Enhancement of the anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewater by the removal of phenolic inhibitors

Olive mill wasterwater (OMW) has a high organic pollutant load (45–130 g COD/litre) including various phenolic compounds, of which caffeic acid, thyrosol and hydroxythyrosol occur in the highest proportions. These two features make it impossible to purify OMW anaerobically unless a prior dilution is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Process biochemistry (1991) 1992-07, Vol.27 (4), p.231-237
Main Authors: Borja, R., Martin, A., Maestro, R., Alba, J., Fiestas, J.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Olive mill wasterwater (OMW) has a high organic pollutant load (45–130 g COD/litre) including various phenolic compounds, of which caffeic acid, thyrosol and hydroxythyrosol occur in the highest proportions. These two features make it impossible to purify OMW anaerobically unless a prior dilution is effected. Partial removal of some of the organic matter and phenolic compounds, by aerobic pretreatment with Geotrichum candidum is described. This provides a partially purified effluent that, for the same COD level as that of the original OMW, is degraded anaerobically more rapidly than original OMW as a result of the increase in methanogenic activity by 39 ml CH 4 STP /g VSS day for a COD of 7 g /litre. Finally, the presence of a sepiolite support (Pansil) in the digestors is shown to increase the biodegradability of the OMWs and the yield coefficient of the product (Y p).
ISSN:1359-5113
1873-3298
DOI:10.1016/0032-9592(92)80023-V