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Calculation of the release of total organic matter and total mineral using the
hydrodynamic equations applied to palm oil mill effluent treatment by
cascaded anaerobic ponds

Article  in  Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering · May 2012

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Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
DOI 10.1007/s00449-012-0756-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Calculation of the release of total organic matter and total mineral
using the hydrodynamic equations applied to palm oil mill effluent
treatment by cascaded anaerobic ponds
Mohamad Ali Fulazzaky
Received: 27 February 2012 / Accepted: 7 May 2012 / Published online: 24 May 2012
Ó Springer-Verlag 2012
Abstract Anaerobic treatment processes to remove
organic matter from palm oil mill effluent (POME) have been
used widely in Malaysia. Still the amounts of total organic
and total mineral released from POME that may cause deg-
radation of the receiving environment need to be verified.
This paper proposes the use of the hydrodynamic equations to
estimate performance of the cascaded anaerobic ponds (CAP)
and to calculate amounts of total organic matter and total
mineral released from POME. The CAP efficiencies to
remove biochemical oxygen demands, chemical oxygen
demands, total solids and volatile solids (VS) as high as 94.5,
93.6, 96.3 and 98.2 %, respectively, are estimated. The
amounts of total organic matter and total mineral as high as
538 kg VS/day and 895 kg FS/day, respectively, released
from POME to the receiving water are calculated. The
implication of the proposed hydrodynamic equations con-
tributes to more versatile environmental assessment tech-
niques, sometimes replacing laboratory analysis.
Keywords Cascaded anaerobic pond  Hydrodynamic
equation  Palm oil mill effluent  Total mineral 
Total organic matter
Introduction
Palm oil production is an important agro-industrial product
in Malaysia. Since 1980, palm plantations have occupied
M. A. Fulazzaky (&)
Institute of Environmental and Water Resource Management,
Water Research Alliance, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
e-mail: fulazzaky@gmail.com; fulazzaky@utm.my
one-third of the country’s cultivated area. Crude palm oil
production has increased from 1.3 million tonne in 1975 to
4.1 million tonne in 1985 and ranked second in contribu-
tion to the gross national product in 1984 [1]. Unfortu-
nately, palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a major source of
pollution when released without treatment from palm oil
industries into rivers and lakes. Concentrations of chemical
oxygen demands (COD), total solids (TS), protein and
carbohydrates within raw POME as high as 70,900, 25,800,
12,900 and 28,200 mg/L, respectively, have been reported
[2]. POME contains lignocellulolytic wastes with a mixture
of carbohydrates and oil. The imperfect extraction of oil
from the palm nut can substantially increase COD levels in
POME. Since 1970, 42 rivers have been reported to be
polluted by POME. It has been estimated that in excess of
40 million tonne of POME was generated from 372 mills
in 2004 [3]. This adversely affects the living standards of
the local communities and the quality of the receiving
waters [1].
POME is basically a waste mixture consisting of ster-
ilizer condensate, separator sludge, and hydro-cyclone
wastewater. Freshly produced POME is a colloidal sus-
pension made up of 95–96 % water, 0.6–0.7 % oil and
4–5 % total solids (including 2–4 % suspended solids) that
are mainly debris from palm fruit mesocarp [3]. The bio-
chemical oxygen demands (BOD) values of POME range
from 26,000 to 30,000 mg/L and its COD values range
from 63,000 to 73,000 mg/L. POME is also an acidic
colloidal suspension with pH values ranging from 4.2 to
4.4 [4, 5]. The temperature of POME is generally high due
to the industrial processing of palm fruit, which uses steam
heat to sterilize the fresh palm fruit bunches, thus halting
the rapid formation of free fatty acids. Typically, POME
has been treated using the cascaded anaerobic ponds
(CAP). Anaerobic digestion in the ponds produces methane
123
12
which is used as a value-added product [4, 6–9]. Another
by-product of the stabilization ponds is the sludge that
results from treating the POME. This can be used as a soil
amendment for crops as reported by Wood et al. [10] and
Pivelli et al. [11]. Although the efficacy of anaerobic ponds
to remove organic matter has been studied extensively
[2, 3] and the amount of organic matter converted to
biomass has been determined [12, 13], the performance of
the CAP and the amount of total organic matter and total
mineral released from POME need to be verified.
The objectives of this study are: (1) to establish the
hydrodynamic equations based on the hypothesis made that
the CAP is regarded as ideal plug-flow reactor (IPFR),
