Removal of residual oil from palm oil refinery factory effluent by chitosan and its derivatives

Abstract

Chitosan and its derivatives namely oleoyl chitosan, oleoyl methylene phosphonic chitosan and methylene phosphonic chitosan as potential sorbents to clean up the residual oil were successfully evaluated. Batch experiment technique was employed to identify the best sorbent. The main factors affecting the sorption namely the initial concentration of residual oil, weight of sorbent dosage, contact time and sample pH were tested. The optimum sorption capacity of oleoyl chitosan and chitosan were 128.65 and 120.68 mg/g, respectively at sorbent dosage (0.1 mg), the initial concentration of residual oil (1g/L), contact time (30 min) and pH effluent (pH 4). Meanwhile, the optimum sorption capacity for oleoyl methylene phosphonic chitosan and methylene phosphonic chitosan were 118.91 and 77.57 mg/g, respectively at sorbent dosage (0.1 mg) with the initial concentration of residual oil of (1 g/L) but less contact time (15 min) and effluent (pH > 6). This study revealed oleoyl chitosan type was the best sorbent compared to chitosan, oleoyl methylene phosphonic chitosan and methylene phosphonic chitosan. It is most suitable as sorbent not only because it has the highest sorption capacity, but also exhibits the non-toxic chitosan derivative.