Abstract
The measured characteristics of palm oil mill effluent (POME) from 5 palm oil mills before discharge into the first settlement pond were temperature 72C, pH 4.2, TS, SS, COD and OG 71.6, 47.3, 120.1 and 28.4 g/l, respectively. The separation of oil and suspended solids (SS) by settling at 30- 55C for 24 hrs showed that the POME was separated into the top layer and bottom layer but no oil layer was observed. The highest percentage of top layer (56 %) was obtained after settling the POME at 55oC with the removal of OG, SS and COD 77.1 %, 94.4 % and 85 %. The separation of OG and SS from POME by centrifugation showed that the suitable speed and time for the separation was 7,000 rpm (6,240 xg) for 15 min. The removal of TS, SS, OG, and COD from the POME by centrifugation was 91.6, 95.4, 97.1 and 94.2 %, respectively. While the separation of OG and SS from the POME by chemical coagulants (Ca(OH2), FeSO4 and alum) showed that FeSO4 1.0 g/l gave the highest removal of OG (82.5 %), SS (88.5 %) and COD (61.1 %) after 10 hrs settling.Incluye referencias bibliográficas.The measured characteristics of palm oil mill effluent (POME) from 5 palm oil mills before discharge into the first settlement pond were temperature 72C, pH 4.2, TS, SS, COD and OG 71.6, 47.3, 120.1 and 28.4 g/l, respectively. The separation of oil and suspended solids (SS) by settling at 30- 55C for 24 hrs showed that the POME was separated into the top layer and bottom layer but no oil layer was observed. The highest percentage of top layer (56 %) was obtained after settling the POME at 55oC with the removal of OG, SS and COD 77.1 %, 94.4 % and 85 %. The separation of OG and SS from POME by centrifugation showed that the suitable speed and time for the separation was 7,000 rpm (6,240 xg) for 15 min. The removal of TS, SS, OG, and COD from the POME by centrifugation was 91.6, 95.4, 97.1 and 94.2 %, respectively. While the separation of OG and SS from the POME by chemical coagulants (Ca(OH2), FeSO4 and alum) showed that FeSO4 1.0 g/l gave the highest removal of OG (82.5 %), SS (88.5 %) and COD (61.1 %) after 10 hrs settling.