Treatment of olive oil mill wastewater by combined process electro-Fenton reaction and anaerobic digestion

Bioremediation of olive mill wastewater

In this review paper, the history of the olive tree and the development of the main olive oil extraction systems employed in the past are presented. Furthermore, the management techniques employed from antiquity until today for the treatment of olive mill wastewater (OMW), which constitutes the most important by-product of olive oil production, are addressed and compared. Reference is also made to global olive oil production, the environmental impacts of the uncontrolled disposal of OMW, and to the legal framework concerning its management in the main olive oil producing countries. Other by-products of olive processing are also discussed.

Olive oil history, production and by-product management

Biodegradable wastewaters contribute as much as 6% of all anthropogenic methane emissions. High-rate anaerobic digesters have the potential to treat such wastewaters efficiently as well as enable capture of methane for use as a relatively clean energy source. This paper traces the evolution of high-rate anaerobic digester technology and provides an overview of its present capabilities. It also makes out a case for an accelerated shift from energy-intensive aerobic processes to anaerobic processes which are not only more energy-efficient but enable global warming control by methane capture.

A. Rozzi

Papers

Anaerobic treatment of olive mill effluents in polyurethane foam bed reactors