Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) which is abundant in most palm oil mills is harmful to the surrounding environment. Methane gas emission during POME open pond treatment contributes to the global warming effect. However, the nutrient in POME could be utilized by co-composting with oil palm empty fruit...

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Main Author: Che Hamzah, Nurul Husna
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2017
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Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70169/1/FK%202017%20106%20-%20IR.pdf
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spelling my-upm-ir.701692019-08-16T00:41:39Z Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch 2017-04 Che Hamzah, Nurul Husna Palm oil mill effluent (POME) which is abundant in most palm oil mills is harmful to the surrounding environment. Methane gas emission during POME open pond treatment contributes to the global warming effect. However, the nutrient in POME could be utilized by co-composting with oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB). Conventional mulching of OPEFB takes about 6 to 12 months while current controlled composting takes 50–90 days to mature. This study aims to produce an accelerated composting treatment by treating shredded OPEFB with steam pre-treatment and raw POME as acid pre-treatment prior to composting. Two baseline composting studies were conducted in 80 days. The first baseline study examined the effect of steam pre-treatment, while the second baseline study examined the effect of raw POME as acid pre-treatment on OPEFB. The final composting treatments were selected from both baseline studies that have highly significant effects in temperature, C/N ratio, and tensile strength properties. The composting treatments were performed under a roofed area near the Machinery Design Laboratory in the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The compost was placed in plastic drums, which were regularly turned for aeration purpose. The compost mixtures were also monitored for temperature, moisture content, oxygen content, C/N ratio, and fibers tensile strength. Carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio is the main parameter measured in this study because it indicates the maturity of compost. The compost C/N ratio has reduced to below than 20 and accelerated to about 40 days of composting by pre-treatment with steam and raw POME. On the 40th day, the C/N ratio of all composting treatments have achieved lower than 20 of C/N ratio where the C/N ratio of steam treated-soaked OPEFB, steam treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure, steam treated OPEFB co-composted with anaerobic POME, and non-steam treated OPEFB co-composted with anaerobic POME are 17.7, 10.1, 13.8, and 15.6, respectively. The treatment of steam treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure has the lowest final C/N ratio and mean tensile strength, which indicates fast maturity and physical degradation of fibers. The tensile strength of steam-treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure (31.67 N/mm2) and soaked OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure (33.86 N/mm2) showed lower mean tensile strength compared to other compost treatments especially with non-steam-treated OPEFB co-composted with POME (37.68 N/mm2). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations showed the presence of crack around the silica bodies while some fibers showed a rupture on the fiber's surface. Fibers from treatment steam-treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure showed a removal of silica bodies and more remaining holes compared to other compost treatments. Oil palm - Waste disposal Compost Organic fertilizer 2017-04 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70169/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70169/1/FK%202017%20106%20-%20IR.pdf text en public masters Universiti Putra Malaysia Oil palm - Waste disposal Compost Organic fertilizer
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection PSAS Institutional Repository
language English
topic Oil palm - Waste disposal
Compost
Organic fertilizer
spellingShingle Oil palm - Waste disposal
Compost
Organic fertilizer
Che Hamzah, Nurul Husna
Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
description Palm oil mill effluent (POME) which is abundant in most palm oil mills is harmful to the surrounding environment. Methane gas emission during POME open pond treatment contributes to the global warming effect. However, the nutrient in POME could be utilized by co-composting with oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB). Conventional mulching of OPEFB takes about 6 to 12 months while current controlled composting takes 50–90 days to mature. This study aims to produce an accelerated composting treatment by treating shredded OPEFB with steam pre-treatment and raw POME as acid pre-treatment prior to composting. Two baseline composting studies were conducted in 80 days. The first baseline study examined the effect of steam pre-treatment, while the second baseline study examined the effect of raw POME as acid pre-treatment on OPEFB. The final composting treatments were selected from both baseline studies that have highly significant effects in temperature, C/N ratio, and tensile strength properties. The composting treatments were performed under a roofed area near the Machinery Design Laboratory in the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The compost was placed in plastic drums, which were regularly turned for aeration purpose. The compost mixtures were also monitored for temperature, moisture content, oxygen content, C/N ratio, and fibers tensile strength. Carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio is the main parameter measured in this study because it indicates the maturity of compost. The compost C/N ratio has reduced to below than 20 and accelerated to about 40 days of composting by pre-treatment with steam and raw POME. On the 40th day, the C/N ratio of all composting treatments have achieved lower than 20 of C/N ratio where the C/N ratio of steam treated-soaked OPEFB, steam treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure, steam treated OPEFB co-composted with anaerobic POME, and non-steam treated OPEFB co-composted with anaerobic POME are 17.7, 10.1, 13.8, and 15.6, respectively. The treatment of steam treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure has the lowest final C/N ratio and mean tensile strength, which indicates fast maturity and physical degradation of fibers. The tensile strength of steam-treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure (31.67 N/mm2) and soaked OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure (33.86 N/mm2) showed lower mean tensile strength compared to other compost treatments especially with non-steam-treated OPEFB co-composted with POME (37.68 N/mm2). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations showed the presence of crack around the silica bodies while some fibers showed a rupture on the fiber's surface. Fibers from treatment steam-treated OPEFB co-composted with chicken manure showed a removal of silica bodies and more remaining holes compared to other compost treatments.
format Thesis
qualification_level Master's degree
author Che Hamzah, Nurul Husna
author_facet Che Hamzah, Nurul Husna
author_sort Che Hamzah, Nurul Husna
title Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
title_short Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
title_full Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
title_fullStr Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
title_full_unstemmed Effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
title_sort effect of steam pre-treatment on co-composting of oil palm empty fruit bunch
granting_institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate 2017
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70169/1/FK%202017%20106%20-%20IR.pdf
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