Treating palm oil mill effluent by activated sludge process using submerged mechanical aerator/agitator replacing surface aerator

Activated sludge process (ASP) is gaining recognition as a process technique for the control of biological oxygen demand (BOD) in palm oil mill effluent (POME). Surface aerators or diffusing plates are often used in aeration tanks serving as core of the ASP. For consistent improvement in water quality within the aeration tank utilising the ASP and in particular, mitigating its BOD effluent stream, this study replaced the surface aerator with submerged mechanical aerator/agitator incorporating separate “agitation function” and “agitation diffusing function” intended for use in aeration tank of polishing plant that contains surface aerators. In order to confirm the activated state of the sludge in the aeration tanks, sludge was observed by microscopy (magnification 600 or lower). The water analysis, POME, BOD, ammonium, and total nitrogen were analsyed. As a result of the study, improvement in water quality criteria including the agitation state in the aeration tank, mixed liquid dissolved oxygen, and BOD were observed. The BOD has improved from 34.7% to 93.1% at a maximum removal rate

Engine performance and exhaust emission analysis of a single cylinder diesel engine fuelled with water-diesel emulsion fuel blended with manganese metal additives

Water-in-diesel emulsion fuel (W/D) is one of the alternative fuels that capable to reduce the exhaust emission of diesel engine significantly especially the nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). However, the usage of W/D emulsion fuels contributed to higher CO emissions. Supplementing metal additive into the fuel is the alternate way to reduce the CO emissions and improve performance. The present paper investigates the effect of using W/D blended with organic based manganese metal additives on the diesel engine performance and exhaust emission. The test were carried out by preparing and analysing the results observed from five different tested fuel which were D2, emulsion fuel (E10: 89% D2, 10% - water, 1% - surfactant), E10Mn100, E10Mn150, E10Mn200. Organic based Manganese (100ppm, 150ppm, 200ppm) used as the additive in the three samples of the experiments. E10Mn200 achieved the maximum reduction of BSFC up to 13.66% and has the highest exhaust gas temperature. Whereas, E10Mn150 achieved the highest reduction of CO by 14.67%, and slightly increased of NOx emissions as compared to other emulsion fuels. Organic based manganese which act as catalyst promotes improvement of the emulsion fuel performance and reduced the harmful emissions discharged

Comparison of diesel engine performance between a mechanical pump and a common rail fuel injection system equipped with real-time non-surfactant emulsion fuel supply system

The global focus in emulsion fuels is due to the advantages over conventional diesel fuels. It has the capabilities to simultaneously reduce the emissions of NOx and smoke. It also said to reduce the fuel consumption of diesel engine by significant percentages. However, due to the interdependency on surfactant, emulsion fuel does not seem to be possible as alternative fuel in an economic perspective. This is because of the high market price of the commercial surfactant. Therefore, this research focused on non-surfactant W/D that produced by a system known as Real-Time Non-Surfactant Emulsion Fuel Supply System (RTES). RTES has been applied with the goal of investigating the impact on exhaust emissions and fuel consumption of a mechanical pump fuel injection system diesel vehicle (MP) and a common rail fuel injection system diesel vehicle (CR). A one-ton truck represents as MP (Mechanical Pump) and an SUV represent as CR (Common rail) are the test vehicles for the said research. The non-surfactant W/D with 6.5 wt.% of water produced by the RTES used as the test fuel and named as E6.5. It has been emulsified in the RTES right before being injected into the diesel vehicles. The testing was performed on a chassis dynamometer following the West Virginia University 5-peak cycles. The findings show that the utilization of non-surfactant W/D has increased the fuel consumption by 7.39% for MP and 3.2% for CR respectively as compared with base diesel fuel. NOx, smoke emissions and exhaust temperature have significantly reduced by the MP relative to CR vehicles. Overall, the concept of non-surfactant W/D seems to have implementation potential for reducing harmful emissions from both diesel-powered vehicles

Performance and emissions of diesel engine with circulation nonsurfactant emulsion fuel system

Diesel engine is known for its durable operation and capability of utilizing various type of fuels, however, dangerous exhaust emissions are emitted from diesel engines. Nonsurfactant emulsion fuel is a potential fuel for diesel engine to reduce for Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Particulate matter (PM) emission compare to conventional diesel fuel in a diesel engine. In this study, emulsion fuel was prepared using a mixer known as Circulation Non-Surfactant Emulsion Fuel System. The study carried out with different water percentages in the emulsion fuel given as follows: 3%, 6%, and 9% and at a different engine load condition from 1-4 kW with a constant speed of 3200 rpm. Results show that, 6% emulsion fuel shows average 4.38% reduction in NOx emission and 1.10% reduction in fuel consumption. 9% emulsion fuel show higher amount of CO emission compare to Diesel while it reduces CO2 emission. Overall, 6% when prepared are recommended for the formation of non-surfactant emulsion fuel

