Investigation of the potential of Cyperus alternifolius in the phytoremediation of palm

oil mill effluent

Siti Kamariah Md Sa’at, Nastaein Qamaruz Zaman, Suffian Mohd Yusoff, and Hirun Azaman Ismail

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1892, 040009 (2017); doi: 10.1063/1.5005689

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5005689
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/1892/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics
 Investigation of the Potential of Cyperus alternifolius in the
Phytoremediation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent
Siti Kamariah Md Sa’at1, a), Nastaein Qamaruz Zaman2, b), Suffian Mohd Yusoff3, c)
and Hirun Azaman Ismail4, d)
1, 2, 3
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Pulau
Pinang, Malaysia.
1, 4
School of Bioprocess Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Jejawi 3 School Complex, 02600 Arau, Perlis,
Malaysia
2, 3
Solid Waste management Cluster, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
a)
ctkamariah@gmail.com
b)
Corresponding author: cenastaein@usm.my
c)
suffian@usm.my
d)
hirun@unimap.edu.my

Abstract. Phytoremediation is an emerging technology nowadays due to demand in environmental sustainability which
requires cost-effective solutions in terms of capital and operational cost. The treatment gain attention due to their potential
in wastewater treatment especially in organics, nutrients, and heavy metal removal of domestics, agricultural, and industrial
wastewater treatment. Plant functions in phytoremediation make the plant selection as an essential element. The plant should
have the ability to tolerate with the toxic effluent and able to uptake the contaminant. Cyperus alternifolius (umbrella grass)
was chosen as aquatic plant due to the ability to tolerance in municipal and industrial effluent sources with strong and dense
root systems. Thus, the objectives of this study are to determine the potential and effectiveness of Cyperus alternifolius in
the palm oil mill effluent treatment especially in the removal of organics (COD), nutrients (NH3-N and TP) and suspended
solid. The batch experiment was run using Cyperus alternifolius to determine their potential of aerobic pond effluent for 21
days of treatment. Cyperus alternifolius treatment shows the great removal of COD and TSS with 96% and 91%,
respectively at the end of 21 days of treatment. Nutrients removal achieved the maximum removal of 92% NH3-N and 99%
TP shows after 11 days of treatment and percentage slowly decrease until the end of 21 days of treatment. Cyperus
alternifolius had shown potential in the palm oil mill effluent treatment and can be combined with ponding treatment to
enhance to water quality prior discharge.

INTRODUCTION
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the wastewater from the palm oil extraction process. The main sources of POME
include sterilizer condensate, sludge separator and hydro cyclone wastewater [1]. The raw POME characterized as
liquid brownish wastewater with a foul smell and has a high concentration of organics (biological oxygen demand
(BOD) range 10,250-43,750 mg/L and chemical oxygen demand (COD) range 15,000-100,000 mg/L) and suspended
solid (SS) content (5000-54,000 mg/L)[2]. However, the characteristics differed from the batch, factories, processing
method, the age of fruit and weather condition [3]. From 1 ton of fresh fruit bunch processed, about 0.5 to 0.75 ton
of POME is produced [4]. The control of palm oil mill effluent discharge to the public water bodies is the global
concern since POME contains high organics and suspended solid concentration. The palm oil industries need to meet
the regulation enforced by Department of Environment (DOE) through Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises)
(Crude Palm Oil) Regulation 1977 [5]. Therefore, the palm oil industries player faces vast challenges to comply the
straight regulation of the discharge standard.
Various treatment method had been studied and applied in POME treatment including physicochemical treatment
such as adsorption, coagulation, and flotation; biological treatment such as aerobic and anaerobic degradation as well
as advanced treatment such as membrane technology. The POME disposal method includes crop irrigation, land
disposal, composting, decantation and evaporation [1-2]. The phytoremediation technology offers a cost-effective
potential and more sustainable approach due to the use of the green plant in its treatment process. The technology had
been used in remediation of organic and inorganics contaminants such as heavy metal, metalloids and radioactive

Proceedings of the International Conference of Global Network for Innovative Technology and AWAM International Conference in Civil Engineering (IGNITE-AICCE’17)
AIP Conf. Proc. 1892, 040009-1–040009-7; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005689
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1574-4/$30.00

