Anaerobic treatability of wastewater from the production of ethyl ester via NaOH-catalyzed transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. oil.

Date

4-2009

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Jovita l. Movillon

Committee Member

Rex B. Demafelis, Amelia E. Parao, Butch G. Bataller

Abstract

The characteristics of the wastewater from the production of ethyl ester through sodium hydroxide-catalyzed transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. oil were analyzed. The wastewater has a chemical oxygen demand of (COD) value of 49,307±1,335 mg/L, total alkalinity of 299.3349mg/L CaCO₃ pH level of 8.5, and BOD/COD ratio of 0.7036. From this ratio, degradability of the organic matter content in the wastewater was assured. Parameters such as pH,temperature, alkalinity, gas production, removal, and gas composition were examined to evaluate the anaerobic process during the 50 days of operation. In the study, each reactor was seeded with 50%(w/v) mixture of cow dung and rumen.For the first 30 days of operation, the setups were fed thrice with an organic loading rate (OLR) of 100mg/L-d and once with 200mg/L-d to acclimatize the bacteria in the nature of the substrate. Daily feeding was done for a given retention time of next 20 days. Each digester was fed with diluted substrate for OLRs of 200, 400, and 600mg/L-d. Based on the results good gas production was observed having a total of 5,902mL for 600mg/L-d followed by 4,456mL and 4,043mL for 200 and 400mg/L-d, respectively. An increasing trend was also observed for the %COD removal: the higher the OLR, the higher the %COD removal.Reduction of 45.46%, 42.13%, and 34.24% was measured for 600,400, and 200mg/L-d, respectively. Thus, anaerobic treatment is possible for this kind of wastewater. Further improvements are suggested to acquire better treatability and higher methane conversion.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS