H2020 OLIVE-SOUND Project: Ultrasonic reactor: the solution for a continuous olive oil extraction process
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2019 -2021
- Assigned Budget 1.895.856,25 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing Horizon 2020
- Project website Proyecto OLIVE-SOUND
The EU is the leading producer, consumer, and exporter of olive oil. An estimated 67% of the world's olive oil is produced in the EU, mainly in Mediterranean countries. In this context, the EU-funded OLIVE-SOUND project will help olive oil producers meet the demand for high-quality virgin olive oil (VOO).
Specifically, it will introduce a novel ultrasonic reactor for the treatment of olive paste, which will replace the blender, restore continuity, and optimize the VOO extraction process. It also uses less water. Applying ultrasound directly to the olive paste improves both efficiency and extraction speed, resulting in a 5% higher yield with 70% less extraction time.
The project lays the foundation for the innovative idea of applying American technology to the olive oil sector, an idea developed by UNIBA based on laboratory experiments with a TRL3 and developing an industrial scale that allowed the project association to transfer the necessary knowledge to reach TRL9 in this project. By the end of the project, the small-scale 1000 kg/h prototype was fully assembled and shipped to Ctic Cita, where it was tested with different types of olives and different ripeness indices, at different power levels (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%). In parallel, Cedrat and Pieralisi defined the design of the full-scale prototype with the primary objective of reaching a production rate of 4000 kg/h based on a concept of four identical machines very similar to the one tested at the Ctic Cita facilities.
The second period should have been dedicated to the development and construction of the full-scale machine, reaching the nominal flow rate of 4,000 kg/h, but due to the international emergency related to COVID-19, some activities were delayed compared to the original planning. Therefore, an extension of the project duration was requested. Taking advantage of the extension, the scale prototype was also tested during the 2020-2021 campaign, adding the combination of thermal effect to consolidate the results demonstrating the correct operation of the machine in terms of yield, free fatty acids, peroxide values, K232, K270, polyphenols, volatile compounds, etc. The tests were very important for milling green olives, so they were carried out before the end of the green olive season at an olive mill located in Apulia, Italy. In parallel, continuous monitoring of the olive oil market and the olive mill market was carried out. All the results obtained so far were used by Cedrat and Pieralisi for the development of the final industrial equipment.
In the third phase, the OLIVE-SOUND 4x reactor was assembled at the Pieralisi facility and subsequently shipped to Almazara del Ebro for installation. The industrial-scale machine was tested with different types of olives, as planned: Arbequina, Empeltre, and Picual. Ctic Cita performed sampling during the different tests at the three ripening stages processed. The results were analyzed through physical-chemical and sensory analyses, confirming that the use of ultrasound allows for similar yields to traditional processing without affecting product quality (all oils met EU standards) and reducing processing time. The OLIVE-SOUND machine was presented at the 20th Scientific-Technical Symposium held at Expoliva, one of the most important global events in the olive oil sector. A webinar was held between partners and potential future customers of the OLIVE-SOUND reactor.
The European Union is the world leader in virgin olive oil extraction (approximately 67% of total production), with nearly 9,000 olive oil mills. This mechanical process is divided into three main phases: crushing, blending, and separation. Both crushing and separation are continuous processes, while blending is a batch process that becomes the bottleneck of the entire plant. This is generally solved by adding more blenders in parallel, which reduces costs.
The Olive-Sound project proposes a cost-effective and innovative solution that converts traditional, slow, and inefficient blending into a continuous process through the application of ultrasound, without compromising product quality. US improves extraction efficiency and extraction rate, resulting in higher yields, phenolic compound content, and improved sensory and nutritional characteristics and shelf-life of EVOO with the following expected advantages: - 70% reduction in processing time - Energy conservation with a positive impact on the environment - Cost-effectiveness - Improved EVOO quality - Compliance with EU regulations - Process modulation. The project has been designed to process olive oil paste with US. This technology, used in an olive mill plant, makes it possible to combine the best and fastest oil extraction capacity of the olive with a higher quality of the final EVOO product. This new approach can increase the polyphenolic content while minimizing thermal and oxidative damage. The US treatment of olive paste is a radical innovation, as it is the only process that has allowed the extraction of more oil, with a higher polyphenolic content than known techniques, at plant costs that could lead to a return on investment already during the first season thanks to larger quantities of oil with greater commercial value.
The steps identified to reach TRL9 are: - Manufacture an improved version of the latest prototype with the final shape - Optimize the distribution and configuration of the transducers using fluid dynamics and vibroacoustic modeling - Validate the efficiency of the system and the quality of the olive oil produced at pilot scale - Manufacture the scaled version - Launch Olive-Sound to the market The objective of the consortium is to bring a commercial product to the market, taking care of the best way of the diffusion and exploitation activities.
