Energy–nutrients–water nexus: Integrated resource recovery in municipal wastewater treatment plants

Mo, Weiwei; Zhang, Qiong

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.05.007

Cited by 249 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…Environmental degradation, resources shortfalls and population growth further fuel the vicious circle of poor sanitation. The conventional sanitation (Con-San), which is symbolized by water-flush toilets and mixed-wastewater collection (mainly via a gravitational sewer system with massive water as transportation medium), has so many disadvantages in the terminal treatments of wastewater and wastes, such as requiring complex equipment and expertise to operate and maintain, consuming enormous amounts of energy and resources while still leaving a lot of emissions to ecoenvironments (Sala-Garrido et al, 2012;Mo and Zhang, 2013;Thibodeau et al, 2014), that it is increasingly thought unsustainable in last decades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of wastewater sources, some studies focused on urine application (Guzha et al, 2005), urine treatment (Wilsenach et al, 2007), composting of feces (Magri et al, 2013), and co-composting of feces and kitchen waste (Niwagaba et al, 2009c); in terms of performances, some studies focused on economic feasibility (von Munch and Mayumbelo, 2007), technical feasibility (Lehtoranta et al, 2014), and environmental or social impacts (Lehtoranta et al, 2014;Malekpour et al, 2013). In terms of treatment process, previous studies mainly stressed different styles of toilet (Anand and Apul, 2014), the source-separation collection of the domestic wastewater (Bdour et al, 2009), the treatment technologies of different wastewater (black water, yellow water, brown water and gray water) (Mo and Zhang, 2013), and the acceptability of society, human and managers. The spatial scale used to be selected at one house or building (Benetto et al, 2009), one school (Werner et al, 2009), one village or colony.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constructing the ecological sanitation: a review on technology and methods

Fan

Wang

et al. 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

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a b s t r a c tWastewater often contains valuable resources (e.g. organic matter and nutrients). Different from conventional sanitation approaches, the ecological sanitation (Eco-San) system is based on the closure of material flow cycles to recover resources with minimized demands on other resources. The review comprehensively summarized the main components of the Eco-San system (user interface, collection and conveyance, storage and primary treatment, and reuse/disposal), the frequently-used evaluation methods, and the framework of evaluation index system. Some typical practical cases were discussed to demonstrate the managerial implications and popularize the applications of the Eco-San system. The results show that the Eco-San systems are beneficial to resource efficiency, agricultural use of the organic matters and nutrients, and energy recovery although some shortages exist (e.g. high cost, cultural constraints, and complex operation and management). The evaluation methods can help to identify the restriction factors, contributing factors and measures to improve the efficiency of the future Eco-San system. The setting, selection and quantification are three critical steps when using the evaluation indices to complete the evaluation process. This study not only provides the methods for both developing novel Eco-San systems (combinations of the components) and improving the Eco-San systems (evaluation of the combinations) to solve the wastewater problem in rural areas. Considering the challenges or limitations in the Eco-San research, the recommendations for future research may mainly focus on the combination of different components, methods for sustainability assessment, quantification of the evaluation index, and implementation of more real Eco-San cases.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing the ecological sanitation: a review on technology and methods

Fan

Wang

et al. 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…The struvite process occurs spontaneously in wastewater processes and it often clogs the pipes. The crystallization process can selectively extract phosphate and ammonia-nitrogen from the mixed wastewater stream and produce slow release pellets for fertilizer use [121][122][123]. The struvite product is thought to be more bioavailable.…”

Section: Nutrient Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Xue

González-Mejía

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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Urban water systems are an example of complex, dynamic human-environment coupled systems which exhibit emergent behaviors that transcend individual scientific disciplines. While previous siloed approaches to water services (i.e., water resources, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater) have led to great improvements in public health protection, sustainable solutions for a growing global population facing increased resource constraints demand a paradigm shift based on holistic management to maximize the use and recovery of water, energy, nutrients, and materials. The objective of this review paper is to highlight the issues in traditional water systems including water demand and use, centralized configuration, sewer collection systems, characteristics of mixed wastewater, and to explore alternative solutions such as decentralized water systems, fit for purpose and water reuse, OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 12072 natural/green infrastructure, vacuum sewer collection systems, and nutrient/energy recovery. This review also emphasizes a system thinking approach for evaluating alternatives that should include sustainability indicators and metrics such as emergy to assess global system efficiency. An example paradigm shift design for urban water system is presented, not as the recommended solution for all environments, but to emphasize the framework of system-level analysis and the need to visualize water services as an organic whole. When water systems are designed to maximize the resources and optimum efficiency, they are more prevailing and sustainable than siloed management because a system is more than the sum of its parts.

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“…Recently, energy generation from wastewater, e.g., due to heat recovery, attracts more attention internationally and several practical applications are documented in the international literature [1][2][3]. In a few countries as, for instance, Switzerland [4] and Germany [5] this energy source is already included in energy policy making.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Energy resource potentials at the WWTP can (1) directly be linked to the wastewater treatment process, which is heat recovery via heat pumps and heat exchangers and the use of digester gas in combined heat and power systems (CHP); (2) comprise non-site-specific energy sources that can be kept in multi-shift use, especially, solar thermal and photovoltaics as well as wind and hydropower energy generation on WWTP buildings and facilities [2,10]. Figure 1 illustrates the relationships between consumption and provision of energy and resources in the wastewater treatment system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Thermal Energy Resource Potentials from Wastewater Treatment Plants

et al. 2015

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Wastewater heat recovery via heat exchangers and heat pumps constitutes an environmentally friendly, approved and economically competitive, but often underestimated technology. By introducing the spatial dimension in feasibility studies, the results of calculations change considerably. This paper presents a methodology to estimate thermal energy resource potentials of wastewater treatment plants taking spatial contexts into account. In close proximity to settlement areas, wastewater energy can ideally be applied for heating in mixed-function areas, which very likely have a continuous heat demand and allow for an increased amount of full-load hours compared to most single-use areas. For the Austrian case, it is demonstrated that the proposed methodology leads to feasible results and that the suggested technology might reduce up to 17% of the Austrian global warming potential of room heating. The method is transferrable to other countries as the input data and calculation formula are made available. A broad application of wastewater energy with regard to spatial structures and spatial development potentials can lead to (1) increasing OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 12989 energy efficiency by using a maximum of waste heat and (2) a significant reduction of (fossil) energy consumption which results in a considerable reduction of the global warming potential of the heat supply (GWP) if electricity from renewables is used for the operation of heat pumps.

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Energy–nutrients–water nexus: Integrated resource recovery in municipal wastewater treatment plants

Cited by 249 publications

References 114 publications

Constructing the ecological sanitation: a review on technology and methods

Constructing the ecological sanitation: a review on technology and methods

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Mapping Thermal Energy Resource Potentials from Wastewater Treatment Plants

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