2011 International Conference on Agricultural and Natural Resources Engineering

Advances in Biomedical Engineering, Vol.3-5

High-rate Mesophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Palm Oil Mill effluent (POME)

in Expanded Granular Sludge Bed (EGSB) Reactor

Zhang Yejian1,a, Ye Hairen1, Zheng Xiangyong1, Zhang Zhenjia2, Yan Li1

1
College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang,
325000,China
2
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai
200240, China
a
email: 164760089@qq.com, yjzhang@wzu.edu.cn,

Keywords: POME; mesophilic; anaerobic digestion; EGSB

Abstract. An expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor was used for the treatment of palm oil
mill effluent (POME). The reactor was operated continuously at a mesophilic temperature of 35 ℃
for 514 days with organic loading rate (OLR) increasing from 1.45 to 16.5 kg COD/m3day. The
EGSB reactor had good performance in apparent COD removal, at 10 kg COD/m3day with 3 days
hydraulic retention time (HRT), 90.5% COD was removed, but only 43% organic compounds in raw
POME was transformed to biogas in which methane content was about 70%. The low conversion rate
was confirmed by further laboratory-scale experiment. During most of the operation time, the EGSB
reactor exhibited good stability in terms of acidity and alkalinity and no addition of alkalinity
solutions was necessary for pH adjustment.

1. Introduction
Oil palm (elaeis guineensis) is one of the most versatile crops in the tropical region, notably in
Malaysia and Indonesia. The extraction of palm oil from the fruit involves a number of processing
procedures: sterilization, stripping, digestion, pressing, classification, purification and vacuum
drying. About 1.5 cubic meters of water are consumed to process one tonne of fresh fruit bunches
(FFB), half of which results in palm oil mill effluent (POME).
POME poses a great threat on environment for its high biological and chemical oxygen demands,
when discharged untreated or partially treated into receiving watercourse. Over the past decade,
many methods have been developed to control POME pollution, including crop irrigation, use as
animal fodder, decanting and drying [1], evaporation [2], simple skimming, coagulation [3-5], flotation
[6]
, adsorption [7,8], ultrafiltration [9-12], various aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation. However, few
have been put into full scale application for their unsatisfactory performance and high operating
costs.
Anaerobic biological systems offer the potential for the treatment of high strength wastewater such
as POME, since these systems do not have the high energy demand needed for aeration, allow the
recovery of energy in the form of methane and possibly a soil conditioner in the form of the digested
sludge. Today about 85% of POME treatment is based on an anaerobic and facultative ponding
system in Malaysia. The use of conventional anaerobic lagoon or tank digester to treat POME is
characterized by long residence time, often in excess of 20 days. A ponding system consisting of 8
ponds in series was studied to evaluate the efficiency for POME treatment [13]. After a total hydraulic
retention time (HRT) of 60 days, residual COD and BOD in effluent were 1,725 and 610mg/l,

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respectively. High-rate anaerobic bioreactors, such as membrane anaerobic system (MAS) [14],
anaerobic filter (AF) [15], anaerobic fluidized-bed reactor (FBR) [16], upflow anaerobic sludge bed
reactor (UASB) [17], modified anaerobic baffled reactor (MABR) [18], anaerobic hybrid digester [19]
and up-flow anaerobic sludge fixed film (UASFF) bioreactor [20] were also studied for treating
POME.
Expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor, which is a modification of UASB, was primarily
developed to improve substrate-biomass contact within the treatment system by expanding the sludge
bed and intensifying hydraulic mixing, and consequently EGSB has enhanced reactor performance
and stability. Many researchers have reported on the feasibility of using EGSB reactor for treating of
high strength wastewater, but the use of EGSB reactor to treat POME has not been reported in the
literature to date. The objective of this paper was to investigate the possibility and performance of
mesophilic anaerobic digestion of POME using an EGSB reactor.

2. Material and methods

2.1. Experimental set up

The schematic diagram of the laboratory-scale EGSB reactor used in this study is shown in Fig. 1.
The EGSB reactor was made of plexiglass column with an internal diameter of 11 cm and an overall
height of 195 cm. The total volume of the reactor was 21560 ml and the working volume was 20500
ml (excluding head space). The EGSB reactor was operated under mesophilic condition (35 ℃) and
the temperature was maintained by circulating hot water through the reactor jacket.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of anaerobic expanded granular sludge blanket reactor

2.2. Palm oil mill effluent
POME samples were collected from Sungai Burung Palm Oil Mill, located in the state of Sabah,
Malaysia, and preserved in PVC containers at a temperature less than 4 ℃, but above the freezing
point. A detailed description of the characteristics and composition of the waste water was
summarized in Table 1.
Table 1 Characteristics and composition of raw POME (unit: mg/L, except pH)
Parameter value Parameter value
pH 4.8 K 5,533
COD 79,723.2 Mg 1,065
BOD5 35,432.5 Ca 607.3
Total Solid (TS) 67,200 S 400
Suspended Solid (SS) 49,300 P 277.7
Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) 35,935 Si 99.67

