Environmental Management Guidelinefor the Palm Oil Industry

Department of Industrial Works Deutsche Gesellschaft frTechnische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

Environmental Advisory Assistance for Industry

Environmental Management Guideline

for the Palm Oil Industry

THAILAND

PN 2000.2266.5-001.00

September 1997

IP-Institut fr Projektplanung GmbH on behalf of GTZ

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INTRODUCTION The Department of Industrial Works (Ministry of Industry) is implementing the project Environmental Advisory Assistance for Industry. This project is executed with support from the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation (BMZ) under the Thai-German Technical Co-operation Programme through the German consulting firm IP-Institut fuer Projektplanung GmbH under contract from Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit GTZ. An important activity of this project is the introduction and preparation of industry sector specific environmental management guidelines. The guidelines for the palm oil mill industry are part of this activity and describe alternative methods for utilisation of residues and by-products, waste avoidance and minimisation and give recommendations on how to achieve, in the most cost-effective way, overall environmental management requirements. Sector specific effluent standards form the legal part of the guidelines. These standards can be achieved by implementing the described alternative environmental management methods. The content of the guidelines is the result of teamwork in the palm oil mill working group. This working group consists of representatives from the Department of Industrial Works, Department of Pollution Control, Federation of Thai Industries, The Palm Oil Mill Industry Association and the Prince of Songkla University (PSU). The PSU has been contracted as consultant for the development of the guidelines. Besides discussion and approval of the guidelines content, the working group also agreed on the effluent standards described for this industrial sector. The project implementing agency, Bureau of Industrial Environment Technology within the Department of Industrial Works, hopes that the introduced co-operative approach, which led to this guideline, will support both, the industry as well as the environmental control agencies, in applying cost effective environmental management. For further information concerning additional details please feel to contact the Bureau of Industrial Environment Technology at the Department of Industrial Works Ministry of Industry - Bangkok. Bangkok July 1997 Director Bureau of Industrial Environment Technology Department of Industrial Works Ministry of Industry

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CONTENT page Section I Effluent standards for the palm oil mill industry I.1 Minimum standards 5 I.2 Standard method of analysis 5 I.3 Explanation of the minimum standards 6 Section II Environmental management guidelines for the Palm Oil Mill Industry Chapter 1 Preface 7 Chapter 2 Scope of the Guidelines 8 Chapter 3 Palm oil industry of Thailand 9 Chapter 4 Review of palm oil production 10 4.1 Oil palm plantation 16 4.2 Review of standard wet mill process 4.2.1 Storage of FFB 4.2.2 Sterilisation 4.2.3 Bunch stripping 4.2.4 Digestion 4.2.5 Oil extraction and handling of residues 4.2.6 Oil purification 4.2.7 Treatment of settling tank underflow 4.2.8 Mass balance summary 4.3 Characteristics of residues 23 Chapter 5 Process integrated pollution prevention And control strategy (IPPCS) 5.1 Improvements in production technology 26 5.1.1 Plantation management 5.1.2 Quality of raw material 5.1.3 Prevention of oil loss 5.2 Utilisation of palm oil mill by-products 33 5.2.1 Utilisation of solid residues 5.2.2 Liquid residue Chapter 6 Review of appropriate techniques for waste- water treatment 6.1 Primary wastewater treatment 38 6.1.1 Segregation of waste streams 6.1.2 Oil separation 6.2 Secondary wastewater treatment 40 6.2.1 Effluent cooling 6.2.2 Anaerobic treatment systems 6.2.3 Aerobic treatment systems 6.3 Nitrogen Removal 47 6.4 Separation and handling of excess sludge 48

