Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 25 No 2 (2021): 215 - 223

 

 

 

 

PERBANDINGAN BIOREAKTOR MEMBRAN DAN BIOREAKTOR MEMBRAN BERELEKTRIK UNTUK RAWATAN AIR SISA KILANG MINYAK KELAPA SAWIT

 

(Comparison of Membrane Bioreactor and Electric Membrane Bioreactor for Wastewater Treatment of The Palm Oil Mill)

 

Teow Yeit Haan^1,2*, Sharmila Pragash Sundaram¹, Najah Hafizah Musa¹, Syarifah Nornabilah Syed Muaz¹, Shakir Ahmad Mohamed Sultan¹, Nur Ameera Rosli¹

 

¹Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

²Research Centre for Sustainable Process Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Pengarang utama:  yh_teow@ukm.edu.my

 

 

Received: 29 January 2021; Accepted: 1 March 2021; Published:  25 April 2021

 

 

Abstrak

Perkembangan industri kelapa sawit yang pesat menyebabkan pencemaran alam sekitar yang disebabkan oleh air sisa kilang minyak kelapa sawit (POME) yang terhasil dari proses pengekstrakan minyak sawit. Bioreaktor membran (MBR) dengan  gabungan rawatan biologi dan teknologi membran merupakan kaedah yang berkesan untuk rawatan POME. Penerapan ini dapat ditambahbaik dengan pengenalan bioreaktor membran berelektrik (EMBR) dimana daya tolakan yang terhasil antara permukaan membran konduktif GO/MCWNTs dan zarah-zarah dalam POME dijangka  akan meningkatkan lagi prestasi sistem EMBR. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji keberkesanan membran konduktif GO/MCWNTs di sistem bioreaktor membran berelektrik (EMBR) untuk rawatan POME dan dibandingkan dengan sistem MBR tanpa medan elektrik. Prestasi sistem MBR dan EMBR dinilai dengan peratusan penyingkiran permintaan oksigen kimia (COD) dan nitrogen amonia (NH₃-N). Manakala, untuk kajian penurasan jangka panjang, penapisan membran konduktif GO/MCWNTs beroperasi selama 32 minit dan diberhentikan. Ia diikuti dengan pembekalan medan elektrik arus terus merentasi membran konduktif GO/MCWNTs selama 6 minit untuk sistem EMBR, dan sistem MBR diberhenti tanpa bekalan medan elektrik. Proses berselang-seli ini diulangi untuk 4 kitaran. Prestasi sistem EMBR yang dialirkan elektrik adalah lebih baik daripada sistem MBR tanpa aliran elektrik dengan peratusan penyingkiran COD dan NH₃-N setinggi 82.07% dan 70.5% untuk sistem EMBR dan 53.63 % dan 43.81% bagi sistem MBR. Hal ini membawa kesimpulan bahawa sistem EMBR mempunyai keberkesanan penyingkiran yang baik and fluks penurasan yang lebih tinggi berbanding sistem MBR untuk rawatan POME.

 

Kata kunci:  bioreaktor membran berelektrik, membran konduktif GO/MCWNTs, membran bioreaktor, rawatan air, air sisa kilang kelapa sawit

 

Abstract

The rapid development of the palm oil industry results in environmental pollution caused by the wastewater of the palm oil mill (POME) from the palm oil extraction process. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) with a combination of biological treatment and membrane technology is an effective method for POME treatment. This application can be improved with the use of electromagnetic membrane bioreactors (EMBRs) where the repulsive force form between the surface of GO/MCWNTs conductive membranes and particles in POME can enhance the performance of EMBR system. The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of GO/MCWNTs conductive membrane in electric membrane bioreactor (EMBR) system for POME treatment and to compare with the MBR system without an electric field. The performance of MBR and EMBR systems is assessed by the percentage of removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N). Meanwhile, for long-term filtration studies, GO/MCWNTs conductive membrane filtering operates for 32 minutes and discontinued. It was followed by an electric supply across the GO/MCWNTs conductive membrane for 6 minutes for EMBR system, and the MBR system was discontinued without electric supply. This intermittent process is repeated for 4 cycles. The performance of EMBR system with electric supply is better than an electro-free MBR system with COD and NH₃-N removal percentages as high as 82.07% and 70.5% for EMBR system and 53.63% and 43.81% for MBR system. This concluded that the EMBR has good removal efficiency and higher filtration flux than MBR system for POME treatment.

 

Keywords:   electric membrane bioreactor, GO/MCWNTs conductive membrane, membrane bioreactor, water treatment, wastewater of the palm oil mill

 

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