The Treatment of a Food Process Waste Material

Abstract

The main aims of this work, were to ferment the effluents generated during the production of Malaysian palm oil, for the treatment of the effluent with the concommitant production of a fungel protein, and to investigate the operating characteristics of the continuous aerobic Tower fermenter, with respect to some chemical and physical variables. Initial palm oil effluent fermentation failures were attributed to the clogging of mould flocs by oil droplets, which partially coated the hyphae, and may also have adversely affected the oxygen transfer into solution. This was overcome by dilution of the effluent, and by increasing the aeration rate. It was concluded that the effluent was not toxic to the mould Aspergillus niger and formed a suitable medium for fermentation. Investigations were also made to determine the optimum dilution rates for effluent treatment and biomass production. The results obtained were used to commission a pilot plant in Malaysia...