Pretreatment process by coagulation-flocculation of palm oil effluents from cassava peel

YAPO, M&#039;besso Edith Christine; KOUADIO, David Léonce; AKESSE, Djamatche Paul Valery; YAPI, Yapo Hermann Aristide; DALOGO, Kacou Alain Paterne; DIBI, Brou

doi:10.22104/aet.2026.7461.2076

Pretreatment process by coagulation-flocculation of palm oil effluents from cassava peel

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

M'besso Edith Christine YAPO ¹

David Léonce KOUADIO ²

Djamatche Paul Valery AKESSE ²

Yapo Hermann Aristide YAPI ²

Kacou Alain Paterne DALOGO ²

Brou DIBI ²

¹ BP150 DALOA

² Environmental science and technology laboratory, University Jean Lorougnon Guede, Daloa, ivory coast

10.22104/aet.2026.7461.2076

Abstract

This study aims to optimize the coagulation–flocculation pretreatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) using cassava peel as a natural coagulant. POME is characterized by a high organic load and turbidity, making its treatment particularly challenging. The raw effluent exhibited a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 105200 mgO₂/L and a turbidity of 21450 NTU. Optimization experiments were conducted using response surface methodology based on a Box–Behnken design to evaluate the effects of coagulant dosage, pH, and settling time. The optimal conditions were determined as pH 9, a coagulant dose of approximately 3000 mg/L, and a settling time of 21.11 min. Under these conditions, removal efficiencies reached 97.08% for turbidity and 96.25% for COD. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of cassava peel as a sustainable alternative to conventional coagulants. Furthermore, this approach contributes to agro-industrial waste valorization and offers a promising, environmentally friendly solution for POME pretreatment prior to advanced treatment processes.

Keywords

cassava peel

coagulation–flocculation

optimization

palm oil mill effluent

response surface methodology

Subjects