Chapters authored
A Brief Review on Recent Processes for the Treatment of Olive Mill Effluents
During the last few decades, olive oil industrial sector has grown as a result of the modernization of olive oil mills, in response to the increasing demand of olive oil worldwide. As an undesired side effect, the amount of olive mill effluents (OME) increased, especially as a result of changing old batch press method for the continuous centrifugation-based olive oil production processes currently used, which ensure higher productivity. This chapter presents the state of the art of OME management, with focus on biological and advanced oxidation processes, either alone or in combination, varying in complexity, ease of operation and costs associated. Up to this moment, there isn’t a management strategy that can be adopted in a global scale, feasible in different socio-economic contexts and production scales. The most reasonable approach is to regard OME valorisation as a regional problem, defining decentralized treatment that in some cases can be implemented for a group of olive oil mills in the same geographic area. This aspect is receiving strong attention as European Commission is promoting the transition towards a circular economy, which aims at “closing the production loop” by recycling and reusing resources, bringing benefits for the environment, society and the economy.
Part of the book: Products from Olive Tree
The Use and Performance of Nanofiltration Membranes for Agro-Industrial Effluents Purification
Nanofiltration (NF) technology offers several advantages over classic separation processes. NF membranes have been increasingly implemented in water treatment processes (e.g., desalination of brackish water and seawater) and for wastewater (e.g., textile, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, and agro-industrial). The specific selectivity toward small solutes and the lower energy consumption of NF membranes have enhanced their use. However, some drawbacks need to be faced when NF is applied on an industrial scale. The main drawback is fouling that reduces the production capacity of the plant and shortens the membrane service lifetime if of irreversible nature, thus increasing the operating and capital costs. Moreover, fouling alters the selectivity of the membrane and thus the rejection efficiency. This chapter focuses the use of NF for the treatment of different agro-industrial effluents (such as dairy, tomato, and olive oil) and addresses membrane fouling as the main drawback against NF competitiveness.
Part of the book: Nanofiltration