Agricultural Wastewater Treatment Using Oil Palm Waste Activated Hydrochar for Reuse in Plant Irrigation: Synthesis, Characterization, and Process Optimization

Ahmad Hussaini Jagaba (), Faizah Mohammed Bashir (), Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, Abdullahi Kilaco Usman, Nura Shehu Aliyu Yaro, Abdullahi Haruna Birniwa, Haifa Youssef Hamdoun and Nahla M. Shannan
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Ahmad Hussaini Jagaba: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Faizah Mohammed Bashir: Department of Decoration and Interior Design, University of Hail, Hail 55467, Saudi Arabia
Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal: Department of Civil Engineering, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi 740272, Nigeria
Abdullahi Kilaco Usman: School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia
Nura Shehu Aliyu Yaro: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Abdullahi Haruna Birniwa: Department of Chemistry, Sule Lamido University, Kafin-Hausa PMB 048, Nigeria
Haifa Youssef Hamdoun: Department of Decoration and Interior Design, University of Hail, Hail 55467, Saudi Arabia
Nahla M. Shannan: Program in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering Technology, Applied College, University of Hail, Hail 55467, Saudi Arabia

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-23

Abstract: The best possible use of natural resources and the large amounts of trash produced by industrial and human activity is necessary for sustainable development. Due to the threat of global climate change and other environmental challenges, waste management systems are changing, leading to more instances of water resource management. The waste generated must be controlled from a sustainability point of view. Typically, the conventional disposal of Agricultural Wastewater (AW) and biomass can be achieved by recycling, reusing, and converting them into a variety of green products. To improve the AW quality for the purposes of environmental sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 and 14, dealing with clean water, sanitation, and life below water, are very important goals. Therefore, the present investigation evaluates the effectiveness of a Bench-scale Activated Sludge Reactor (BASR) system for AW treatment. The BASR was designed to focus on getting the maximum possible utilization out of a biosorbent derived from oil palm waste activated hydrochar (OPAH). This is in accordance with SDG 9, which targets inorganic and organic waste utilization for added value. An experiment was developed using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). A Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 1–3 days was used in the bioreactor’s setup and operation, and Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) concentrations of 4000–6000 mg/L were used. BASR was fed with AW with initial mean concentrations of 4486 ± 5.63 mg/L and 6649 ± 3.48 for the five-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD 5 ) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) experiments, respectively. The results obtained showed that maximum reductions of 84.66% and 72.07% were recorded for BOD 5 and COD, respectively. Through RSM optimization, the greatest reductions in the amounts of organic materials were achieved with a 2-day HRT and an MLSS dosage of 5000 mg/L. Substrate elimination thresholds were assessed using the first-order, the Grau second-order, and the modified Stover–Kincannon models. The reported observations were found to be perfectly fit by the modified Stover–Kincannon model, with high R 2 values of 0.9908 and 0.9931 for BOD 5 and COD, respectively. As a result, the model may be used to design the BASR system and forecast how the reactor would behave. The findings from this study suggest that the developed OPAH has promising potential to be applied as eco-friendly material for the removal of BOD 5 and COD from AW. Consequently, the study findings additionally possess the ability to address SDGs 6, 9, and 14, in order to fulfil the United Nations (UN) goals through 2030.

Keywords: hydrochar; agricultural wastewater; kinetic modeling; oil palm waste; response surface methodology; waste management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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