Influence of Current Density for Pollutant Removal from Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Abstract

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is one of the main problems generated by the palm oil industry in the form of high solids, oils and grease, as well as very high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solid (TSS). Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemical process that destabilizes the charge of a pollutant using an electric current through an electrode and traps the pollutant in the floc so that it can be separated from the mixture. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the removal of BOD, COD, and TSS from POME using EC process. POME was obtained from the outlet pond of PT. X which is located in Jorong District, South Kalimantan with very high BOD, COD, and TSS content. The EC process uses a series of modified electrocoagulation devices, 3 mm aluminum plate, and Riden RD6012W Digital DC. The optimization of the EC process includes parameters for different currents density (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mA cm-2), and reaction time (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270 min). While other parameters that are considered constant are aluminum electrode, inter-electrode distance 3 mm, temperature and pH. The results showed that the highest % removal of BOD and COD occurred at currents density of 4 and 6 mA/cm2 with a time of 270 minutes of 99% and 78% respectively. While the TSS is 93% at currents density of 6 mA cm-2 and 270 minutes.