040009-1
elements [6] in domestics, agricultural and industrial effluent. Therefore, phytoremediation technology was chosen in
this study as POME treatment due to the advantages of treatment.
An essential component in the phytoremediation is the selection of plant types to be used. The plant selection for
phytoremediation criteria includes the high growth rate plant, able to uptake the contaminant and tolerance in the toxic
pollutant, adapt in the climate, easy to cultivate, harvest and control in dispersion [7–9]. The treatment efficiency of
the plant in phytoremediation depends on the plant species [10]. The plant plays a significant function in remove and
uptake the pollutant through a physical, chemical and biological mechanism in the phytoremediation treatment [11].
In water and wastewater treatment, the uses of aquatic plant significantly play a vital role to help the contaminant
removal. The plant provides the oxygen to the aquatic environment via photosynthesis, provide substrate and habitat
for algae, fish, invertebrates, and wildlife [12]. They are also capable of assimilating the nutrients and organic
constituents and also filter the suspended solid through the root systems thus reducing the pollutant concentration and
improved the water quality of the effluent.
The use of emergent plant in phytoremediation technology has shown a great prospective due to their tolerance
and capabilities of pollutant removal in wastewater [7]. Cyperus alternifolius is a scientific name of umbrella sedge,
the perennial herbs and emergent plant that grows in a swamp area and humid soil [12-13]. The plant has strong and
complex root with fast growth characteristics. The plant also form aesthetic appearances make it as an ornamental
plant. Cyperus spp. like Cyperus papyrus has shown great tolerance in the hypereutrophic situation and able to grow
in high salinity wastewater [14]. The plant had been used in landfill leachate, domestics and industrial wastewater
treatment [15]. Cyperus alternifolius had been used in olive mill effluent treatment and shows the great removal of
COD and phosphate [16]. Treatment of domestic wastewater using Cyperus alternifolius and vetiver grass, showed
that Cyperus alternifolius provided the higher removal percentage than vetiver [17]. The removal percentage was
76.8% COD, 65.2% Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), 66.7% ammonium (NH4-N) and 86% SS. While using Cyperus
alternifolius and Typha latifolia in urban wastewater treatment showed that Cyperus removed 47% Total Suspended
Solid (TSS), 64.8% BOD, 66.6% COD, 38.3% NH4-N and 31.7% Total Phosphorus (TP) [18]. In the meantime, [15]
also studied between Cyperus and Arundo donax in pre-treated urban wastewater and Cyperus removed 72.6% TSS,
69.8% BOD, 61.5% COD and 43.4% TP. However, the effect of Cyperus alternifolius plant in palm oil mill effluent
cannot be found in the literature.
Therefore, this study aims to determine the potential and effectiveness of Cyperus alternifolius in the POME
treatment to remove the organics, nutrients and suspended solid. The growth rate of the plant also measured to
determine the biomass accumulation in the plant.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

POME Collection and Analysis

Palm oil mill effluent samples were collected the aerobic treatment pond at a palm oil mill in Nibong Tebal, Pulau
Pinang. The samples were collected in a 20 L plastic bottle and stored in the 4oC cold room at the School of Civil
Engineering, Environmental Laboratory, prior for the used in the experimental procedure.
The POME was analyzed before and after phytoremediation every alternate day to determine the COD, TSS,
ammonia (NH3-N) and TP. The COD, NH3-N, and TP were analyzed using HACH DR2800 Spectrophotometer while
TSS were analyzed using the oven-drying method. All the method were tested according to Standard Method of
Examination of Water and Wastewater [19]. The removal percentage of each parameter was evaluated according to
Equation (1). In addition, the first order removal rate constant was calculated using Equation (2). First-order removal
rate was followed [20] to determine the removal rate constant, k. The higher k, the better performance of the treatment
systems.
஼೔ ି஼೚
ܴ‫ ܧ‬ൌ  ൈ ͳͲͲ (1)
஼೚
஼
Ž ቀ ೚ ቁ ൌ ݇‫ݐ‬ (2)
஼೔

Where Ci is the final concentration, Co is the initial concentration, k is the removal rate constant and t is a time interval.

040009-2
 Plant culture and growth
Cyperus alternifolius plant was sourced from a local nursery and propagated via cutting technique for two months
in 3-liter pots at the laboratory to allow for extensive plant root development. Tap water was refilled to the pots every
week until the 5 cm from the bottom of the pots (at the root level) every week to allow the root established and plant
growth healthy. Cyperus alternifolius was chosen in this study as their root properties were strong and complex [13],
thus likely to supply oxygen to the root zone and help in pollutant removal process.
The plant growth rate and analysis were carried out by determining the plant height and the plant weight as per
method described by [21]. The plant height was determined every 5 days by measuring the maximum height of the
plant from the root level to the top of the stem using measuring tape which showing good condition and not showing
chroloris (color changing from green to brown) state [18]. The plant was washed using tap water to removed unwanted
debris and dry using tissue paper before weight for their fresh weight at the initial experiment and at the end of the
experiment. The plant was weighed using laboratory scale.

