Palm oil mill effluent (POME) generated by the milling process has a high soluble organic content, and biochemical oxygen demand/chemicaloxygen demand (BOD/COD) >0.45. This is indicative that it is a good source material for biological performance, especially in a tropical climate such as in Malaysia, thus making anaerobic digestion the most economical and most applicable technology to treat POME. POME in the current open ponding system generates a huge amount of biogas which contain methane that has a global warming potential 21 times that of carbon dioxide. Hence, if biogas is harnessed, the emission of greenhouse gases can be potentially mitigated and the palm oil industry will be more sustainable.

Main Research: Loh Soh Kheang