Alfa Laval introduces sustainable palm oil effluent treatment system
Palm oil processors can now significantly reduce their environmental impact whilst recovering valuable by-products through a new effluent treatment system developed by Alfa Laval. The POMEVap system employs advanced evaporation technology to transform palm oil mill effluent (POME) into reusable components, offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional treatment methods.
The system utilises AlfaFlash ZLD evaporation technology to separate POME into three distinct components: clear water, recovered palm oil, and nutrient-rich solids. This represents a significant advancement over conventional treatment methods, which typically involve large settling ponds that release methane into the atmosphere and fail to recover valuable by-products.
Sustainability benefits
The technical specifications of the POMEVap system demonstrate substantial improvements in several key areas:
• Space efficiency: The system requires only 300 square metres, compared to the football pitch-sized areas needed for traditional settling ponds
• Methane reduction: Approximately 90 percent of methane generation is prevented
• Oil recovery: For mills processing 45 tonnes per hour of fresh fruit bunches, the system can recover 810 tonnes of oil annually from POME
• Water recycling: Condensate from the process can be reused in mill operations
• Solid recovery: Concentrated nutrient-rich solids can be processed for animal feed applications
Commercial viability demonstrated
A recent installation in southern India has provided empirical evidence of the system’s effectiveness. The facility, commissioned in late 2023, is achieving local environmental compliance standards whilst recovering additional palm oil through an integrated Alfa Laval decanter system. The installation is projected to achieve return on investment within four years through the recovery of previously lost oil content.
Implications for sustainable palm oil production
With palm oil accounting for approximately 40 percent of global vegetable oil demand, the technology addresses critical sustainability challenges in the sector. The recovered oil can either be returned for further purification in the oil clarification process or utilised as feedstock for HVO biofuel production under European RED II framework requirements.
“The POMEVap solution not only assists in generating additional income to the palm oil mills but also helps to solve associated greenhouse gas emissions issue, recover oil and generate clear water for reuse and helps the mills to achieve their sustainability goals,” says Amol Hukkerikar, Senior Global Sales, Alfa Laval BU Food Systems.
Technical recovery capabilities
In typical applications, raw POME contains approximately 1 percent oil content. The POMEVap system demonstrates the capability to recover 50 percent of this oil content. For a mill processing 45 tonnes per hour of fresh fruit bunches (FFB), generating approximately 162,000 tonnes of POME annually, this translates to 810 tonnes of recovered oil per year. As a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Alfa Laval’s development of the POMEVap system aligns with industry efforts to enhance the sustainability credentials of palm oil processing operations.
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