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UNIT 2 CASE STUDY #1

ECONOMICS OF WASTE MANAGEMENT OF PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME)

Picture of POME here

Outline
Title of case study Objective Overview Background info
Palm oil industry Palm oil processes POME
Characteristics Method of treatment

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 Issues of POME
Advantages Disadvantages Environmental impact (untreated) COD, BOD Methane (GHG, etc.) Etc.
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Environmental issues
Emissions Methane, CO2, GWP, GHG Water quality, biodiversity E3

Economics of waste management (Cost benefit analysis) Unit assessment tasks

Required structure of report for case study

Overview
The case study aims to collect methane gas generated in the POME treatment process, and so utilize it as a boiler an additional fuel (the others being fiber and shell) for the generation of steam and electricity. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) discharged from the CPO production process currently undergoes anaerobic and aerobic lagoon treatment to comply with the effluent standard in Malaysia. This treatment releases a large quantity of methane gas into the atmosphere, which has 21 times of effects compared with CO2 as GHGs. Another issue is the contamination (COD, BOD etc.)

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Background on the palm oil industries

Palm oil is for food and non food uses Malaysias palm oil production grew from 370,000 ton (1969) to 14 million ton (2004) accounting to 46% of the world export Total planted areas are 3875 million hectares from both the small holders and big plantations [2004 data; Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities]. Palm oil consumption: EU 25 (48.2 kg/per); China (18.9 kg/per); India (11.5 kg/per)
Small Holding Plantation 9.5%

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Big Plantation 90.5%

Source: ANUGA Food Tec, Koln, Germany 2004

Schematic of Current Process

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POME

A typical palm oil mill operation outputs/inputs

Input item FFB Electricity Diesel Fibre (fuel) Shell (fuel) Water (steam) Quantity 5.1 103 3.17 0.5 0.18 3.21 Unit ton kWh litre ton ton ton

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Output Item CPO

Emission Shell Mesocarp EFB POME Boiler ash Flue gas particulate CO CO2 SO2 Nox Wastewater CH4

Quantity Unit 1 ton

Quantity 0.12 0.11 1.19 3.1 0.015 0.05 0.16 86.4 0.0017 0.12 3.54 56.18 Unit ton ton ton m3 ton kg kg kg kg kg m3 m3

S.S.Chen, Hasnah Mohd. Zin; Development of LCI for Biofuel Production from Palm Oil, Proceedings of Meeting for LCA in ASEAN Biomass Project, 14th 16th Nov 2006, Tsukuba japan.

WHAT IS POME?
It comprises of organic compounds originating from vegetable materials, readily decomposed by anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. It is a waste product of the palm oil industries in Malaysia. The other waste products are
Empty fruit bunches (EFB) Mesocarp fibre Palm kernel shells Palm kernel cake

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POME is normally discharged at a temperature of 80 90C to lagoon systems for waste water treatment.

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Characteristics of POME
It is an acidic brownish colloidal suspension with high contents of organics and solids. More information on characteristics of raw POME may be obtained here.

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POME Characteristics
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The POME Pollution Problem

Severe pollution was caused by the discharge of POME into watercourses. If it is discharged into water courses, the biological reaction will deplete the dissolved oxygen in the water. affect aquatic life that provide a significant share of the diet of villagers. polluted rivers and streams becomes unsuitable for human consumption. Now, strict regulations [effluents quality shall not exceed 5000 mgL-1] by the government have reduced BOD load from 0% in 1978 to 99% in 1989.

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More explanation of problem

Explanation of BOD, COD, regulation, untreated POME, methane Environmental problem Economic problem

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RELATED KEYWORDS
Biological oxidation demand (BOD) Chemical oxidation demand (COD) Crude palm oil (CPO) Fresh fruit branches (FFB)

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KEYWORD: BOD
BOD - biochemical (biological) oxygen demand is a test used to measure the concentration of biodegradable organic matter present in a sample of water. It can be used to infer the general quality of the water and its degree of pollution and it is used in water quality management and assessment, Ecology and environmental science. BOD is not an accurate quantitative test and should be considered as providing an indicator of the quality of a water body. (source wikipedia)

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KEYWORD: COD
In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD determine the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers), making COD a useful measure of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L), which indicates the mass of oxygen consumed per liter of solution. Older references may express the units as parts per million (ppm). (source wikipedia)

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Activity 1: Activity : A businessman has been supplying FFB to a mill from his 24.7 acres of an oil palm plantation for 5 years. Assuming Identify anare industry oftrees a country with environmental that there about 1500 palm in his plantation, calculate the possible amount of methane impacts and discuss them terms of yield (m3) from the POME that his company has in helped to generate . emissions/discharge/etc before and after regulations have been imposed. This could be the industry where the economics of waste management may be studied further along in this case study.

