 49%.

The concept of organic liquid fertilisation has progressed over the years until it has reached the current Biotec ferti-irrigation system adapted for the oil palm plantation. This system enables the substitution of chemical fertilisation and a zero effluent discharge into water course. Additionally, the system can be completely monitored, offering data traceability and online supervision.

Biotec ferti-irrigation system has been proven to be effective in Exportadora del Atlántico palm oil mill (Dinant Group), Aguan, Honduras. The Exportadora del Atlántico mill in Honduras has two


Feature Article

anaerobic reactors of 13 000 m3 each and an organic ferti-irrigation system that exploits treated effluent and anaerobic sludge for fertilising 200 ha of oil palm (system operation started on March 2010). This system subsequently expanded to 900 ha in 2014 has enabled a complete substitution of chemical fertilisation.

FERTI-IRRIGATION SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Conventional irrigation systems (sprinkler and dripping systems) are not suitable for sludge application from anaerobic reactors due to high suspended solids (SS) content (>2% total SS) and presence of coarse solids which cause obstruction. Biotec designed a system adapted to the effluent and that does not interfere with regular harvesting activities in the field.

Biotec ferti-irrigation system is a semi-manual system used for applying into the estate the treated effluent, anaerobic sludge and/or treated effluent and sludge mixtures in different proportions. The main pipeline system is buried; the secondary pipeline is made by portable pipes and flexible hoses (perforated hoses) that are connected to hydrants distributed within the area to be fertilised. This system supports the transfer of effluents content dry matter up to 2.5% in weight without clogging.

Biotec ferti-irrigation system compo-nents are:

Pumping tank. Receives the treated effluent and purged sludge for homogenisation (using proper proportions). Both effluents can be used for palm fertilisation (Figure 1).

Pumping system. Includes pumps, pumps control system, security system, instrumentation for process variables monitoring using a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The SCADA system contains the database used for accessing to process variables in time.

Main pipeline. Underground system of bur-ied pipes used for transporting organic liq-uid fertiliser to hydrants.

Figure 2. Hydrant and connection point for irrigation.

Figure 1. Pumping tank and pumping system.


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Hydrant. Valve connecting underground pipeline and portable pipes (Figure 2). Each hydrant provides fertiliser to an established area (for Aguan, Honduras example, 12 ha per hydrant).

Portable pipes. PVC portable pipes for fer-tilisation (easy to connect and disconnect). They are supported on the ground and pass through the center of the area to be ferti-lised. Flexible perforated hoses are connect-ed to this centered line.

Flexible hoses. Perforated hoses used for the organic fertiliser application into the soil. The hose is located between two rows of trees and fertilises the area between (Figure 3).

can be generated (on a daily or a monthly basis). This information is uploaded for monitoring or auditing processes.

REFERENCES

CONIL, P H (1997). Experiencia de 5 años en la biodigestión y utilización de los eflu-entes de una extractora de aceite de palma en la región de Tumaco, Colombia.

HARTLEY (1987). Uexkull y Fairhurst s.f. fertilizing for high yield and quality. The Oil Palm. International Potash.

NG, S K (1972). The oil palm, its culture, manuring and utilization. International Potash Institute, Switzerland.

Figure 3. Perforated hose dosing organic fertiliser to the soil.

Figure 4. Movable hoses transportation.

Transportation system. Wagon for hoses transportation, wagon pulled by a horse transporting wheels for hose swirling (Figure 4).

GPS. The GPS system is used for georeferencing the fertilised areas on daily basis.

Creation of maps. Depending on the client’s needs, maps with fertilised areas


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- Dedicated and user friendly TANGO-T spectrometer for the analysis of liquid samples such as crude palm oil, palm olein, RBO and various oleochemical products

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Tel. +60 3 5621-8303Fax. +60 3 5621-9303E-Mail: [email protected]


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O

Zero Discharge using Flash Evaporation of POME at Atmospheric Conditions

Prashant Patel*

INTRODUCTION

ne of the major unresolved issues faced by the palm oil mills is their inability to address concerns of the

global community in finding a permanent solution to handle the large volumes palm oil mill effluent (POME) that the mills generate during the oil extraction process. Unlike most other oil processing industries, the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of the POME usually ranges from 25 000 to 28 000 mg litre-1. The relatively high volume of the POME which can vary from 65% of the fresh fruit bunch (FFB) processed in a well operated palm oil mill to even 100% of the FFB processed in some mills where its control is not given the priority it deserves. The conventional method of POME treatment practiced by most mills is based on natural degradation of the protein-rich

wastewater using both anaerobic as well as aerobic bacteria in a number of large ponds. The bacteria are very active in the anaerobic digestion ponds as it generally brings down the BOD to about 5000 mg litre-1.

At this point, some of the digested POME used to be tapped off for field application as the POME still possessed significant nutrition for the palms. But as the land application of partially digested POME at a BOD level of 5000 mg litre-1 could cause ground water pollution by seepage the permitted limit for land application was brought down to be on par with the water course discharge limit of 100 mg litre-1. As this value is much higher than the international limit of 20 mg litre-1, the palm oil industry is reeling under the pressure to conform to the regulation on one end and the absence of an affordable system that can guarantee to achieve the set limits by the Department of Environment (DOE). As even the 20 mg litre-1 may not necessary be the final end as the limit may again change even 5 mg litre-1. So it is prudent for the millers to aim for zero discharge.

