Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment Processes—A Review

Abstract

Ponding system or land application techniques are widely used at industrial scale to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME) prior to discharge to the environment. POME is considered as one of the major problems that has generated voluminously from the palm oil industries. The main purpose of this article is to organize the scattered available information on various aspects and a wide range of promising current POME treatments including biological microorganisms, physicochemical methods of coagulation, and membrane and thermochemical process. In addition, the integrated system of anaerobic-aerobic bioreactor (IAAB), which has been touted as highly efficient with easy control at acceptable temperature range and shorter treatment time, has potential to be exploited for POME treatment. The main influencing factors for IAAB POME treatment are highlighted as outstanding characteristics for challenges and future prospects.