PALM OIL WASTE

TYPE OF WASTE : PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME)

WHERE IT IS FOUND?

It was produce during the process of fresh fruit bunch (FFB). It is the most valuable
and the most hard waste to handle by mill operator.

CURRENT RESEARH ON THE WASTE.

Use membrane separation technology. This technology is in a state of rapid growth

and innovation. There are several advantages to use membrane separation
technology. It can be applied across a wide range of industries; the quality of the
treated water is more consistent regardless of the influent variations; it can be used
in a process to allow the recycling of selected waste streams within a plant; highly
skilled operators would not be required when the plant can be fully automate

HOW CAN IT BE SUSTAINED?

Turn POME into fertilizers. POME can be a cheap and affordable organic fertilizer that
may reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. According to Oviasogie & Aghimien
(2003) proper use and safe disposal to the environment will lead to improvement of
soil fertility and contribute to environmental sustainability.

Turn POME as energy source. The pond system was introduce to treat the POME and
process of treating POME produce biogas as by product. According to Ng et al.
(2011), it is estimated that 1 tonne of FFB processed will generate 0.67 tonne of
POME, and each tonne of POME is able to produce 28m3 of methane. While
according to www.organics.com POME also published that atypical mill rated at 40
tonne per hour FFB can produce between 1 and 2 Mega Watt (MW) ofelectricity from
the biogas that can be generated in an anaerobic digester.

HOW DOES WASTE AFFECT THE ENVIROMENT?

Processing of Palm oil generate large quantities of polluted wastewater. Production

of crude palm oil required a lot amount of water and about 50% is effluent. POME
has substances contribute to the high total solids which are high acidity and high
temperature, oil and grease, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen
demand (BOD) value of POM,. When it is discharged into stream in river it can
contaminate drinking water for human and animal communities. It can be
particularly harmful to aquatic communities by making the water turn to highly
acidic which causing eutrophication where large amount of algal growth are growth
on the surface of the water

REFERENCES

Madaki, Y. & Seng, L. (2013). PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME) FROM MALAYSIA
PALM OIL MILLS: WASTE OR RESOURCE. International Journal Of Science,
Environment And Technology, Vol. 2(no 6), 1138 1155.

Rupani, P., Singh, R., Ibrahim, M., & Esa, N. (2010). Review of Current Palm Oil Mill
Effluent (POME) Treatment Methods: Vermicomposting as a Sustainable Practice.
World Applied Sciences Journal, 11 (1), 70-81.

Singh, R., Embrandiri, A., Ibrahim, M., & Singh, P. (2013). Effect of different Palm Oil
Mill Effluent (POME) concentrations on Seed Germination, Seedling Growth and
Physiological response of Kidney bean. Journal Of Environmental Science And
Sustainability (JESS), Vol. 1 (3), 97 102.