* Aumkar Plantation Sdn Bhd, A-29-8, Menara UOA Bangsar, Jalan Bangsar Utama 1

59000 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. E-mail: [email protected]

Contact us for more details www.bruker.com/FT-NIR

FT-NIRInnovation with Integrity

FT-NIR Spectroscopy for the Palm Oil Industry

Bruker: The perfect partner for the palm oil industry

- Dedicated and user friendly TANGO-T spectrometer for the analysis of liquid samples such as crude palm oil, palm olein, RBO and various oleochemical products

- Multi-purpose MPA spectrometer for both liquid and solid analysis from palm kernel, kernel meals, palm fi ber to various kinds of liquids

- Process spectrometer MATRIX-F for the multi-point online/inline analysis of liquids and solids

Why Bruker?

- Ready-to-use, precise calibration models for oils and palm products

- Fully open platform allowing automatic adjustments by the user, full calibration support by local experts available if required

- Database storage and network control of spectra and methods

- Robust and rugged spectrometers with “Rocksolid” design

Benefi ts of Bruker FT-NIR solutions:

- Reduce chemical analysis by 90% No more glassware, reagent and waste management

- Get results both for purchasing and quality control for multiple parameters simultaneoulsy in less than a minute

- Optimize the palm oil production process

Bruker (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

303, Block, Mentari Business ParkNo. 2, Jalan PJS 8/5, Dataran Mentari46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Tel. +60 3 5621-8303Fax. +60 3 5621-9303E-Mail: [email protected]


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There are two options when selecting a zero POME discharge system. One is to retain the conventional anaerobic digestion system and tap all methane gas that is released for either power generation or heating and drying the POME ex-anaerobic ponds to achieve zero discharge. The second one is to use biomass like empty fruit bunch (EFB) to evaporate the raw effluent resulting in neither effluent discharges nor methane released to atmosphere. Some of the MPOB researchers and innovative mill engineers have tried out other systems like filtration and reverse osmosis on experimental scale but the prohibitive cost and uncertainty about its performance have discouraged them to try them out at commercial scale. The current low crude palm oil (CPO) price also does not give much incentive for investing high capital for any untested system. The evaporation systems also have been tried out but so far an acceptable system has not emerged to attract the industry for immediate acceptance the obvious obstacles being the high cost and the non-confidence in its performance.

In this article, the POME fracturing tech-nology coupled with its flash evaporation is presented. As this technology is already well established for the treatment of waste water related to other industries, it can be adapted to POME with some changes in the system design as some parameters like dis-solved solids and BOD in POME may differ significantly from other waste water.

POME production rate can generally range from 70% to 80% of the FFB processed, the cause for the variation being due to the frequency of mill floor cleaning operation followed by its discharge into the effluent stream. The sludge water amount to approximately 50%, the steriliser condensate about 15% to 20% and hydrocyclone about 5% as a ratio to the FFB processed. The mill wash water which contains spilled oil from the tanks or from steriliser cages are also considered to be part of the effluent of the FFB processed. The turbine cooling water, boiler blowdown

water, overflows from the vacuum dryer are discharged into the monsoon drains as they are not contaminated with oil.

POME ANALYSIS

In order to study the full characteristics of the digested POME with retention time in ponds exceeding 100 days, a sample of the POME taken from a mill in Tawau prior to its discharge for land irrigation was analysed by the University Sabah Malaysia. The chemical and ionic analysis of the sample are shown in Table 1.

The analysis shows the main constituents of the mature POME at the final discharge stage. It contained suspended solids (SS), nitrogen, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium. The current practice of POME treatment systems installed in mills is based on reducing BOD to 20 mg litre-1 by eliminating SS. The SS can also be reduced by using coagulants, flocculants and filtration but the results may not obtain consistent values.

A test was carried out to evaluate the BOD performance of the POME after it had undergone filtration using a Novoflow ceramic filter from Germany having pore sizes 0.2 µm and 30 nm. The POME was passed through a spinning ceramic membrane filter rotating at 200 rpm to allow the solids to adhere to the side walls thus permitting the passage of the POME without clogging. The issuing clear filtrate was analysed and the results are shown in Table 2.

The ceramic membrane selected for this analysis had the smallest pores available in the market measuring only 30 nm in order to ensure that the filtrate contained very minimal SS amounting to only 14 mg litre-1, or 0.0014%. Despite the very low SS in the filtrate, the BOD still remained at 60mg litre-1. The results of this analysis could clearly establish that the SS in the effluent did not have any influence on the BOD but raise the question of what other


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TABLE 1. CHEmICAL ANALYSIS OF POmE

Elements (mg litre-1) Parameter Result PotassiumMagnesiumCalciumSodiumBismuthAluminiumArsenicRubidiumStrontiumBariumCobaltCopperIronGalliumManganeseTitaniumVanadiumZinc

3 713.99467.58275.1650.217.613.313.063.873.141.631.801.821.421.371.921.071.051.60

SuspendedTotal nitrogenAmmoniacal chloride SulphateBromide

353.8788.8331.13

758.5739.8010.03

Source: University Malaysia Sabah Test Results (2013).

TABLE 2. ANALYSIS OF FILTERED POmE

Test parameters(mg litre-1) Pre-filtration 0.2 µm filter 30 nm filter

BOD 106 92 62COD 1 064 947 642Total solids 6 138 5 636 3 876Suspended solids 379 76 14Oil and grease 13 7 11

Note: BOD – biological oxygen demand. COD – chemical oxygen demand.Source: KDC Laboratory Tawau Test Results (2012).

factors are involved in the BOD make-up of the effluent or preventing its decline to the acceptable value of 20 mg litre-1.

BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)

The biological organisms present in any mass of water will by nature break down into its simple forms without any external aid other than certain amount of oxygen

generally referred to as biochemical demand or BOD expressed as mg litre-1. The measurement is taken after an incubation period of five days at a temperature of 20oC, time for the organic matter will be assumed to flow in a river before it reaches the sea. In order to identify the source of the organic matter that was responsible for the high BOD levels, the SS were filtered out and BOD tests were carried out but the BOD value could not be reduced to any


significant levels indicating that something else could be contributing towards the BOD other than suspended organic solids.

