Physicochemical Characterization of Oil Palm Decanter Cake (OPDC) for Residual Oil Recovery

Abstract

A characterization study on oil palm decanter cakes (OPDC) was performed to gain an in-depth understanding of the material's characteristics to aid in potential residual oil recovery. The OPDC was characterized by a high moisture content, high biodegradability, high organic content, and a nutrient-rich composition. Microscopic observation showed that the oil attachments in OPDC, and a vast majority of the droplets, were less than 50 μm in size. Furthermore, contact angle measurement revealed the hydrophilic and oleophilic characteristics of OPDC. Specifically, the contact angles of water and crude palm oil (CPO) with OPDC were both less than 45° with absorption rates of 0.0265  0.003 µL/s and 0.1042  0.05 µL/s, respectively. The OPDC is a fibrous material, and the surface area and pore size measured were 7.103 m 2 /g and 481.7 Å, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis results showed the functional groups and degradation properties of OPDC, respectively.

Effect of Rice Husk Ash on the Physicochemical Properties of Compost

“…The pH value for decanter cake was lower compared to POME sludge and RHA because decanter cake was acidic in nature. The results obtained are in agreement with the previous finding of Sahad et al [10] whereby a pH value of 5.03 was recorded for decanter cake. Moreover, the highest moisture content of about 79.06% was recorded for decanted cake, this result correlated well with the reports of Abdul Razak et al [11] and Sahad et al [10].…”

Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions by Oil Palm Decanter Cake Activated Carbon

“…The FTIR spectra of OPDC and AC-OPDC ( Figure 2) show the difference in absorption bands between the OPDC and the AC-OPDC. The bands in the OPDC are similar to those found in the OPDC studied by Sahad et al [26] and in lignocellulosic bio mass such as oil palm mesocarp fiber [27] and oil palm empty fruit bunch [28]. The absorption bands at 3290.35 cm −1 and 2916.97 cm −1 indicate the stretching of O-H and C-H groups, respectively.…”

Presence of Residual Oil in Relation to Solid Particle Distribution in Palm Oil Mill Effluent

“…The fibrous solid residues, owing to the presence of non-polar groups on their surface, attract oil molecules to their surfaces by the surface adsorption mechanism and adsorb the oils into their matrixes by capillary adsorption (Huang et al 2010;Subramaniam et al 2010). On the other hand, the presence of hydroxyl groups in the solid residues attracts water through hydrogen bonding (Sahad et al 2014). The residual oil may also be the small-sized free oil formed during the harsh mechanical processing before the clarification stage.…”

“…According to Sahad et al (2014), a contact angle less than 45° indicates that the wettability properties of solid particles corresponds to their amphiphilic properties; this means that the material exhibits both hydrophilic and oleophilic properties. Thus, the solid particles in the POME were capable of absorbing both CPO and H2O.…”

“…These materials are responsible for most of the physical and chemical properties of POME, such as the natural oleophilicity and hydrophilicity (Hassan et al 2013;Teli and Valia 2013). The high oil wetting properties or oleophilicty of the solid particles in POME result from the presence of the nonpolar groups on the surface of solid particles, which may induce the lower surface energy and increase the attraction of oil molecules (Shinoj et al 2011;Sidik et al 2012;Sahad et al 2014). Owing to the natural oil sorption capacities of solid particles contained in POME, the oil droplets were absorbed into the solid particles and settled when the sample was left for 60 min.…”