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 Kjeldahl Nitrogen 873.6 Na 87.92
Ammoniacal Nitrogen 173.8 Fe 61.17
Volatile Fatty Acida (VFA) 2,287 Mn 8.572
Total Alkalinityb (TA) 523 Zn 6.83
Oil and Grease 17,410 Al 6.299
a
Volatile fatty acid, expressed as HAc (acetic acid);
b
Total alkalinity, expressed as CaCO3 (calcium carbonate)
2.3. Inoculum (seed sludge)
The inoculum for seeding was a mixture of 3 liters digested sludge taken from a municipal plant and
9 liters granular sludge taken from an EGSB reactor treating beer wastewater. Total volatile
suspended solids (VSS) in seed sludge were 662,040 mg, 69% of the total suspended solids (TSS).
2.4. Analytical methods
Biogas production was measured daily by a wet-test gas meter, making correction for atmospheric
pressure and temperature.
Methane content was determined by GC2010A gas chromatography with a stainless steel column
(300 ㎝ * 0.3 ㎝) packed with active carbon (30-60 mesh) using thermal conductivity detection
(TCD). VFA were analyzed by HP 5890 series Ⅱ gas chromatograph equipped with a flame
ionization detector (FID).
Metal elemental composition was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission
spectrophotometry, after being predigested in aqua regia.
The following parameters were also analyzed: COD, BOD, ammonia nitrogen and Kjeldahi
nitrogen, the analyses were carried out according to the standard procedures [21].
2.5. Bioreactor start-up and operation
Before aerobic biofilm reactor was put into opertation, sodium bicarbonate powder was used to adjust
influent pH. From then on, discharge from the aerobic biofilm reactor which had a pH between 8.5
and 9.0 was recycled back to EGSB reactor, alkalinity addition was not required any more. Influent
COD was increased stepwise from 4,331mg/l to 35,000 mg/l, and an HRT of 3 days was maintained
during start-up stage. In operational stage, HRT was shortened to 2 days.

3. Results and discussion

In start-up stage, VFA and bicarbonate alkalinity concentration in effluent was in the range of 3.2-8
mmol/l and 3.6-39.5 mmol/l, respectively, the rate of VFA/TA was between 0.1-0.3, and reactor pH
was varying from 7.05 to 7.5, all these illustrated that system had sufficient alkalinity to neutralize
acidity coming from influent and from acidification process. Once OLR was raised, effluent VFA
would rise abruptly. After one or two days, it would reconvert, although a little more than the former
steady value. The sudden increase in OLR would result in organic shocks to the microorganisms, and
the micro flora would need time for acclimation to the new environment. The increase of VFA in the
effluent implied that the acidogenic bacteria produced more VFA than what could be utilized by the
acetogenic and methanogenic bacteria.
Fig. 2 illustrated COD removal efficiency when EGSB bioreactor was in steady-state condition.
Data were selected only when system had reached steady-state, and were arranged in time sequence.
The performance of the EGSB reactor was evaluated in terms of effluent COD, gas production and so
on. In front half section, COD reduction rate was well above 90%. However, in the last portion, after
the operation time exceeded 478 days, the average efficiency of COD removal declined to only 67%.
Effluent VFA was seen increasing from no more than 10 mmol/l, to more than 20 mmol/l, and
finally to near 100 mmol/l. Considering this together with the above COD removal efficiency,
conclusion could be drawn that while VFA increased sharply, accordingly COD removal efficiency
decreased extremely. This could be explained by the upset of the balance between acid formation and

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methane production in the anaerobic system, resulted in VFA accumulating, finally acid phase took
place and metabolic of methanogens was inhibited. Taking into account of stable operation condition
in terms of temperature, pH and HRT, one sound explanation might be the too high salt content in the
reactor, which was well above 15,000 mg/l. The concentrations of Ca, Na, Mg and K in POME were
607.3, 87.92, 1065 and 5533 mg/l, respectively, which could be seen in Fig.2.

Fig.2 apparent COD removal efficiency at steady-state

When the bioreactor was in steady-state condition, COD removal efficiency was between 89% and
96%, but biogas produced was comparatively low. Taking into account of the slow growth rate of
anaerobic biomass, 70% methane content in biogas, using the experimental data obtained, COD
conversion to methane rate was calculated and illustrated in Fig. 3. As can been seen from the figure
that conversion rate fluctuate between 20% and 70%, and the average COD conversion efficiency
was 46%. There was a big gap between these two parameters--- COD removal efficiency and COD
conversion rate.

Fig.3 COD to methane conversion ratio and apparent COD removal efficiency at steady-state
To reveal the maximum anaerobic transformation potential of POME to methane, a pilot-scale
experiment was implemented. Smith fermentation tube and water bath shaker (temperature 35 ℃,

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libration frequency 60 rpm) were used, 50 ml raw POME diluted with 150 ml tap water served as
substrate in two parallel trials, and tap water was used in control experiment. About 3 gram VSS
granular sludge taken from EGSB bioreactor was inoculated in the three fermentation tubes, NaHCO3
and trace metal element were also supplemented in the same way. Experimental result indicated that
about 56% organic matter in raw POME was transformed to methane, while the COD reduction
efficiency was as high as 89%, the interim experiment result also indirectly verified the data obtained
in EGSB operation. The gap between these could be attributed to the existence of settleable complex
organic materials in POME, most of which were in particulate form, mainly consisted of plant cell
debris and fragments, little change had happened to these substances after anaerobic degradation, and
for they were settled to the bottom of conical flask or anaerobic bioreactor, no reflection was
presented in the effluent sample.

4. Conclusion
The feasibility of palm oil mill effluent treatment by mesophilic anaerobic digestion was investigated
using an EGSB reactor. The reactor was operated at 35 ℃ and HRT of 3days, later 2 days in
operational stage, OLR was gradually increased from 1.45 to 16.5 kg COD/m3day. The reactor
showed high efficiency in the treatment of high strength POME at high OLR and short HRT, COD
removal of 90.5% was achieved at HRT of 3 days and OLR of 10.5 kg COD/m3day, but only 46%
organic matter in POME was transformed to methane. The reactor was stable in terms of acidity and
alkalinity, and no addition of alkalinity was necessary for pH adjustment. Longer term running at
high loading rates and larger scale was required in order to assess the stability and potential of the
anaerobic EGSB bioreactor described in this paper.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Sungai Burung Palm Oil Mill, Malaysia, for their
financial support granted for the realization of this work, and for providing the sample of POME to
conduct this research.

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