Treatment of Olive Mill Wastewater through Integrated Pressure-Driven Membrane Processes.

The disposal of wastewater resulting from olive oil production (olive mill wastewater, OMW) is a major issue for olive oil producers. This wastewater is among the most polluting due to the very high concentration of organic substances and the presence of hardly degradable phenolic compounds. The systems proposed for OMW treatment are essentially based either on conventional chemical-physical, biological and thermal processes, or on membrane processes.

A simple and effective method to form metallic nanoparticles onto composites made up of organic polymers and layered inorganic ion exchangers as fillers.

A new easy method for the preparation of polymeric nanocomposites supporting metal nanoparticles is presented. The method concerns the use of a layered inorganic ion exchanger converted in the proper metallic form and exfoliated to act as filler of organic polymers with twofold aim of obtaining a composite (or nanocomposite) and to have metal ions that can be suitably reduced with a proper reducing agent to form metal nanoparticles. This strategy has been applied to the system polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) filled with layered a-zirconium phosphate in copper form.

Membrane contactors for textile wastewater ozonation.

This paper deals with the application of a membrane contactor for the ozone treatment of textile wastewater. Ceramic (alpha-Al(2)O(3)) membranes were chosen because of their ozone resistance. A thin metal oxide (TiO(2) and gamma-Al(2)O(3)) layer was deposited on the membrane surface to eliminate large defects.