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6.5 Design example pond treatment system 48 Chapter 7 Monitoring and control 7.1 In-plant control 55 7.2 Control by the authority 56 Chapter 8 Glossary and minimum requirements 8.1 Explanation of technical terms 58 8.2 Explanation of minimum effluent quality 60 8.2.1 Biochemical oxygen demand 8.2.2 Chemical oxygen demand 8.2.3 Suspended solids 8.2.4 Total lipophilic substances 8.2.5 TKN-nitrogen Annex-A Detail information of Thailands palm oil mills 63 Annex-B Economical aspects 68 Annex-C Members of DIW working team 71 Annex-D Literature 72

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SECTION I EFFLUENT STANDARDS FOR PALM OIL MILL INDUSTRY

I.1 Minimum standards

The described effluent standards apply to the discharge of treated wastewater from palm oil mills into natural watercourses at the final outlet of the plant or processing facility. The effluent sample has to be collected by the procedure described in a special regulation and has to be completely homogenised before analysis.

Table I.1: Effluent standards for palm oil mill industry

Parameter Unit standard

BOD5 COD

Suspended solids Oil & Grease 1)

Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) pH

Temperature

mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L

C

< 100 < 1,000 < 150 < 25 < 50 5 to 9 < 40

1) Total lipophilic substances (compare Guidelines chapter 8)

I.2 Standard method of analysis Table I.2 shows the methods of analysis to be applied in effluent control.

Table I.2: Standard methods of analysis related to minimum requirements for palm oil mill effluent (compare Guidelines chapter 8) are :

parameter methods 1 BOD5: biochemical oxygen demand 2. COD : chemical oxygen demand 3. SS : suspended solids

Parameters 1-5 must be analysed according to the Standard Method for Analysis of Wastewater of USA (APHA, AWWA, WPCF, 1989) [ 1]

4. O&G: oil and grease1) 5. TKN : total Kjeldahl nitrogen 6. pH Measure with pH meter at the point of

sampling 7. Temperature Measure with thermometer at the point

of sampling. 1) Total lipophilic substances

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I.3 Explanation of the minimum requirements

The given minimum standards differ significantly from general effluent standards of Thailand (1996). This is due to the specific conditions of the Palm Oil Mill effluent. These conditions and the reasons for the required standards are prescribed in the Environmental Guidelines for Palm Oil Mill Industry. Summarising this, it has to be recognized that after full biological treatment, even if this treatment achieves a very high efficiency, the remaining effluent still has relatively high concentrations of pollutants if compared with the general wastewater standard. This is due to the extremely high pollution load in the untreated raw effluent.

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SECTION II ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR THE PALM OIL MILL INDUSTRY CHAPTER 1 PREFACE In order to achieve the minimum environmental standards prescribed by National Law, the following Environmental Management Guidelines for the Palm Oil Mill Industry have been developed.

These Guidelines deal with all aspects of the production of palm oil (except the refining of the oil) including liquid and solid by-products/residues and effluents/wastes and consider possible emissions to the atmosphere. These Guidelines promote closed concepts for utilisation and disposal regarding the complex of all environmental media of this branch of industry. National Environmental Law states that the owner or processor of the palm oil mill has to reduce or eliminate the pollutants or to appropriately dispose of them. This leads to the priority of avoiding or utilisation of residues within the industry instead of treatment and disposal of created wastes offsite Furthermore these Guidelines prescribe measures which help to meet the defined minimum requirements and the general objective of reducing or eliminating the pollutants.

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CHAPTER 2 SCOPE OF THE GUIDELINES

At present, there are 49 palm oil mills in Thailand (see Annex A1) with mills using the standard wet milling process accounting for 85 % of the total production capacity. The mills using the standard wet process have the greatest impact on the environment. Therefore, the minimum environmental requirements together with the environmental management guidelines will deal only with those mills using the standard wet process. The refining process is not the subject of the guidelines.

The advice, recommendations and information regarding the utilisation of Palm Oil Mill by-products, for example by using good agricultural practices, could be applied to all types and sizes of oil palm plantations and in some aspects to other kinds of plantations and palm oil mills. The Guidelines aim to support the operating companies in th