Report on the workshop on progress in wastewater treatment and Reuse Technology (PWTRT-2013) on 19th - 22nd December 2013

"The “Workshop on Progress in Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology (PWTRT-2013)” is organized with a key view to document the contribution and impact of research, development and innovations of the wastewater treatment industry especially on palm oil industry, oil and gas industry, dye, pulp and paper and urban wastewater. A total of 19 research scholars including 2 from China and 1 from Indonesia presented the latest work covering a wide variety of water treatment technologies in the lab scale as well industrial scale

Ammonium ion removal using activated zeolite and chitosan

Studies have previously been done on efficacies of chitosan and zeolite in ammonium ion (NH4+) removal. However, no study compares the adsorption performance of natural zeolite and activated natural zeolite with high and low molecular weight chitosan. Hence, this study investigates the potentials of natural zeolite (NZ), activated natural zeolite (ANZ), low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) and high molecular weight chitosan (HMWC) in NH4+ removal. The characteristics of NZ, ANZ, LMWC, and HMWC such as functional groups, surface morphology, elemental composition, zeta potential and particle size were also investigated. The deposition of NH4+ on the surface of NZ and ANZ was confirmed with the absence of nitrogen by the adsorption spectrum of EDX and supported by the presence of an FTIR stretching band at 3500-3300 cm-1, as well as broader and less intense bands 1600 cm-1 after the adsorption for all the adsorbents. The particle size of LMWC, HMWC, NZ and ANZ were 98, 813, 22354 and 9826 nm, respectively. Meanwhile, after the activation process, the composition of O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca and Na were reduced. NH4+ batch adsorption was also studied. HMWC, NZ, and ANZ reached adsorption equilibrium at 15 h, meanwhile for LMWC, the equilibrium reached at t = 20 h. The adsorption capacity of LMWC, HMWC, NZ, and ANZ at an initial concentration of 50 mg/L were 0.769 mg/g, 0.331 mg/g, 2.162 mg/g and 2.937 mg/g respectively. ANZ had the highest adsorption capacity, which might be related to the reduction of cationic elements such as Fe, Ca and Na after the activation has increased the unbalanced negative charge within the crystal lattice of ANZ that can be neutralized by NH4+ hence led to higher adsorption. HMWC has the lowest adsorption capacity that may be due it is positively charged at pH 7 which would favor the adsorption of negatively charged species instead of positively charged species, NH4+

Adsorption of Ammonia Nitrogen by using Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) Seeds: Batch and Fixed-bed Column Studies

The performance of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) seed adsorbent for ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) removal from aqueous solution was examined through batch and continuous bed column experiments. The effects of sodium chloride (NaCl) and lignin concentration on the adsorption process were evaluated. The results revealed that the adsorption performance gradually decreased from 26% upon addition of NaCl and lignin in the solution. Fixed bed column experiments showed that maximum removal of ammonia nitrogen was obtained at an influent concentration of 100 mg/L, bed height of 10 cm and lowest inlet flow rate of 17 mL/min. Meanwhile, desorption studies were carried out at different pH and highest desorption capacity of jackfruit seed adsorbent was 0.42 mg/g. This study suggests that jackfruit seed is a promising adsorbent for the recovery process of ammonia nitrogen

Numerical estimation of hollow fiber membrane for mobile water treatment

In the application of water treatment system, membrane has gained favour in the industry as well as in the research field. In pressure-driven category, ultrafiltration membrane with pore size of 3 to 10 nm is one of the choices for water treatment application. With the advantages of being compacted and self-supporting, hollow fiber membrane configuration has been widely used as ultrafiltration membrane. This is an important feature for a mobile water treatment system developed in this work. The mobile water treatment system is investigated in terms of its operational performance focusing for simple setup configuration. Mobility of the membrane treatment system in this work is aim to develop a stand-alone membrane water treatment system that can operates without electricity. Therefore, the system targeted to be a self-sufficient in rural areas where electricity and delivery of spare parts are difficult. A membrane filtration system with outside-in hollow fiber membrane is developed. The numerical approach of Response Surface Method (RSM) is used to estimate and optimize the flux performance in this work. The operating conditions i.e transmembrane pressure (TMP) as well as the local condition (water temperature) were considered in the numerical estimation. The initial numerical estimation found that the developed mobile system has permeate flux range from 0.422 L/m2h up to 3.035 L/m2h for local temperature of 20 °C to 35 °C and further optimization were discussed in this study

A review of vegetable waste bio-processing techniques in rural areas

Purpose: Vegetable waste (VW) could cause environmental problems if not properly managed. Due to rural living conditions and a relatively low residence density, VW is usually disposed of in landfills. Waste management should be engineered in a way to process the waste into value-added products in a sustainable manner. This review evaluates four bioprocessing techniques for this purpose: anaerobic digestion (AD), vermicomposting (VC), black soldier fly composting (BSFC), and composting. Method: A systematic search involved databases from Scopus using keywords like “vegetable waste; anaerobic digestion; composting; vermicomposting; black soldier fly”. By reviewing and synthesizing 173 articles (with 162 from 2019−2023), this paper summarizes and illustrates the information collected. Results: In a systematic search, AD and composting easily surpassed 2000 publications (from 2013 to January 2023). Besides composting emerged as a cost-effective (for MYR 1.40/kg) bio-processing technique in terms of production cost. This review on VW composting is based on an acceptable C/N ratio (30−50), moisture content (50% −80%), ratio of VW to additives (typically 30:70), efficient additives, and inoculation strategy. This review also summarizes the maturity index and illustrates the usage of compost and leachate as fertilizer. Conclusion: VW composting in rural areas is reliable and beneficial because it uses a small-scale reactor and has the potential for a circular economy in the community

