Treatment of palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) using ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes

Malaysian palm oil industry has grown rapidly over the last few decades, to becoming the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil. This success story however, comes with a greater challenge and equally required more sacrifices in order to maintain the tempo. In the year of 2004, it has been recorded that 26.7 million tons of solid biomass and approximately a 30 million tons of palm oil mill effluent (POME) were generated from 381 palm oil mills in Malaysia [1]. Although different kind of wastes are generated in the palm oil mills, the perceived harmful waste among all the waste generated is the palm oil mill effluent (POME) due to its associated harm if discharged into the environment untreated [2]. POME is a colloidal suspension originating from mixture of sterilizer condensate, separator sludge and hydro cyclone wastewater in a ratio of 9:15:1 respectively [3]. It is a brownish colored, thick liquid that is containing high amount of oil, solids, and grease with high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) values. Table 15.1 describes the characteristic of POME obtained from Malaysian Palm Oil Board

Removal of lead(II) from aqueous solution using polyacrylonitrile/zinc oxide activated carbon nanofibers

This study aimed to prepare activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) via electrospinning process for removal of lead from aqueous solution. The ACNFs/ZnO were characterized in term of its morphological changes, specific surface area and functional groups analysis using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis, respectively. The results showed that the specific surface area (SSA) of the ACNFs/ZnO were higher than the neat ACNFs which were 163.04 m2/g as compared to 67.6 m2/g, accordingly. FESEM analysis illustrated that composite ACNFs possessed more compact fibers with presence of ZnO beads and smaller fiber diameter whereas neat ACNFs possessed more aligned nanofibers with larger fiber diameter. Adsorption study showed that the composite ACNFs possessed higher capacity which was 120.3 mg/g as compared to 77.6 mg/g of neat ACNFs. This excellent adsorption performance of ACNFs PAN/ZnO exhibits the potential of this composite adsorbent to solve the environmental issue of heavy metal contamination

Preparation of composite activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) for adsorption of heavy metals

The objective of this study is to prepare a new and highly efficient nanomaterial for heavy metals adsorption. Owing to that, activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) from precursor polyacrylnitrile (PAN) and manganese oxide (MnO2) have been prepared via electrospinning process for removal of heavy metals (lead and cadmium) from aqueous solution. The PAN/MnO2-based ACNFs were characterized in term of its morphological changes, specific surface area and functional groups analysis using SEM, BET and FTIR analysis respectively. The results showed that the specific surface area (SSA) of the electrospun composite ACNFs was higher than the neat ACNFs which is 499m2/g as compared to 800m2/g. SEM analysis illustrated that composite ACNFs have more compact fibers with presence of MnO2 beads and smaller fiber diameter of 437.2 nm whereas neat ACNFs possessed more aligned nanofibers with average fiber diameter of 575.5 nm. From adsorption study, the removal of Pb (II) and Cd (II) using both ACNF/MnO2 and ACNFs were higher than the commercial GAC with the removal efficiency is 100% for Pb (II) and 97% for Cd (II). The high removal efficiency of ACNFs/MnO2 is attributed by its larger SSA, presence of functional groups that play role in adsorption process such as hyroxyl and carboxyl groups and the role of manganese oxide as adsorbent itself (Han,2006). This excellent adsorption performance of ACNFs exhibits the potential of this composite adsorbent to solve the environmental issue of heavy metal contamination

IOT-Based Energy Monitoring System for Energy Conservation

The aim of this project is to develop an Internet of Things (IoT) based Energy Monitoring System to reduce energy waste and cutting down energy cost. Therefore, it needs a system which provide efficient energy consumption management. For the starting of designing an IoT-based Energy Monitoring System, different sensor and calculated AC measurement methods were studied. The development of this system is to integrate each of the sensor, energy measuring device and IoT system into one complete module. The concept of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) was implemented in this project. The WSN obtained data information from sensor and send them to the cloud through the IoT network for cloud storage of the ThingSpeak platform. The system contains two input signal which is voltage and current. The device that transfers the data or information from the energy monitoring device to the cloud storage is the ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. The output is the energy consumption that has been used according to the real-time data measurement. Lastly, the data that is transmitted to the cloud can be monitored through the mobile application ThingView. In conclusion, this system is necessary because it can control and manage energy consumption to avoid wastage and promote energy conservation

Study on the thin film composite poly (piperazine-amide) nanofiltration membranes made of different polymeric substrates: effect of operating conditions

Three composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes made of different substrate materials—polysulfone (PSf), polyethersulfone (PES) and polyetherimide (PEI)—were successfully prepared by interfacial polymerization technique. Prior to filtration tests, the composite NF membranes were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS). It was observed that the surface properties of composite NF membranes were obviously altered with the use of different substrate materials. The separation performance of the prepared composite NF membranes was further evaluated by varying operating conditions, which included feed salt concentration and operating temperature. Experimental results showed that the water flux of all TFC membranes tended to decrease with increasing Na2SO4 concentration in feed solution, due to the increase in feed osmotic pressure. Of the three TFC membranes studied, PSf-based membrane demonstrated the highest salt rejection but lowest water flux owing to its highest degree of polyamide cross-linking as shown in XPS data. With respect to thermal stability, PEI-based TFC membrane outperformed the rest, overcoming the trade-off effect between permeability and rejection when the feed solution temperature was gradually increased from 30 °C to 80 °C. In addition, the relatively smoother surface of hydrophilic PEI-based membrane when compared with PSf-based membrane was found to be less susceptible to BSA foulants, leading to lower flux decline. This is because smoother surface of polyamide layer would have minimum “valley clogging,” which improves membrane anti-fouling resistance

Study on the thin film composite poly (piperazine-amide) nanofiltration membranes made of different polymeric substrates: effect of operating conditions

