Treatment of POME via chitosan based flocculation : a study on variable ph and temperature

• Main Author: Noriedah, Sofian
• Format: Undergraduates Project Papers
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/1321/1/CD_2826.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/1321/

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is one of the major problematic oily wastewaters in Malaysia. POME contains 4,000 mg/L of oil and grease, which is relatively high compared to the limit of only 50 mg/L set by the Malaysian Department of Environment. In this study, chitosan, poly-b-(1,4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose (N-deacetylated) was used as an adsorbent to adsorb the excess oil from oily wastewater. Besides, chitosan is a biodegradable cationic biopolymer achieved by the extensive deacetylation of chitin obtained from prawn shell waste. The study was conducted by using jar-test apparatus to evaluate the oil removal performance via chitosan. The parameters studied were the effect of variation of pH and temperatures; as well as monitoring of settling rate. From the results, it showed that at pH 5 and optimum temperature of 60 o C, provided the most suitable conditions for the residue oil removal with employing the settling rate for 120 minutes. In conclusion, chitosan has a potential in removing oil from oily wastewater.