Virgin olive oil (VOO) is a food product of great strategic economic importance to the EU. As the world's leading producer of VOO, the EU invests more than €2.3 billion annually in policies focused on improving olive oil quality and encouraging oil producers to meet the growing consumer demand for high-quality VOOs. The OLIVE-SOUND concept was born from the need for olive oil producers to address the main challenge of the current VOO extraction process: converting the time-consuming and costly batch malaxation of olive paste into a continuous process. OLIVE-SOUND aims to introduce a novel ultrasonic reactor for olive paste treatment within 36 months. This reactor will replace malaxation, restore continuity, and enhance the VOO extraction process.
Applying ultrasound directly to olive paste improves both efficiency and extraction rate, resulting in approximately 5% higher yields in 70% less extraction time. Due to the shorter extraction time and the release of antioxidant compounds promoted by ultrasound waves, the extracted oil is superior in terms of both sensory and nutritional quality. OLIVE-SOUND will reduce water use as well as overall energy consumption, improving sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of the EVOO extraction process. At a cost approximately less than half of current alternative solutions, our sustainable US reactor can increase olive oil producers' profit margins by 4%.
We've already invested €1.9 million to bring our OLIVE SOUND to TRL 6. The total investment for OLIVE SOUND is €4.4 million, and the cumulative profit from OLIVE SOUND-related productions will be €15.3 million. The return on investment for OLIVE SOUND as a project will be 2.49%, so the payback will be just two years after commercialization.
A new solution extracts oil from olive paste using ultrasonic technology, a development that could make the virgin olive oil industry more efficient and profitable. As the world leader in virgin olive oil extraction, the EU produces nearly 67% of the world's olive oils. However, to meet growing consumer demand for high-quality virgin olive oils, Europe must increase its production capacity. According to Pieralisi, an Italian company specializing in olive oil production machinery, this starts with efficiency. "Producing virgin olive oils is a mechanical process involving three key phases: crushing, malaxation, and separation," explains Stefano Cei, technical director at Pieralisi. "While the crushing and separation steps are continuous processes, because malaxation is a bulk process, it often becomes a bottleneck, slowing down the entire production process." Malaxation involves slowly beating or mixing olives that have already been pressed to allow small drops of oil to be added, making them easier to separate.
Unfortunately, this process can take up to 40 minutes, meaning producers must either produce less oil or purchase more malaxation equipment. “Both options affect the end result,” adds Cei. With support from the EU-funded OLIVE-SOUND project, Pieralisi has developed an intermediate solution: a single machine capable of extracting more oil in less time. “Our cost-effective and innovative solution transforms what was previously a slow and inefficient process into a continuous one,” says Cei. Higher Quality Olive Oil Ultrasonic technology is the foundation of the solution: instead of using churning, OLIVE-SOUND extracts oil by treating the olive paste with ultrasound. More specifically, the equipment uses an ultrasonic reactor to run a continuous extraction process that, thanks to its compact design, can be easily transported with a forklift, further reducing the need for multiple pieces of equipment. "What makes this solution so innovative is not only its ability to extract more oil, but also to do so with a higher polyphenol content than can be obtained with traditional techniques," Cei adds. "This combination of larger quantities of oil with greater commercial value is beneficial for all producers."
Initial Tests Show Promise According to initial tests, the OLIVE-SOUND system can reduce processing time by up to 70%. It can also reduce a processing plant's energy consumption, resulting in additional cost savings. "All of this while still producing higher-quality virgin olive oil," says Cei. The project is currently working on developing a full-scale version of the OLIVE-SOUND system, capable of providing a flow rate of 4,000 kg/hour. Once developed, further testing will follow. "Although there is still a long way to go before our solution reaches the market, we are confident that it will ultimately successfully solve the bottleneck problem in the virgin olive oil production industry," concludes Cei.
The development of US-based olive oil technology is improving the state-of-the-art to 24 kW. From a broader market perspective, olive oil milling technology is advancing slowly, and therefore should reach the market as planned. This project will transform the bottleneck of the extra virgin olive oil extraction process (baladizo) into a continuous process, reducing processing time by 70%.
Tests conducted during the second period confirmed the results obtained with the first prototype. The machine was tested at its rated flow rate, achieving a continuous extraction process. The high quality of the extracted oil demonstrated that applying this technology to the extraction process can also maintain product quality and yield by operating at lower temperatures compared to the traditional process. This will allow customers to save energy and obtain a higher-quality product. Industrial-scale validation confirmed that it was possible to process olives at different stages of ripeness, although an advantage was only detected in processing olives with the lowest ripeness index. This type of olive was the only one with performance similar to that of the traditional control.
This important innovation greatly reduces processing time thanks to American technology, but in any case, it does not completely replace the use of blenders. The paste mixing phase remains crucial to achieving a high level of quality and yield. This mixing phase is considerably reduced, thus solving the bottleneck in the extra virgin olive oil (VOO) extraction process. However, this requirement currently increases the cost of the industrial plant. Further studies are required to achieve the optimal and most efficient way to extract olive oil, transforming it into a truly continuous process.
- PIERALISI MAIP SPA (PIERALISI MAIP)
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