Palm Oil Wastewater Treatment Case Study
Boromond team present a brand new case study toward palm oil mill effluent wastewater treatment, to demonstrate the challenges from palm oil processing industry, technology we applied to tackle the challenges, experimental data, and then results.
Characteristics of palm oil wastewater
Wastewater source： Palm oil wastewater mainly comes from cooking, pressing, separating and refining processes in palm oil production.
wastewater composition： High suspended matter content: Wastewater contains a large amount of suspended solids (SS), such as fibers, pulp fragments, and fruit pit particles. Color: The wastewater appears dark brown or black, mainly due to the presence of high concentrations of organic matter and suspended matter.
Odor: The wastewater has a strong sour odor, mainly due to the decomposition of organic matter and anaerobic fermentation produced by the gas.
Organic content: Wastewater contains a large amount of organic matter, the main components include carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Oil content: Wastewater contains a lot of oil, mainly from the pulp and pit of palm fruit.
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) : Usually between 15,000 and 100,000 mg/L.
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) : Usually between 10,000 and 50,000 mg/L.
pH: The pH of wastewater is usually between 3.4 and 5.2 and is acidic.
Processing technology overview
Process selection basis:
High organic load adaptability: Palm oil wastewater has a high organic content, and strong oxidants (such as hydroxyl radicals) generated by BDD electrodes can effectively degrade high concentrations of organic pollutants, such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
Advanced treatment capacity: BDD electrodes can completely mineralize complex organic matter into CO2 and H2O, improving the treatment depth of wastewater and effluent quality. Acid adaptability: Palm oil wastewater is usually acidic (pH 3.4-5.2), and the high chemical stability of the BDD electrode makes it have excellent corrosion resistance in acidic environments, ensuring the long-term stable operation of the treatment equipment.
No harmful byproducts: Unlike traditional chemical oxidation methods (such as chlorination), the BDD electrode treatment process does not produce harmful chlorinated byproducts (such as trichloromethane), reducing the risk of secondary pollution.
Solution Details:
Primary treatment: Anaerobic digestion and pre filtration
Secondary treatment: BDD electrolytic oxidation method
Water sample changes during the experiment
Before:
After 30 minutes:
90 minutes:
2 hours:
Water sample changes during the experiment
*Comparison of results between water samples and untreated water samples after two hours.
Experimental results and analysis
Processing effect data
BDD area: 150cm2
Water volume: 1L
Initial COD :4090 mg/L
After 2 hours COD: 534 mg/L
Removal rate: (4095-534) /4090=86.94%
Results Discussion: BDD electrode is effective in treating COD in palm oil wastewater
The treatment effect is compared with the expected: the COD and BOD values of the treated wastewater are significantly reduced, and the removal rate can reach about 90%. The customer is more satisfied and has exceeded the expected effect.
Existing problems and room for improvement: As a small test equipment to process water sample test faster, by increasing the current density. During the experiment, the pretreatment of the water was not filtered clean, resulting in a large amount of foam affecting the BDD work efficiency. In addition, the whole work was not stirred by an electric mixer, and the COD content is expected to reach 100mg/L in half an hour (meeting the local emission standards).
Results and Discussion
Overall evaluation of palm oil wastewater treatment by pilot equipment
Excellent treatment effect: BDD electrode showed high organic degradation ability in the process of treating palm oil wastewater, significantly reducing COD, BOD and oil content.
Stable operation: The pilot equipment runs stably in the treatment process without obvious technical failure, which proves that it is suitable for the treatment of high concentration organic wastewater.
Environmentally friendly: No harmful by-products are produced in the treatment process, which reflects good environmental compatibility.
Main conclusion
High efficiency degradation: BDD electrode can effectively degrade organic pollutants in palm oil wastewater, and the water quality after treatment is significantly improved.
Corrosion resistance: The equipment shows excellent corrosion resistance when operating in an acidic environment and ADAPTS to the acidic characteristics of palm oil wastewater.
Low energy consumption: The energy consumption in the process is low, the energy conversion efficiency is high, and the economy is good.
Feasibility of large-scale application
Pilot and demonstration projects will be carried out to verify the feasibility and treatment effect of large-scale application technology in palm oil wastewater. Summarize the successes and challenges of the project Successful Technical verification: The high efficiency and stability of BDD electrode in the treatment of palm oil wastewater were successfully verified. Environmental benefits: significantly improve the quality of wastewater, reduce environmental pollution, and achieve environmental protection goals. Challenge Parameter optimization: More test data is needed to optimize the processing parameters to ensure the processing effect under different conditions.
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