APPLICATION OF PALM OIL

MILL EFFLUENT (POME)

 What is POME?
Large quantities of Palm Oil Mil Effluent (POME) are generated annually during
crude palm oil production
is an oily wastewater generated by palm oil processing mills and consists of various
suspended components. It is originated from the mixture of sterilizer condensate,
separator sludge and hydro cyclone waste water

Environmental Issue
Direct discharge of untreated POME into aquatic environments cause serious
pollution problem
Often discarded in disposal ponds, resulting in the leaching of contaminants that
pollute the groundwater and soil,

Uniqueness of POME
High concentration of carbohydrate, protein, nitrogenous compounds, lipids and
mineral
It is a good raw material for bioconversion through various biotechnology
processes
CONVERSION OF POME INTO VALUE ADDED
PRODUCTS

Carotene Bioplastic
Extraction formation

Bioethanol Citric acid

production production

Biohydrogen Compost and

production biofertilizer
 CAROTENE AND VITAMIN E
EXTRACTION

How to extract carotene and vitamin E from POME

Solvent extraction was used to recover the residual oil from POME
Using petroleum ether with a mean concentration of 417.9 ppm and n-hexane
(394.8 ppm)
The major components of recovered oil from POME were similar to the
crude palm oil, which contained mainly -carotene and -carotene.

Application of carotenoids
Use in food,cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries
-carotene is a precursor of vitamin A (enhance immunity, maintaining healthy
skin,hair)
 BIOPLASTIC FORMATION

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) generated by some bacteria species under limiting

conditions (rich in carbon, and no or little nitrogen or phosphorus)

Has an advantages: biodegradibility, biocompatibility, production from renewable

sources

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) as good substrates (renewable sources)

Has a high carbon content (BOD higher than 20 g/L) with low nitrogen content
(less than 0.2 g/L ammoniacal-nitrogen and less than 0.5 g/L total nitrogen)

Moreover, because it contains high organic content and almost being non-toxic,
POME could be suitable for PHA production

Thus use of a POME as an inexpensive carbon source to produce PHA may lead
to significant economic advantages
 Global interest in the utilization of biomass and wastes for
Bioethanol Production:
Conversion of POME for bioethanol production simple & effective treatment of this effluent
produced by palm oil mills could reduce the reliance on fossil sources and curb some levels
of environmental pollution

The utilization of bioethanol (biofuel) for transport is importance because of

environmental issues such as climate change, depletion of fossil fuel reserves, and reduction of
reliance on imports.

Combustion of ethanol does not contribute to global warming unlike fossil fuel with
atmospheric build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The production of bioethanol using POME as the main substrate using Saccharomyces
cerevisiae under controlled laboratory condition with an optimum yield of 16%.

Enzymatic treatments to convert cellulose and hemicellulose to sugars are then used; the
microbial bioconversion of the produced sugar results in the formation of the final product
bioethanol.
 Citric acid production:
In an effort to utilize the palm oil industries effluent discharge, citric acid has been produced
using POME as a raw material.

Industrial production of citric acid depends on fungal fermentation (e.g. Aspergillus niger) in the
presence of glucose (or sucrose) as the main substrate using liquid and solid state
fermentation techniques.

However, several cheaper substrates have been used for citric acid production by A. niger.
These include inulin (Drysdale and McKay, 1995), date fruit syrup, sugarcane molasses among
others but all these substrates have lesser yields when compared to POME.

Citric acid is used extensively in various industrial processes especially as acidulant, stabilizer,
flavour enhancer, preservative, antioxidant, emulsifier and chelating agent using POME as a
new substrate proved effective.
 BIOHYDROGEN FORMATION

Less energy intensive & can be coupled with wastewater treatment

processes
Characterized with high energy yield compare than the hydrocarbon
fuels
How to produce hydrogen? Convert agro-industrial residues into
hydrogen-rich gas through anaerobic processes by potential bacterial
strains
How to determine optimum conditions for hydrogen production that
use POME with Clostridium butyricum EB6? Central composite
design
Do biohydrogen gives a positive impact on us?
 COMPOST & BIOFERTILIZER

Composting: Complex organic residues of plant and animal origins are

converted into biofertilizer through microbials activities
Helps stabilizing various types of industrial wastes and sludge and aids in
reducing the volume/ weight of the produced sludge
POME composting can be good alternative for its sustainable
management

Co-composting of EFB with partially treated POME

Decrease in C/N ratio after 60 days of composting
Macro and micronutrients are present in final compost
Can produce acceptable quality compost that can be use as biofertilizer
and for soil conditioning.
Can reduce the volume of this waste with easy land application