Attention was now diverted to carbo-naceous oxygen demand and nitrogenous oxygen demand the two components of BOD. Carbonaceous oxygen demand refers to carbon based compounds like sugar and the nitrogenous based compounds refers to protein based compounds both of which are abundantly present in POME as detailed in Table 3.

Agamuthu and Tan (1985) reported that the organic matter in POME comprised the major pollutants five and six carbon chain monosaccharides such as arabinose, xylose, glucose, galactose and manose having concentrations of 6.43%, 0.44%, 0.22%, 0.15% and 0.10% dry weight respectively. The compositions and concentrations of proteins, nitrogenous compounds and lipids are summarised in Table 4.

POME subjected to anaerobic digestion taking place in open ponds can be considered to be a very rudimentary way of handling the POME when there is a specific target to meet especially when that target happens to be a very stringent one. The mill engineers will have to undergo a paradigm shift and consider the POME treatment as an important component of the process

operation. They have to think of a perfect system where the chemical conversion to methane and carbon dioxide take place in a conducive environment favouring maximum conversion and for this the ponds will have to give way to steel tanks with automatic monitoring of all associated parameters. In fact, a chemist or a chemical engineer will have to be engaged on full time to ensure maximum conversion rates and minimum BOD values.

Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen

demand (CBOD), a component of BOD, is the result of the breakdown of carbon based organic matter such as sugars into carbon dioxide and water. Nitrogenous biochemical oxygen demand (NBOD), a component of BOD, is the result of the breakdown of organic based nitrogen, such as proteins, into nitrates. Proteins are one of the more chained amino acids that are linked to nitrogen. The breakdown of these amino acids requires more than four times the amount of oxygen as the conversion of an equal amount of sugar to carbon dioxide and water. Table 4 summarises the various amino acids and lipids found in POME.

The important finding here is the break-down of protein that requires a large por-tion of oxygen compared to the breakdown of organic compounds as well as the SS. The POME still containing the residual carbohy-

TABLE 3. CONSTITUENTS OF RAW PALm OIL mILL EFFLUENT

Constituents Quantity (g g-1 dry sample)Crude protein 9.07Crude lipids 13.21

Carbohydrates 20.55Nitrogen-free extracts 19.47

Total carotene 20.07Ash 32.12

Moisture 6.75

Source: Habib et al. (1997).

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drates, proteins and lipids will not be able to achieve 20 mg litre-1 unless biological treatments are focused on specific compo-nents for their complete breakdown.

A NEW APPROACH – EVAPORATION

Evaporation of water from the rivers, lakes, sea and oceans is a natural phenomenon that creates the clouds throughout the day using the heat from the sun. When the surface water temperature reaches a certain value the water molecules undergoes a phase change from liquid phase to vapour phase and if the vapour flow rate is increased by wind, the evaporation process will likewise increase. The evaporation process will continue until the relative humidity of the atmosphere above the evaporation surface becomes saturated at 100%.

The evaporation rate is influenced by many factors like ground temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, solar radiation and wind. Maximum evaporation takes place on a hot, dry day with no rain. The pan evaporation rate considers rainfall, solar radiation, humidity, temperatures and wind to provide an average daily drop in water levels within a pan over a 24 hr period. When rainwater exceeds evaporation, the daily evaporation rate is considered as 0 mm.

In Malaysia, the pan evaporation rates average between 3 mm to 5 mm or even more per day across the country. Sabah (Kota Kinabalu region to Sandakan) has the highest pan evaporation rates in the country consistently averaging above 4 mm daily. That is any open water source in an outdoor environment will naturally deplete by 4 mm daily, on average. The daily average evaporation rates and annual average rainfall for Malaysia are summarised in Tables 5 and 6.

Based on a number of weather stations selected across Malaysia the data were collected. The results indicate that the minimum daily evaporation rates were

above 3 mm, the average rainfall over three years being 2668 mm annually.

The average annual pan evaporation rate for Australia is shown in Figure 1. Australia has winter and summer seasons.

It can be seen that the evaporation rate in Australia takes place consistently at an average annual rate of 1000 mm to 1500 mm or 2.74 mm to 4.10 mm per day around coastal areas. These figures are largely similar to that of Malaysia.

POME DRYING

POME can be treated in many ways and the systems used may vary from one mill to another as it is very much dependant on the preference of the head of the engineering division or the operation division. The common goal in all cases is meeting the target set by the DOE. Most of the mills could meet the BOD target of 100 mg litre-1 the exception being some private mills who become over aggressive and try to maximise the mill utilisation rate resulting in not being able to meet the DOE standards. The most often repeated excuse cannot meet the target of the DOE because the target is beyond reach is not well substantiated as any effluent treatment system can comply with the statutory requirement if either the mill throughput is reduced or the effluent treatment system capacity is expanded or the treatment efficiency is improved. Some of the methods that could help the mills to comply with the regulations are given below:• increase the capacity of the treatment

ponds that will offer extra retention time and ensure that the effluent degradation is effective. Dilution of the effluent by rainwater also would help to reduce the BOD.

• offer favourable environment for the bac-teria to completely break down all the residual components that need degrada-tion to reduce the BOD to acceptable lim-its.

