Evgenia-Taxiarchoula Mandalopoulou, "Techno-economic study of a biorefinery for the use of waste from olive mills", Diploma Work, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, 2023
https://doi.org/10.26233/heallink.tuc.96425
Olive oil production is a key economic sector for producing countries, in the Mediterranean region. However, the worldwide increasing production of oil has led to the production of massive amounts of environmentally harmful waste. Therefore, the effective and sustainable management of olive oil industry waste has gained significant interest in the scientific research community.This diploma thesis presents the design of an efficient facility for the treatment and utilization of two-phase waste from olive mills to produce high added value products and soil improver. The structure of this thesis is structured in three main thematic units:1) the literature review2) the design of a biorefinery3) it’s costing and economic analysis.The first part examines the types of mills, their by-products and characteristics, the different technologies that can be used for proper exploitation and safe disposal for the environment, as well as the difficulties encountered in the use of these technological services.The second part focuses on the design of a biorefineryThis design includes the calculation of mass balances for each equipment, while the dimensions of the equipment and the costing are being calculated.Lastly, part 3 includes the calculation of the fixed capital and operating costs of the plant, the calculation of the Net Present Value (NPV) as well as other economic indicators. Critical factors that affect the cost of the investment are indicated and examined with respect to diminishing them. The initial question that was raised of whether the proposal made can be plausible and viable is answered and an attempt is made to make predictions about the potential of the proposed technologies into two-phase olive mills or separate independent facilities.