Water is a crucial component in the production of palm oil, and as a result, a lot of wastewater is produced in the process. Palm oil wastewater comes from two main sources: palm oil mills and palm oil refineries. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) comes mostly from mills, and it is a major pollutant and source of effluent .
What are the major oil palm processing by-products?
Major oil palm processing by-products, namely, POME and solid biomass, are utilised as feedstock to produce renewable energy and organic fertilisers. They are also used to recover water. These resources are critical for the oil palm industry. Integrated zero-waste oil palm processing strategy (Teow & Takriff, 2021)
How is palm oil produced?
Mills process empty fruit bunches (EFB) to produce crude palm oil (CPO) and and palm kernels (PK), which are then delivered to the refinery for further processing. The refinery uses bleaching earth which is disposed as spent bleaching earth (SBE). Specialist companies collect the SBE to extract oil.
What are the by-products of palm oil extraction?
The extraction of crude palm oil (CPO) results in several by-products, both solid and liquid, such as empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm kernel shell (PKS), mesocarp fibre (MF), and palm oil mill effluent (POME). At 67%, POME is the most abundant by-product of the CPO production process.