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TABLE 4. AmINO ACIDS / LIPDS IN RAW PALm OIL mILL EFFLUENT

Amino Acids (g/100 g protein) Chemical formula g

Aspartic acid HOOC–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 9.66Glutamic acid HOOC–(CH2)2–CH(NH2)–COOH 10.88Serine HO–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 6.86Glycine NH2–CH2–COOH 9.43Histidine NH–CH=N–CH=C–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 1.43Arginine HN=C(NH2)–NH–(CH2)3–CH(NH2)–COOH 4.15Threonine CH3(OH)CH(NH2)–CHCOOH 2.58Alanine CH3–CH(NH2)–COOH 7.7Proline NH–(CH2)3–CH–COOH 4.57Tyrosine HO–Ph–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 3.26Phenylalanine Ph–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 3.2Valine (CH3)2–CH–CH(NH2)–COOH 3.56Methionine CH3–S–(CH2)2–CH(NH2)–COOH 6.88Cystine HS–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 3.37Isoleucine CH3–CH2–CH(CH3)–CH(NH2)–COOH 4.53Leucine (CH3)2–CH–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 6.86Lysine H2N–(CH2)4–CH(NH2)–COOH 5.66Tryptophan Ph–NH–CH=C–CH2–CH(NH2)–COOH 1.26

Fatty acids (g/100 g lipid) Chemical formula g

Capric acid (10:0) CH3(CH2)8COOH 4.29Lauric acid (12:0) CH3(CH2)10COOH 9.22Myristic acid (14:0) CH3(CH2)12COOH 12.66Palmitic acid (16:0) CH3(CH2)14COOH 14.45Heptadecanoic acid (17:0) CH3(CH2)15COOH 1.3910-heptadecanoic acid (17:01)

CH3(CH2)8CH=CH(CH2)5COOH 1.12

Stearic acid (18:0) CH3(CH2)16COOH 11.41Oleic acid (18:1n-9) CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH 8.54Lenoleic acid (18:2n-6) CH3CH2(CH=CH.CH2)3(CH2)6COOH 4.72Linolenic acid (18:3n-3) CH3CH2(CH=CH.CH2)3(CH2)6COOH 4.72Arachidic acid (20:0) CH3(CH2)18COOH 7.56Eicosatrienoic acid (20:3n-6) CH3CH2(CH=CHCH2)3(CH2)8COOH 1.49Arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) CH3(CH2)4(CH=CHCH2)4(CH2)2COOH 1.12Eicosapentaeonic acid (20:5n-3)

CH3CH2(CH=CHCH2)5(CH2)2COOH 0.36

Behenic acid (22:0) CH3(CH2)20COOH 2.62

Source: Habib et al. (1997).

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Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology (2009).

Figure 1. Australian average evaporation rates.

TABLE 5. mALAYSIA EVAPORATION RATES (all rates in mm per day)

Year KLIA Senai Kuantan melaka Tawau Kota Kinabalu Kuching Alor Setar

2010 4.3 3.5 4.0 4.3 3.8 4.5 3.5 4.42011 4.4 3.3 3.6 4.2 3.5 4.4 3.6 4.02012 4.5 3.3 3.8 4.2 3.7 4.5 3.6 4.6

Source: Malaysian Meteorological Department (2013).

TABLE 6. 2010 TO 2012 AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL

KLIA Senai Kuantan melaka Tawau Kota Kinabalu Kuching Alor Setar

Rainfall 2 056.2 2 696.7 2 948.5 1 907.1 2 111.6 2 906.7 4 338.8 2 379.7

Source: Malaysian Meteorological Department (2013).

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Figure 2. SMI 420F Evaporator.

• systems that either mixes shredded bio-mass and effluent water to make com-post after partial drying using waste heat from the boiler flue gases or other heat-ing systems or by simple evaporation of the effluent to produce effluent cake. Thermophilic bacteria also are capable of generating sufficient heat to assist in the evaporation of effluent water.

In this article, the focus is achieving zero discharge by complete evaporation of POME by offering a conducive environment comprising both high temperature and pressure. Current BOD limit of 100 mg litre-1 may not be environmentally friendly if the POME discharged into water course is to remain at a safe value for marine life if the POME mixed with the natural river water may not have sufficient time to degrade naturally to values that will not adversely affect marine life thriving at a location downstream. If on the other hand the BOD of POME at discharge for the mill is already at 20 mg litre-1 in all likelihood, the water source would be safe for marine life. So whatever the system, it must be able to ensure a BOD level that is always below 20 mg litre-1 and no allowance would be made for non-compliance during peak crop season when the mill is forced to process more than what it is designed for based on strict BOD considerations.

Most of the mills have a number of digestion ponds to cater for anaerobic and aerobic digestion of effluent generated by the mill. In the absence of a system to ensure that the operation is under controlled conditions, the efficiency of POME degradation can be considered to be far from satisfactory. The Tawau mill that was selected to collect data had two aerobic ponds each having a dimension 150 x 50 x 5 m and two aerobic ponds each having a dimension of 90 x 30 x 3 m. The total volume exceeded 100 000 m3 and the total surface area of all the four ponds were 20 400 m2. If the pan evaporation rate is taken as 3 mm, the daily natural evaporation rate will

amount to 61 m3 of water. Rainwater may amount to 168 m3 per day and together with POME at 328 m3 will be 496 m3 of diluted POME flowing through the ponds per day. In tank digestion system, the rainwater comprising 33% by volume is reduced but the natural evaporation is also likewise reduced.

FRACTURING TO ACHIEVE 100% EVAPORATION

In order to promote evaporation without a corresponding increase in rainwater, the proposed method is to convert the POME into a fine mist without the need for increasing the pan area. This is accomplished by pressurising the POME and allowing the pressurised jet it to hit a high speed turbine to create a fine mist with vastly increased surface area that can instantaneously evaporate. This is called fracturing the POME. This is purely a mechanical technology in which two processes are involved in the splitting up of the liquid into millions of fine droplets that considerably increase the total surface area exposed for easy evaporation coupled with the kinetic energy the droplets acquired by the high speed rotation of the turbine thus achieving the required properties of wind and temperature. Figure 3 shows how the mist is projected upwards by the high speed rotating turbine.

