Utilization of Cocoa Peel as Biosorbent for Oil and Color Removal in Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

摘要

The aim of this study is to discover the effectiveness of cocoa peel as biosorbents for oil and color removal in POME. This study used biosorbent from cocoa peel with variation of particle size which passed through 70 mesh, 100 mesh, and 120 mesh and was activated with the ratio of biosorbent and 0,6 M HNO3 of 1:2, 1:4, and 1:6 (m/v). The adsorption process was carried out using biosorbent with the highest iodine number in varying biosorbent mass and contact time. The highest iodine number was 596,684 mg/g and obtained at particle size 120 mesh and the ratio of biosorbent : HNO3 as 1 : 4. The resulting biosorbents were analyzed for their characterization, such as vapor content, ash content, and volatile matter, including FT-IR and SEM-EDX. The POME were analyzed for their oil and color content, using gravimetric method and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The best removal is were 80,88% for oil and 83,45% for color at 1.5 g biosorbent mass and 3 h contact time. The resullt for oil removal was close to the standard of Indonesian Environment Minister for oil in effluent. Also the adsorption of oil and color behaves as a pseudo-second-order kinetic models.