Performance evaluation of POME treatment plants

Abstract

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)'s nutrient composition and its ensuing removal from the wastewater is rarely reported in contrast with organics removal. Thus, the efficiency of several Industrial Effluent Treatment Systems (IETS) in nutrient removal are studied. Many laboratory- and full-scale studies have been constructed to examine the effectiveness of nutrient removal with a single technology. Therefore, this paper observed their efficiency after several unit processes were combined to perform, which generally occurred in the full-scale IETS. Total Nitrogen (T-N), Ammoniacal Nitrogen (A-N), and Total Phosphorus (T-P) were nutrient parameters investigated. IETS-3 with highest nutrient removal efficiency were 92.5% T-N, 94.5% A-N, and 93.5% T-P, which highlighted positive combination of ponding system, anaerobic digesters and extended aeration coupled with fixed packing in activated sludge aeration tank. Removal of biological nutrients need to move forwards with cradle-to-cradle waste management methodologies, which focus on sustainable recovery of essential nutrients via operative technologies.