Abstract
Separation of different domestic wastewater streams and targeted on-site treatment for resource recovery has been recognized as one of the most promising sanitation concepts to re-establish the balance in carbon, nutrient and water cycles. In this study a model was developed based on literature data to compare energy and water balance, nutrient recovery, chemical use, effluent quality and land area requirement in four different sanitation concepts: (1) centralized; (2) centralized with source-separation of urine; (3) source-separation of black water, kitchen refuse and grey water; and (4) source-separation of urine, feces, kitchen refuse and grey water. The highest primary energy consumption of 914 MJ/capita(cap)/year was attained within the centralized sanitation concept, and the lowest primary energy consumption of 437 MJ/cap/year was attained within source-separation of urine, feces, kitchen refuse and grey water. Grey water bio-flocculation and subsequent grey water sludge co-digestion decreased the primary energy consumption, but was not energetically favorable to couple with grey water effluent reuse. Source-separation of urine improved the energy balance, nutrient recovery and effluent quality, but required larger land area and higher chemical use in the centralized concept.
Highlights
Separation of different domestic wastewater streams and targeted on-site treatment of these streams for resource recovery has been recognized as one of the most promising concepts to re-establish the balance in carbon, nutrient and water cycles [1,2,3,4]
Nutrient recovery and pollutant removal from the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor effluent can be established by struvite precipitation, autotrophic nitrogen removal using oxygen limited anaerobic nitrification denitrification (OLAND) reactor and a post-treatment, such as a trickling filter (TF), to remove remaining organic material [4]
The highest primary energy consumption of 914 MJ/cap/year is attained in the centralized sanitation concept (Concept 1), and by applying urine separation within the centralized concept, the primary energy consumption is decreased to 687 MJ/cap/year, creating a yearly energy saving of 227 MJ/cap
Summary
Separation of different domestic wastewater streams and targeted on-site treatment of these streams for resource recovery has been recognized as one of the most promising concepts to re-establish the balance in carbon, nutrient and water cycles [1,2,3,4]. Key technology for energy recovery from source-separated streams is anaerobic treatment of black water or feces and kitchen refuse in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor [4,5]. Nutrient recovery and pollutant removal from the UASB reactor effluent can be established by struvite precipitation, autotrophic nitrogen removal using oxygen limited anaerobic nitrification denitrification (OLAND) reactor and a post-treatment, such as a trickling filter (TF), to remove remaining organic material [4]. Due to operational conditions, such as a lower buffer capacity of the OLAND reactor effluent compared to the UASB reactor effluent, the struvite precipitation is preferred after the nitrogen removal [6]
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