Abstract In the present study, electrocoagulation (EC), alone or in combination with precipitation or centrifugation, was assessed as a potential pretreatment method for enhanced production of biofuels from 3-phase decanter olive mill wastewater (OMW). Experiments were performed using undiluted and diluted OMW in an EC reactor, operating with a current of 2 A and either Al or Fe electrode materials. Subsequently, diluted OMW was subjected to EC followed by precipitation or centrifugation. The effect of current density (0.05, 0.5 or 1 A) on the combined EC – centrifugation process was assessed and a high reduction of organics was observed for the higher current applied. The different fractions of the pretreated effluents were used as substrates for methane, hydrogen as well as for bioethanol production and the maximum energy recovery was determined in each case. It was shown that, EC at a current of 2 A or further combination with physical methods led to low biofuels yields. However, reduction of the current during EC to 0.05 A or 0.5 A, led to high methane and ethanol yields, with the best scenario being the production of methane yielding an energy equivalent of 1902 kJ/L OMW.

中文翻译：

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电凝作为橄榄厂废水预处理方法的评估，用于生物燃料生产的替代工艺

摘要 在本研究中，电凝 (EC)，单独或与沉淀或离心结合，被评估为一种潜在的预处理方法，可用于提高三相卧螺离心机橄榄厂废水 (OMW) 的生物燃料产量。在 EC 反应器中使用未稀释和稀释的 OMW 进行实验，以 2 A 的电流和 Al 或 Fe 电极材料操作。随后，稀释的 OMW 进行 EC，然后沉淀或离心。评估了电流密度（0.05、0.5 或 1 A）对联合 EC - 离心过程的影响，并观察到在施加较高电流时有机物的大量减少。预处理后出水的不同部分用作甲烷的底物，氢气以及生物乙醇生产，并在每种情况下确定最大能量回收。结果表明，2 A 电流下的 EC 或进一步结合物理方法导致生物燃料产量低。然而，在 EC 期间将电流降低到 0.05 A 或 0.5 A，导致高甲烷和乙醇产量，最好的情况是甲烷生产产生的能量当量为 1902 kJ/L OMW。