Zero Discharge Performance of an Industrial Pilot-Scale Plant Treating Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Table 1

Characteristics and composition of raw POME.

Parameter	Source a	Source b	Source c
Temperature (°C)	80–90	ND	ND
pH	4.2	4.15–4.45	4.5 ± 1.19
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)	51000	45500–65000	76896 ± 119
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD3) at 30°C	25000	21500–28500	27500 ± 100
Oil and grease (O and G)	6000	1077–7582	ND
Suspended solids (SS)	18000	15660–23560	27000 ± 82
Ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N)	35	ND	36 ± 1
Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN)	750	500–800	60 ± 6
Potassium (K)	2270	1281–1928	1154.8 ± 3.14
Magnesium (Mg)	615	254–344	287.8 ± 8.41
Calcium (Ca)	439	276–405	286 ± 4.39
Zinc (Zn)	2.3	1.2–1.8	1.98 ± 0.74
Iron (Fe)	46.5	75–164	65.7 ± 1.09
Copper (Cu)	0.89	0.8–1.6	0.85 ± 0.05

Note: Source a: [6];
Source b: [4];
Source c: [2].
The units of all measured parameters were in mg/L, except pH and temperature. ND: not detected. Values represent means of all determinations ± SD (standard deviation).