Electrochemical treatment of olive mill wastewaters: Removal of phenolic compounds and decolourization

Abstract

Olive mill wastewaters (OMW) characterized by their dark brown colour and their very high content of phenolic compounds constitute an environmental concern, particularly in Mediterranean countries where the production of olive oil is important. In this investigation, OMW were electrolyzed at platinized expanded titanium electrodes in a modified Grignard reactor divided into two cylindrical compartments separated by a cation-exchange membrane. Results show better than 90% decolourization and nearly 85% removal of phenols, as established by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, at high current intensity. This process can easily be monitored by cyclic voltammetry at a boron-doped diamond electrode. A significant reduction of chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon was observed. The electrodes are not passivated and the ohmic potential drop is very low. Electrochemical oxidation in a modified Grignard reactor is a promising process for the destruction of phenolic compounds present in OMW.

Electrochemical treatment of olive mill wastewater

“…These results are in agreement with Belaid et al during electrochemical oxidation of OMW using a Ti/Pt anode. 30 Turbidity was also monitored during the treatment process (Fig. 4b).…”

Electrochemical treatment of deproteinated whey wastewater and optimization of treatment conditions with response surface methodology

“…Electrochemical oxidation was applied to the treatment of cokeplant wastewater [33], coffee curing wastewater [34], olive oil wastewater [35], olive mill wastewater [36][37][38][39][40][41][42], green table olive processing wastewater [43], starchy wastewater [44], distillery industry wastewater [45][46][47], beer brewery wastewater [48] and vinasse from beet molasses [49].…”

Zeytinyağı Üretim Atıksularının Özellikleri, Çevresel Etkileri ve Arıtım Teknolojileri

“…Tablo 4'de zeytinyağı atıksularının temel kirlilik parametrelerinin maksimum ve minimum değerleri özetlenmiştir [7]. Bu atıksuların rengi, degradasyon durumuna ve hakim olan iklime bağlı olarak koyu kırmızıdan siyaha kadar değişmektedir [20].…”