Chapters authored
Palm Oil Mill Effluent as an Environmental Pollutant
In recent decades, Malaysia has been known as one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of palm oil products. Every year, the number of palm oil mills increases rapidly, thus increasing the capacity of fresh fruit bunch waste or effluent discharge. Based on the data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board in 2012, Malaysia produced 99.85 million tons of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) per year. However, about 5–5.7 tons of water was required in order to sterilize the palm fruit bunches and clarify the extracted oil to produce 1 ton of crude palm oil resulting in 50% of the water turning into palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME is one of the major environmental pollutants in Malaysia. The characteristics of POME and its behavior, if discharged directly, in water are described in this chapter. The suspended solid and nutrient content in POME could be able to support the growth of algae. This chapter aims to demonstrate that POME could be used as a main source for algae production, and this effluent is one of the main environmental problems in the tropical region especially in Malaysia.
Part of the book: Palm Oil
Treatment of Textile Wastewater Using a Novel Electrocoagulation Reactor Design
This study explored the best operating conditions for a novel electrocoagulation (EC) reactor with the rotating anode for textile wastewater treatment. The influence of operating parameters like interelectrode distance (IED), current density (CD), temperature, pH, operating time (RT) and rotation speed on the removal efficiency of the contaminant was studied. A comparative study was done using conventional model with static electrodes in two phases under same textile wastewater. The findings revealed that the optimal conditions for textile wastewater treatment were attained at RT = 10 min, CD = 4 mA/cm2, rotation speed = 150 rpm, temperature = 25°C, IED = 1 cm and pH = 4.57. The removal efficiencies of color, biological oxygen demand (BOD), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) were 98.50, 95.55, 96, 98 and 97.10%, respectively, within the first 10 min of the reaction. The results of the experiment reveal that the newly designed reactor incorporated with cathode rings and rotated anode impellers provide a superior treatment efficiency within a short reaction time. The novel EC reactor with a rotating anode significantly enhanced textile wastewater treatment compared to the conventional model. The values of adsorption and passivation resistance validated the pollutants removal rate.
Part of the book: Wastewater and Water Quality
Effectiveness of Anaerobic Technologies in the Treatment of Landfill Leachate
Improper Solid Waste Management leads to the generation of landfill leachate at the landfills. To reduce the negative impacts of highly toxic and recalcitrant leachate on the environment, several techniques have been used. A lot of research is conducted to find suitable methods for the treatment of landfill leachate such as biological processes, chemical oxidation processes, coagulation, flocculation, chemical precipitation, and membrane procedures. The biological process is still being used widely for the treatment of leachate. The current system of leachate treatment consists of various unit processes which require larger area, energy and cost. In addition, the current aerobic treatment is not able to treat entirely the pollutants which require further treatment of the leachate. Anaerobic wastewater treatment has gained considerable attention among researchers and sanitary engineers primarily due to its economic advantages over conventional aerobic methods. The major advantages of anaerobic wastewater treatment in comparison to aerobic methods are: (a) the lack of aeration, which decreases costs and energy requirements; and (b) simple maintenance and control, which eliminates the need for skilled operators and manufacturers. Several anaerobic processes have been used for leachate treatment such as up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, anaerobic filter, hybrid bed reactor, anaerobic sequencing batch reactor and Anaerobic baffled reactor. The following chapter provides an insight to the solid waste management at the landfills, generation of leachate and details of some of the highly efficient anaerobic treatment systems that are used for the overall treatment of landfill leachate.
Part of the book: Strategies of Sustainable Solid Waste Management