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Methods of treatment
Schematic diagram of process & where in process steps can be taken to mitigate problem

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The POME Solution

Among the current uses of POME are;
Production of methane [CH4] for electricity Mixed with other materials to form animal feed Chemical processing into bio-acids [acetic, propionic, and butyric acids] and organic acids for bioplastics (PHA). Composting, mixing with other waste from the palm oil mill.

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Methanation of POME
Studies showed that 375 x 106 m3 or 225 Gg of CH4 is evolved from open pond systems from POME treatment, accounting for 10% of CH4 inventory in Malaysia. The CH4 amounts to 5,170 Gg in CO2 equivalent, or 3.6% of the estimated total emissions in Malaysia.[activity suggested: leave this as an acitivity calculating Co2 equivalent] Amount of methane produced varies with temperature and digestion process; thermophilic [organisms preferring warmer temperatures] or mesophilic [organisms that grows best in moderate temperatures; 25-40 C]. Studies have shown that methane yield of 0.47 0.92 m3kg-1 BOD added is produced[yr of data]

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Methanation and capturing of methane from POME Example : Anaerobic Digester

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POME

Calculation of CH4 emissions arising from the secondary treatment of POME from open lagoons according to IPCC guidelines (http://cdm.unfccc.int/UserManagement/FileStorage) Evaluate Reactor size

Anaerobic Digester Pressurized storage vessel scrubbers Power generation

Evaluate present boiler size and heat requirement (Modification)

compressors Biogas storage system Piping & housing

Economic evaluation Life-cycle cost benefit Simple payback

Anaerobic Digester

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Sample

Overall Schematic of Case Study

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Uncertainties of Methanation Process

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Technological proven ? Economically feasible ? Constant supply ? (quality and quantity) Availability & distribution ? (nationwide) The technologies and system to be in the project shall be determined in terms of: Efficiency Stability Cost

Methodology
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Draw up a list of possible realistic and credible alternatives for the treatment of POME

Eliminate alternatives that are not complying with applicable laws and regulations

Compare economic attractiveness of remaining alternatives - Life-cycle cost benefit - Simple payback

- Incremental investment costs - O&M costs and; - All other costs of implementing the technology of the each alternative option. - All revenues generated by the implementation of the technology

Cost benefit analysis

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Economic analysis

 Reactor Sys Storage system Comp & scrubbers Piping

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Activity 1: Activity 2: A businessman has been supplying FFB to a mill from his 24.7 acres of an oil palm plantation for 5 years. A businessman has been FFB to a mill from hisof24.7 Assuming that there are about 1500supplying palm trees in his plantation, calculate the possible amount methane acres of palm for 5 years. yieldan (m3) oil from the POMEplantation that his company has helped to generate.Assuming that there are about 1500 palm trees in his plantation..more data, calculate the possible amount of methane yield (m3) from the POME that his company has helped to generate. Economic analysis and the mitigated amount of CH4

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Click here for help [1 hectare = 2.471 acres]. Some oil palm mills have their operations in peak and trough periods which run in four and eight months respectively. Production of FFB is about 51% of the annual FFB output during the trough period with 240 m3 per day of wastewater used. More wastewater is utilized during the peak period, 450 m3/day.

Mill Production Capacity

Big Plantation Capacity 140 palm tree s/hectare Weight of FFB 25 kg Monthly average production 1.21 FFB/palm/month per palm (0.03025 ton/palm/month) Average FFB yield 20 ton/hectare/year Small Holding Plantation 148 palm trees/hectare 15 kg 0.75 FFB/palm/month (0.0112 ton/palm/month) 14.8 ton/hectare/year

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A Table to show the result of the CBA on the POME solution

References
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Biomass Utilization in Malaysia: Current Status of Conversion of Biomass into Bioproducts, M. A. HASSAN & S. YACOB, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 2005 The World Bank Group, Malaysia: Experience in Effluent Control in the Palm Oil Industry Specific approach: standards and charges, 2005 American Palm Oil Council, The Environmental Effect of Palm Oil Plantation, 2004 MPOB (2004a), MPOB 1st, 2nd Half and Monthly Palm Oil Prices: August 2004 (RM/Tonne). Malaysian Palm Oil Board, http://161.142.157.2/home2/home/ei_tajukmon02.html (last updated 16th august 2004) MPOB (2004b), Malaysian Oil Palm Statistics 2003. Economics and Industry Development Division, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, http://161.142.157.2/home2/home/ei_tajukmon02.html (last updated 16th august 2004), Kelana Jaya. S. Sinnappa International Conference on Water Pollution Control in Developing Countries, Bangkok, February 1978 Treatment Studies of Palm Oil Mill waste effluent