Overview
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment has been a great challenge to the palm oil industry in Malaysia. Our project is aimed to integrate the anaerobic and aerobic treatment of POME for biogas production and effluent treatment to ensure the sustainability of the palm oil industry. A new bioreactor configuration that combined anaerobic, aerobic digestions and settling in a single entity was designed and being named as Integrated Anaerobic-Aerobic Bioreactor (IAAB). This new bioreactor technology has led to the generation of more energy with higher treatment efficiency than the current available technologies. The treated effluent from the bioreactor of this study has the pollution load 30 times lower than the treated effluent from the current system using ponds. This technology has attracted the interest of palm oil mill owners from various countries. This technology has indirectly convinced many palm oil mill owners in adopting biotechnology for POME treatment as a sustainable solution.
Most of the industrial plants in Malaysia show an increasing number of female engineers. However, such growth is not reflected in the palm oil mill and most mills do not have female engineer. The major reason is due to the unconducive work environment for the female engineers. This problem can be tackled by using our IAAB technology where a modern treatment plant is to be built. This IAAB technology enables the engineers to monitor and control their process in a control room. The plant is designed with modern pumping, aeration and mixing systems with easy access and maintenance. Full automation with SCADA system is employed which also enable the plant to be monitored and controlled remotely. The design of IAAB is aligned with our national agenda, Industry Revolution 4.0 by integrating the modeling results from our R&D into our predictive controllers. This provides a safer and more decent environment for the female workers to progress in their career.
Speaker
Professor Ir. Dr. Denny K. S. Ng is Professor of Process Design and Integrated Biorefinery at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus. He is also Founding Director of Centre of Sustainable Palm Oil Research (CESPOR). Prof. Ng is well-published and well-cited (over 150 papers with an h-index of 33) and presented more than 180 papers in various conferences. He was the recipient of 1st World Wu Clans Excellence Award 2017, Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian Award (TOYM) 2017 (Scientific and Technological Development), Junior Chamber International (JCI); Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) Young Engineer Award 2015; Three Outstanding Young Persons of Negeri Sembilan (3OYP.NS) Awards, JCI 2014; Global IChemE Young Chemical Engineer of the Year 2012, etc. Other than the above mentioned personal awards, Prof Ng also received various awards from professional bodies and institutions on his great achievements and contributions to the society. Apart from focusing on research and development (R&D), Prof. Ng also applied his R&D output in industrial consultation projects. Prof Ng is also currently executive director for a spin off company of university, Nottingham Green Technologies Sdn. Bhd., which mainly commercialise the development technologies to the industry.
The material presented has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenter’s own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the Palm Oil Processing Special Interest Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.