A review on bamboo as an adsorbent for removal of pollutants for wastewater treatment

Water and wastewater treatment are very important for obtaining clean and sanitary water as well as protecting the environment from toxic pollutants. Not only enriched with cellulose and carbon but the abundant resources of bamboo also make it suitable to be utilized as an adsorbent. With the right processing technologies and improvements, the potential of bamboo is unlimited. This study review provides knowledge on the use of bamboo-based adsorbents for the removal of contaminants and pollutants in wastewater in the form of activated carbon, biochar, and aerogel. This review highlighted bamboo utilization and its relevance as an adsorbent for wastewater treatment. The technologies for the processing and improvement of bamboo as well as the performance of the bamboo-based adsorbents are also discussed in this study. The adsorption capacity of bamboo has shown improvement with modification and good adsorption capacity achieved with some of the adsorbent being able to be recycled and reused

Vegetable waste composting: A case study in Kundasang, Sabah

Composting is considered agronomically, ecologically, and practically beneficial, with the end product being an organic fertilizer or soil conditioner rich in nutrients for the soil. This study aims to investigate the effects of adding chicken manure (CM) to vegetable waste (VW) and rice husk (RH) composting. This is a pioneering study on Kundasang composting, as well as addressing the vegetable waste problem in the community. The composting process was studied for 20 days in a 37-L laboratory composter reactor box with passive aeration. Four mixtures were investigated, each with a VW: RH (1:2) ratio and a different additive of CM (0%, 1%, 2.5% and 5%). The composting process’s performance shows that Mix-3 (2.5 % CM) is ideal compared to other mixtures, with the highest temperature achieved at 41ºC as early as day 1, resulting in a 28.12% organic matter (OM) loss. The OM loss value results show that Mix-3 (28.12%) > Mix-2 (26.14%) > Mix-1 (16.55%) >Mix-4 (13.33%). The maximum temperature reached was 41ºC, and the Mix3(41.3ºC)>Mix-1(41.1ºC)>Mix-2(41.0ºC)>Mix-4(40.7ºC) and decreasing near to ambient. The reduction percentage shows Mix-3 (13.92%) > Mix-2 (13.45%) > Mix-4 (9.24%) > Mix-1 (8.93%). Thus, with the optimum addition of chicken manure, the degradation is reflected in the high moisture content reduction rate. In conclusion, using CM as an additive has a significant impact on composting VW

Feasibility study of pilot scale vegetable waste composting project for Kundasang community’s waste management program

Purpose: Vegetable waste (VW) composting was assessed using a passive aerated pilot-scale composter at Kundasang, Sabah. The passive aerated composting system proposed at Kundasang Community Composting Site (KCCS) was analyzed for its techno-economic impact. Method: The composting performance (temperature, organic matter loss, moisture content, pH value, electrical conductivity, and nutrient value) of 500 ± 2 kg of VW, 250 ± 2 kg of RH, and 19 ± 1 kg of CM feedstock mixture was analyzed. The benefit-to-cost ratio was used to assess the impact of the technoeconomic analysis on the designed and piloted KCCS. Results: In the pilot scale composting condition, temperature reached its highest at 59 ± 7 ◦C (day 5) and for five consecutive days (day 2 until day 6) in the thermophilic phase. Results of the final compost (on a dry matter basis) showed that the moisture content is 62 ± 0.2% WM, the pH level is 7.6 ± 0.1, the electrical conductivity is 1.8 ± 0.4 mS/cm, and the N, P, and K values are 0.58 ± 0.10% DM, 0.04 ± 0.02% DM, and 0.17 ± 0.04% DM, respectively. The techno-economic analysis shows that with the capital cost normalized on a 20-year basis, the KCCS composter system can generate approximately MYR 25, 000 (USD 5, 600) per year in revenue. Conclusion: The results show that these composting methods are suitable for VW and Kundasang community conditions, and this study will benefit the community in dealing with VW waste and generating a circular economy while establishing a self-sustaining community

Biosorption study of methylene blue (MB) and brilliant red remazol (BRR) by coconut dregs

Water pollution has become a major issue in many countries, including Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the countries that suffers from this detrimental influence on water resource sustainability. Adsorption has been discovered to be a cost-effective and efficient method of removing contaminants such as pigments, dyes, and metal impurities. Many biomass-based adsorbent materials have been successfully used for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions. In this study, the potential use of coconut dregs as the new biosorbent for the removal of Methylene Blue (MB) (basic dye) and Brilliant Red Remazol (BRR) (acidic dye) was investigated. The effects of adsorption time, adsorbent dosage, pH, and initial dye concentration on coconut dregs adsorption for MB and BRR dye were investigated using 2-Level Factorial Design of Design-Expert 7.1.5. The results indicated that the amount of dye adsorbed on the coconut dregs increased with increasing dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and adsorption time. However, both MB and BRR dyes favor different pH for the adsorption process. The adsorption capacity of MB dye increased with increasing pH, while the adsorption capacity of BRR dye increased with decreasing pH. Removal of MB was optimum at pH 11, contact time of 240 min, a dosage of 0.25 g adsorbent, and an initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L. Meanwhile, for BRR dye, the optimum condition was pH 2, contact time of 180 min, the dosage of 0.25 g adsorbent, and an initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L. The equilibrium data for both dyes fitted very well with the Langmuir Isotherm equation giving a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity as high as 5.7208 mg/g and 3.7636 mg/g for Methylene Blue Dye and Brilliant Red Remazol dye, respectively. This study shows that coconut dregs can be one of the potential and low-cost biosorbents for the treatment of industrial dyes soon