The potential bio-conversion of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) as Bioethanol by steady-state anaerobic processes

Abstract

Biomass is a central issue as new material that can be used as a substrate to produce biofuels, it has become global research to replace liquid fossil fuels with alternative renewable and sustainable fossils. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the potential of Agri-industrial waste to be used as alternative energy with anaerobic digestion of high concentration organic wastewater can be used for bioethanol production to replace food as raw material. Bioethanol can be produced in acidogenic steps in the organic degradation process. In this research, bacterial mixed cultures sourced from bovine rumen as biomass and the substrate used was palm oil mill effluent (POME) with a characteristic COD concentration of 25,600 mg/L, The operation of the reactor is set at pH 5; 6; 7 for 72 hours with the type of anaerobic circulating batch reactor (CBR), measurement of bioethanol products and acidogenesis of samples is carried out every 6 hours. The results showed that the reactor with variations in pH conditions 5 gave the highest efficiency of bioethanol formation in the 12 hour running process, result is 102,94 mg/L with a maximum formation rate of 9,98 mg/L/hour.