Boron-doped diamond anodic treatment of olive mill wastewaters: statistical analysis, kinetic modeling and biodegradabilityBoron-doped diamond anodic treatment of olive mill wastewaters: statistical analysis, kinetic modeling and biodegradability Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2015-10-222009enThe electrochemical treatment of olive mill wastewaters (OMW) over boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes was investigated. A factorial design methodology was implemented to evaluate the statistically important operating parameters, amongst initial COD load (1000–5000 mg/L), treatment time (1–4 h), current intensity (10–20 A), initial pH (4–6) and the use of 500 mg/L H2O2 as an additional oxidant, on treatment efficiency; the latter was assessed in terms of COD, phenols, aromatics and color removal. Of the five parameters tested, the first two had a considerable effect on COD removal. Hence, analysis was repeated at more intense conditions, i.e. initial COD values up to 10,000 mg/L and reaction times up to 7 h and a simple model was developed and validated to predict COD evolution profiles. The model suggests that the rate of COD degradation is zero order regarding its concentration and agrees well with an electrochemical model for the anodic oxidation of organics over BDD developed elsewhere. The treatability of the undiluted effluent (40,000 mg/L COD) was tested at 20 A for 15 h yielding 19% COD and 36% phenols' removal respectively with a specific energy consumption of 96 kW h/kg COD removed. Aerobic biodegradability and ecotoxicity assays were also performed to assess the respective effects of electrochemical treatment.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Nordic Journal of Freshwater Research43163999–4009 Xekoukoulotakis Nikos Ξεκουκουλωτακης Νικος Mantzavinos Dionysis Μαντζαβινος Διονυσης Diamantopoulos Evaggelos Διαμαντοπουλος Ευαγγελος Katsaounis Alexandros Κατσαουνης Αλεξανδρος Chatzisymeon Efthalia Χατζησυμεων Ευθαλια Elsevier Boron-doped diamond Electrolysis Factorial design Olive mill wastewater Biodegradability