Adsorption of residual oil from palm oil mill effluent using rubber powder

A synthetic rubber powder was used to adsorb the residual oil in palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME is the wastewater produced by the palm oil industry. It is a colloidal suspension which is 95-96% water, 0.6-0.7% oil and 4-5% total solids including 2-4% suspended solids originating in the mixing of sterilizer condensate, separator sludge and hydrocyclone wastewater. POME contains 4,000 mg dm-3 of oil and grease, which is relatively high compared to the limit of only 50 mg dm-3 set by the Malaysian Department of Environment. A bench-scale study of the adsorption of residual oil in POME using ...