Use of a New Bio-flocculent Extracted from Moroccan Cactus in the Treatment of Polyphenol-laden Waste by the Flocculation Coagulation Process
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Laboratory of Biotechnology, Environment, Agrifood and Health, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdelah University, Fez, Morocco
2
Engineering, Electrochemistry, Modelling and Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdelah University, Fez, Morocco
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Ibtissame El Mansouri
Laboratory of Biotechnology, Environment, Agri-Food and Health, University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Faculty of Sciences of Fez, Morocco
Ecol. Eng. Environ. Technol. 2023; 5:51-62
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ABSTRACT
Olive cultivation is currently the subject of great exposure (Ministry of Agriculture and Maritime Fishing, 2015), and as a consequence of the implementation of the national olive cultivation development programme, an area of 1,220,000 ha (+ 120%) and a total olive production of 2,500,000 tonnes/year (+ 70%) are among the objectives of the Green Morocco Plan by 2020.
The olive sector has experienced a very important movement in the context of the 2017-2018 campaign, which Morocco should record a volume never reached before, with a production record estimated at 1.56 million tons, the production of this campaign shows an increase of 47.8% compared to the previous season.
In this work, we determined the efficiency of a new biodegradable natural flocculant extracted from the prickly pear Opuntia ficus indica in a physico-chemical process by coagulation-flocculation, to treat liquid discharges loaded with organic matter and phenols difficult to degrade. The tests were carried out on six well-preserved samples subjected to increasing concentrations of coagulant and flocculant after adjustment of the pH.
The results obtained are very encouraging for this type of physico-chemical treatment and work is still in progress until there is a significant improvement in the rate of abatement of the pollutant load.