A conceptual framework for a multi-criteria decision support tool to select technologies for resource recovery from urban wastewater

Sucu, Seda; Schaik, Maria O. van; Esmeli, Ramazan; Ouelhadj, Djamila; Holloway, Timothy Grant; Cruddas, Peter; Martinson, Brett; Chen, Weishan; Cappon, Hans

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113608

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Such outcomes depicted that the wastewater treatment process failed to reduce such variables. Ritter [33] and Sucu et al [20] reported that the failure of the bioreactor in wastewater treatments leads to the retention of COD and NH 3 . However, the descriptive analysis results showed that a high standard deviation was recorded for EC, NH 3 , COD, SO 4 2− , and Cl − variables, ranging from 12.86 to 167.67 with high kurtosis and skewness.…”

Section: Results Of the Physicochemical And Microbiological Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resource recovery can play an essential role in enhancing wastewater treatment, as most pollutants can be recovered before the polishing phase of wastewater treatment and disposal [5]. Furthermore, the modification of WRRFs has only focused on technologies that attempt to improve the wastewater effluent quality but do not recover resources, which could be beneficial to humans [1,13,19,20]. Solon et al [13] expressed that simple and practical wastewater treatment models, which incorporate the biological nutrient removal (BNR) process and resource recovery processes, need to be developed and sustainably applied and implemented to encourage the transition of wastewater treatment facilities to wastewater resource recovery facilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Effluent Wastewater Quality and the Application of an Integrated Wastewater Resource Recovery Model: The Burgersfort Wastewater Resource Recovery Case Study

Maremane,

Belle,

Oberholster

2024

Water

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Rivers in Africa have experienced dire pollution as a result of the poor management of wastewater effluent emanating from water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). An integrated wastewater resource recovery model was developed and applied to identify ideal wastewater resource recovery technologies that can be used to recover valuable resources from a mixture of wastewater effluents in a case study in the Burgersfort WRRF in the Limpopo province, South Africa. This novel model incorporates the process of biological nutrient removal (BNR) with an extension of conventional methods of resource recovery applicable to wastewater. The assessment of results of effluent quality from 2016 to 2022 revealed that ammonia, chemical oxygen demand, total coliform, fecal coliform, and Escherichia coli levels were critically non-compliant with the permissible effluent guidelines, indicating a stable upward trend in terms of concentrations, and scored a very bad wastewater quality index rating. All variables assessed showed a significant loading, except for orthophosphates, and significant correlations were observed among the variables. The results of the integrated wastewater resource recovery model revealed a high probability of reclaiming recoverable resources such as nutrients, sludge, bioplastics, biofuel, metals, and water from wastewater, which have economic, environmental, and social benefits, thereby improving the effluent quality of a WRRF.

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Section: Results Of the Physicochemical And Microbiological Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Effluent Wastewater Quality and the Application of an Integrated Wastewater Resource Recovery Model: The Burgersfort Wastewater Resource Recovery Case Study

Maremane,

Belle,

Oberholster

2024

Water

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“…Selecting technologies can be a challenge for wastewater decision makers, due to the ever-growing list of available options. Many multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tools have been developed speci cally for wastewater systems, that can rationalise options according to the user's priorities 11,74 . Therefore, this assessment methodology can investigate and validate the outcomes from MCDM analysis for selecting circular technologies, as evidence for investment by water utility companies.…”

Section: Systematic Assessment For Decision Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource flow characterisation and sustainable value creation analysis for the holistic circularity assessment of wastewater systems

Renfrew

Vasilaki

Nika

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The water sector is at the forefront of the circular economy transition due to the direct reliance industry and society has on clean water supply and adequate wastewater management. The circular use of wastewater has attracted significant attention in recent years, however, there is a lack of universal definitions and measurement tools required to achieve the circular economy’s full potential. The proposed methodology overcomes prominent problems for the circularity assessment of wastewater treatment processes. The resource classification framework developed facilitates robust indicator calculation for comparative assessments. Combining three indicator typologies, namely resource flow, action, and sustainability indicators, enables a normative circularity assessment, that uses value propositions to identify circular actions for the systematic investigation of the impacts to sustainable value creation. The assessment is exhibited by applying it to a case study, comparing conventional and novel photobioreactor wastewater treatment technologies. Resource flow indicator results highlighted improved outflow circularity, renewable energy usage, and economic performance of the photobioreactor system. Action indicators revealed that the photobioreactor technology was successful at achieving the defined value creating goals. Lastly, sustainability indicators enabled the direct quantification of environmental, economic, and social value creation, confirming that stakeholder benefits result from the photobioreactor wastewater treatment technology.

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“…For instance, Fernandez-Arevalo et al [24] use the plant-wide modeling methodology to compare existing WWTP configurations and those which are under development by focusing on the influent characteristics, thus demonstrating that this methodology would be suitable for assessing the incorporation of emerging retrofit technologies in conventional plant layouts. The work of Sucu et al [25] introduces a conceptual framework that employs weighted multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming to determine the optimal unit process combination for recovering resources from wastewater while minimizing environmental, social, technical, and economic impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Optimization Framework for Improvement Sustainability of Wastewater Treatment Plants

Li,

Pang,

et al. 2023

Processes

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Enhancing the sustainability of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is crucial due to their manifold benefits, which encompass environmental preservation, cost reduction, and resource and energy conservation. The achievement of these advantages relies on the careful choice and implementation of retrofit technologies to upgrade WWTPs. However, this decision-making process is intricate, given the trade-offs between the objectives and the inherent decision uncertainties. To address these complexities, this work presents an innovative weighted multi-objective optimization (MOO) framework tailored for WWTP enhancement amid uncertain conditions. This framework comprises two phases. The first phase involves basic definition and information collection through a case-specific assessment, while the second phase includes model formulation and solver optimization, which serves as a generic tool for the weighted MOO problem. In the model formulation, a combined weighting approach that integrates expert opinions and statistical insights is introduced to assign significance to each objective. The solver optimization employs a projection-based algorithm to identify the optimal technology configuration that achieves a satisfactory and balanced improvement across multiple sustainable objectives. By applying this framework to a case plant for retrofit technology selection, the comprehensive sustainability performance, the targeting of discharged pollution, the operational cost, and the GHG emissions improved by 46.7% to 68.3%.

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A conceptual framework for a multi-criteria decision support tool to select technologies for resource recovery from urban wastewater

Cited by 17 publications

References 41 publications

Assessment of Effluent Wastewater Quality and the Application of an Integrated Wastewater Resource Recovery Model: The Burgersfort Wastewater Resource Recovery Case Study

Assessment of Effluent Wastewater Quality and the Application of an Integrated Wastewater Resource Recovery Model: The Burgersfort Wastewater Resource Recovery Case Study

Resource flow characterisation and sustainable value creation analysis for the holistic circularity assessment of wastewater systems

New Optimization Framework for Improvement Sustainability of Wastewater Treatment Plants

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