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TABLE 7. BOILING POINTS OF SELECTED ORGANIC COmPOUNDS FOUND IN POmE

Compound Boiling point (°C) Water 100Potassium chloride 1 420Magnesium chloride 1 412Calcium carbonate Only decomposes. Melting point: 825Arabinose Only decomposes. Melting point:164/165Xylose Only decomposes. Melting point: 144/145Glucose Only decomposes. Melting point: 146 -150Aspartic acid Only decomposes. Melting point: 324Glutamic acid Only decomposes. Melting point: 199Glycine Only decomposes. Melting point: 233Lauric acid 298.8Myristic acid 250.5°C at 100 mmHgPalmitic acid 351

Source: Various references through Wikipedia.

Water molecules completely vaporise at its boiling point of 100°C at sea level atmos-pheric pressure. The remainder of the major components found in POME are potassium, magnesium and calcium which would be present as salts, sugars, proteins and lipids. The boiling points of these other major com-ponents are summarised in Table 7.

With the major components of POME having boiling points more than three times above that of water, it is not possible that these components would flash evaporate like water at normal outdoor temperatures.

Moreover, the unevaporated component of the mist would eventually coagulate, saturate with ambient humidity, gain weight and slowly drift back to the pond surface.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are organic chemicals that have a high vapour pressure at ordinary, room temperature conditions. Their high vapour pressure results from a low boiling point, which causes a large number of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and enter the surrounding air. As summarised in Table 7, none of the major components of POME, apart from water, demonstrate a boiling point below water. The closest one is lauric acid, with a boiling point three times higher than water.

IMPACT ON AIR POLLUTION

As burning is not involved, there are no emissions of gases such as sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide gases that are relevant as a result of POME fractured into a mist and projected into the Figure 3. Mist Creation.

Feature Article


air are VOC and hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Whilst not a gas, particulates may also be a concern. SS are tiny particulates and this may cause an issue if airborne. The Malaysian Ambient Air Quality Guidelines (MAAQG) sets a standard of 260 µg m-3 (24 hr) for total suspended particulate (TSP).

Environment air quality testing was conducted to test for VOC, H2S and TSP. The testing was carried out by Kiwiheng Wood and Environmental Consultants Sdn Bhd (DOE Reg No. C0924). The evaporator was set-up in the centre of a pond testing of VOC, H2S and TSP was carried out directly at the bank of the pond, 50 m away from the pond, and lastly 100 m away from the pond. Samples were taken with the evaporator off at the pond bank, and then switch on and again taken at the pond bank, 50 m away, and lastly 100 m away. This would show if any gases moved outwards, if detected, or remained constrained within the vicinity of the evaporation pond.

The results clearly demonstrate two observations; firstly that VOC and H2S do not increase as a result of fracturing of POME. This is mainly because a chemical or thermal reaction does not take place in the process. Furthermore, the organic compounds in POME are not highly volatile to cause VOC gases, as in comparison to paints, thinners and fuels that are highly volatile. Secondly, all gases reduced to virtually undetectable beyond 100 m from the pond. At all times, total SS were below that of MAAQG guidelines.

COMMERCIAL DEPLOYMENT

The evaporation system has now been deployed in two Sabah palm oil mills; one at a privately held Tawau based mill, and the other at Sime Darby at a Keningau based mill. Both mills obtained Sabah DOE approval to operate the evaporators with a

reduced quota for any discharge of POME via land irrigation to 50% the normal expected discharge at 1:1 POME/FFB ratio. The evaporation system in Tawau has been in operation for more than 18 months and it only discharge 20% of the POME compared to expected levels. It is in the process of procuring additional evaporators to reduce the discharge to zero. Sime Darby has been operating their evaporators for more than nine months and has achieved zero discharge of any POME since operating the machines. A factor benefiting the Keningau area in Sabah is higher than average pan evaporation rates when compared to other parts of Malaysia.

CONCLUSION

POME is a highly organic wastewater by-product that emerges from palm oil mills. Its organic loading is derived from a com-bination of components including SS, plant sugars, proteins, lipids, metallic salts, and calcium hardness. Evaporation efficiency depends on the moisture content of the wastewater stream and humidity level of the ambient to vaporise water into air. Evaporation of wastewater is being suc-cessfully utilised in many countries across a diverse range of industries and its effec-tive use could result in complete control of preventing any wastewater streams from entering our sensitive ecosystems.

REFERENCES

AGAMUTHU, P and TAN, E L (1985). Di-gestion of dried palm oil mill effluent (POME) by Cellulomonas spp. Microbios Letter, 30: 109-113.

HABIB, M A B; YUSOFF, F M; PHANG, S M; ANG, K J and MOHAMED, S (1997). Nutritional values of chironomid larvae grown in palm oil mill effluent and algal culture. Aquaculture 158: 95-105.

Feature Article


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(Page 1 of centrefold)


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(Facing Page 4 of centrefold)


For more information, please contact: [email protected] or visit MPOB website at www.mpob.gov.my

14-16 November 2017Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre,

Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaMark this date!

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AdKibaran Ternama Sdn Bhd

We are offering a full solution for palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater treatment in biogas capturing system and polishing plant!

`RePOME TM MBR 3 BOD: ≤ 20 mg/L SS : < 100 mg/L

• Proven consistent treatment efficiency to meet Discharge Standard A.

• Proven technology with 3 commercial plants being installed and running and 2 under construction.

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• Low operational and maintenance cost.

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AdMaster Links Industries Sdn Bhd

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(642806-W)Lot 1032, Jalan KB 2/15, Balakong, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia.

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.masterlinks.com.my

Quality Assured & Certified UnderBSEN ISO 9001 : 2008

BS EN REG NO. 16885

KDI, Malaysia.