Requirement for real-time water emulsion fuel supply system (RTES) concept design

Nowadays, demand for more efficient energ y increased due to the green technology as one of the promin ent research areas. In order to improve the exhaust emission from the diesel engine, researchers have found an alter na tive fuel which known as water-in-dies el emulsion fucl. It is a promising way that could fulfill such demand because it can simultaneously reduce harmful emissions; Nitrogen Oxides, Particulate Matter and Hydrocarbon , and improve combustion efficiency of diesel engine. \V/D emulsion fuel is a mixture of water and diesel with the presence of surfactant. However, the stabili ty and high dependency of surfactant are the main concern in producing emulsion fuel. High cost of surfactant has restrained the emulsion fuel to be commercialized. Hence, with the aim to remove the dependency on surfactant to produce emulsion fuel, this research has been conducted in order to come out with a mixing system design which known as Real Time Emulsion Fuel Supply System (RTES). It is a machine that combin es two typ es of mixers; high shear mixer and ultrasonic mixer in one unit and able to emulsify the water and diesel fuel without adding any surfactant. Throughout the RTES design process, there are design objectives that are considered . Besides, there arc also some regul ations and constr aint that needs to be consider during the component selection

Emission of diesel engine running on emulsion fuel made from low grade diesel fuel

As to achieve sustainable greening transportation, researchers has agreed that emulsion fuel could be an alternative fuel for diesel engine as it is useful for heavy transportation. Emulsion fuel is well-known in reducing the exhaust emission that had been produced by vehicles. This research has been conducted in order to investigate the exhaust emission in diesel engine such as, Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Particulate Matter. There are two types of emulsion fuel tested as it differs in water percentage. E10 is an indicator for emulsion fuel with 10% of water and another one is E20 with 20% of water. To assure the stability of emulsion fuel, 1% of surfactant had been added. Test engine results shows that NOx and PM for emulsion fuels reduced by 60% and 14.11% respectively compared to D2. Meanwhile, CO2 and CO for emulsion fuels are increased compared to D2 by about 27.76% and 102.20% respectively

A brief review of palm oil liquid waste conversion into biofuel

Palm oil is an important edible oil due to its high content of beta-carotene and vitamin E, high oil output, and solid fat content. However, its extensive commercialization has resulted in a vast amount of waste, leading to challenges for the development of an economically feasible conversion of palm oil waste into useful products. This review focuses on exploring the various conversion processes of the liquid waste produced from the palm oil processing industry. The main treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), which can be separated into fiber, wastewater, residual oils, and other impurities, involves a digestion process which produces biogas, while the fiber and other impurities are often converted into animal feed, soil fertilizer, fermentation media, and yeast production. Residual oil found in POME, known as Sludge Palm Oil (SPO), contains high levels of free fatty acid (FFA). Other residual oils resulting from palm oil refining include Palm Fatty Acid Distilled (PFAD) and Palm Acid Oil (PAO) that also have a high FFA content. The transesterification and esterification processes are utilized to convert SPO, PFAD and PAO into fuel.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Composite paper from an agricultural waste of bagasse sugarcane and pineapple leaf fibre: a novel random and multilayer hybrid fibre reinforced composite paper

Bagasse sugarcane (BSC) has low fibre strength due to low cellulose content. Hence, by adding a strong secondary fibre that is high in cellulose such as pineapple leaf fibre (PALF), the fibre strength of the system can be improved. High portion of PALF decreased the composite paper performance because the high composition of PALF tends to produce flocs and agglomerates fibres. The arrangement of the fibres in composite paper should be improved so that this agglomerate's effect could be overcome. A novel multilayer hybrid fibre composite was used. BSC/PALF with several hybrid ratios was studied in terms of the mechanical and moisture properties of the produced paper sheet and the results showed that multilayer hybrid composite paper produced higher in hybrid composite paper's properties compared with random hybrid composite paper. The colour of multilayer hybrid fibre composite paper resembled the natural bright colour of BSC and the multilayer hybrid fibre composite paper also shown a slightly low weight loss percentage compared with the random hybrid fibre composite paper after 60 days of soil burial test. As a conclusion, multilayer hybrid fibre composite produced the stronger interfibre bonding and overcome the agglomerate's effect between BSC/PALF compared with random hybrid fibre composite