Dzun Noraini Jimat

Turbidity and suspended solids removal from high-strength wastewater using high surface area adsorbent: Mechanistic pathway and statistical analysis

Abstract In this study, the potential of an improved empty fruit bunch-based powdered activated carbon (PAC) with high surface area was employed in removing suspended solids and turbidity from a high-strength wastewater. Also, the effects of operating parameters, such as PAC dosage, contact time and mixing speed on sorption trends of the two pollutants from the wastewater—biotreated palm oil mill effluent using a full factorial experimental design was investigated. Adsorption efficiency of 89.1 and 91.4% were observed for suspended solids and turbidity, respectively, at the operating condition of 3.5 g PAC dosage, 45 min contact time and 150 rpm mixing speed. The analysis of variance also revealed that the actual and model predicted values were in agreement with R 2 values of 0.9949 and 0.9991 for suspended solids and turbidity, respectively. The three operating factors had similar significance on the sorption of both pollutants with an increasing sequence of significance: contact time < mixing speed < PAC dosage. This is indicative of their similar mechanistic pathway and response trends to the adsorption process. The Freundlich and pseudo-second-order models also predicted the experimental data in describing the adsorption behaviour with R 2 values of 0.9057 and 0.9998.

Zero liquid discharge and water conservation through water reclamation & reuse of biotreated palm oil mill effluent: A review

World natural resources are now going into extinction as evident from the accelerating depletion of our water resources through the persistent but exorable pollutions confronting our water environment daily. Despite this, some part of the world still witnesses overwhelming wastage of fresh water due to lack of proper motivation towards water management policies from the policy makers as well as professionals. Malaysia as a country was known as a place of huge amount of fresh water coupled with regular rainfalls around the year but now witnessing depletion in its fresh waters due to environmental pollution. One of the main causes of this pollution is the palm oil industry which discharges its Biotreated Palm Oil Mill Effluent (BPOME) into the rivers after little but insufficient treatments. This paper reviews the status, rationale and potential of water reuse in Malaysia. The piece further reflects the potential of advanced technologies to produce regenerated water offering specific solutions to industrial or agricultural reuse needs from BPOME, thus suggesting potential, affordable and cost effective water conservation systems through zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology and water reclamation from BPOME discharge.

Comparison between high-pressure processing and chemical extraction: Astaxanthin yield from six species of shrimp carapace

ABSTRACT Astaxanthin is one of the main carotenoid pigments. It has beneficial effects on the immune system of the human body due to its powerful antioxidant properties. The application of this bioactive compound can be found to be significant in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. The aim of this research was to investigate astaxanthin yield from six species of Malaysian shrimp carapace. Six types of shrimp species—Parapenaeopsis sculptili, Metapenaeus lysianassa, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Metapenaeopsis hardwickii, Penaeus merguiensis, and Penaeus monodon—were used to investigate total carotenoid content and astaxanthin yield. The investigation was carried out using chemical extraction and high-pressure processing (HPP) methods at 210 MPa, for a period of 10 min with a solvent mixture of acetone and methanol (7:3, v/v). HPP was proven to have a significant impact in increasing the total carotenoid content and astaxanthin yield. The highest total carotenoid content and astaxanthin yield is shown to be contained in the Penaeus monodon species. Total carotenoid was increased from 46.95 µg/ml using chemical extraction to 68.26 µg/ml using HPP; yield of astaxanthin was increased from 29.44 µg/gdw using chemical extraction to 59.9744 µg/gdw using HPP. Therefore, comparison between the HPP and chemical extraction methods showed that HPP is more advantageous with higher astaxanthin yield, higher quality, and shorter extraction time.

PURIFICATION AND PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF L-ASPARAGINASE ENZYME PRODUCED BY NEWLY ISOLATE BACILLUS SP.

A new bacterial producing L-asparaginase was successfully isolated from Sungai Klah Hot Spring, Perak, Malaysia and identified as Bacillus sp. It was the best L-asparaginase producer as compared to other isolates. Production of L-asparaginase from the microbial strain was carried out under liquid fermentation. The crude enzyme was then centrifuged and precipitated with ammonium sulfate before being further purified by chromatographic method. HiTrap DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow ion exchange chromatography followed by separation on Superose 12 gel filtration were used to obtain pure enzyme. The purified enzyme showed 10.11 U/mg of specific activity, 50.07% yield with 2.21 fold purification. The purified enzyme was found to be dimer in form, with a molecular weight of 65 kDa as estimated by SDS-PAGE. The maximum activity of the purified L-asparaginase was observed at pH 9 and temperature of 60 oC. Kajian penyelidikan ini telah berjaya menghasilkan enzim L-aspraginase daripada bakteria-bakteria baru yang diambil dari Kolam Air Panas, Sungai Klah, Perak, Malaysia dan ia dikenal pasti sebagai Bacillus sp. Teknik isolasi bakteria ini adalah teknik terbaik dalam menghasilkan enzim L-asparaginase berbanding teknik-teknik lain. Penghasilan enzim ini dibuat menerusi proses fermentasi. Kultur bakteria yang diperolehi diempar dan diikuti presipitasi menggunakan ammonium sulfat sebelum proses penulenan seterusnya dilakukan menggunakan kaedah kromatografi. Kolum penukaran ion jenis HiTrap DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow diikuti dengan pemisahan oleh gel Superose 12 telah digunakan untuk mendapatkan enzim L-asparaginase yang tulen. Hasil kajian mendapati enzim tulen yang diperolehi mempunyai aktiviti spesifik sebanyak 10.11 U/mg daripada 50.07% enzim yang dihasilkan dan berjaya mencapai 2.21 kali ganda tulen dari enzim tanpa proses penulenan. Enzim tulen yang diperolehi didapati dalam bentuk “dimer“ dengan berat molekular sebanyak 65 kDa yang ditentukan menerusi SDS-PAGE. Enzim ini juga menunjukkan aktiviti yang tinggi pada pH 9 dan suhu 60 oC.

Economic and Environmental Evaluation of Recombinant Enzyme Production

Economic and environmental evaluation on three different throughputs and comparison between these throughputs were presented. Comparisons are based on simulation of 10, 100 and 1000 kg/batch of recBromelain using SuperPro Designer v8.5. The economic analysis shows that 100 kg/batch gives the most competitive price and maintaining a sizeable profit gross margin of 28.21 %. A positive ROI of 18.41 % and minimal payback time of 5.43 years is predicted from 100 kg/batch of production. Environment analysis showed that total waste and energy consumption increased as production size increased. This simulation information will assist to predict the cost and environment impact at different size of productions.