(2) to compare the experimental results obtained from the
CAP of the Ladang Bukit Bujang Segamat (LBBS) palm
oil mill industry with those published in the literatures, and
(3) to estimate the capability of CAP technology to remove
BOD, COD, TS and volatile solids (VS) from POME and
to calculate the amounts of total organic matter and total
mineral accompanied with the treated POME that may be
released into the receiving waters.
Materials and methods
Location, physical model, data and methodology
Climatic determinants of the Segamat seasonality in the
unique feature of temperate climates with an average
temperature ranged from 26.3 to 28.2 °C throughout the
year are the conditions in which the CAP LBBS has been in
operation since 1986. Therefore, in temperate climates, it
may be possible to maintain a constant rate of biodegra-
dation through the CAP. Segamat is a district located in the
north of the state of Johor in Malaysia, bordering two other
states of Malaysia, i.e., Negeri Sembilan on the west and
Pahang on the north. Its geographical coordinates are
2°300 000 N and 102°490 000 E. Segamat is a fast-growing
agricultural oil, palm and rubber district of a tropical region
and has an area of 2,825.4 km2, inhabited by about 178,000
people in 1991 and 270,000 people in 2010. The CAP
LBBS has a total volume of 45,519 m3, consisting of
1,215 m3 buffer lagoon and four anaerobic ponds with
volumes of 10,967, 6,660, 17,316 and 9,361 m3. The
treatment facility has a flow rate of 360 m3/day. The
hydraulic retention time (HRT) is equal to 126 days.
Table 1 shows the dimensions of the CAP LBBS. Some of
the limitations of this study include: (1) to monitor water
quality at inlet and outlet of the CAP LBBS system as
affected by variation in substrate loading rate, and (2) to
assume the physical model of hydrodynamic flow in long
open tanks with a high length-to-width ratio as ideal plug-
flow in which probably longitudinal dispersion is minimal.
123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
The data used to develop hydrodynamic models of the CAP
LBBS system were carried out during 3 months of the
research project study. Because the analysis was always
based on a very small sample taken from a very large
volume of raw and treated POME, all methods rely on
statistical principles. The analysis of water samples was
carried out at the Environmental Engineering Laboratory of
the Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia which offers a
good accuracy of repeatable measurement of using the
same method [14] and equipment. The final step of
knowledge discovery from the data is to verify the
hydrodynamic equations produced by the data mining lin-
ear regression analysis occur in the wider data set, because
the physical model has been validated with measurements
for a large number of water-quality parameters in a range
of acceptable performance-enhancement practices. The
hydrodynamic equations proposed can have a significant
contribution on the performance assessment and can cal-
culate the amounts of total organic matter and total mineral
accompanied with the treated POME to release into the
receiving waters. Significance of this study will give new
knowledge to assess the quality of the aquatic environment
contaminated by POME. This paper identifies which best
practices are most effective in driving environmental-
impact assessment approach to reduce operating costs and
little human resources available to add more value to
professional services.
Even though the alteration of the oxidised organic
matter has been defined in French Water Agencies Study
No. 64 consisting of eight parameters, i.e., dissolved oxy-
gen (DO), percent oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, per-
manganate value, BOD, COD, total Kjeldahl nitrogen and
ammonia nitrogen [15], this study used only BOD and
COD to assess the performance of the CAP LBBS. Note
that the 15 alterations of water-quality parameters have
been classified in accordance with their similar nature and
its impact on the environment [15]. The present research
was focused on the assessment of BOD and COD removal
from the CAP LBBS due to the effluent-water quality
standards or regulation of the discharge loads for BOD and
COD are applied to industrial treatment plants in Malaysia.
This offers new insight into the issue of how local
authorities can assess the environmental impact of indus-
trial waste effluents at a selected location. The performance
of the CAP LBBS was estimated based on the concentra-
tions of BOD, COD, TS and VS monitored for the raw and
treated POME. Another implication of TS and VS moni-
toring can calculate the total organic matter and total
mineral being released from the POME. In addition, to
explain the features and behaviour of a whole system,
certain field-water quality parameters, i.e., pH, tempera-
ture, DO and conductivity must be monitored and
controlled.
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21 13

