Integrated plant-wide modelling for evaluation of the energy balance and greenhouse gas footprint in large wastewater treatment plants

Zaborowska, Ewa; Czerwionka, Krzysztof; Mąkinia, Jacek

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116126

Cited by 40 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In the case of aerobic digestion, the sludge is kept for a long time, which is a source of direct and uncontrolled CH 4 emissions. The CF is many times higher than in aerobic sludge stabilisation and is also higher than in the case of anaerobic stabilisation combined with the CHP system [14,34,36,37]. In small WWTPs, open digesters should be redesigned into aerobic stabilisation chambers by adding aeration systems.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Dairy Wastewater Treatment Systems Using Carbon Footprint Analysis

Karolinczak

Dąbrowski

Żyłka³

2021

Energies

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Modernisation of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) should be carried out, taking into account its impact on global warming, e.g., through carbon footprint (CF) analysis. An important industrial sector in Poland is the dairy industry. In dairy WWTPs, the aerobic sewage sludge stabilisation applied thus far is being replaced by the anaerobic process. This change is positive due to the possibility of energy production, but it is unclear how it affects greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The aim of the research was to perform CF analysis for two scenarios of dairy WWTP operation. The analysis was based on the real operating data of the current system (current scenario) and project of its modernisation (alternative scenario). The current scenario consists of mechanical and dissolved air flotation (DAF) treatment, biological treatment in sequence batch reactors (SBRs), aerobic sewage sludge stabilisation and its final farmland usage. The alternative scenario assumes replacing aerobic stabilisation with anaerobic stabilisation and a combined heat and power (CHP) system. The CF calculations were based on empirical models, taking into account different emission input parameters, expressed in CO2 equivalents (CO2e). The total CF of the current scenario was 22 kg CO2e PE−1 year−1, while the alternative was 45 kg CO2e PE−1 year−1. The largest share in the current scenario belongs to emissions from WWTPs and energy use, while in the alternative, there is the addition of emissions from biogas use.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Dairy Wastewater Treatment Systems Using Carbon Footprint Analysis

Karolinczak

Dąbrowski

Żyłka³

2021

Energies

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“…LCA allows us to compare different systems, products, and processes regarding the production and self-usage of energy and the extraction of the raw materials included in various treatment unit combinations [4] to find the best process scenario available [5]. Since the 1990s, different WWT topics have been examined in several previous LCA studies [6]: plant modifications and operations [7][8][9][10][11][12], modeling [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], sludge processes [11,[20][21][22], greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [4,23,24], rainfall impact [6,25], and uncertainty [5,[26][27][28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, the main goal of this paper is to estimate the overall environmental impacts of a large WWTP based in Poznań, Poland, by the development of a data inventory. The different approach, in comparison to previous work published [24,[29][30][31], lies in the provision of a detailed and widely operational WWTP database that allowed us to describe the WWT process. In this publication, for the very first time, just such a complex LCA analysis was conducted on a facility based in Poland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Processes Regarding Energy Production from the Sludge Line

et al. 2021

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The efficient and timely removal of organic matter and nutrients from water used in normal municipal functions is considered to be the main task of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Therefore, these facilities are considered to be essential units that are required to avoid pollution of the water environment and decrease the possibility of triggering eutrophication. Even though these benefits are undeniable, they remain at odds with the high energy demand of wastewater treatment and sludge processes. As a consequence, WWTPs have various environmental impacts, which can be estimated and categorized using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis. In this study, a municipal WWTP based in Poznań, Poland, was examined using the method defined in ISO 14040. ReCiPe Endpoint and Midpoint (v1.11), in a hierarchical approach, were used to evaluate the environmental impacts regarding 18 different categories. All calculations were conducted using a detailed database from 2019, which describes each chosen facility. It was found that the energy component, related to the wastewater treatment process demand and electricity production, is the main determinant of the sum of the environmental impact indicators in light of the modelled energy mix. Therefore, it determines the entire process as an environmentally friendly activity.

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“…Zaborowska et al [20] proposed an authentic plant-wide model for evaluation of the energy balance and greenhouse gas footprint at large WWTPs. The model is used to predict future conditions using KPIs to measure effluent quality, energy, and GHG emissions in order to choose the best operational strategy and technological upgrades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Energy Management Benchmark at Wastewater Treatment Plant

et al. 2021

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Urban wastewater effluents bring large amounts of nutrients, organic matter, and organic microcontaminants into freshwater ecosystems. Ensuring the quality of wastewater treatment (WWT) is one of the main challenges facing the management of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, achievement of high-quality standards leads towards significant energy consumption: usually the more intensive WWT process requires additional energies. Energy efficiency at WWTP is actual mainstream on the current sustainable development agenda. The WWTP processes and methods can be considered from the standpoint of material and energy flows according to circular economy paradigm, which offers great possibilities to reuse waste originating from WWT in order to receive renewable energy. The correlation between energy and quality issues to evaluate WWTP efficiency is of a great scientific and practical interest. The main goal of the paper is to check the dependency between these two main issues in WWTP management—WWT quality and energy efficiency—and to determine possible limits of such relation. The municipal sewerage system of Ekaterinburg, Russia was studied within this paper. The total length of centralized sewerage system in Ekaterinburg is over 1500 km of pipes within two main sewerage basins: northern and southern. The methodological framework for the current research consisted of three steps: (i) WWT quality evaluation, (ii) energy efficiency evaluation, and (iii) WWTP Quality/Energy (Q/E) efficiency dependency matrix. For the purpose of research, authors investigated the 2015–2018 period. The results showed that the outputs correlate with the technical conditions of WWTPs and the implementation of the best available techniques (BATs): most of the northern WWTP values are referred to the green zone (good rank), while the southern WWTP values are situated generally in the orange zone (unsatisfactory rank). The proposed methodological approach for Q/E dependency of WWT process creates a strong but simple tool for managers to evaluate the current success of the operation of WWTP and progress towards circular economy practices implementation.

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Integrated plant-wide modelling for evaluation of the energy balance and greenhouse gas footprint in large wastewater treatment plants

Cited by 40 publications

References 33 publications

Evaluation of Dairy Wastewater Treatment Systems Using Carbon Footprint Analysis

Evaluation of Dairy Wastewater Treatment Systems Using Carbon Footprint Analysis

Life Cycle Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Processes Regarding Energy Production from the Sludge Line

Sustainable Energy Management Benchmark at Wastewater Treatment Plant

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