ANAEROBIC TREATMENT OF PALM OIL MILL WASTEWATER UNDER MESOPHILIC CONDITION

U. Puetpaiboon1 and J. Chotwattanasak2

1

Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand (E-mail: pudompho@ratree.psu.ac.th) 2 The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Kings Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand (E-mail:j_chotwattana@hotmail.com)

Abstract This paper reports the investigation of performance of the full scale anaerobic digester of wastewater from production of palm oil at the Asian Palm Oil Co., Ltd. Krabi, Southern Thailand which has been started operation since December 2001. The dimension of an anaerobic digester is 13.5 m in diameter and 15.3 m in height with average volume of 2,100 m3. Wastewater generation rate was found to be about 0.5 m3 per ton of fresh fruit bunch. Wastewater from palm oil production was pretreated by oil recovery process and primary ponds before feeding to the digester using centrifugal pump with average flow rate of 300 m3/d. Average volumetric organic loading and HRT were found to be about 4.53 kgCOD/m3.day and 7 days, respectively. The digester reduces water pollutants and odor from wastewater and produces energy in form of biogas. The biogas produced from anaerobic digester is a cheap source of energy which can be used as a gas engine fuel to produce electricity and can be sold out as very small power producer in Thailand.

Keywords: Anaerobic treatment process; anaerobic digester; wastewater from palm oil; biogas

Introduction Palm oil mill is one of the most important agro-industry in the South of Thailand. The oil palm processing plant releases large amount of organic pollutant wastewater. Discharge of palm oil mill wastewater without proper treatment will damage environment both in receiving water quality and foul smell in the neighborhood of factory. The proper wastewater treatment methods should take advantage. Usually anaerobic stabilization ponds are widely used for treatment of wastewater from palm oil production because of their low capital and operating cost. However, foul smell generated from anaerobic ponds is disturbed the neighborhood community. Another efficient treatment system is the closed anaerobic digester tank that becomes more popular at present. Furthermore, biogas from the closed treatment system can be further utilized as fuel. Due to energy and environment are the interested issues for nowadays. The Royal Thai Government creates a policy to promote and subsidize the projects concerning with the energy from biomass such as a production of biogas from anaerobic digestion in agro-industry section especially

anaerobic digestion of high concentration of organic matter in wastewater. The full-scale anaerobic digester for treatment of wastewater from production of palm oil at the Asian Palm Oil Co., Ltd. Krabi, Southern Thailand is one example of these subsidized projects. The digester has been started in operation since December 2001. The system reduces pollutants and also produces biogas that today the mill utilizes as fuel to produce electricity using the internal combustion engine. The modified diesel engine with induction motor is used to produce electricity and supply to the factory office, labor houses and biogas plant itself.

Methods The anaerobic digester with a diameter of 13.5 m and 15.3 m in height and effective volume of 2,100 m3 was constructed at the Asian Palm Oil Co., Ltd. Krabi, Southern Thailand. The reactor comprises of gear motor, torque tube, scrapper set and draft tube as shown in Figure 1. Palm oil mill wastewater from the production process was pre-treated by oil recovery tank and primary ponds before feeding to the anaerobic digester by centrifugal pump at feeding rate 300 m3/day from the tank bottom as up flow. The hydraulic retention time of the system was about 7 days with the average organic loading rate of about 4.53 kgCOD/m3.day. The flow diagram of anaerobic digestion system was shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1 Anaerobic digester at Asian palm oil mill, Krabi, Thailand.

Figure 2 Flow diagram of anaerobic digestion system at Asian Palm Oil Mill, Krabi, Thailand.

Influent and effluent from anaerobic digester were analyzed for BOD5, COD, pH, temperature, VFA and alkalinity every 3-4 days. The analytical methods used were in accordance with that specified in the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (APHA, AWWA and WEF, 1998). Gas volume was monitored by EPI gas flow meter Model: Series 8200 MPNH insertion style with remote display. Gas composition was determined by gas chromatography.

