| Summary: | Disposal of sewage sludge is a main problem faced by local municipalities in Malaysia. Sludge
conditioned with chemical polymer often termed as undesirable use for land application.
However, using natural polymer will help to reduce the impact of this problem. In this study,
optimization using Moringa oleifera seeds as a natural polymer in sewage sludge conditioning
is highlighted. An earlier sludge conditioning using jar test apparatus was conducted using
Moringa oleifera seeds in three different forms; dry powder, distilled water extracted and salt
extracted (1 N NaCl). Results from the study indicate that Moringa oleifera in distilled water
extracted form shows the most optimum reduction in Capillary Suction Time (CST) value. Optimization
of three important factors namely mixing speed, mixing duration and Moringa oleifera
dosage for distilled water extracted form was done using Design of Experiments (DOE). Optimum
values for the selected factors were obtained using Box-Behnken design, Response Surface
Design Method (RSM). There was a total of seven set of optimized solutions produced. The best
solution generated showed lowest CST and Specifi c Resistance to Filtration (SRF) was obtained
at 4.5 s and 1.22 × 1011 m/kg respectively. These values were obtained under the optimum conditions
of mixing speed at 100 rpm, mixing duration of 1 min and Moringa oleifera dosage of
4695 mg/L. The desirability index for the optimized solution was 1.000.
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