Treatment of olive wastewater by using sonocatalytic oxidation and synthesis of activated carbon supported catalysis systems

Abstract

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) generated by the olive oil extracting industry is a major pollutant, because of its high organic load and phytotoxic and antibacterial phenolic compounds which resist biological degradation. Mediterranean countries are mostly affected by this serious environmental problem since they are responsible for 95% of the worldwide olive oil production. The aim of this study was to purify the high toxic substance by using advanced oxidation techniques using sonocatalytic oxidation method. For these processes, TiO2/AC, WO3/TiO2/AC, V2O5/TiO2/AC and WO3/V2O5/TiO2/AC nanoparticles were synthesized on activated carbon (AC). Then, Using the catalysts obtained in the experimental studies, changes of the lignin and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in OMW were investigated depending on the pH of the suspension, the amount of catalyst, the initial concentration and the ultrasonic wave amplitude. Optimum values for these parameters were found as pH = 10, 1.5gL-1 WO3/TiO2/AC, 250 mL/L of concentration, 60% of amplitude, respectively.