Performance Modeling and Cost Analysis of a Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis Process for the Final Purification of Olive Mill Wastewater Ochando Pulido, Javier Miguel Hodaifa, Gassan Víctor-Ortega, María Dolores Martínez Férez, Antonio Olive mill wastewater advanced oxidation processes Membrane processes Reverse osmosis Wastewater reclamation Modelization A secondary treatment for olive mill wastewater coming from factories working with the two-phase olive oil production process (OMW-2) has been set-up on an industrial scale in an olive oil mill in the premises of Jaén (Spain). The secondary treatment comprises Fenton-like oxidation followed by flocculation-sedimentation and filtration through olive stones. In this work, performance modelization and preliminary cost analysis of a final reverse osmosis (RO) process was examined on pilot scale for ulterior purification of OMW-2 with the goal of closing the loop of the industrial production process. Reduction of concentration polarization on the RO membrane equal to 26.3% was provided upon increment of the turbulence over the membrane to values of Reynolds number equal to 2.6 × 104. Medium operating pressure (25 bar) should be chosen to achieve significant steady state permeate flux (21.1 L h−1 m−2) and minimize membrane fouling, ensuring less than 14.7% flux drop and up to 90% feed recovery. Under these conditions, irreversible fouling below 0.08 L h−2 m−2 bar−1 helped increase the longevity of the membrane and reduce the costs of the treatment. For 10 m3 day−1 OMW-2 on average, 47.4 m2 required membrane area and 0.87 € m−3 total costs for the RO process were estimated. 2017-02-23T11:23:12Z 2017-02-23T11:23:12Z 2013 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Ochando-Pulido, J. M. [et al]. Performance Modeling and Cost Analysis of a Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis Process for the Final Purification of Olive Mill Wastewater. Membranes 2013, 3, 285-297. [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/45017] 2077-0375 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/45017 spa info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI