Combined process for the treatment of olive oil mill wastewater: Absorption on sawdust and combustion of the impregnated sawdust

Olive oil mill wastewater (OMWW) generated by the olive oil extraction industry constitutes a major pollutant, causing a severe environmental threats because of the high chemical oxygen demand and the high content of polyphenol. This work studied a combined process of absorption on sawdust, a low-cost renewable absorbents, and an energetic valorisation via combustion was studied. The thermal behaviour of different OMWW/sawdust blends was studied under inert and oxidative atmosphere from 20 to 900 °C using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Gaseous emissions such as CO2, CO and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured under oxidative conditions at 600 °C in a fixed-bed reactor. Kinetic parameters were obtained and compared for the different mixtures of OMWW and sawdust. The absorption of the organic content of OMWW on sawdust improves the decomposition of cellulosic compounds at low temperatures in both atmospheres. Compared to sawdust, absorption of the organic content of OMWW on sawdust favours a combustion process with lower molar ratio of CO/CO2 in the exhaust. Combustion of an impregnated sawdust containing 40 wt.% of the organic content of the OMWW generates the same amount of gas in the exhaust as sawdust. OMWW/sawdust blends may therefore be a promising biofuel with low environmental impacts.