Decolorization and Organic Removal from Palm Oil Mill Effluent by Fenton's Process

Decolorization and organics removal in palm oil mill effluent (POME) were investigated with the Fenton process. Decolorization efficiency obtained was 66.5% at 5 min and >90.0% at 30 min of reaction time. The process removed 82.0% of soluble chemical oxygen demand at 1 h of reaction time with optimized conditions: [H2O2] = 50 mM, [Fe2+] = 1.0 mM, and pH = 3.0 +/- 0.2. The kinetics rate constants (k) of decolorization and dissolved organic carbon removal were found at 6.20 x 10(-2) min(-1) and 2.19 x 10(-4) (mg/L)(-1) min(-1), respectively. However, the UV irradiation did not obviously enhance the decolorization and organic removal of POME. Humic and fulvic acid-like substances were identified at Ex/Em of 315/415 and 260/445 nm, respectively. By fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (FEEM), spectroscopy could create colors in POME. Reduction of FEEM intensity was 98.61%, which was related to the decolorization.