Physicochemical characteristics of struvite crystals formed in palm oil mill effluent anaerobic digester

Ngatiman, Muzammil and Jami, Mohammed Saedi and Abu Bakar, Mohd Rushdi and Subramaniam, Vijaya and Kheang, Loh Soh (2018) Physicochemical characteristics of struvite crystals formed in palm oil mill effluent anaerobic digester. In: 5th International Conference on Biotechnology Engineering (ICBioE 2018), 19th-20th September 2018, Kuala Lumpur.

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Abstract

The formation of struvite crystals in palm oil mill effluent (POME) occurs as early as in the secondary stage of POME treatment system. It continues to occur in the following tertiary treatment reducing the piping diameter thus affecting the efficiency of the treatment process. It is rarely being reported in scientific articles in the context of POME treatment in spite of its nature of being a common problem faced by the oil palm industry when it comes to the management of POME. This study aims at characterizing struvite crystals found in an anaerobic digester of a POME treatment facility in terms of their physical and chemical aspects. The composition, morphology and properties of these crystals were analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), elemental analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). EDS discovered high phosphorous (P) content of 24.85 wt% and magnesium (Mg) content of 21.33 wt%. Elemental analysis also detected carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N) & sulfur (S) below 4 wt%. The sample used in this study was confirmed as struvite through XRD analysis where struvite mineral was detected as 94.8% of the total sample volume. Having an orthorhombic crystal system, struvite crystal from POME recorded a density of 1.701 g/cm3. This result indicates a high potential for struvite crystal from POME to be utilized as fertilizer. Its significant composition of phosphorous promises an alternative source to the ever increasing demand of phosphate as a source of fertilizer.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Plenary Papers)
Additional Information:	5545/67305
Uncontrolled Keywords:	industrial wastewater; palm oil mill; struvite precipitation; crystallization; nutrient recovery
Subjects:	T Technology > TP Chemical technology > TP155 Chemical engineering
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Engineering > Department of Biotechnology Engineering Kulliyyah of Engineering Kulliyyah of Pharmacy
Depositing User:	Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohammed Saedi Jami, PhD CEng MIChemE
Date Deposited:	08 Nov 2018 11:38
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2018 11:38
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/67305

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