Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) Pretreatment Using Tapioca Starch as A Coagulant

Abstract

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a wastewater generated from the processing of crude palm oil. It is a by-product of the extraction process and is a mixture of water, oil, and residual solids. It is a brownish liquid waste that has high levels of turbidity, total dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and other contaminants. This paper reports a study of POME coagulation and flocculation with natural coagulant. Tapioca starch was utilized to investigate its potential as a coagulant for the removal of selected contaminants namely pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD) turbidity and total dissolved solid (TDS) in POME for various anaerobic ponds. The experimental investigation involved batch coagulation tests using different concentrations of tapioca starch. The coagulation efficiency was evaluated based on the removal of suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and turbidity from POME samples. Additionally, the optimum dosage of tapioca starch was determined through a series of jar tests. As a result, the percentage of COD, turbidity, and total solids removal from the sample by coagulation were 26.7%, 62.8.9% and 40.8% respectively for Anaerobic Pond 1. Anaerobic Pond 2 showed results of 4.02%, 20.9% and 31.1 % while Anaerobic Pond 3 removed about 24.9%, 62.9% and 0.2% of COD, turbidity and total solids dissolve correspondingly. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the potential of tapioca starch as an effective coagulant for POME pretreatment. The findings provide valuable insights into the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches for managing POME. The utilization of tapioca starch as a coagulant in POME pretreatment could contribute to the reduction of pollution load and facilitate the implementation of efficient treatment strategies in the palm oil industry.