Table 1 Dimensions of the CAP LBBS

No. Element Unit BL AP1 AP2 AP3 AP4

1 Flow rate m3/day 360 360 360 360 360

2 Volume m3 1,215 10,967 6,660 17,316 9,361
Length m 25 75 50 100 60
Width m 15 45 40 50 45
Depth m 3.24 3.25 3.33 3.46 3.47
3 HRT day 3 30 19 48 26
BL buffer lagoon, AP1 anaerobic pond-1, AP2 anaerobic pond-2, AP3 anaerobic pond-3, AP4 anaerobic pond-4

Table 2 Comparison of raw and treated POME to Malaysian Effluent Standards (MES)
Parameter Unit MES Treated POME Raw POME
Minimum Maximum Average SD

Temperature °C 45.0 32.9 46.0 54.0 49.3 2.9

pH – 5.0–9.0 8.45 4.71 5.30 – –
BOD mg/L 100 1,867 28,067 40,400 32,848 4,471
COD mg/L 1,000 4,140 43,327 75,467 64,355 14,901
TS mg/L 1,500 6,832 40,360 293,690 106,064 108,576
VS mg/L – 2,970 31,520 286,760 98,682 109,186

This work used the data from a research project study
collected during a period of 80 days from January to March
2008. The quality of the raw POME was expressed in terms
of BOD, COD, TS and VS, as shown in Table 2. The BOD
values ranged from 28,067 to 40,400 mg/L and had an
average value of 32,848 mg/L. The COD values ranged
from 43,327 to 75,467 mg/L and had an average value of
64,355 mg/L. The TS values ranged from 40,360 to
293,690 mg/L and had an average value of 106,064 mg/L.
The VS values ranged from 31,520 to 286,760 mg/L and
had an average value of 98,682 mg/L. Table 2 compares
the characteristics of the treated POME from LBBS to
Malaysia’s Effluent Standards (MES) [16]. Even though
the CAP LBBS system shows the average efficiency of
94.5 % for BOD removal, 93.6 % for COD removal, 89 %
for TS removal and 95 % for VS removal, the quality of
the treated POME does not meet the MES. According to
the Malaysian regulations, the quality of industrial waste-
water effluents has to be assessed prior to release into the
receiving environment. Problems like POME demonstrate
the urgent need to protect public health and the environ-
ment from excessive organic and mineral loading to the
receiving waters. As a consequence, the annual budget of
water-quality monitoring and assessment needs to be
allocated by the local government. Figure 1 shows the
variations of pH, temperature, DO and conductivity pur-
suant to time for the raw (influent) and treated (effluent)
POME monitored during a period of 80 days.
Establishment of the hydrodynamic equations
The rate of change of mass inside the volume of the CAP
LBBS is given by the difference between the mass flow-
rate in and the mass flow-rate out. For a control volume
that has a single inlet and a single outlet, the principle of
conservation of mass states that, for steady-state flow, the
mass flow rate into the volume must equal the mass flow
rate out. The establishment of the hydrodynamic equations
arises from the fact that the inlet and outlet flow rates were
verified on the same day as POME samples collection,
because the CAP LBBS system has been operating since
1986 without any significant change in terms of BOD,
COD, TS and VS removal efficiencies, hence the data of
80-day period monitoring are reasonable to be used for
modelling, even though the HRT of 126 days is longer than
the study period of 80 days. The hypotheses were made
that: (1) the CAP system consisting of one buffer lagoon
and four anaerobic ponds requires considerable macro-
scopic balance modelled with a black-box model structure,
(2) the CAP LBBS is regarded as IPFR and operates in
hydrodynamic regime, and (3) the water continuously
diffuses through the treatment facilities having a congealed
colloid sludge plugs the movement of water. Based on
these hypotheses the hydrodynamic equations can be
established. Writing the general equation of mass balance
for the CAP LBBS to level of the system (macroscopic
balance) is that:

123
14 Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21

Fig. 1 Variations of a pH,

b temperature, c DO and
d conductivity pursuant to t

!
mass of substrate S
to entry into a distance Z
!
mass of substrate S

going out from Z þ dZ
!
mass of substrate S
¼ ð1Þ
consuming by removal

Modelling a mass balance ‘‘Entrance - Departure =

Removal (accumulation/reaction/physical settling/etc.)’’ as
schematised in Fig. 2 can be formulated using the
following equation that
Q  S  dt  Q  ðS  dSÞ  dt
¼ A  dZ  ðrs Þ  dt ð2Þ

where Q is flow rate (in m3/day), S is concentration of the

substrate to loading the CAP LBBS (in kg/m3), t is removal
time (in days), A is cross section (in m2), Z is total length of
the CAP LBBS, and rs is removal rate (in kg/m3 per day).
The flow rate and substrate concentration are the critical
determinants of process performance in the CAP LBBS. In
Fig. 2 Schematic of ideal plug-flow reactor
a previous study by Wang et al. [17] has proposed that the
effects of flow rate and substrate concentration can be used Recognizing that rs equals k1 9 S for first-order reac-
for investigating the relationship between the biofilm for- tion, hence Eq. (3) may be rewritten in the form of:
mation and hydrogen production performance.
dS k1  S
Rearranging Eq. (2) yields: ¼ ð4Þ
dZ t
dS rs
A  t  dS ¼ A  dZ  ðrs Þ or ¼ ð3Þ where k1 is removal rate coefficient (in 1/day).
dZ t
By separating the variables, Eq. (4) can be integrated in
where t is water velocity (in m/s). form of:

