Valorization of olive mill wastewater for Arthrospira platensis production

oleh: Matteo Moglie, Giovanni Biancini, Alessandra Norici, Alice Mugnini, Luca Cioccolanti

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Elsevier 2024-02-01

Deskripsi

Summary: Intending to reduce the related environmental impact of olive oil wastewater while producing new by-products, this research paper proposes an innovative solution for the treatment of wastewater that combines microfiltration and ultrafiltration techniques with microalgae cultivation. Laboratory scale analysis and pilot scale operation have been performed to assess the techno-economic viability of the olive mill wastewater for Arthrospira platensis production. More precisely, growth rate, time of division, and characterization (lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and so forth) of microalgae are evaluated. The results obtained from the techno-economic analysis show that the integration of the systems makes it possible to efficiently exploit the inorganic nutrients of the olive mill wastewater for the cultivation of Arthrospira platensis. In particular, the quality of the obtained biomass complies with the food grade regulations, whereas avoided costs for the olive mill wastewater disposal bring a reduction of 70% in the biomass production cost. Science for society: Currently, the olive oil industry is one of the most relevant agro-food sectors of the Southern Mediterranean area, but the overall production process generates a huge amount of wastewater with a high polluting and phytotoxic content. To reduce the environmental impact of wastewater generated, we propose a novel integrated treatment to obtain (1) organic fertilizer and clean water for agricultural purposes and (2) inorganic nutrients for Arthrospira platensis cultivation. The results of this study show that the integration of the different sub-systems makes it possible to efficiently exploit the inorganic nutrients of the olive mill wastewater to cultivate Arthrospira platensis.