Current and potential uses of thermally treated olive oil waste

Abstract

The ongoing stricter policy rules on environmental issues, recent changes in consumer towards the environmental effects of food production, and even stricter regulations voted by the European Union towards reduction of the use of natural resources initiated a great amount of research towards improving the thermal waste treatment methodology. The olive oil industry continues to be one of the most heavily polluting ones among the food industries. Along this line, various thermal processes, such as pyrolysis, combustion and gasification, were investigated. Another crucial issue is the fate of treated waste. This review, apart from the presentation of various thermal treatment waste methodologies summarises the uses (either currently ongoing or having potential in the future): biodiesel, activated carbon and briquette production. Ten figures and four tables illustrated in this article provide comprehensive idea of the waste treatment methodologies, their effectiveness and uses of thermally waste treated olive materials.

Production of Solid Biofuel from Agricultural Wastes of the Palm Oil Industry by Hydrothermal Treatment

“…After filtered and dried, the obtained solid can be used for solid fuel due to its high calorific value. Compared to other thermo-chemical conversion methods such as pyrolysis and gasification, the temperature for hydrothermal treatment is much lower (200-350°C for hydrothermal, compared with 450-550°C for pyrolysis and 900-1200°C for gasification) [16,24]. In addition, biomass conversion takes place in a wet environment so high moisture content of feed biomass is not an issue.…”

“…Various treatment methods for several agricultural wastes have been reviewed in several papers [16][17][18][19]. For energy application purposes, the methods can be simply divided into thermo-chemical and biological processes [20,21].…”

Efficacy of Hydrothermal Treatment for Production of Solid Fuel from Oil Palm Wastes

“…Compared to other thermo-chemical conversion methods such as pyrolysis and gasification, the temperature for hydrothermal treatment is much lower (200-500°C for hydrothermal, compared with 450-550 °C for pyrolysis and 900-1200°C for gasification) [8,9]. In addition, biomass conversion takes place in a wet environment, so high moisture content of feed biomass is not an issue.…”

The phytotoxicity potential of olive processing waste on selected weeds and crop plants

“…savastanoi and Corynebacterium michiganense, while Ramos-Cormenzana et al (1995) indicated that this material can be utilized as fertilizer, growth medium for algae, biopolymeric substance production, bioenergy generation, cosmetics production, and in processes in the food industry. Furthermore, Arvanitoyannis et al (2007) concluded that OPW is currently being utilized in and will have significant potential for the future of biodiesel, carbon, and brick production. Mekki et al (2006) indicated that this material can replace the water used in clay brick manufacturing.…”