Olive pomace is the main byproduct of olive oil extraction through mechanical pressing. It is rich in cellulose, lignin, and various bioactive substances, and can be utilized in many industries after proper processing.

Applications of olive pomace

1. Energy fuel

Olive pomace has a high calorific value. After drying, it can be used as fuel for power generation or heating, reducing dependence on traditional fossil fuels.

2. Feed

Olive pomace is rich in polyphenols and fatty acids, and can be used as an animal feed additive to provide dietary nutrition for ruminants.

3. Agriculture and soil improvement

Olive pomace is rich in potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. After composting and fermentation, it can greatly improve soil structure.

4. High-end materials and pharmaceuticals

Polyphenolic compounds extracted from olive pomace can be used to produce antioxidants, cosmetic ingredients, food additives, and bioplastics.

How to process olive pomace?

In the above applications, moisture content is a key factor determining success or failure. Fresh olive pomace has a moisture content between 60% and 80%, with a large volume of wet pomace and extremely high transportation costs; If burned directly, the thermal efficiency is low and smoke is easily generated; If fed directly to livestock, it may lead to rumen acidosis. Therefore, before the resource utilization of olive pomace, it must be dried first.

Olive pomace has high viscosity and is prone to clumping. In response to its characteristics, the industry currently mainly adopts the following drying processes:

1. Rotary dryer

Rotary dryer is currently the most widely used equipment, suitable for large-scale continuous production. It uses the copying plate inside the rotating drum to lift the material and come into contact with high-temperature hot air. Large processing capacity, strong adaptability, and can effectively solve the problem of olive residue adhesion. Suitable for large oil mills and biomass fuel processing plants.

2. Mesh belt dryer

This drying method is suitable for scenarios that require high quality olive pomace. The materials are placed on a mobile mesh belt and dried by hot air circulation, resulting in uniform drying of the product, good color of the finished product, retention of more bioactive ingredients, and resistance to breakage. Mesh belt dryer is suitable for powder preparation after polyphenol extraction and production of high-end feed additives.

3. Heat pump dryer

A heat pump dryer can also be used to dry olive pomace. It utilizes the reverse Carnot cycle to absorb heat from the environment, with energy consumption only about one-third of traditional electric drying, and no exhaust emissions. Suitable for small and medium-sized processing plants and areas with strict environmental requirements.

After drying, the moisture content of olive pomace drops to about 12%, and it can be further processed through deep processing techniques such as crushing, granulation, carbonization, gasification, composting, etc., and applied in different application scenarios.

Zhengzhou Jiutian provides a complete set of olive pomace processing equipment and develops different olive pomace processing solutions according to different usage scenarios. You can consult anytime for more details.