Olive Residues to Energy Chains in the Apulia Region Part I: Biomass Potentials and Costs

Abstract

The main objective of the proposed research is to estimate the energy potentials of the olive trees pruning residues and olive husk residues in the Apulia region (Southern Italy) and to compare the possible bioenergy conversion routes for heat and power generation. 46 006_Pantaleo(537)_37 27-07-2009 11:20 Pagina 46 The part I of the research proposes a preliminary review of the olive oil chain residues in the Apulia region and an assessment of technical potentials and biomass supply costs. The investigation is carried out through a review of existing literature, structured interviews with operators, elaboration of available statistical data, assessment of the typology and current use of the by-products, analysis of olive trees pruning techniques and olive milling processes. The results show a high potential of pruning residues (about 177 kt/year at 15% moisture content) and crude olive husk (about 915 kt/year at 50% average moisture content). The supply costs are, in most cases, compatible with the energy conversion routes, and in particular they result in the range of 45-55 €/t (35% moisture content) for rotobales and chips from PR

Environmental impacts in the life cycle of olive oil: a literature review

“…Wastes and by‐products mainly include the biomass generated in the field (e.g. pruning residues) and, most importantly, the olive oil mill wastewater generated by the extraction process in the mill …”

Modeling and Experimental Study of a Small Scale Olive Pomace Gasifier for Cogeneration: Energy and Profitability Analysis

“…The key techno-economic factors influencing the feasibility of such biomass to energy systems are explored for the case studies of only electricity sale (case EL) and the combined sales of heat and electricity for residential heat demand (case RES, corresponding to 1500 equivalent hours/year of thermal energy demand at 60 • C) and industrial heat demand (case IND, corresponding to 4000 equivalent hours/year of thermal energy demand at 90 • C). In all the cases, a baseload operation mode is considered (6600 equivalent operating hours/year), which is assumed on the basis of data from manufacturers and small size gasification plants in operation [8,9,66]. Different operational strategies have been investigated in previous researches [10,67], such as electric of heat driven modes.…”

“…The cost figures are author's elaboration of data from manufacturers (for gasifiers [68][69][70][71][72][73], for MGT [74][75][76]). These data consider average values for installation, engineering, grid connection costs for small scale plants in Italy [66,67]. The operational costs are calculated assuming a biomass purchase price of 30 €/t for wet olive pomace included transport (55% moisture content and LHV of 1.97 kWh/kg), according to [1,75] and on the basis of interviews to olive oil operators in the Puglia region in Southern Italy (the Italian region with the highest production of olive oil), while unitary ash discharge costs are assumed of 70 €/t ash (ash percentage in dry olive cake of 8% [1]), and other annual O&M costs (labour, spare parts, insurances, global maintenance service) are equal to 4% of CAPEX, in line with literature data [67,77,78].…”

Phytotoxic Effects of Retentates Extracted from Olive Mill Wastewater Suggest a Path for Bioherbicide Development

“…Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is a key problem because it causes concern due to its organic compounds, high salinity, acidity, and polyphenol content [16]. OMW can be used to enrich animal feed, to extract compounds useful in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, to absorb heavy metals in aqueous solutions, to recover energy, and for application during or after composting on soil as fertilizers or herbicide [13,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. In addition, several studies showed the phytotoxic activity of OMW [25,26].…”