123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21 15

ZSa ZZ   mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS). An

dS k1 Sa Z average MLVSS concentration of about 52 g/L was veri-
 ¼ dZ or  ln ¼ k1  ð5Þ
S t So t
So 0
where So is concentration of the substrate to entry into the
CAP LBBS (in kg/m3) and Sa is concentration of the
substrate removal (in kg/m3).
Since Zt ¼ ZA V
tA ¼ Q ¼ h with h is HRT (in days), and
then rearranging Eq. (5) yields:
Sa ¼ So  ek1 h ð6Þ
It is recognised that Eq. (6) is analogous to the linear
y = a (x) where y is defined as Sa, x as So, and a as slope of
the linear Sa versus So. However, because k1 and h are
constant hence a value is also a constant which can be
verified experimentally.
Results and discussion
Data analysis
The pH for the raw POME as shown in Fig. 1a ranges from
4.71 to 5.30 and is slightly higher than that published in the
literatures [4, 5]. The pH for the treated POME ranges from
8 to 9 and is near to that shown in an earlier study [4]. The
increase in the pH in treated POME is due to the conver-
sion of stronger acids, i.e., mixed volatile fatty acids
(VFAs) to a weaker acid (carbonic acid) during fermenta-
tion process [13]. The treatment of POME using anaerobic
digestion may decrease carbon and inorganic nitrogen
content and changes pH from the acidic to alkaline one. In
a previous study by Agamuthu et al. [18] have reported that
the anaerobic treatment of POME induces an increase of
the ratio of organic nitrogen in sludge and produces a better
fertilizer. Because the fermentation process uses acetic,
propionic and butyric acids to convert to methane and other
gases [19], allowing the treated POME to become high
mineral content, the increase (see Fig. 1a) in pH in treated
POME is expected. Biomass concentration is expressed as
fied during the 80-day monitoring period and is slightly
higher than that of 41.5 g/L in the literature [20].
The temperature (Fig. 1b) for the raw POME ranges
from 46.0 to 54.0 °C with an average of 49.3 °C and thus
conforms to that published in a previous study by Yacob
et al. [3]. An average temperature of 32.9 °C for the treated
POME is lower than 49.3 °C for the raw POME. The
temperature decrease is due to the cooling that occurs while
the POME is retained in the ponds. Although the DO
increased in the raw and treated POME after the monitor-
ing period of 40 days, it was still less than 1.00 mg/L and
ranged from 0.44 to 0.71 mg/L and from 0.33 to 0.95 mg/L
in the raw and treated POME, respectively (Fig. 1c).
The conductivity (Fig. 1d) for the treated POME higher than
that for the raw POME was verified is due to fermentation
taking place in the cascaded ponds releases organic min-
erals and causes the increasing of minerals of the treated
POME; the increase of minerals content in a water induces
the increasing of conductivity. Although the pH and tem-
perature for the treated POME are within the MES, the
BOD, COD and TS contained in the treated POME do not
meet MES (see Table 2) even though the use of anaerobic
digestion techniques has met the Malaysian treatment
standards. Because the quality of the treated POME is not
recommended discharging into the receiving waters, the
study of strategic management using the alternative
methods, therefore, emphasises the enhancement of treat-
ment process to meet the standards regulated by law. This
study recommends that the use of aerobic treatment system
such as completely mixed activated sludge process and
membrane bioreactor is reasonable.
The assessment of using the data from the laboratory
analysis indicates that the CAP LBBS performance is
capable of treating waste stream of very high organic
content. The CAP consistently removes to approximately
94.5 % BOD and 93.6 % COD loads (see Fig. 3a). The
CAP is efficient to treat solid matters and to remove
approximately 89 % TS and 95 % VS (see Fig. 3b). In a

