If you work in the palm oil industry, you may have asked, what is POME and why does it require treatment? POME stands for Palm Oil Mill Effluent, the wastewater generated during crude palm oil production. It is typically generated from processes such as sterilization, clarification, and hydrocyclone operations. Because POME contains high levels of organic matter, suspended solids, and oil and grease, proper treatment is essential before discharge.
For palm oil mills, understanding POME characteristics is the first step toward selecting an effective treatment strategy. A well-designed treatment system can reduce pollutant loads, improve effluent quality, and support more stable mill operations.
What Is POME?
POME is a high-strength industrial wastewater produced during the processing of fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil. Its characteristics can vary depending on the milling process, equipment, water consumption, and operating conditions.
Raw POME is generally acidic and contains substantial amounts of suspended solids, organic matter, and oil and grease. Research has reported TSS concentrations of around 28,846 to 30,920 mg/L and oil and grease concentrations of 5,614 to 8,812 mg/L in POME.
The main sources of POME include:
- Sterilizer condensate, generated during sterilization
- Clarification wastewater, generated during crude palm oil separation
- Hydrocyclone wastewater, associated with kernel and shell separation
These characteristics make POME significantly different from domestic wastewater, so its treatment needs to be designed around the actual conditions of the palm oil mill.
Read Also: Removal of TSS in Palm Oil Wastewater Treatment: Practical Approaches for Better Effluent Quality
Why Does POME Need Treatment?
The main challenge with POME is its high organic and pollutant load. If inadequately treated, the wastewater can negatively affect receiving water bodies because microorganisms consume dissolved oxygen while breaking down organic matter.
Several parameters need to be managed during POME treatment:
- High COD and BOD: These indicate the amount of organic matter that needs to be reduced through treatment.
- High TSS: Suspended solids can increase the treatment load and interfere with downstream processes.
- Oil and grease: Residual oil can affect biological treatment performance and contribute to operational problems.
- Variable characteristics: POME quality can change depending on production processes, equipment, and water consumption. Research comparing four palm oil mills found significant differences in COD and other POME characteristics between facilities.
This is why there is no single treatment configuration that automatically works for every palm oil mill.
How Is POME Treated?
POME treatment usually combines several processes. The exact configuration depends on wastewater characteristics and the required effluent quality.
1. Pretreatment
Physical separation, screening, flotation, or coagulation-flocculation can help reduce suspended solids and oil before biological treatment. This lowers the load on downstream processes.
2. Anaerobic Treatment
Anaerobic treatment is widely used for high-strength POME because microorganisms can break down biodegradable organic matter without oxygen. The process can also generate biogas that may be recovered as an energy resource.
3. Aerobic Treatment
Aerobic treatment can further reduce residual organic matter after anaerobic treatment. Integrated anaerobic and aerobic systems have demonstrated high COD removal in POME treatment studies.
4. Polishing
Additional treatment such as membrane filtration, adsorption, oxidation, or coagulation-flocculation may be applied when more stringent effluent quality is required.
The key is to combine treatment stages according to the actual wastewater characteristics rather than relying on a single technology.
Read Also: COD and BOD in Palm Oil Mill Effluent: Challenges and Solutions
A Practical Approach to POME Treatment with Lautan Air Indonesia
Effective POME treatment is not only about choosing a treatment technology. The system also needs to perform consistently under actual mill operating conditions.
PT Lautan Air Indonesia (LAI) supports industrial wastewater treatment with solutions that can be adapted to different wastewater characteristics and operational requirements. Depending on the application, this can involve water treatment chemicals, treatment media, equipment, process support, and operational solutions.
By evaluating parameters such as COD, BOD, TSS, oil and grease, pH, flow, and the existing treatment process, the treatment approach can be better aligned with the needs of each facility.
This practical approach can help palm oil mills improve treatment performance while maintaining more stable day-to-day operations.
Improve Your POME Treatment Strategy
Knowing what is POME is only the starting point. The next step is understanding what your wastewater requires and how each treatment stage can work together effectively.
If your POME treatment system is facing high COD, BOD, TSS, oil and grease, or inconsistent effluent quality, LAI can help evaluate your treatment requirements and explore a suitable wastewater treatment solution.
Contact Lautan Air Indonesia to discuss your POME treatment requirements and find an approach suited to your operation.
Reference
- Mohammad, S., Baidurah, S., Kobayashi, T., Ismail, N., & Leh, C. P. (2021). Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment Processes—A Review. Processes, 9(5), 739.
- Cheng, Y. W., et al. (2021). Holistic process evaluation of non-conventional palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment technologies: A conceptual and comparative review. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 409, 124964.
- Show, K. Y., et al. (2021). Integrated Anaerobic/Oxic/Oxic treatment for high strength palm oil mill effluent. Bioresource Technology, 338, 125509.
- Azmi, N. S., & Yunos, K. F. M. (2023). Effects of operational processes and equipment in palm oil mills on characteristics of raw Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME): A comparative study of four mills. Cleaner Waste Systems, 5, 100101.
- Dominic, D., & Baidurah, S. (2022). Recent Developments in Biological Processing Technology for Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment—A Review. Biology, 11(4), 525.
