From laboratory- to industrial-scale plants: Future of anaerobic digestion of olive mill solid wastes

Abstract

In this review, the main properties of olive mill solid waste, the primary by-product of olive oil production, and its feasibility as a feedstock for anaerobic digesters operating at laboratory-, pilot- and industrial-scales are discussed in detail. Nutrient addition and thermal pretreatments were found to have the potential to address the challenges arising from the high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, the low pH, and the high concentration of phenolic compounds. Furthermore, anaerobic co-digestion with different organic feedstocks has been identified as one of the most promising options to solve the aforementioned problems and the seasonality nature of olive waste, while improving the efficiency of anaerobic treatment plants that operate throughout the whole year. The insights generated from this study show co-digestion with wastes from animal farming to be the most environmentally and economically sustainable method for improving anaerobic digestion processes with olive mill solid waste.

Keywords: Agro-industrial waste; Biomethane production; Co-digestion; Pretreatment selection; Scale-up.