Use of Activated Carbon from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (OPEFB) for Treating Tofu Wastewater Mirna Adji Pangestu*, Irnia Nurika, Sri Suhartini
Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
*mirnaadji17[at]student.ub.ac.id
Abstract
In Indonesia, tofu industry plays a significant role in economic development, with current number of 84,000 factories. These industries generated about 14.6 million kg of tofu dregs and 20 million L of wastewater annually, which remained untreated and disposed to nearby environment. Treating tofu wastewater, due to its high organic pollutants, is becoming priority to avoid water pollution. One of green approaches is adsorption using activated carbon derived from biomass, such as oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFBs). This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of OPEFB^s activated carbon as biosorbent in treating tofu wastewater. A randomized block design (RBD) was used, with two factors of activated carbon concentration (i.e., 0.6%, 1%, and 1.4% w/v) and contact time (i.e., 20, 40, and 60 minutes). Parameters evaluated before and after adsorption include chemical oxygen demand/COD, biological oxygen demand/BOD, total suspended solids/TSS, pH, turbidity, and total coliform. The results showed that treating tofu wastewater with 1.0% of OPEFB activated carbon for 20 minutes improved effluent quality by reducing concentration of COD, BOD, TSS, turbidity, and total coliform up to 78.6%, 81.46%, 75.8%, 74.6%, and 51.6%, respectively. The findings confirmed that OPEFB^s activated carbon is potential as biosorbent, yet optimization is still required.