Fig. 3 Performance of the CAP

LBBS to remove: a BOD and
COD and b TS and VS

123
16
previous study by Agamuthu et al. [18] has reported that
the treatment of using the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket
with the VS/TS ratio of 90 % in the raw POME was able to
remove organic matter higher than minerals, and the VS/TS
ratio of 50 % in the treated POME was verified. It is
recognised that the most heterotrophs of chemoorgano-
heterotrophs (or simply organotrophs) use a variety of
organic compounds as both carbon and energy sources. The
relatively faster rate of organic decomposition in the
anaerobic ponds can cause low VS content in the treated
POME. Figure 4 shows a comparison between the varia-
tions of VS/TS ratio in the raw and treated POME during
the monitoring period of 80 days. An average VS/TS ratio
of raw and treated POME as high as 87 and 44 %,
respectively, was verified. The implication of low VS/TS
ratio induced high mineral content and electrical conduc-
tivity increase in the treated POME (see Fig. 1d). In
addition, anaerobic sludge digestion produces a valuable
by-product in the form of sulphide, which can incorporate
the sludge to form precipitates with the soluble decompo-
sition products in the ponds [21, 22].
One of the main characteristics of POME is the fact that
it varies for different days. The characteristics change
influences the quality of raw POME. Table 2 shows the
results of BOD values of raw POME ranged from 28,067 to
40,400 mg/L, COD values ranged from 43,327 to 75,467
mg/L, TS values ranged from 40,360 to 293,690 mg/L and
VS values ranged from 31,520 to 286,760 mg/L. Due to the
CAP LBBS has been in operation since 1986 at a constant
flow rate of 360 m3/day, the performance of organic and
inorganic carriers under specific operation conditions has
been carried out simultaneously and is stable. Experimental
data validation shows that: (1) the variations (Fig. 4) in VS/
TS ratio for the raw and treated POME are dependable, and
(2) the CAP LBBS efficiency to remove BOD and COD
(Fig. 3a) as well as TS and VS (Fig. 3b) is quasi-constant.
Fig. 4 Variations of VS/TS ratio for the raw (influent) and treated
(effluent) POME
123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
This investigation concludes that a change in the charac-
teristics of raw POME does not significantly affect the
biological treatment process. Therefore, the proposed
hydrodynamic equations can be used for estimating the
performance of the CAP LBBS and for calculating the
amounts of total organic matter and total mineral released
from POME.
Performance of the CAP LBBS
The hydrodynamic equations used are well validated for
the assessment of the performance of the CAP LBBS. The
estimation of theoretical performance of the CAP LBBS
made by a plot (Fig. 5) of So versus Sa in Eq. (6) that
permits to calculate k1 for BOD, COD, TS and VS removal,
as shown in Table 3. The decrease in k1 with increasing of
the correlation coefficient (R2) is identical to a better CAP
LBBS performance for the kinetics of substrate removal at
low specific growth rates. This describes that sludge age is
long enough to retain anaerobic bacteria in the ponds for
the increasing recalcitrance of decomposing organic matter
effectively. The sludge age could be analysed in a pond by
purge and trap methods, because the CAP system has been
in operation since 1986 without a purge, hence the sludge
age is indefinable. Culturing anaerobic micro-organisms is
generally a tedious process that limits the number of iso-
lates, severely limiting the chances of any microbe attain-
ing its good life. Anaerobic bacteria transform VS from
insoluble organics (IO) and complex soluble organics
(CSO) to simple soluble organics (SSO) through hydroly-
sis, ecological conditions of active decomposition zone are,
therefore, favourable to transform the SSO to form formic
and acetic acid and then to methane through a sequential
process of acidogenesis and methanogenesis. In a previous
study, Cysneiros et al. [23] have examined the occurrence
of hydrolysis, acidification and methanogenesis in a two-
phase system.
In this study, the term of ek1 h in Eq. (6) is defined as
the CAP LBBS performance and deduces from the slope
(a) of the resulting straight line of a plot (Fig. 5) of So
versus Sa. Accordingly, the derivative term in Eq. (6)
considers a simple linear regression model without the
intercept term: y = a(x), with a ¼ ek1 h . Correlation for
all parameters is good (R2 [ 0.99, see Table 3), indicating
that the proposed hydrodynamic equations are reasonable
to be used to describe the behaviour of the fluids and to
determine the CAP LBBS performance for the removal of
BOD, COD, TS and VS from POME. The following
assumptions help to identify the BOD and COD removal
performances of the CAP system, such that: (1) since a
value for estimating the BOD removal efficiency equals
0.9446 obtained from the linear regression analysis
resulting plots BODo versus BODa (see Fig. 5a), the CAP
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21 17

Fig. 5 Results of linear regression analyses for So versus Sa

Table 3 Performance of the CAP LBBS

Parameter a k1 (910-4/day) R2 P (%) Cv (kg/day) qv (kg/day) Cr (kg/day)

BOD 0.9446 4.52 0.9912 94.46 11,880 11,222 658

COD 0.9363 5.22 0.9905 93.63 23,260 21,778 1,482
TS 0.9626 3.03 0.9983 96.26 38,327 36,894 1,433
VS 0.9823 1.42 0.9997 98.23 36,779 36,128 651
2
a slope, k1 accumulation rate coefficient, R correlation coefficient, P CAP LBBS performance, Cv substrate load, qv load of substrate removal,
Cr residual substrate load, substrate means organic or solid matter

LBBS performance to remove BOD from POME is equal
to 94.46 %, and (2) since a value for estimating the COD
removal efficiency equals 0.9363 obtained from the linear
regression analysis resulting plots CODo versus CODa (see
Fig. 5b), the CAP LBBS performance to remove COD
from POME is equal to 93.63 %. The implications of using
Eq. (6) for the environmental-impact assessment can be
evaluated by estimating how much BOD and COD are
removed from POME. The CAP LBBS has been in oper-
ation since 1986, feeding a sustainable raw POME flow
with a volumetric organic loading rate of 0.261 kg BOD/
m3 per day (or an organic load of 11,880 kg BOD/day) is
effective to degrade organic matter at a BOD removal rate
of 0.247 kg BOD/m3 per day (11,222 kg BOD/day). The
residual organic load of 658 kg BOD/day incorporated in
the treated POME flows into the receiving waters, or, the
CAP system feeding with a volumetric organic loading rate
of 0.511 kg COD/m3 per day (23,260 kg COD/day) is
effective to degrade organic matter at a COD removal rate
of 0.478 kg COD/m3 per day (21,778 kg COD/day). The
residual organic load of 1,482 kg COD/day flows into the
receiving waters (see Table 3). The result-based measure-
ment (Fig. 3a) shows that the CAP LBBS performance of
about 94 % for both the removals of BOD and COD was
verified. According to the results (Table 4) obtained in this
study, there are the theoretical and experimental CAP
LBBS performance which may report similar levels of
long-term well being and economical for removing high
concentrations of BOD and COD prior to final treatment. It
is clear that the parameter k1 in Eq. (6) accounting for the
treatment process functioning has a physical interpretation
and is significantly accurate.
The hydrodynamic equations with consent to assess for
the MES are able to determine and respond to controlled
solid matter in loads entering a treatment facility. The
following assumptions help to identify the TS and VS
removal performances of the CAP system, such that:
(1) since a value for estimating the TS removal performance

