WASTE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY FACTORY PALM OIL

WASTE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY FACTORY PALM OIL

Crude palm oil (CPO) is currently the largest source of vegetable oil in the world. According to a report in 2011 world oil, palm oil contributed around 27% or 46 million tons of total vegetable oil in the world. Vegetable oil production next followed by soybean, rapeseed and sunflower. Meanwhile, as the country with the largest palm oil producer is Indonesia.

Palm oil mill (MCC), which amounted to more than 640 throughout Indonesia CPO producing about 23 million tons or 46% of the total production of CPO in the world (Oil World, 2011).

CPO production process has several stages, the process starts from the stage of receipt of fresh palm fruit bunches (FFB) is performed at the loading ramp. The next step is sterilization, ie boiling the fruit with steam.Steam used pressurized 3 kg / cm2dansuhu 140oC for 75-90 minutes. After sterilization, the fruit is separated from the bunch. This stage is known as pemipilan or treshing. Fruit that has been separated from the bunches are crushed using steam at a temperature of 90 ° C by using a digester. In the next phase, the oil is extracted from the fiber. The latter is a purification process. In addition to produce CPO, MCC also produce palm kernel oil (PKO).

To produce CPO, MCC also produce waste. As can be seen in figure 2. The waste that comes out of the MCC-shaped solid, gas and liquid. Waste out of the MCC actually can not say 100% as waste, is more correct to say byproducts or side products.

Solid waste out of the MCC include empty fruit bunches (tankos) with a percentage of approximately 23% of TBS, boiler ash (approximately 0.5% against TBS), fibers (approximately 13.5% against TBS) and shell (around 5.5% against TBS). Solid waste out of the MCC generally does not require complicated handling. Solid waste can be used again as fuel, fertilizers, animal feed, and also can be sold to generate additional revenue.

Fibers, shells and tankos can be used as fuel. Boiler ash can be applied directly as a source of potassium, tankos as fertilizer by making mulch and composting. Core pulp is used as livestock feed.

There are two sources of gas pollution coming out of the MCC is the boiler that uses fiber and shells as fuel and burning incinerator ash tankos to get potassium. At this time the incinerator is already becoming obsolete.

Waste is a concern in the MCC is wastewater or better known as POME (palm oil mill effluent). POME wastewater is generated by palm oil mills mainly comes condensate stew, hydrocyclones water and sludge separator. Each tonne of FFB processed will be formed about 0.6 to 1 m3 POME. POME rich in organic carbon with COD values ​​over 40 g / L and the nitrogen content of approximately 0.2 and 0.5 g / L as ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen. POME characteristics are shown in Table 1. Source POME comes from different processing units, consisting of:

• 60% of the total coming from the station clarification POME
• 36% of the total POME coming from the cooking station
• 4% of the total POME derived core station.

POME Management Technology

POME general management technologies using an open technology that consists of an anaerobic, facultative and aerobic with a total retention time of approximately 90-120 days. An open technology requires a large area (5-7 ha), maintenance costs are quite large and produce methane gas emissions into the air.

Currently the management of POME by simply using open ponds ranging considered to be less efficient and less environmentally friendly. The owner or management of MCC has begun to change by modifying an existing with other management technologies. There are several new processing technology POME today, among the new technology it is a membrane and the latter sounds with electrocoagulation. Emergence or existence of this POME management technology development due to some intent and purpose.

Some of the objectives are:

• Getting more environmentally friendly technologies (environmental friendly). This technology generally is to avoid greenhouse gases, especially methane escape into the atmosphere.
• Getting the economic value added (economic benefit). This technology is done by getting new products that can be sold by utilizing POME.
• Facilitate management operations, particularly to workers in the MCC.
• Limited land area MCC to use the open pond system (limited area).
• Factor in the MCC process technology. This factor is related to the modification of process technologies in the processing of TBS in the MCC, or the existence of a new process technology. The difference was mainly associated with the use of a new process. Examples of these factors are changes in sterilization technology, clarifications and so forth. Tool change process had an impact on changes in the quality, quantity and type of waste produced in the MCC.

Getting the energy sources.

From some of the above purposes, there are now several technologies besides managing POME open pond system. As for the technology include:

• Aerobic management by using an aerobic (aerobic pond). This technology is used to avoid the formation of methane gas. This technology is rarely used because it requires a large force to move the aerator.
• Drying technology (drying process), the technology is not appropriate because of costs and energy to evaporate water in POME.
• Applications land (land application), this system is not recommended because it requires considerable cost. In addition this technology still requires an airless and still produce methane gas.
• The use of oil palm empty fruit bunches into compost, POME is used as an ingredient sprinklers in the composting process oil palm empty fruit bunches as in Figure 3. This technology is nice to be implemented. This technology requires a slightly higher investment but benefit from the sale of compost.
• POME use to produce energy. Technology to produce energy is by capturing the methane gas. No methane gas capture technology that builds tanks (biogas reactor) which is above the surface (Figure 4) or by closing an existing waste by using a cover with a thick parachute material (covered lagoon).

In addition to producing methane gas as energy, currently POME also been reported to produce hydrogen gas as energy. POME produce hydrogen gas using electrocoagulation technology.

CLOSING

Palm oil waste treatment technologies are now diverse and have different purposes. There is a technology that requires you to invest more, but will benefit from the sale of products or the results of those waste treatment technologies. Each of these technologies has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, if we want to choose which technology will be used must be adapted to the conditions MCC and financial capabilities.