Resource recovery from water: From concept to standard practice

Pikaar, Ilje; Xia, Huang; Fatone, Francesco; Guest, Jeremy S.

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2020.115856

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…This new paradigm requires the transformation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) for municipal sewage treatment and mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plants for biowaste treatment into biorefineries. In biorefineries, waste streams are conceived as a source of energy, chemicals, nutrients and water rather than as a source of pollution (Pikaar et al, 2020;Vinardell et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential of waste activated sludge and food waste co-fermentation for carboxylic acids production

Vidal-Antich

Perez-Esteban

Astals

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential of waste activated sludge and food waste co-fermentation for carboxylic acids production

Vidal-Antich

Perez-Esteban

Astals

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Resource recovery is not something new to the wastewater treatment sector, in fact, at some facilities it has been practiced for many years. The use of anaerobic digestion process to produce biogas as energy recovery strategy together with the application of the digestate (stabilized biosolids) as organic fertilizer has been practiced with success for over 100 years in different parts of the world (Pikaar et al, 2020). Potable drinking water has been produced from wastewater for more than 50 years in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the capital of Namibia (Windhoek).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable wastewater treatment solutions for water-smart circular economy

Aguado García,

Haimi,

Mikola

et al. 2022

Proceedings - 2nd International Join Conference on Water Distribution System Analysis (WDSA)& Computing and Control in the

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The Protection of aquatic water bodies and human health is a paramount objective accomplished by wastewater treatment systems. Traditionally, pollutants are managed and removed in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), following a paradigm in which wastewater is considered a waste. Wastewater treatment requires significant amounts of resources, such as energy and chemicals, while sludge is produced, requiring further treatment. A decade ago, a new paradigm emerged, suggesting that municipal wastewater is a source of resources, particularly reclaimed water, materials (e.g., nutrients) and energy. Many processes applicable for this new paradigm already existed, and others have been further developed (struvite-crystallization, membrane contactors, air-stripping, ionic exchange, electrodialysis, direct osmosis, etc.). Recently, resource recovery processes have been extensively developed and investigated to optimize their operation. Reclaimed water can be used for recharging aquifers, irrigation in agriculture and cooling applications. Potential risks posed by the use of reclaimed water – and of other recovered wastewater resources – must be assessed and managed during the lifecycle of the application. For example, membrane separation processes are recognised as suitable for this application to remove pathogens and particles to ensure water quality. Traditional WWTP design is based on effluent quality requirements and investment costs, with energy efficiency being only rarely considered. Larger facilities exhibit lower normalized electric consumption than smaller WWTPs, and older ones normally consume more than modern facilities (although is process dependent). For instance, in Spain it is possible to find facilities with specific electric consumptions 5-10 times higher than in modern and optimized facilities. This clearly reflects the great margin for potential energy savings. Electricity consumption at WWTPs can be reduced by improving the processes and their operation, as well as through mechanical equipment improvement. The aeration of the biological process is the major electricity consumer; thus, control strategies have been deployed to its optimization. Also, less oxygen-demanding process alternatives have been explored, like the simultaneous nitrification-denitrification operated at very low dissolved oxygen concentration. Partial nitritation and deammonification processes with low oxygen consumption per nitrogen load removed, are especially suited for treating supernatant from sludge dewatering units. However, these low energy solutions might have a downside with direct greenhouse gas GHG emissions, especially N2O. Anaerobic digestion of sludge, usually applied in large WWTPs, produces biogas that can generate both electricity and heat for local use or external use, through combined heat and power production, or liquefied biogas for external use. It is also possible to increase biogas production through co-digestion of external substrates, advanced control or sludge pre-treatment. Thermolysis processes, piloted for sewage sludge treatment, enable also waste-to-chemicals applications. There are also other possibilities for energy recovery at WWTPs, such as thermal energy via heat exchangers and heat pumps, hydropower generation using turbines, and heat from sludge incineration. Energy can be also recovered by anaerobic digestion of microalgae grown in nutrient-rich wastewater. In this paper, the transition towards sustainability and water-smart circular economy is illustrated showing how current WWTPs can be turned into Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WWRFs). The incorporation of sustainable pathways and technologies, make energy-positive facilities achievable, thus, reducing their climate impact.

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“…In the last years, enormous efforts have been given by the water industry and scientific community to develop new approaches that can recover resources from water while meeting water quality standards. 5 In this period, next generation wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have shifted toward water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) and become an important case of biorefineries as they use innovative processes for bio-based production of new chemicals and materials from carbon-rich waste streams. 6 The bio-based production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) fits well within this concept as they represent valuable sources for downstream processes such as electricity generation by microbial fuel cells, biodiesel production by oleaginous yeast, hydrogen production via photofermentation, and synthesis of other valuable commodity chemicals.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeted Bio-Based Volatile Fatty Acid Production from Waste Streams through Anaerobic Fermentation: Link between Process Parameters and Operating Scale

Bruni

Foglia

Eusebi

et al. 2021

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Anaerobic processes are proven to have much more environmental and economic benefits than conventional aerobic treatment systems, offering sustainable energy and valuable biochemicals. In recent years, bio-based volatile fatty acid (VFA) production has come into prominence as more value is derived before ending up with other final products. This paper presents a critical review of the research studies on bio-based VFA production from different waste streams (i.e., industrial sludge/waste, organic fraction of municipal solid waste/food waste, municipal wastewater/sludge, combined streams) through anaerobic fermentation. Fundamentals and decisive process parameters (i.e., pH, temperature, retention time, organic loading rate) are reviewed, and their correlations with VFA yields are critically discussed based on 178 cases (156 lab- and 22 pilot-scale). The picture we provided clearly demonstrates that process parameters should be clearly defined and optimized according to the type of waste streams which may have a significant impact on downstream processes in most cases.

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Resource recovery from water: From concept to standard practice

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Assessing the potential of waste activated sludge and food waste co-fermentation for carboxylic acids production

Assessing the potential of waste activated sludge and food waste co-fermentation for carboxylic acids production

Sustainable wastewater treatment solutions for water-smart circular economy

Targeted Bio-Based Volatile Fatty Acid Production from Waste Streams through Anaerobic Fermentation: Link between Process Parameters and Operating Scale

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