Abstract

The olive oil extraction industry is one of the most extensive industries, especially in the Mediterranean region. The wastewater produced in this industry contains high concentrations of organic pollutants, resistant and toxic compounds that, if not treated, can threaten the health of the environment. In the present study, the optimisation of the combined process of electrocoagulation and peroxone using central composite design of the response surface methodology with the help of Design-Expert V.11 The parameters of current density (0.06–0.73 A dm−2) and reaction time (5–45 min) in the process of electrocoagulation and the parameters of hydrogen peroxide concentration (4–12 ml) and reaction time (10–90 minutes) in the peroxone process were investigated on the COD removal efficiency. The design results showed that the quadratic model was significant for both processes and was determined as the selected model. The optimal conditions determined by the software in the process of electrocoagulation were 0.5 A dm−2 and 34 minutes and in the peroxone process, concentration of hydrogen peroxide and the time were obtained 12 ml and 62 minutes, respectively. In these conditions, the COD removal efficiency of the processes was determined 79.8 and 52.8, respectively. Under optimal conditions, in peroxone process ozone consumption was reduced to 0.88 mg per mg of removed COD. Also, according to the results of Pseudo-first-order kinetics, constant rate increases with increasing of hydrogen peroxide concentration. The results obtained in this study were confirmed the application of electrocoagulation process along with advanced oxidation of proxone for effective treatment of effluents of this industry and similar industries. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.