Coupling the Infiltration-percolation and Solar Distillation Technologies for the Treatment of Olive Mill Wastewater

Abstract

The current study was carried out to treat the Olive Mill Wastewater (OMW) via a hybrid system that combine the infiltration-percolation system using low-cost natural adsorbents and solar distillation technology. The experimental pilot was composed of an aerated PVC column filled with an alternation of a permeable layer of pouzzolane and a mixed layer of sand and natural low-cost adsorbents as charcoal and sawdust. After infiltration-percolation experiments, the recovered filtrate was inserted to the solar still to continue the treatment. The Higher Heating Value (HHV) of the solid residue after solid still treatment was investigated in this work. The results showed a pollutant removal rate by infiltration-percolation technique of 73.9 % of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and 84.1 % of polyphenols. The OMW treatment efficiency was improved after treating the filtrate by solar distillation technology. Indeed, the removal rate increased to reach 98.8 % and 99.2 % for COD and polyphenols respectively and a colorless and transparent distillate was recovered. The HHV of the solid residue that remained in the basin of the solar still was 16.8 MJ/kg, which makes it a valuable source of biofuel.