123
18
Table 4 Comparison between the theoretical and experimental
performance
Parameter Performance of the CAP LBBS (%)
Theory Experiment
BOD 94.46 94.18
COD 93.63 93.46
TS 96.26 88.92
VS 98.23 94.84
equals 0.9626 obtained from the linear regression analysis
of plotting TSo versus TSa (Fig. 5c), the CAP LBBS effi-
ciency to remove TS from POME is equal to 96.26 %, and
(2) since a value for estimating the VS removal perfor-
mance equals 0.9823 obtained from the linear regression
analysis of plotting VSo versus VSa (Fig. 5d), the CAP
LBBS efficiency to remove VS from POME is equal to
98.23 %. The implications of using Eq. (6) for the envi-
ronmental-impact assessment can be evaluated by esti-
mating the levels of TS and VS removal from POME. The
CAP LBBS feeding with a volumetric solid loading rate of
0.842 kg TS/m3 per day (or solid loads of 38,327 kg TS/
day) is effective to reduce solid matter at a TS removal rate
of 0.811 kg TS/m3 per day (36,894 kg TS/day). The
residual solid load of 1,433 kg TS/day incorporated in the
treated POME flows into the receiving waters. Even though
the theoretical CAP LBBS performance of about 96 % for
the TS removal calculated using Eq. (6) is higher than the
experimental CAP LBBS performance of about 89 %
obtained from the laboratory analysis (see Table 4;
Fig. 3b), the use of the hydrodynamic equations is still
reasonable. The use of the anaerobic digester in removing
VS processed setting up at a HRT of 20 days has been
published by Schaefer and Sung [24] and has an efficiency
of 89.8 % and produces methane that ranged from 0.6 to
0.7 L/g of VS removed during steady-state operation. Lee
et al. [25] have proposed a scaled-up pretreatment for
bioethanol production from agricultural lignocellulosic
biomass. In this study, the CAP system feeding with a
volumetric solid loading rate of 0.808 kg VS/m3 per day
(36,779 kg VS/day) is capable to reduce solid matter at a
VS removal rate of 0.794 kg VS/m3 per day (36,128 kg
VS/day). The residual solid load of 651 kg VS/day incor-
porated in the treated POME flows into the receiving
waters. Even the theoretical CAP LBBS performance to
remove VS calculated using Eq. (6) was found to be about
98 % and is slightly higher than the experimental CAP
LBBS performance of about 95 % obtained from the lab-
oratory analysis (see Table 4). Still the use of the hydro-
dynamic equations for estimating the performance of CAP
LBBS is reasonable.
123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
Amount of total organic matter and total mineral
released from POME
It is recognised that TS contained in POME consists of VS
and fixed solids (FS); the difference between TS and VS
equals FS. To calculate the quantities of total organic
matter and total mineral released from POME during the
treatment process, the following assumptions were made:
(1) FS component contained in POME is total mineral;
(2) VS component is total organic matter; (3) amount of FS
removal accumulates in sludge as part of TS removal;
(4) one part of VS removal can serve as a source of carbon
and energy for bacterial growth; (5) removing sludge from
the ponds can degrade organic matter as another part of VS
removal to form methane and CO2 which easily evaporate
and enter the atmosphere; (6) sludge flakes settle down to
the bottom of the ponds.
The amounts of total organic matter and total mineral
associated with sludge in the ponds and released into the
receiving waters were calculated using Eq. (6), since the
parameter k1 for all the relationships between the substrate
loading and substrate removal rate was verified through a
linear regression analysis. Considering that qo ¼ ðSo 
Qo Þ=V and qa ¼ ðSa  Qa Þ=V, where qo is defined as
substrate loading rate (in kg substrate/m3 per day), qa is
rate of substrate removal (in kg substrate/m3 per day), V
is volume (in m3), Qo is flow rate at inlet (in m3/s) and Qa is
flow rate at outlet of the CAP LBBS (in m3/s), with
Qo = Qa. Experimental data collected from the CAP sys-
tem can be used to estimate model parameters that are
difficult to measure directly. The use of the data is appli-
cable for the proposed hydrodynamic equations. Figure 6
shows the resulting plots for TS loading rate (TSL) versus
VS loading rate (VSL) (Fig. 6a), rate of TS removal (TSR)
versus rate of VS removal (VSR) (Fig. 6b), TS loading rate
(TSL) versus rate of VS removal (VSR) (Fig. 6c), and rate
of TS removal (TSR) versus VS loading rate (VSL)
(Fig. 6d). Plotting the data yields a linear expression,
which is analogous to Eq. (6) with b ¼ ek1 h , such that:
VSL ðor RÞ ¼ b  TSL ðor RÞ ð7Þ
where TSL is TS loading rate (in kg TS/m3 per day), TSR is
rate of TS removal (in kg TS/m3 per day), VSL is VS
loading rate (in kg VS/m3 per day), VSR is rate of VS
removal (in kg VS/m3 per day), and b is correlation factor
(in kg VS/kg TS).
The linear Eq. (7) obtained experimentally by plotting
VSL (or R) versus TSL (or R) is analogous to the linear theory
