title: Conventional methods and emerging wastewater polishing technologies for palm oil mill effluent treatment: a review.
abstract: The Malaysian palm oil industry is a major revenue earner and the country is ranked as one of the largest producers in the world. However, growth of the industry is synonymous with a massive production of agro-industrial wastewater. As an environmental protection and public health concern, the highly polluting palm oil mill effluent (POME) has become a major attention-grabber. Hence, the industry is targeting for POME pollution abatement in order to promote a greener image of palm oil and to achieve sustainability. At present, most palm oil mills have adopted the ponding system for treatment. Due to the successful POME pollution abatement experiences, Malaysia is currently planning to revise the effluent quality standards towards a more stringent discharge limits. Hence, the current trend of POME research focuses on developing tertiary treatment or polishing systems for better effluent management. Biotechnologically-advanced POME tertiary (polishing) technologies as well as other physicochemical methods are gaining much attention as these processes are the key players to push the industry towards the goal of environmental sustainability. There are still ongoing treatment technologies being researched and the outcomes maybe available in a while. However, the research completed so far are compiled herein and reported for the first time to acquire a better perspective and insight on the subject with a view of meeting the new standards. To this end, the most feasible technology could be the combination of advanced biological processes (bioreactor systems) with extended aeration, followed by solids separation prior to discharge. Chemical dosing is favoured only if effluent of higher quality is anticipated.
authors.affiliation: Water Research Alliance, Level 2, Block C07, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wai Loan
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.affiliation: Water Research Alliance, Level 2, Block C07, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia. Electronic address: azraai@utm.my.
authors.forename: Mohd Azraai
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kassim
authors.affiliation: Water Research Alliance, Level 2, Block C07, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia; Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Khalida
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muda
authors.affiliation: Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Soh Kheang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Augustine Chioma
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Affam
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D008296:Malaysia; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010938:Plant Oils; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Palm oil; Palm oil mill effluent; Polishing technologies; Sustainability; Tertiary treatment