Dear Mohammad,

The following articles may be helpful in constructing adsorption experiments for OMW and soil:

1-Dynamic Treatment Response of Olive Mills Wastewater Using Series of Adsorption Steps

Olive mills wastewater (OMW) is a critical environmental problem in the

Mediterranean area due to its extremely high levels of COD and phenols. In this study, a group of adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamic response of the pH, COD, phenols, TSS, TDS, and TS concentrations of pretreated OMW, using different concentrations of activated carbon as adsorbent. The pretreatment included sedimentation and filtration of OMW. The pretreated OMW was then subjected to adsorption. A series of adsorption steps in stirred batch vessels were studied, namely, one stage, two-stage countercurrent, and three-stage countercurrent adsorption systems. A combined two- two-stage countercurrent adsorption steps were also studied. Experimental results showed that such treatment protocols were promising. For example, a treatment protocol composed of a three-stage countercurrent adsorption process using activated carbon of concentration of 24 g/L of OMW was able to reduce the COD from 60 000 mg/L down to 22 300 mg/L, while phenols were reduced from 450 to 15 mg/L.

To view the full publication, please see attached file.

2-Treatment of olive mill based wastewater by means of magnetic nanoparticles: Decolourization, dephenolization and COD removal

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is an environmental concern that has been highlighted as a serious environmental problem in the Mediterranean basin countries because of its high organic load and phytotoxic and antibacterial phenolic compounds, which resist biological degradation. Consequently, this type of wastewater represents a huge challenge for the conventional wastewater treatment techniques as it can impact the lifetime of bacteria needed for the treatment. Iron-oxide nanoparticles are attractive for wastewater treatment for two important reasons. First, nanoparticles can remove pollutants from wastewater rapidly. Second, this magnetic type of nanoparticles could be separated easily using a magnet after finishing treatment process. In this study, we aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in the removal of large organic contaminants from OMW. Batch and continuous mode processes were applied on OMW treatment to determine the effect of contact time, solution pH, coexisting contaminants and the adsorption isotherm.

The results showed that the adsorption was fast and the adsorption reached equilibrium within less than 30 min. The adsorption equilibrium data fit very well to the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) Model, indicating multi-layers adsorption. The adsorption of major pollutants was associated to an efficient removal of coexisting contaminants such as heavy metals and free ions. The adsorption of OMW pollutants was dependent on pH of the solution. Finally, continuous-mode process was tested successfully using a packed bed column that combined sand filtration with magnetic nanoparticles to decolourize OMW effluent. This study will provide valuable insight on the effect of nanoparticles toward the treatment and recyclability of olive mill wastewater, which is crucial for the local olive mill industry. After seeing the successful achievement of integrating nanoparticles with fixed bed filtration, a preliminary process description and cost estimation of stand-alone plant (with a capacity of 4 m3/h) for OMW treatment were considered in this study. Process capital and annual operating costs were estimated to be $12,306 and $476/year, respectively.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215153214000087

3-Land Application-Based Olive Mill Wastewater Management

Land application of olive mill wastewater (OMW) is considered a promising low-cost practice for olive-oil producing countries. The objectives of this work were to investigate: (i) OMW treatment potential of a land treatment system (LTS), planted with a E. camaldulensis species, regarding N, P, C, and phenols; (ii) the effects of OMW on chemical properties of soil and soil solution characteristics; and (iii) the performance of E. camaldulensis in terms of biomass production and N and P recovery. E. camaldulensis received OMW for two growing seasons at rates based on maximum organic loading. These rates were almost equivalent to the reference evapotranspiration of the area. Soil solution and soil samples were collected from three different depths (15, 30 and 60 cm) at specified time intervals. -Also, samples of plant tissues were collected at the end of application periods. OMW land application resulted in significant reduction in inorganic and organic constituents of OMW. At 15 cm of soil profile, the average removal of COD, TKN, NH4+-N, TP, In-P, and total phenols approached 93%, 86%, 70%, 86%, 82%, and 85%, respectively, while an increase in soil depth (30 and 60 cm) did not improve significantly treatment efficiency. Furthermore, OMW increased soil organic matter (SOM), total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and available P, particularly in the upper soil layer. In contrast, low inorganic N content was observed in the soil throughout the study period caused probably by increased competition among soil microorganisms induced by the organic substrate supply and high C/N ratio. Also, electrical conductivity (EC) and SAR increased by OMW addition, but at levels that may do not pose severe risk for soil texture. Enhancement of soil fertility due to OMW application sustained eucalyptus trees and provided remarkable biomass yield. In conclusion, land application of OMW has a great potential for organic matter and phenol assimilation and can be effectively used for OMW detoxification.