The through hardening process provides excellent wear resistance on

the roller, pin and bush for

longest life span and minimum elongation

For more info, please contact :

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H/P : 016-212 8961

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Quality Assured & Certified UnderBSEN ISO 9001 : 2008

BS EN REG NO. 16885

KDI, Malaysia.

The through hardening process provides excellent wear resistance on

the roller, pin and bush for

longest life span and minimum elongation

For more info, please contact :

Tel : 03-8961 6261

H/P : 016-212 8961

Fax : 03-8961 6100/[email protected]


AdT Energy Industries Sdn Bhd

BioGasclean - the best H2S removal system with lowest operating costs

BioGasclean is the leading supplier of gas cleaning systems to the biogas industry. The company is supplying clean gas to engines with a capacity above 350 MW. BioGasclean has more than 90 references in SE Asia and over 50 installations at palm oil mills.

Biogas from POME contains typically 2,500 to 3,500 ppm H2S and has to be reduced to 100-200 ppm to meet the engine manufacturers specifications. BioGasclean can guarantee this gas quality with a 100% biological H2S remov-al process.

BioGasclean has compared to other gas clean-ing systems the lowest operating costs and the highest availability. The downtime for maintenance is limited to less than one week per year, as the packing media can be cleaned inside the tank with BioGasclean’s unique QSR® cleaning system.

Contact BioGasclean if you want to learn more!

BioGasclean Asia Co., Ltd.2/22 Iyara Tower 7th FloorChan Road, Soi 2, Kwaeng ThungwatdornKhet Sathorn, Bangkok,10120, ThailandTel. (+66) (0)2-286-1157www.biogasclean.com


AdPerkin Elmer Sdn Bhd

PerkinElmer provides with a full suite of solutions that make it easier to keep pace with an evolving industry. By combining tailored products systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and application notes with our One Source(R) service and support,we enable your laboratory to

maximize its prospects in palm oil development and testing from food to non food products, while meeting regualtory requirments worldwide. You can rely on us and your labortaroy is ready to do more!

PROVIDING THE SOLUTION TO ALL YOUR PALM OIL ANALYTICALN E E D S

#2.01, Level 2, Wisma Academy, Lot 4A, Jalan 19/1, Petaling Jaya, 46300, Selangor.Tel: 03-79491118 Fax: 03-79491119

www.perkinelmer.com


Ad(4 pages continues) Pg 1

YKL Engineering Sdn Bhd











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THAILAND SM-Cyclo (Thailand) Co. Ltd.195 Empire Tower Unit 2103-421th Floor South Sathorn RoadYannawa, Bangkok 10120, ThailandTel: (66) 2670 0998Fax: (66) 2670 0999Email: [email protected]

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Continuous oil circulation through bearingsFor long trouble-free working life

Unique Oil-LockTM system For maintenance-free sealing

Drywell on vertical down shafts For prevention of oil leakage

Re�ned internal housing For simple and complete oil drainage

Inspection cover above the oil level For easy inspection and service on the spot

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In-depth engineering support and complete documentationFor one-stop-shopping

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Titbits

W hile having quality time with my son one evening, my son

threw a mathematic question to me.

“When the teacher is at the student’s age, the student was 5 years old and when the student is at the teacher’s age, the teacher will be 71 years old. What are the student’s and the teacher’s ages now?”

I was shocked how an 11 year old boy could solve such algebra problem but I just showed him the solution in my way.

Say,x is the student’s age;y is the teacher’s age; andz is the age difference between the teacher and the student.

Thus,y – x = z (1)x – z = 5 (2)

y + z = 71 (3)

Innovative and Prudential

Andrew Yap Kian Chung*


Substitute equation (1) into equation (2) and equation (3)

x – y + x = 5; 2x – y = 5 (4)y + y – x = 71; 2y – x = 71 (5)

Equation (4)X24x – 2y = 10 (6)

Equation (5) + equation (6)3x = 81; x = 27

Substitute into equation (5)2y = 98; y = 49

Solution: The student is 27 years old and the teacher is 49 years old now.

My son shook his head and showed me his solution method in diagram as shown below. So his mathematic calculation has been simplified as follows:

(71 - 5) 66 = = 22 3 3 ; Thus, student’s age = 5 + 22 = 27 and teacher’s age = 27 + 22 = 49

This is an innovative approach to solve the problem!


Titbits

There are two machines in a factory. The old manual machine and the new automatic machine are performing the same process but the new machine capacity is triple compared to the old machine. Thus, the old machine serves as standby unit during the normal operation. What is the factory maximum ca-pacity if both machines work together to cope for the peak demand?

Assume new machine needs 2 hr to process one lot of product. Thus, the old machine needs 6 hr to produce the similar lot of product.

If both machine are used to process the lot of product, in one hour the new machine has

done 12 lot while the old machine has done 1

6 lot. Thus 32

64

61

63

==+ lot of product has been

done in an hour and the lot of product will be duly done in 32 = 1.5 hr.

Thus, the factory maximum capacity is 3334.15.0

6667.0= times the normal capacity.

Be prudential and never waste any resources even if they seem to be small!


Titbits

Hydrocyclone vs. Claybath Separator for the Cracked Mixture

N Ravi Menon*

Hydrocyclone separation Claybath separationHigher capital outlay Low capital outlay

Higher maintenance cost involved to maintain electric motors, pumps, cones etc.

Low maintenance cost as minimum machinery are involved

Less accommodative when handling mixtures of tenera and dura cracked nuts. The separation capability drops significant when the cracked mixture composition is inconsistent.

Can handle both tenera and dura nuts with equal ease if the clay bath density is maintained at about 1.07. As the low tension dust separation winnowing system removes particles having density below 1.07 the separation of shell and kernel is expected to perform more efficiently than hydrocyclone as the density of pure shell pure shell ranges between 1.2 to 1.3.

