Techno-economic analysis of olive wastewater treatment with a closed water approach by integrated membrane processes and advanced oxidation processes

In this paper, a reliable treatment process for olive mill wastewaters (OMWW) is proposed. In order to develop a more sustainable process with polyphenols recovery and water reuse, two treatment schemes have been simulated by using a process simulator (SuperPro Designer), depending on wastewater characteristics; the first applied for ‘biological’ effluents by using membrane technology (microfiltration MF, ultrafiltration UF, nanofiltration NF and reverse osmosis RO), the second for wastewaters containing pesticides, in which RO is replaced with an advanced oxidation process for pesticide degradation. The results of the process analysis showed that the final permeate is a treated water suitable for both disposal in aquatic receptors and for civil or agriculture reuse. Moreover, the results of a techno-economic analysis of the proposed processes is presented, carried out by means of a life cycle cost analysis, considering the mass and energy balances obtained from process analysis. The analysis showed that the first scenario is more economically feasible. In detail, the treatment cost (€/m of OMWW) was 253 and 292 €/m for the first and second case study, respectively. However, the second process scheme result is inappropriate if the wastewater to be treated does not come from biological olive processing.