in Eq. (6). Nevertheless, the units used for expressing the
difference in knowledge between sounds of different
physical interpretation are independent. The values of k1
for each independent linear regression can be found are
present in Table 5. It must be noted that the decrease in
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
Fig. 6 Results of linear
regression analyses for
TSL (or R) versus VSL (or R)
k1 value with increasing b for each linear regression is
significant. The experimental results showed that the dif-
ference between VS and TS levels in POME will be
extremely small or close to zero if the substrate removal
rate is very slow. Therefore, the increase of sludge age is
due to increasing VS/TS ratio in POME. Figure 6 shows
the linear regressions analysis, because the correlation for
all parameters is good (R2 [ 0.994, see Table 5), so the use
of Eq. (7) is reasonable for calculating amounts of total
organic matter and total mineral released from POME.
Note that laboratory test is still recommended for analysing
the concentration of certain mineral elements such as cal-
cium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc and iodine
content in POME. For example, the speciation of calcium
and its recovery using anaerobic digestion processed during
the 72-day period was found to be about 275 mg CaCO3
per 1,000 mg/L of COD released from POME [26]. This
study suggests that the use of Eq. (7) can offer advantages
over simple hydrodynamic model for the assessment of
mineral and organic components affected the environ-
mental quality to replace or complement expensive labo-
ratory sample analysis. The predictive hypotheses were
made: (1) VS loading rate is the rate of total organic matter
for a POME loading to the CAP system; (2) rate of VS
removal is organic removal rate released from POME
during the treatment process and (3) correlation factor b
represents the percentage of VS in TS for the hydrody-
namic model analysis of the CAP system. Based on these
hypotheses, the following assumptions help identify the
amounts of total organic matter and total mineral released
from POME, such that: (1) since b value obtained from a
19
plotting TSL versus VSL (Fig. 6a) in Eq. (7) is equal
to 0.9646 (see Table 5), there is at a given TS loading
rate of 38,327 kg TS/day consisting of 36,790 kg VS/day
(96.46 %) total organic matter and 1,537 kg FS/day
(3.54 %) total mineral and (2) since b value obtained from
a plotting TSR versus VSR (Fig. 6b) in Eq. (7) is equal to
0.9826 (see Table 5), there is at a TS removal rate of
36,894 kg TS/day (0.9626 9 38,327 = 36,894 kg/day)
consisting of 36,252 kg VS/day (98.26 %) total organic
matter and 642 kg FS/day (1.74 %) total mineral.
Accordingly, the residual TS loading rate consisting
of 538 kg VS/day (36,790 - 36,252 kg VS/day) total
organic matter and 895 kg FS/day (1,537 – 642 kg FS/
day) total mineral content of the treated POME flows into
the receiving waters. As a consequence, the more con-
ductive mineral ions break through causing a subsequent
increase in conductivity (see Fig. 1d). Biochemical POME
treatment processes associated with anaerobic sludge
digestion result in formation of 36,252 kg VS/day total
organic matter and 642 kg FS/day total mineral which
resist further degradation. Living organisms in anaerobic
sludge are considered to be part of total organic matter and
they play a big role in contributing organic residues to the
gases and in formation of new cells. Dissolved and par-
ticulate organic matter may influence the availability of
nutrients and serve as a carbon substrate for microbially
mediated reactions. Part of the total organic matter serves
as a source of both carbon for biosynthesis (endothermic
reaction) and energy for respiration (exothermic reaction)
there are two basic needs for survival of micro-organisms
in the cascaded ponds. Another part of the total organic
123
20
Table 5 Calculation of total organic matter and total mineral released from POME
Linear regression b k1 (910-4/day) R2
TSL versus VSL 0.9646 2.86 0.9965
TSR versus VSR 0.9826 1.39 0.9987
TSL versus VSR 0.9471 4.31 0.9945
TSR versus VSL 1.0023 0.18 0.9994
b correlation factor, k1 accumulation rate coefficient, R2 correlation coefficient, A abatement value
a
TSL TS loading rate
b
TSR rate of TS removal
c
VSL VS loading rate
d
VSR rate of VS removal
e
RM residual minerals rate
f
RTS residual total solids rate
matter, however, might be volatile and evaporates to form
gas particles. It was understood that biochemical chain
reactions were responsible for contributing to biogas rela-
ted products, such as CH4 and CO2. The biochemical chain
reactions consist of three elementary steps, each of which
has a chain carrier. First, the reactions break down large
molecules of IO and CSO into smaller hydrocarbon mol-
ecules of SSO through hydrolysis. Second, the reactions
break down SSO into VFAs, i.e., in forms of formic acid,
