Role of lipids and phenolic compounds in the anaerobic treatment of olive oil mill effluents

摘要

The inhibitory effects of olive oil mill effluents (OME) on methanogenesis were studied by using p-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) and oleic acid (OA) as model compounds for phenolic compounds and lipids respectively. The addition of HBA (0.3 g 1~-1) to diluted OME (5.7 g COD 1~-1) had a negligile effect on methanogenesis in terms of kinetics and final methase yield. Strong inhibition was observed only at high HBA concentrations (6 g 1~-1). The OA inhibited methane production much more strongly. Indeed, 0.35 g 1~-1 of OA were able to double the lag phase for methanogenesis from diluted OME.