Olive Mill Waste-Based Anaerobic Digestion as a Source of Local Renewable Energy and Nutrients

Abstract

This study focused on what combination of anaerobic digestion (AD) temperature (ambient, mesophilic, and thermophilic) and olive mill waste (OMW) to dairy manure (DM) ratio mixture delivers the desired renewable energy and digestate qualities when using AD as olive mill waste treatment. OMW is widespread in the local environment in the North Sinai region, Egypt, which causes many environmental hazards if left without proper treatment. Three different mixtures consisting of OMW, dairy manure (DM), and inoculum (IN) were incubated under ambient, mesophilic, and thermophilic conditions for 45 days. The results showed that mixture B (2:1:2, OMW:DM:IN) at 55 °C produced more methane than at 35 °C and ambient temperature by 40% and 252%, respectively. Another aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the different concentrations of the digestate taken from each mixture on faba bean growth. The results showed that the maximum fresh weight values of the shoot system were observed at 10% and 15% for mixture B at ambient temperature. The best concentration value for the highest root elongation rate is a 5% addition of digestate mixture A at 55 °C, compared with other treatments.

Fungal Strain as Biological Tool to Remove Genotoxicity Effect of Phenolic Compounds from Olive Mill Wastewater

“…Treatment techniques have been developed at the international and/or national level, including physicochemical technologies, oxidation processes and biological treatment [17]. Nevertheless, the viability of these technologies is questionable as they are costly (i.e., large quantities of chemicals are required), generate large volumes of sludge and/or do not produce high-quality effluents [18]. Therefore, a search for alternative treatment methods, such as a biological method that integrate the use of microorganisms, is emerging as new technology becomes affordable and rapidly adoptable by small producers [19].…”