Three composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes made of different substrate materials—polysulfone (PSf), polyethersulfone (PES) and polyetherimide (PEI)—were successfully prepared by interfacial polymerization technique. Prior to filtration tests, the composite NF membranes were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS). It was observed that the surface properties of composite NF membranes were obviously altered with the use of different substrate materials. The separation performance of the prepared composite NF membranes was further evaluated by varying operating conditions, which included feed salt concentration and operating temperature. Experimental results showed that the water flux of all TFC membranes tended to decrease with increasing Na2SO4 concentration in feed solution, due to the increase in feed osmotic pressure. Of the three TFC membranes studied, PSf-based membrane demonstrated the highest salt rejection but lowest water flux owing to its highest degree of polyamide cross-linking as shown in XPS data. With respect to thermal stability, PEI-based TFC membrane outperformed the rest, overcoming the trade-off effect between permeability and rejection when the feed solution temperature was gradually increased from 30 °C to 80 °C. In addition, the relatively smoother surface of hydrophilic PEI-based membrane when compared with PSf-based membrane was found to be less susceptible to BSA foulants, leading to lower flux decline. This is because smoother surface of polyamide layer would have minimum “valley clogging,” which improves membrane anti-fouling resistance

Preparation and characterisation of polyethersulfone/ hydrous ferric oxide mixed matrix membranes with improved hydrophilicity for treatment of oily waste water

The rapid growth in oil and gas industry has led to the large production of oily wastewater. The massive amount of oily wastewater derived from the industry has raised concerns in community especially its adverse impact to the environment. Membrane technology has been in the spotlight in recent advancement to treat the oily wastewater. The major obstacle regarding the membrane technology is fouling due to surfactant adsorption and/or oil droplets plugging the pore, which would lead to a severe decline of the flux and rejection rate. HFO nanoparticles are incorporated into the PES membrane matrix with the aim to improve the hydrophilicity, water permeability as well as the antifouling properties of the membrane. HFO is abundant and easily obtained making it the perfect candidate in developing economical and energy saving membrane operation. Hydrous ferric dioxide (HFO) nanoparticles were synthesised via chemical precipitation method and incorporated in polyethersulfone (PES) to fabricate nanocomposite mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for ultrafiltration (UF). The resulting membranes were characterised by SEM, FTIR, contact angle goniometer, before further subjected to water permeation test. It was found that contact angle of membrane decreased remarkably with an increase in HMO nanoparticle loading (state the value/ percentage decrement). The pore size at the skin layer however decreased as observed by SEM. As for the UF experiments, pure water permeation rate increased remarkably with increasing nanoparticle loading

Photocatalytic degradation of industrial dye wastewater using zinc oxide polyvinylpyrrolidone nanoparticles

Due to the lack of studies regarding the potential of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as capping agent in precipitation of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, this research focused on the performance of ZnO nanoparticles with presence of PVP loading on photocatalytic degradation treatment for industrial dye wastewater. Three different samples of ZnO-PVP were successfully synthesized via precipitation method. The degradation rate of dye approached 90.61% under pH7 in the presence of ZnO-PVP (0.025g/L of PVP). The chemical bonds in ZnO-PVP was analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)

Photocatalytic degradation of palm oil mill secondary effluent

Palm oil industry is one of the industries that has major disposal problem in disposing the lignocelluloic biomass such as oil palm trunks (OPT), oil palm fronds (OPF), empty fruits bunches (EFB) and palm pressed fibres (PPF), palm shells and palm oil mill effluent (POME) [1]. Amongst all waste produced, POME is the most difficult waste to treat due to its high volume generated [2]. POME consists of 95-96% water, 0.6-0.7% of oil and 4-5% and total solid. Although it was said that POME is nontoxic, however the abundance of POME in water stream could lead to oxygen depletion in water stream as POME contains high amount of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) which later on could lead to plant growth in aquatic region. POME also consists of sterilizer condensate, separator sludge and hydrocyclone (DOE 1999). The treatment of POME generally undergo ponding system, open tank digester and extended aeration system, or closed anaerobic digester and land application system. Palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) is the result of treatment of POME and is characterized by having a thick, brownish color and bad odor wastewater. Although POME was claimed to be treated with one of the systems, several studies showed that the POMSE still exceed the standard discharge limit set by both Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia and Environment Quality Act (EQA) 197

Palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) treatment via photocatalysis process in presence of ZnO-PEG nanoparticles

Palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) has high colour intensity, turbidity and organic load of biochemical oxygen demand which still not achieved the discharged requirement by department of environment and led to detrimental to the aquatic life. Photocatalysis process is one of the promising method in wastewater treatment due to its advantages. This study reports on the POMSE treatment using photocatalysis process in presence of ZnO-polyethylene glycol (ZnO-PEG) nanoparticles. The characterization results using fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy show that there are no impurities present in the samples and presenting the nature and chemical bonds of ZnO-PEG besides having less agglomeration and smaller average in size (25–150 nm) compared to commercial ZnO (25–200 nm). ZnO-PEG nanoparticles have a great potential in degradation of POMSE and this is supported with the results obtained from the experimental works. Four potential factors which are different type of (A) photocatalysts, (B) pH of the POMSE, (C) ZnO-PEG loading and (D) concentration of POMSE were evaluated for the significance design of experiment. It is found that all the main factors were significant, with contributions of (A)66%, (B)73%, (C)84% and (D)84% respectively, to the POMSE degradation. Accordingly, the most favorable condition for the photocatalysis degradation process of POMSE is under pH 6.5 in presence of 0.5 g/L ZnO-PEG for the 50% of POMSE dilution. It is believed that this integrated approach can be implemented in the industry to achieve discharged standard of POMSE and maintain the green environment for future generation