Experimental Setup
The experiment was carried out in the controlled environment at School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains
Malaysia Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang. The batch experiment was run in 8 buckets with 4 (four)
buckets were filled with aerobic pond water and Cyperus alternifolius and 4 buckets filled with aerobic pond water
and unplanted. The plant density was set to 3 to 4 plant/bucket. The effluent samples in the bucket were collected at
10.00 am on alternate days throughout the 21 days of experiment duration. The experiments were replicated twice.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Overall Performance on Water Quality

The removal of COD, TSS, ammonia (NH3-N), and TP are discussed in this section. Table 1 shows the
characteristic of the aerobic pond effluent before (influent) and after phytoremediation (effluent) against that of the
DOE discharge standard [5]. The treated POME with Cyperus alternifolius, unfortunately, does not comply with the
DOE regulation standard for crude palm oil, especially for TSS. However, for COD, NH3-N and total nitrogen (TN)
parameters are able to meet the required discharge limits.

TABLE 1. Characteristic of Aerobic POME and Discharge Standard

Parameter Unit Influent Effluent Discharge
Concentration Concentration Standard**
pH 7.99 8.95 5-9
COD mg/L 13,995 645.5 1,000*
TSS mg/L 54,215 5,425 400
TP mg/L 34.2 11.2 -
NH3-N mg/L 192.5 19.5 150
NO3-N mg/L 6.2 - -
TN mg/L 425 47 50*
Color Pt-Co 7359 4950 -
Turbidity NTU 148 52 -
*1981-1982
**Source:[5]

In terms of percentage removal for the planted and control systems (unplanted) showed a slight difference in all
parameters except TP at the end of the experiment as demonstrated in Figure 1. COD gives the highest removal
percentage while TP shows the lowest percentage for both planted and control systems. Table 2 listed the removal rate
constant, k for planted and unplanted systems for all parameter. The planted system shows higher k-value than control
in all parameter thus indicates the substantial difference between planted and the control. In addition, the ANOVA

040009-3
analysis also displays a significant difference between planted and a control treatment with p-values <0.05 for all
parameters. Therefore, the Cyperus alternifolius presence in the phytoremediation treatment had a significant effect
on organics, suspended solid and nutrients concentration reduction.

100.0
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
COD TSS NH3-N TP
Planted Control

FIGURE 1. Percentage Removal of COD, TSS, NH3-N, and TP in Planted and Control Systems

TABLE 2. The k Values for COD, TSS, NH3-N, and TP for Planted versus Unplanted Experiment
Parameter COD TSS NH3-N TP
System Planted Control Planted Control Planted Control Planted Control
k-value 0.167 0.155 0.162 0.128 0.154 0.141 0.146 0.133

The organics removal in POME were presented by COD, whereby COD is defined as the required oxygen to
decompose organics materials by the chemical pathway. COD removal showed a slight decrease in percentage (35%)
on day 3 after the steady increase to 40% and then increased back after 5 days of treatment reaching up to 96% at the
end of the study. COD was removed due to the supply of oxygen provided via the plant roots (in this case Cyperus
alternifolius) and the degradation of the organic matter by heterotrophic bacteria [18, 22]. The plant rhizosphere is a
most active zone in the phytoremediation treatment where the biological and physicochemical process occurs [23].
The decrease in COD also caused by organic degradation to carbon dioxide and water, probably due to organic carbon
assimilation of POME particles that attached to the plant root [11]. The study result is in contrast with [24] where the
organic matter uptake by the plant is insignificant with the plant presence or absence. In the control systems, the
decreased of COD was because the presence of microbes that help in degrading the organics substance.
The suspended solid recorded the maximum removal (94%) at day 15 of treatment and the value slightly reduced
until 91% at the end of the experiment. For suspended solid removal, the mechanism involves includes rhizome-
filtration and sedimentation of the suspended particles to the bottom of experiment bucket. The complex root zone of
Cyperus alternifolius aided the solid particles to be trapped between the root system thus reducing the solid particles
in the POME samples [14].
Ammonia, nitrate, and phosphorus are among the nutrients taken up by the plants to ensure its growth [11]. In this
study, only ammonia and phosphorus were taken into account since the nitrate was not detected in an earlier stage of
the experiment. The plants assimilate nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) by their roots and accumulate in the above-
ground tissue. The plant's uptake capacity depending on several factors includes retention time, loading rates, types
of effluent, systems configuration and climate condition [25]. According to [26], the contribution of the plant in uptake
the nitrogen is about 15-80% while 24-80% for phosphorus.
The ammonia removal in this study achieved the maximum removal percentage at 93% only after 13 days of
treatment and the percentage slightly decreased until 90% at the end of experiment duration. The ammonia removal
involves various processes such as nitrification, ammonia volatilization and the effect of the plant. The effect of the
plant in nitrogen uptake only takes about 15% of the total nitrogen removal and 13% from volatilization [27]. High
ammonia removal in this study with up to 90% removal shows the good nitrification process with converting the
ammonia to nitrate. The nitrate was absorbed by the plant as the nutrients sources.

