Inoculum acclimation to oleate promotes the conversion of olive mill wastewater to methane

Abstract

This work aims at selecting a suitable strategy to accelerate the start-up of the anaerobic treatment of olive mill wastewater (OMW) and to enhance the biogas production. Two anaerobic sludges were tested in toxicity and biodegradability batch experiments: biomass acclimated to oleate (BAO) and biomass non-acclimated (BNA). The results showed that the resistance to OMW toxicity was higher for the BAO than for the BNA. In the presence of OMW, the BNA was inhibited at all concentrations tested, whereas for the BAO no inhibition occurred at 5 and 10 g COD L 1 . In fact, even at 25 g COD L 1 both substrates (acetate OMW) were degraded. The biodegradation rate of OMW was higher in batch vials with the acclimated sludge.