More electrical motors involved in the operation

Only one motor and pump are involved

Higher power consumption Least power consumption

Pumps tend to get choked frequently No such issues

Pump blades tend to wear off frequently due to the abrasive effects of shell fragments and sand

No such issues

Tend to overload frequently resulting in producing poor quality kernel and high kernel losses in shell

Not affected by overloading

High fragmented kernel loss High kernel recovery rate including fragments

More space is needed for installation Compact design

Often messy surrounding Can maintain clean surroundings

Separation efficiency low High separation efficiency

Source: Collected from many sources.



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Ad(Facing)

Customcraft (M) Sdn Bhd


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Customcraft (M) Sdn Bhd


Ad HSS Industrial Products Sdn Bhd

HSS INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS SDN. BHD.Address | Lot 64, Batu 4 ½ Jalan Bukit Pasir, 84300 Muar, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia. Tel +606 953 2553 (HL) | Fax +606 953 1378Email [email protected] | Website www.hssip.com

For more information, please contact :Mr S.S Hon +6012 631 3662

Ms K.L Hon +6017 653 9991

NO AUGERNO WATERSterilization Cycle < 100 Mins

SELF-DISCHARGEVERTICAL STERILIZER

Turning Point of Palm Oil Mill Industry


Datasheet

TYPICAL SPECIFICATION OF REFINED KAOLIN (Peninsular Malaysia)

South region North region

Alumina (Al2 O3 )

Silica

Potash

Sodium

Calcium

Iron oxide

Titanium dioxide

Magnesium

Manganese

Brightness

Water of plasticity

Moisture

Loss on ignition

pH values

Density (g cc-1)

Viscosity cps (60 rpm 30% w/w)

38.93 %

43.10 %

1.22 %

0.08 %

0.10 %

0.57 %

0.08 %

0.17 %

-

80.00 %

33.00 %

1.00 %

14.00 %

4.9

2.55

1 400

21.5 %

60.6 %

2.18 %

0.08 %

0.01 %

0.68 %

2.19 %

0.52 %

0.01 %

-

-

-

12.2 %

-

-

-

Source: OH LIANG KENG (1988). Claybath vs. Hydrocyclone for Cracked Mixture Separation. Paper presented at the SLDB/PORIM Workshop on Palm Oil Milling Technology. p.158.


AdUMS Corp Sdn Bhd


AdSew Euro-drive Sdn Bhd


AdAqua Ecotech Sdn Bhd

(2 facing pages)

AQUA ECOTECH SDN. BHD.(1139768-X)

8-1, Jalan 24/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Tel: 03-62117928 Fax: 03-62117928 E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Millers,

REVOLUTIONARY BREAKTHROUGH!

A STATE OF THE ART PATENTED GREEN TECHNOLOGY THATGENERATES $$$$$ WHILE PROCESSNG RAW SLUDGE IN MILL TO

REMOVE all suspended solids, (NO SUSPENDED SOLID GOES INTO PONDS)

RECOVER the +/-1% residue oil (GENERATES REVENUE, SELF PAYING)

REDUCE BOD to about 30% of original input for discharge to pond(ALLOWS EASIER EFFLUENT TREATMENT TO ATTAIN BOD FOR DISCHARGE)

DOE is moving mills toward the level of discharge (final stage effluent towaterways) at 50% less, or below 20 ppm or even zero discharge. Mill operatorshave been looking out for solutions to the perennial problem of sludged up pondsand high BOD discharge.

Mills underaking the recovery of oil from EFB has resulted in EFB liquorcontributing 5-10% more effluent and the increase in BOD by 1.5-2.0 times –from 25,000ppm to 50,000ppm. Wax from EFB is also a big problem in ponds.

Our proven cutting edge patented technology (with 2 full scale commercialplants in operation) provides the first real breakthrough in removal of allsuspended solids and recovery of residual oil from raw sludge at mill’s OilRoom, before discharge with reduced COD-BOD to effluent ponds.

Filtrate is water with dissolved organic solids. It is a clear tea colour solutionwith reduced COD-BOD to about +/-30% of original input.

Meanwhile it can allow for the recovery of oil from Decanter Heavy Phase,Steriliser Condensate and EFB Liquor separately or mixed together (raw sludge).


AdAqua Ecotech Sdn Bhd

(2 facing pages)

Before After AE-SRORS (Clear Filtrate)

ADVANTAGES of AQUAECO-SRORS Filtration Plant Ensures no suspended solids go into effluent ponds. Ponds will not sludge up

so frequently. Massive savings in desludging and pond operations. Generates revenue to pay for itself from oil recovered, while treating effluent

to remove solids and reduce BOD for discharge to ponds for treatment. Reduce COD of discharge or GHG production up to 70%. Can be certified

green and allow oil to access European market. Clear Filtrate can be evaporated to provide ZERO effluent discharge, and thus

provide mills with a Biogas Avoidance Facility to meet MPOB directive. No discharge means no effluent in anaerobic pond to produce biogas.

