Wet air oxidation of wastewater from olive oil mills

The oxidation of wastewater from olive oil mills has been carried out in the liquid phase at high temperatures and pressures. Synthetic urban wastewater has been used to dilute the raw effluent (dilution rate 1:10). Experiments conducted using air as the oxygen source showed a positive effect of the previous neutralization of the wastewater if compared to the oxidation conducted at the original pH of the effluent (pH = 5.3). In terms of chemical oxygen demand depletion and final biodegradability characteristics of the effluent, the use of free radical promoters, for instance hydrogen peroxide, resulted in a significant enhancement of the process. Experiments completed in the presence of two commercially available catalysts (platinum supported on alumina and copper oxide supported on active carbon) showed not only an improvement in the chemical oxygen demand removal rate but also a high degree of the mineralization of the wastewater contaminant load.