Anaerobic Co-Treatment of Olive Mill and Piggery Effluents

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Abstract
Combined anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewater (OMW) and piggery effluent (PE) was performed to evaluate the operational conditions required to develop a feasible method of OMW treatment. The effect of influent concentration and composition on the performance of an up-flow anaerobic filter treating a mixture of these wastes was investigated by gradually increasing the proportion of OMW in the feed from 8% to 83% by volume. Organic loads ranged from 3 to 10 kg COD m−3 d−1, with substrate organic load ratio (OMW COD/PE COD) varying from approximately 6 to around 30. Hydraulic retention times of 6–7 days were employed throughout. Increases in organic load and feed OMW content resulted in reduced biogas methane contents but higher overall methane production rates. Total COD removal efficiencies of 70–77% were achieved consistently, while the methane yield of 0.341–0.349 m−3 kg−1 total COD removed indicated stable operation even at the highest feed OMW content.

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