A Review of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (Pome) Water Treatment

Palm oil is one of the two most important vegetable oils in the world’s oil and fats market. The extraction and purification processes generate different kinds of waste generally known as palm oil mill effluent (POME). The environmental impact of POME cannot be over emphasized; hence the need for treatment measures to reduce these impacts before discharge. Therefore, this paper reviews the processing, purification of palm oil and the different methods of treatment applied to the POME that is being generated. Various methods such as tank digestion and facultative ponds; tank digestion and mechanical aeration; decanter and facultative ponds; anaerobic digestion and facultative ponds and so on, were reviewed, each with its merits and demerits in application. The adsorption treatment of POME using boiler fly ash is also being applied. Therefore, the treatment of POME is inevitable if a friendly and healthy environment devoid of pollution is to be met and also to meet-up with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Prospective treatment methods for POME were also reviewed. Moreover, the effective treatment of POME yields useful products such as methane, biodegradable plastic, fertilizers and animal feeds.