http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/7/2/362/htm

4-Removal of Polyphenols from Olive Mill Wastewater using Activated Olive Stones

 Extremely high organic loaded aqueous waste is seasonally generated from

the olive oil extraction process, so called Olive Mill Wastewater (OMWW). In Palestine OMWW is disposed directly to sewerage system or wadies, whereas the solid waste (olive husk) is dumped into lands nearby the olive mills without treatment. This increases the risk of contaminating soil, surface water resources, and groundwater aquifers. The negative environmental impact of OMWW is attributed to poor biodegradation and toxicity of polyphenols present in OMWW.

This work is focused on studying the environmental state of art of olive mills operating in the northern areas of West Bank. It also investigates the feasibility of transforming olives solid residue (olive stones) into an effective, high capacity low cost adsorbent for total phenol removal from OMWW.

Olive mills survey analysis for 2010 olive season indicates that (1.25 m3 OMWW/ton olives) and (350 kg olive husk/ton olives) are generated from three-phase extraction process; accounting for 90128.9 m3 OMWW and 26584.7 kg olive husk produced in the study area. Characterization of OMWW reveals that high fractions of polyphenols (Avg. 4592.0 mg/l) are lost in OMWW with 0.031 total phenol/COD content. The pollution load of OMWW is extremely high, equivalent to about 2.2 million capita. A highly micropours activated carbon, with 368.3 m2 /g BET surface area, is chemically prepared from olive stones using potassium hydroxide (KOH)

as an activating agent. The produced activated olive stones (AOLS) exhibit

high total phenol adsorption capacity. Adsorption equilibrium is represented by Langmuir isotherm model (qmax=333.3 mg/g). Total phenol adsorption kinetics is best modeled by pseudo-second order reaction rate and Dumwald –Wagner (intra-particle) diffusion model. Reduction of total phenol content in OMWW is achieved in mini column test of AOLS fixed bed adsorption. The effluent from AOLS fixed bed meets Palestinian standard for wastewater discharge. Thomas, Bohart-Adams and Yoon Nelson models predicts the breakthrough curve of total phenol adsorption

in AOLS fixed bed. Thomas model parameters of the breakthrough curve are employed for the design configuration of full-scale AOLS fixed bed for total phenol adsorption from OMWW. The thesis recommendations promote for olive extraction waste management policy and OMWW quality monitoring program. It also calls

for further research to optimize the performance of fixed bed adsorption for OMWW pre-treatment and its possible integration with conventional treatment processes for complete OMWW treatment in order to meet the Palestinian treated wastewater reuse standards. 

To view the full publication, please see attached file.

Hoping this will be helpful,

Rafik

Thank you very much. I will look through these and hope will solve my problems.

I think it is very difficult to apply adsorption process directly to olive mills wastewater. This water contains suspended solids. The first step is to make some physical separation of the suspended materials by concentration.

Then a pretreatment process prior  adsorption process to remove the oily materials. A recommended process could be coagulation.

At the end you can apply adsorption to remove the soluble pollutants such as phenolic compounds.

This means that adsorption process in this case is a finishing final step rather than the only treatment step. r  

thanks for your valuable suggestions, actually I am new in this field and I will discuss these points with my Prof, then let see how to go ahead.

regards

Centrifugal separation instead of concentration (by mistake)  

Z Al-Qodah, A Al-Bsoul, E Assirey, M Al-Shannag, Combined ultrasonic irradiation and aerobic biodegradation treatment for olive mills wastewaters, Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 2014

Z Al-Qodah, M Al-Shannag, K Bani-Melhem, E Assirey, Biodegradation of olive mills wastewater using thermophilic bacteria,  Desalination and Water Treatment, 2015