POME Dewatering Geotube for Palm Oil Waste

POME Dewatering Geotube as an Effective Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment Method

What Is a Geotube?

Geotube is an advanced technological innovation in geosynthetics. It is made from geotextile with high tensile strength and high permeability for various construction applications. A Geotube structure must be designed with sufficient strength to withstand pumping pressure and provide effective drainage.

POME Dewatering Geotube for Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment

Based on its use, Geotextile tube can be categorized into 2 functions:

• Marine Tube

Marine Tube is a geotextile tube used as a jetty, coastal erosion protection, breakwater, riverbank protection or groyne.

• Dewatering Tube

Dewatering Tube is a geotextile tube that separates solid waste sludge from its liquid, making the sludge easier to transport. Dewatering tube applications include river dredging, industrial waste, mining waste, plantation waste and domestic waste.

How Does a Geotube Work?

Three-Stage POME Dewatering Process in a Geotube

In general, Geotube operation consists of 3 stages.

1. Filling Stage

Sludge material is pumped into the Geotube.

2. Dewatering Stage

Effluent Water flows out of the Geotube. Solids are captured inside the Geotube. The filtrate can be recirculated into the system.

3. Consolidation Stage

The solids remain inside the Geotube and undergo consolidation. Once full, the sludge cake can be easily disposed of or used as fertilizer.

The Role of Geotube in Treating Palm Oil Waste

In general, the palm oil waste treatment process can be summarized as follows:

Palm Oil Mill Waste Composition for POME Dewatering

Each 1 (One) ton of fresh oil palm fruit bunches consists of:

• 20% Palm Oil (Crude Palm Oil)
• 5% Kernel
• 65% Palm Oil Waste (Sludge)
• 10% Shells, Fibers and Empty Fruit Bunches.

Consider that Indonesia produced 37 million tons of CPO in 2017. How much palm oil liquid waste did that generate? Liquid waste that is not properly treated causes ponds to fill with sediment, reduces retention time and prevents effluent quality standards from being met. This can even force mill operations to stop.

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Geotextile Tube

The volume of palm oil waste produced often drives treatment costs into the hundreds of millions or even billions of rupiah. Geotube offers an affordable, faster, energy-efficient and sustainable waste treatment solution.