TY - JOUR
T1 - Oil and Water Recovery from Palm Oil Mill Effluent
T2 - A Comparative Study of PVDF and α-Al2O3 Ultrafiltration Membranes
AU - Al-Muraisy, Saqr A. A.
AU - Wu, Jiamin
AU - Chen, Mingliang
AU - Tanis, Begüm
AU - Heijman, Sebastiaan G. J.
AU - Ismail, Shahrul Bin
AU - van Lier, Jules B.
AU - Lindeboom, Ralph E. F.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Recovering oil and water from palm oil mill effluent reduces environmental pollution and promotes sustainable practices. An effective method to achieve this is ultrafiltration (UF), which uses semi-permeable membranes to separate oil, solids, and other contaminants from wastewater under pressure. To assess the most effective recovery method, an experimental comparison was conducted between PVDF and α-Al2O3 UF membranes at constant permeate of 20–50 LMH for PVDF and 20–70 LMH for α-Al2O3 membranes. Both membranes achieved 99.8% chemical oxygen demand (COD) rejection, with oil concentration factor (Fo) of 186.8% and 253.0%, and water recovery (Rw) of 46.6% and 60.5%, respectively. The permeate water quality was superior to the Malaysian discharge standards, and the fat, oil, and grease (FOG) content was suitable for phase separation processes. The optimal permeate fluxes, with stable transmembrane pressures (TMP), were observed at 40 LMH (PVDF) and 60 LMH (α-Al2O3). Total resistance (Rt) values were 1.30 × 1012 m−1 (PVDF) and 1.59 × 1012 m−1 (α-Al2O3). The ratio of irreversible to total resistances (Rir/Rt) was 0.02 (PVDF) and 0.06 (α-Al2O3), indicating minimal irreversible fouling. Overall, the α-Al2O3 membrane demonstrated superior performance in oil and water recovery with more stable operation compared to the PVDF membrane. UF membrane technology emerges as an efficient technique for recovering oil and water compared to conventional methods.
AB - Recovering oil and water from palm oil mill effluent reduces environmental pollution and promotes sustainable practices. An effective method to achieve this is ultrafiltration (UF), which uses semi-permeable membranes to separate oil, solids, and other contaminants from wastewater under pressure. To assess the most effective recovery method, an experimental comparison was conducted between PVDF and α-Al2O3 UF membranes at constant permeate of 20–50 LMH for PVDF and 20–70 LMH for α-Al2O3 membranes. Both membranes achieved 99.8% chemical oxygen demand (COD) rejection, with oil concentration factor (Fo) of 186.8% and 253.0%, and water recovery (Rw) of 46.6% and 60.5%, respectively. The permeate water quality was superior to the Malaysian discharge standards, and the fat, oil, and grease (FOG) content was suitable for phase separation processes. The optimal permeate fluxes, with stable transmembrane pressures (TMP), were observed at 40 LMH (PVDF) and 60 LMH (α-Al2O3). Total resistance (Rt) values were 1.30 × 1012 m−1 (PVDF) and 1.59 × 1012 m−1 (α-Al2O3). The ratio of irreversible to total resistances (Rir/Rt) was 0.02 (PVDF) and 0.06 (α-Al2O3), indicating minimal irreversible fouling. Overall, the α-Al2O3 membrane demonstrated superior performance in oil and water recovery with more stable operation compared to the PVDF membrane. UF membrane technology emerges as an efficient technique for recovering oil and water compared to conventional methods.
KW - palm oil mill effluent
KW - polymeric membranes
KW - ceramic membranes
KW - oil recovery
KW - water recovery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105008930215&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/membranes15060176
DO - 10.3390/membranes15060176
M3 - Article
SN - 2077-0375
VL - 15
JO - Membranes
JF - Membranes
IS - 6
M1 - 176
ER -