Results and Discussion The results of treatment of wastewater from palm oil mill production after pre-treated by oil recovery and primary ponds before feeding to the anaerobic digester without pH adjustment is shown in Table 1. It can be seen that pH of influent was in a range of 4.69 - 4.85, 4.75 in average, whereas pH of effluent from the anaerobic digester was in a range of 7.29 - 7.47, 7.36 in average. Alkalinity of influent to the anaerobic digester was in a range of 1,150 - 1,598 mg/L as CaCO3. Alkalinity of effluent from digester was in a range of 2,578 - 3,050 mg/L as CaCO3. Since alkalinity in the anaerobic digester was maintained within a range of 2,500-5,000 mg/L as CaCO3, a good buffering capacity was obtained in the anaerobic digester (Polprasert, 1996). This indicated that the alkalinity of the influent allowed the neutralization of the volatile fatty acids, preventing the reduction of pH from the optimal value (Borja et al., 1996). Temperatures before and after feeding to anaerobic digester were in a range of 40-45 and 36-40 oC, or 42 and 38 oC in average, respectively. The warm temperature of wastewater from palm oil mill production after pretreatment was appropriate to the biochemical reaction in the anaerobic digester which converted organic matter to biogas under mesophilic temperature range, between 30 and 38 oC (Metcalf & Eddy, 2003).
COD in influent and effluent were found to be in a range of 21,560 - 39,200 mg/L and 5,880 17,640 mg/L, respectively. Average COD in influent and effluent of the anaerobic digester were about 31,687 and 11,270 mg/L, respectively. BOD5 in influent and effluent were in range of 16,950 - 24,600 mg/L and 1,100 - 2,115 mg/L, respectively, and were in average of 20,830 mg/L and 1,564 mg/L, respectively. VFA in influent and effluent was found to be between 6,600-7,200 mg/L as CaCO3 and 643-1,425 mg/L as CaCO3, respectively. Average VFA in influent and effluent were about 6,902 mg/L and 1,220 mg/L as CaCO3, respectively. The average performance of full-scale of anaerobic digester is shown in Figure 3.

Table 1 Performance of full-scale anaerobic digester treating palm oil mill effluent at Asian Palm Oil Mill, Krabi, Thailand.
Influent Parameter Range 1. pH 2. Temperature ( oC) 3. COD (mg/L) 4. BOD5 (mg/L) 4. Alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO3) 5. VFA (mg/L) 4.69-4.85 40-45 21,560-39,200 16,950-24,600 1,150-1,598 6,600-7,200 Average 4.750.05 421 31,6876,371 20,8302,861 1,308165 6,902339 Range 7.29-7.47 36-40 5,880-17,640 1,100-2,115 2,578-3,050 643-1,425 Average 7.360.06 381 11,2704,100 1,564365 2,845156 1,220288 Effluent Removal Efficiency (%) 64 92 -

35,000 30,000 25,000

Concentration (mg/L)

20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Alkalinity Volatile Fatty Acid COD

BOD BOD5 5

Influent

Effluent

Figure 3 Performance of full-scale anaerobic digester treating wastewater from palm oil production at Asian Palm Oil Mill, Krabi, Thailand.
From the operation of the anaerobic digester to treat wastewater from palm oil mill production at hydraulic retention time of 7 days with the average organic loading rate of about 4.53 kgCOD/m3.day, the average removal efficiencies of COD and BOD5 were found to be about 64% and 92%. Average biogas production rate was found to be 6,000 m3/day. The results of biogas composition analysis in Table 2 showed that methane (CH4) concentration was found to be maximum at about 66 67%, whereas carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2) was found to be about 29% and 2%, respectively. Oxygen (O2) was found to be less than 1%.

Table 2 Results of biogas composition analysis.

Gas CO2 O2 N2 CH4 Unit % % % % Results Sample II 29.37 0.96 2.97 66.70

Sample I 29.69 0.91 2.83 66.57

Sample III 29.81 0.72 2.23 67.24

At present, biogas produced from anaerobic digester is used in modified diesel engine with induction motor, which has a capacity of 90 kW as shown in Figure 4. This system produces electricity and supplies to the office, labor houses and anaerobic digester plant in the factory. Because it is essential to prevent corrosion to the gas engine, biogas from the anaerobic reactor is first scrubbed by lime to reduce H2S. Then removal of water by cyclone is performed to eliminate water vapor.

Figure 4 Two modified diesel engines with induction motor at Asian Palm Oil Mill, Krabi, Thailand. Conclusions The anaerobic digester at the Asian Palm Oil Mill can reduce water pollutants and foul smell from the wastewater and produces energy in form of biogas. At average organic loading rate of 4.53 kgCOD /m3.day and hydraulic retention time of 7 days, BOD5 and COD removal efficiency of up to 92% and 64% was achieved. It was found from biogas production rate that 20 m3 of biogas can be obtained from 1 m3 of wastewater from palm oil production or at about 0.51 m3 CH4/kgCOD.day. Biogas was used as fuel in modified diesel engines with induction motor to produce electricity and supply to the factory office, labor houses and biogas plant itself. Furthermore, the factory plans to invest in a project called very small power producer (VSPP) in accordance with a renewable energy policy of the Royal Thai Government.

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