acetic acid, and other volatile acids and products through
acidogenesis. Finally, methanogenic bacteria convert VFAs
to CH4 and CO2 through anaerobic digestion, being
methanogenesis, the dominant process in the third step of
the reactions occurred during the treatment process. This
study suggests that the CAP system is relatively unaffected
by the small-scale instability and receives a constant load
of total organic and total mineral. A sludge mass developed
in the CAP LBBS system needs to be maintained at a
relatively constant concentration of microorganisms and is
quantitatively and qualitatively compatible with a plug
flow regime. Consequence of excessive amounts of sludge
in the cascaded ponds can adversely affect the overall
treatment efficiency by causing unpredictable nature of
sludge settlement in form of a solid mass, resulting in a
sudden drop on the pond bottom. Quantitative research has
the ability to effectively translate data into easily quanti-
fiable amounts of CH4 and CO2 and is recommended to be
envisaged as high priority the investigation for greenhouse
gas emissions from the CAP LBBS. Therefore, a mean-
ingful comparison between the experimental and theoreti-
cal methane production is thus only possible if the
experiment is taken in the well-designed reactor.
If the linear expression in Eq. (7) is correct the resulting
plots should be a straight line of slope b. Figure 6c plots
TSL versus VSR and finds the exact value for b equal to
0.9471 (see Table 5). This implicates that the CAP LBBS
123
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
A (%) TSaL or TSbR VScL or VSdR ReM or RfTS (kg NVS/day)
(kg TS/day) (kg VS/day) or (kg TS/day)
96.46 38,327a 36,790c 1,537e
b d
98.26 36,894 36,252 642e
a d
94.71 38,327 36,300 2,027f
b c
100 36,894 36,790 104f
feeding with a solid loading rate of 38,327 kg TS/day is
capable to remove solids at a VS removal rate of 36,300 kg
VS/day (94.71 %) total organic matter incorporated into
sludge. The residual solid loading rate of 2,027 kg TS/day
(5.29 %) consists of residual total organic matter and total
mineral, hence the total mineral removed of 642 kg FS/day
as a part of the TS removal incorporated into sludge.
Another part of the residual solid loading rate consists of
total organic and total mineral accompanied with the
treated POME to release into the receiving waters. It is
clear that the residual solid loading rate of 1,385 kg TS/day
(2,027 kg TS/day minus 642 kg FS/day) accompanied with
the treated POME flows into the receiving waters. This
study also verified that the ratio of fixed solids to total
solids (FS/TS) determined from monitoring during a period
of 80 days is equal to 65 % (see the ratio of 895 kg FS/day
to 1,385 kg TS/day). Hence, the treated POME has a high
conductivity level (see Fig. 1d), as it has been liberated of
its organic minerals during the anaerobic treatment process.
Figure 6d shows the resulting plots TSR versus VSL. The
linear regression analysis verified that the correlation factor
b is very close to 1 (see Table 5), because the data cluster
tightly around a straight line. The implication is that the
only thing standing between the TS removal rate and the
total organic loading rate is comparable. Both the amounts
of total solids and total organic matter were dependently
associated with a raw POME, the differences in calculation
of a load of 104 kg/day (36,894 kg TS/day minus
36,790 kg VS/day) influence to substrate loading rate
remained insignificant.
Conclusion
The performance of the CAP LBBS operating in temperate
climate environment can be estimated from the proposed
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2013) 36:11–21
hydrodynamic equations with source terms and these
equations properly treat the gradients. The amounts of total
organic matter and total mineral released from POME
during anaerobic treatment process were calculated for the
purpose of an environmental-impact assessment. More
specifically, the solid loading rate of POME is based on
total organic matter and total mineral, while for calcula-
tion, it is expressed in terms of VS and FS, respectively.
While growing, the microbes in the cascaded ponds con-
sume the major part of the organic matter in the POME.
This significantly reduces the VS of the POME. The
amounts of total mineral discharged to a receiving water
body are far higher than FS associated with sludge in the
cascaded ponds. The hydrodynamic equations have been
introduced in this study to provide tools and techniques to
enable scientists and engineers to replace or complement
expensive lab sample analysis.
Acknowledgments This paper used the data from a report of the
final-year project in civil and environmental engineering at Universiti
Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. Data and information provided by the
university are greatly appreciated.
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