Effect of Inhibitor on Biokinetic Estimation of Anaerobic Process in Anaerobic Contact Stabilization Reactor Treating Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Abstract

Indonesia and Malaysia have become the largest palm oil contributors in the world. Palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia covers 80% of global palm oil demand. One of the palm oil industry’s secondary products negatively impacting the environment is palm oil mill effluent (POME). The concentrations of COD, BOD, oil and grease, TSS, and TN in POME are 50,000-150,000 mg/L, 25,000-75,000 mg/L, 4000 mg/L, 40,000 mg/L, and 750 mg/L, respectively. The concentration of organic compounds in POME has exceeded the quality standard established by the Indonesian governors. POME potentially pollutes the environment due to the direct discharge of POME into the environment without appropriate wastewater treatment. Therefore, the Anaerobic-Contact Stabilization (ACSt) reactor was utilized as the biological treatment for POME. In order to satisfy the requirements in the field, biokinetic modeling was conducted. The research was conducted from November 2022 until July 2023. Several procedures conducted in this research were designing the reactor, inoculum preparation, laboratory examination, and biokinetic modeling. The COD percent removal in each variation was around 96.60%-99.47%, while the TSS percent removal in each variation was around 98.63%-99.86%. The COD and TSS percent removal in v.1 and v.2 satisfied the desired value. The biokinetic parameters were estimated using the Monod and Hinshelwood model. The accuracy of the model was evaluated using the student’s t test and MAPE. The data obtained from model and experiment was concluded similar and the MAPE of each modeling was below 50%. Therefore, the models were classified as reasonable forecasting ability.