FILTRATE TEST RESULTS:

Raw Sludge Filtrate

pH Value [email protected] [email protected]

oC

Biological Oxygen Demand (3 Days @ 30oC), mg/L 48,100 13,410

Chemical Oxygen Demand, mg/L 78,000 19,500

Ammonical Nitrogen (NH3-N), mg/L 70 12

Total Nitrogen, mg/L 590 28

Oil and Grease, mg/L 13,812 3

Suspended Solids, mg/L 24,600 31

Total Solids, mg/L 49,750 20,760

ResultsType of Test

There was a restructuring of business and brand where this patented technology(Patent No. MY-154813-A) is now sold under the brand name AQUAECO. Thistechnology is licensed and marketed by the following companies in Malaysia:

Integrated Green Engineering Sdn. Bhd. Email: [email protected] MillGreen Technology Sdn. Bhd. Email: [email protected] Nanoquest Sdn. Bhd. Email: [email protected]

Enquiries can also be directed to Aqua Ecotech Sdn. Bhd., holder of the patentsfor the technology. Email: [email protected]


AdTaner Industrial Technology Sdn Bhd


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ADVERTISEmENTue to the increased cost of printing, the advertisement rate is RM 800 per issue for an A4 size page of black and white, whereas the cost for colour is RM 1000. One year of complimentary Vendor’s List advertisement for every one page A4-size colour or black & white advertisement. Advertisers are required to submit to us either their own black and white or colour artwork in CD. Cheque should be made payable to the ‘Malaysian Palm Oil Board’. If you have any queries, please contact the follow-ing at MPOB.

Tel: 03-87694400 Fax: 03-89262971

Dr. Lim Weng Soon ext: 4406 • Ir. N. Ravi Menon ext: 4467 • Lim Soo Chin ext: 4676 E-mail: [email protected]

Advertising Schedule for MPOB Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin

Issue Quarter Deadline forRegistration

Deadline forSubmission of Artwork

118 Jan - Mar 2016 30 Jan 2016 27 Feb 2016119 Apr - Jun 2016 30 Apr 2016 31 May 2016120 Jul - Sept 2016 30 Jul 2016 30 Aug 2016121 Oct - Dec 2016 31 Oct 2016 29 Nov 2016

REPLY-SLIP

Dr. Lim Weng Soon/Ir. N. Ravi MenonEngineering and Processing Division Palm Oil Engineering BulletinMPOB6, Persiaran InstitusiBandar Baru Bangi43000 Kajang, Selangor

PALM OIL ENGINEERING BULLETIN ADVERTISEMENT – FULL PAGE ADVERTISEMENT

1. We confirm our intention to advertise in the MPOB Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin.

Company:

Address:

E-mail: Tel. No.: Fax No.: Contact Person: Issue No.:

2. The artwork is attached/will be sent on for your further action.

3. Please find enclosed *crossed cheque No.: for RM ( ) being payment for the advertisement fee.

4. Thank you.

(Signature and Date) (Company stamp)

D#

* Made payable to ‘MALAYSIAN PALM OIL BOARD’.

Advertisement Reply Form received on/after 1 April 2015 will be subjected to 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) as imposed by the Malaysian Government.


#

ollowing a decision by the Editorial Board to further increase the role of Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin to serve the industry better, a new addition called Palm Oil Mill Vendor’s List has been introduced similar to Telekom Yellow Pages to assist mill engineers to know where to source materials or services pertaining to the industry. In order to make this useful, we need the co-operation of the mill engineers/managers to persuade their vendors to advertise in the Vendor’s List for a nominal fee of RM 100/year. If you have any queries, please contact the following at MPOB.

Tel: 03-87694400 Fax: 03-89262971

Ir. Ravi Menon ext. 4467 or e-mail: [email protected] Ms. Lim Soo Chin ext. 4676 or e-mail: [email protected]

REPLY SLIP

Dr. Lim Weng Soon/Ir. N. Ravi MenonEngineering and Processing Division Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin AdvertisementMPOB, 6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.

We wish to advertise in the MPOB Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin Vendor’s List

Company: Issue No.:

Contact Person: H/P:

Address:

E-mail: Tel: Fax:

Please find enclosed a crossed cheque No.: Bank:

for RM: (Ringgit Malaysia)

drawn in favour of MALAYSIAN PALM OIL BOARD

Please select the headings from the list given below (not more than five headings) under which you wish to advertise.

Air filters/dryersAir separatorsBearings/belts/bushesBio-compost/biomass/bioproductsBoiler spares/control/othersBoiler suppliers Bunch crushersCastingsCivil engineering Cleaning - generalCondition monitoring/servicesConsultancy services/certificationControl/automation/sparesConveyors/chains/elevators/beltsDust collectorsDiesel engines/services/sparesDynamic balancing Edible oil processing systemElectric motors/electrical systemsExpansion jointsFabrication works

Signature:

Name:

Date: Company stamp

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Fans Filter press/materialsFluid control system/couplingsGaskets/packing materials/sealsGear boxesHardware Hydraulic systems/services/spares Laboratory analysisLaboratory equipmentLaboratory fittings and furnituresLubricantsMill machinery/sparesMiscellaneousNut crackersOil recovery systemsPalm kernel oil crushing plantPlate heat exchangerPollution control/safety systems Power plantPressure vesselsProcessing system

Pumps/services PurifiersRenewable energyScrew press/parts Scrubbers/biogasSludge separators/decantersSteam turbines/generators/sparesSterilizer/partsStorage silosVacuum pumpsValves/seatsWater treatment Waste water treatment Weighing machinesWelding equipments/sparesWheel loaders/spares

Advertisement Reply Form received on/after 1 April 2015 will be subjected to 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) as imposed by the Malaysian Government.


From:

Address:

Question/Comment:

Signed: Date:

(We have enclosed this form to assist you in sending to us any questions or comments)

#


ChairmanThe Editorial BoardPalm Oil Engineering Bulletin Malaysian Palm Oil Board P. O. Box 1062050720 Kuala LumpurMalaysia

STAMP


Ad (Inside Back Cover)

Renold (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

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Documents

Engineering Bulletin #102 front cover - PALMOILISpalmoilis.mpob.gov.my/publications/POEB/poeb117.pdf · KEMENTERIAN PERUSAHAAN PERLADANGAN DAN KOMODITI MALAYSIA ... FEATURE ARTICLES