Energy neutrality versus carbon footprint minimization in municipal wastewater treatment plants

Maktabifard, Mojtaba; Zaborowska, Ewa; Mąkinia, Jacek

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122647

Cited by 76 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Five GHG sources are considered from the three scopes, they are: (1) Wastewater collection and treatment (scope 1), (2) Discharged treated wastewater (scope 1), (3) Sludge treatment and disposal (STD) (most are direct emissions belonging to scope 1 [35], electricity consumption excluded), (4) Electricity use (scope 2, including electricity consumption of STD), (5) Chemical use (scope 3). GHG emissions from the construction phase of WWTPs takes up about 10-35% of life-cycle GHG emissions of WWTPs [13,36], which are often neglected [37]. GHG emissions from the demolishing and disposal phase are estimated to be negligible, and total GHG emissions were found to be mainly related with GHG emissions from operation phase [38].…”

Section: Ghg Emissions Inventoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing and Diverging Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Urban Wastewater Treatment in China

Huang¹,

Liu²,

Meng³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Upgrading effluent standards of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and repairing sewerage systems leads to contradictions and synergies between water pollution control and climate change mitigation. This affects historical trajectories and characteristics of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from China's WWTPs, which stay inadequately studied. Here we establish emissions inventories of China's WWTPs using plant-level WWTP operational data. We find that removed amount of chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen increased 0.8 and 1.3 times during 2009-2019, while WWTP GHG emissions increased 1.8 times, being 6 times national GHG emissions growth rate. Increasing sludge yield and electricity intensity became primary driving factors in 2015 because of stricter effluent standards and lower influent contaminant concentration. We defined Functional Unit-Gini coefficient to quantify divergence of WWTP GHG emissions, which grew from 0.20 in 2009 to 0.29 in 2019. Diversified sludge disposal methods and energy structure increased the inequality, while upgrading effluent standards decreased it.

show abstract

Section: Ghg Emissions Inventoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing and Diverging Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Urban Wastewater Treatment in China

Huang¹,

Liu²,

Meng³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The awareness of climate change has resulted in more attention on the energy efficiency of a WWTP. The concept of an energy self-sufficient WWTP has become a leading one, as it is connected to sustainable development and reduction in carbon footprints [7]. These concepts combine both the reduction in energy demand, on the one hand, and the internal increase in energy production, on the other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an Energy Self-Sufficient Resource Recovery Facility by Improving Energy and Economic Balance of a Municipal WWTP with Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recent trend of turning wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into energy self-sufficient resource recovery facilities has led to a constant search for solutions that fit into that concept. One of them is chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), which provides an opportunity to increase biogas production and to significantly reduce the amount of sludge for final disposal. Laboratory, pilot, and full-scale trials were conducted for the coagulation and sedimentation of primary sludge (PS) with iron sulphate (PIX). Energy and economic balance calculations were conducted based on the obtained results. Experimental trials indicated that CEPT contributed to an increase in biogas production by 21% and to a decrease in sludge volume for final disposal by 12% weight. Furthermore, the application of CEPT may lead to a decreased energy demand for aeration by 8%. The removal of nitrogen in an autotrophic manner in the side stream leads to a further reduction in energy consumption in WWTP (up to 20%). In consequence, the modeling results showed that it would be possible to increase the energy self-sufficiency for WWTP up to 93% if CEPT is applied or even higher (up to 96%) if, additionally, nitrogen removal in the side stream is implemented. It was concluded that CEPT would reduce the operating cost by over 650,000 EUR/year for WWTP at 1,000,000 people equivalent, with a municipal wastewater input of 105,000 m3/d.

show abstract

“…Therefore, it is necessary to upgrade the existing sewage treatment process. Moreover, carbon neutrality is a key indicator towards sustainable wastewater treatment [2]. It is important to reduce energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants and develop energy-saving technologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Start-Up of the Aerobic Granular Reactor under Low Temperature and the Nutriment Removal Performance of Granules with Different Particle Sizes

Liang

Zheng

et al. 2021

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The start-up of the aerobic granular sludge (AGS) process under low temperature is challenging. In this study, the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was fed with synthetic wastewater and the temperature was controlled at 15 ℃. The main components in the synthetic wastewater were sodium acetate and ammonium chloride. The influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH4+-N concentrations were 300 and 60 mg/L, respectively. The AGS was successfully cultivated in 60 days by gradually shortening the settling time. During the stable operation stage (61–100 d), the average effluent COD, NH4+-N, NO2−-N, and NO3−-N concentrations were 47.2, 1.0, 47.2, and 5.1 mg/L, respectively. Meanwhile, the nitrite accumulation rate (NAR) reached 90.6%. Batch test showed that the smaller AGS had higher NH4+-N removal rate while the larger AGS performed higher NAR. The NH4+-N removal rates of R1 (1.0–2.0 mm), R2 (2.0–3.0 mm), and R3 (>3 mm) granules were 0.85, 0.61, and 0.45 g N/(kg VSS·h), respectively. Meanwhile, the NAR of R1, R2, and R3 were 36.2%, 77.2%, and 94.9%, respectively. The obtained results could provide important guidance for the cultivation of AGS in low-temperature wastewater treatment.

show abstract

Energy neutrality versus carbon footprint minimization in municipal wastewater treatment plants

Cited by 76 publications

References 39 publications

Increasing and Diverging Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Urban Wastewater Treatment in China

Increasing and Diverging Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Urban Wastewater Treatment in China

Towards an Energy Self-Sufficient Resource Recovery Facility by Improving Energy and Economic Balance of a Municipal WWTP with Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment

Rapid Start-Up of the Aerobic Granular Reactor under Low Temperature and the Nutriment Removal Performance of Granules with Different Particle Sizes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About