Treatment for the Olive Pomace Extraction Industry Olive Pomace Oil Extraction Industry by Appling Peroxy-Electrooxidation

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of peroxy-electrooxidation (PEO) for treating wastewater from the olive pomace oil extraction industry. The response surface methodology was utilized to optimize the efficiency of the PEO process under varying conditions of electrolysis time, current density, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) dosage. Appling graphite/aluminum sheets as cathode/anode in the treatment process showed that the concentration of H2O2 directly affected the efficiency of total phenolic compounds (TPh) removal. It was observed that at an H2O2 concentration of 15 g L-1, the removal efficiency was less than 80%. The removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) is mainly influenced by the dosage of H2O2 and the reaction time. The experiments conducted on the PEO processes with graphite/iron sheets showed that the highest removal of TPh was achieved with an H2O2 dosage of 30 g L-1 and an intermediate reaction time of 30 minutes. Current density also had an impact on TPh removal. Regarding COD removal, the results showed that the highest removal rates were attained with increased H2O2 concentrations, but reaction time was a positive factor, with better results obtained with 30 and 50 minutes. The PEO is recommended as a pre-treatment for TPh removal but not for COD and other treatment processes should be evaluated.