Opuntia Cactus as a Novel Bio-coagulant for the Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Abstract

In the present study, Opuntia cactus, an environmentally friendly bio-coagulant that is locally available, was used for the first time for the treatment of Palm oil mill effluent (POME). The optimum conditions for applying Opuntia in the POME treatment process were identified by performing jar test experiments. Parameters tested were chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity. The results of the work indicate that Opuntia is an effective bio-coagulant, which can remove 91.2% COD, 94.4% TSS and 90.7% turbidity. Okra solution which was introduced as a bio flocculant in the experiment resulted in slightly better performance. The reduction of COD, TSS and turbidity by Opuntia with okra solution improved to 93.9%, 96.1% and 93.6%, respectively. This was achieved at an Opuntia powder dosage of 8 g/L, pH 9 and reaction time of 240 minutes. The main mechanism involved in the treatment process was determined to be the polymeric bridge mechanism. From the study, it can be deduced that Opuntia has great potential to be used as a low-cost bio-coagulant for the treatment POME.