040009-4
 Total phosphorus removal percentage in the phytoremediation treatment achieved the maximum percentage at
99% at 11 days of treatment. However, the percentage decreased by 73% at the end of treatment. The decreasing of
phosphorus percentage caused by releasing of phosphorus from the deceased Cyperus alternifolius [13] and the
saturation of POME samples in the bottom of experiment bucket. The adsorption and precipitation play an essential
role in phosphorus removal [28]. Plant uptake of phosphorus in the form of phosphate and accumulates in the plant
tissue [29]. The phosphorus important as nutrients sources and energy storage of the plant also leads to the phosphorus
removal. There is a significant difference between the planted and control systems for total phosphorus with 73% in
planted systems and 45% in control systems. The lesser removal of phosphorus in control systems are biological
elimination by a microorganism and complex sediment formation [13].

Plant growth observation

Cyperus alternifolius showed good growth but at the end of the experiment, the plant started showing chlorosis
state where the leaves changed colors to yellowish and brownish. Initially, the plants measured 24.5 cm in average for
plant height and 25 cm average at the end of the study (day 21). The average initial weight of plant was 10.38 g while
average of final weight was reduced to 9.12 g. The reduced weight was due to some withering plants that caused a
negative growth rate and contradicting the theory of plant growth rate. Therefore, the withered plants need to be
harvested to prevent a similar problem in the future.

Comparison with the Previous Study

Table 3 shows the result of this study compared to those of other researchers. The highest COD and NH 3-N removal
were achieved in this study using Cyperus alternifolius compared to other plants such as Eichhornia crassipes and
Pistia statiotes in treating different types of palm oil mill effluent. Retention time played the main contributing factor
in the treatment of the effluent using phytoremediation [30]. Compared to others, this batch study used the longest
retention time for the treatment which 21 days. Longer retention times provide the opportunity for microbes to degrade
the organic content as indicated by the COD removal. Sufficient retention time also promotes nitrification that
degrades the nitrogen into nitrates, which are easier to absorb by plant and give high contact times for Cyperus roots
with organic bacteria which lead to high ammonia removal and high adsorption of phosphorus [31].

TABLE 3. Comparison of Removal of Pollutant by Various Plant Species for POME Treatment
Effluent sources Systems Retention Plant species Pollutant removal Researchers
time efficiency (%)
Aerobic POME Batch 21 days Cyperus COD: 96%, TSS: 91%, This study
alternifolius TP: 73%, NH3-N: 90%
Anaerobic Batch 7 days Ipomoea aquatica COD: 36.3%, TSS: 80%, [32]
treated POME NH3-N: 30%
Pre-treated Circulation 16 days Salvinia molesta COD: 39%, PO4-P: 95% [11]
POME with SBR systems
Anaerobic Batch 8 days Eichhornia COD: 50%, N: 88%, [30]
treated POME crassipes P: 64%
Anaerobic Batch 5 days Pistia stratiotes COD: 39.1-59.66%, [31]
treated POME N: 17.73 -30.78%
P: 6.14 -18.46%

Raw POME Batch 6 week Eichhornia BOD: 50%, COD: 50% [33]
crassipes
Final Discharge 15 days Pistia stratiotes BOD: 93%, COD: 30%, [34]
POME NH3-N: 82%
Leersia oryzoides BOD: 90%, COD: 27%,
NH3-N: 80%
Anaerobic Batch 14 days Vetiver grass BOD: 60%, COD: 39% [35]
treated POME

040009-5
 CONCLUSIONS
Phytoremediation treatment using Cyperus alternifolius of the aerobic palm oil mill effluent shows a great potential
in improving the water quality. The treatment achieved the desirable removal efficiency with great removal efficiency
of the organics, suspended solid and nutrients with 96% of COD, 92% of TSS, 73% of TP and 90% of NH 3-N. There
is a significant difference between planted and unplanted systems, thus, implicating the effectiveness of
phytoremediation using Cyperus alternifolius for polishing treatment of POME. However, to avoid the release of
nutrients and suspended solid released back to the POME, proper management of withered and dead plants are
required. To improve the treatment performance of the wastewater treatment, the use of constructed wetland is
suggested where interaction between pollutant, substrate allows for a plant utilization and shorter retention time to
produce better effluent quality.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is funded by Universiti Sains Malaysia under Iconic grant scheme (Grant No. 1001/CKT/870023) for
research associated with the Solid Waste Management Cluster, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

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