Berkat Setia Palm Oil Mill Inoculation Report

Date: 29 June 2008

Introduction:
AquaClean inoculation was done on 29 June 2008 according to the proposed dosing schedule for pond 5 to pond 11. Pond 12 was unable to inoculate due to lack of time and weather.

Water sample at inlet to pond 5 and outlet to pond 5 and 12 were taken prior to inoculation for BOD testing in external lab.

Pond 5 (10,206 m3)
Pond 5 is completely filled with thick layer of solid floating crust of at least 600 mm thick. Water from pond 4 is about 45oC, brownish color continue to flow into pond 5.

Water from nearby reservoir will pump into two 1000 gallon containers (blue tanks). 15 gallons of ACF 32 were mix into each tank.

 

Fiber boat was used for access to centre part of the point. Despite using robe to pull, the floating sludge proved too hard for the boat to move. As such, we were unable to dose AquaClean evenly over the pond. Spraying will not help either as the surface scum is hard and dry. The spray liquid will dry on the surface and kill the bacteria.

 

Dosing was done by pressure pump directly into the sludge layer. Since we were unable to reach the centre of the pond, dosing was done around the perimeter of the pond by injection. More Aquaclear was dose at the inlet to pond 5 so that the bacteria can flow along with the effluent.

 

Attempt to measure sludge interface level using an ultra sound interface equipment was unsuccessful as the sludge completely fill the pond. It was recorded that the pond is completely filled with sludge.

Pond 6 (14,580 m3)

Pond 6 is not much difference from pond 5 except it is large in size. The effluent from pond 6 had been continuously pumped directly to pond 8 for the past one month due to too much sludge accumulated at
pond 7. As a result, the water level at pond 6 is about 300mm lower than normal level.

39 gallons were mix with 2000 gallon reservoir water and inject directly around the perimeter of the pond.

 

Pond 7 (4,613 m3)
Pond 7 is a small pond. In early June, this pond was completely filled with sludge. The owner had diver the effluent from pond 6 to pond 8 directly by passing pond 7. Mechanical sludge excavation was carried
out.

The pond is now having stagnant water and looks very polluted. 18 gallons AquaClean ACF32 was dosed directly using the fiber boat evenly over the pond.

Although there was no thick layer of surface scum in this pond at time of inoculation because of mechanical sludge removal and effluent diversion, we were unable to detect the sludge interface level as the sludge indicator shows full level at minimum sensitivity setting.

With our inoculation done, we had requested the client to stop the effluent diversion to maintain normal flow and bring back the water level at pond 5 and 6. It would be good if we can maintain a
sludge free condition after the effluent is diverted back to this pond with AquaClean treatment. This will prove that AquaClean is very effective in preventing sludge build‐up.

 

Pond 8 (7,560 m3)
Pond 8 has thin layer of surface sludge in April 2008. By June, the sludge had increase to about 300mm as effluent from pond 6 is now pumped directly to pond 8.

 

Left photo is pond surface condition in April 2008 and right photo is pond surface condition at time of incoulation on 29 June 2008.

Part of treated effluent from pond 11 is pumped back to pond 8 as activated sludge return. Note that the treated effluent at pond 11 is still black in colour.

 

Photo on the left is effluent return from pond 11 and photo on right is effluent from pond 6. 12 gallons ACF32 was diluted with river water and injected into the sludge layer around half the perimeter. The remaining 12 gallons was mixed with return sludge from pond 11 and inject into the remaining half of the sludge layer. More AquaClean are injected at the inlet area from pond 6 (right photo above).

 

Pond 9 (12,750 m3)
There were no surface sludge seen in this pond during April visit. However, at time of inoculation, a thin layer of surface scum was seen (about 3 to 6 cm thick). Since the sludge layer was thin, it was decided to do direct dosing using the fiber boat by pushing the sludge aside. Total of 35 gallons was dosed at this
pond.

Pond 10 (25,200m3) and Pond 11 (20,250m3)
Both these two ponds are relatively large and inoculate with 62 and 51 gallons respectively. There is not much floating sludge in these two ponds, it was intended to dose suing fiber boat evenly over the ponds, but due to time constrain, dosing was done around the perimeter of the ponds and inlet to the ponds by direct pouring and spraying.

 

Pond 12 (12,152 m3)
It was schedule to inoculate with 38 gallons at this pond, however, due to time constrain and bad weather, the inoculation for pond 12 was call off. Inoculation of pond 12 will be done on 6 July 2008.

Conclusion
Although we did not managed to inoculate as planned (applied AquaClean evenly over the ponds, we had done our best to inject the bacteria into the thick sludge around the pond perimeters and inlet points. We are still confident that the bacterial will flow with effluent and propagate around the ponds. I expect thick layer of sludge will breakup within 3 months and BOD drop by more than 50%. Progress
evaluation will be conducted weekly for first monthly and bi‐weekly after July.

Target Agenda
To achieve significant performance by Sep 2008, secure the remaining 50% payment and conduct project case presentation to other potential clients. Show case presentation will be done at Sandakan in Sep once performance is achieved. Our target is to secure at least another 5 projects by Dec 2008.

With the success of Berkat Setia as a sample project, the result will be used to secure new palm oil projects in West Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand