WASTEWATER REMEDIATION FROM OLIVE OIL MILL USING MICROALGAE: A TECHNO- ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Olive-oil mills are an important agro-industry in many temperate-climate areas of the planet, such as the Mediterranean facing countries. They generate large quantities of wastewater (WW) and pay a high environmental cost for its disposal (mainly in landfills).One possible solution for this problem may be given by microalgae processes, which are able to convert agro-industry WW into green marketable products derived from microalgae, generating a win-win solution very interesting in perspective.In the present paper a pilot process, will be described, that uses olive-oil mills WW to feed a microalgae PhotoBioReactor (PBR).The integrated process is able to cut the WW disposal costs by at least 50% while producing feedstock for microalgae cultivation, fertilizer (as organic stream) and pure water that may be used by the same companies generating WW. A techno-economic analysis of the pilot process will be presented here, in order to show how microalgae producers could boost their competitiveness and growth across Europe, thanks to the scale-up and further commercialisation of a new eco-innovative process. With its environmental benefits, the process proposed is supporting the well-known European Green-deal challenges. Moreover, the production of microalgae, a well-known human and animal food or nutritional supplement, is in line with the EU strategy for developing the Bio economy throughout Europe.