Selection Of Wastewater Treatment Technologies Research Articles

Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy AROMAN method and its application in sustainable wastewater treatment technology selection

In the theory of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS), the rating/grade of an element is the subset of the closed interval [0, 1], therefore the IVIFS doctrine is more useful for the decision expert to present their judgments in terms of intervals rather than the crisp values. The present work develops an integrated decision-making methodology for evaluating sustainable wastewater treatment technologies within the context of IVIFS. The proposed decision-making framework is divided into three stages. First, some Yager weighted aggregation operators and their axioms are developed to combine the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy information. These operators can offer us a flexible way to solve the realistic multi-criteria decision-making problems under IVIFS context. Second, an extension of Symmetry Point of Criterion model is introduced to determine the criteria weights under IVIFS environment. Third, an integrated alternative ranking order model accounting for two-step normalization (AROMAN) approach is proposed from IVIF information perspective. Next, the practicability and efficacy of the developed model is proven by implementing it on a case study of sustainable wastewater treatment technologies evaluation problem with multiple criteria and decision experts. Finally, comparative analysis is discussed to illustrate the consistency and robustness of the obtained outcomes.

A Comparative Analysis of Rural Domestic Wastewater Discharge Standards in the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

With the deepening of comprehensive improvement of rural living environments in China, various regions have issued rural domestic wastewater discharge standards based on their economic foundations, management levels, and characteristics of rural wastewater discharge. The Yangtze River Delta region, in particular, has been at the forefront of exploring these standards nationwide. By analyzing the local standards for rural domestic wastewater discharge in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces within the Yangtze River Delta region, along with the "Discharge standard of pollutants for municipal wastewater treatment plant" and the "Standard for irrigation water quality", it was found that the standards in each region primarily consider the classification based on the water environmental grade of the receiving water body. The pollutant concentration control requirements are generally consistent with the pollutant concentration limits for urban wastewater treatment plant discharge, but the total nitrogen and total phosphorus limits are more lenient than those for urban wastewater treatment plants. This paper can guide the transformation of rural domestic wastewater discharge from high standards to resource utilization, and provide references for the selection of wastewater treatment technologies, models, and governance strategies in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Selection of Wastewater Treatment Technology: AHP Method in Multi-Criteria Decision Making

Wastewater treatment is a process that reduces pollution to those quantities and concentrations at which purified wastewater is no longer a threat to human and animal health and safety and does not cause unwanted changes in the environment. Municipal wastewater is classified as biodegradable water. Special importance should be given to wastewater with a high content of organic matter (COD), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). MBBR technology, developed on the basis of the conventional activated sludge process and the bio filter process, does not take up much space and does not have problems with activated sludge, as in the case of conventional biological reactors, and has shown good results for the removal of organic matter, phosphorus and nitrogen. The aim of this paper is to optimize the wastewater treatment process in the municipality of Dojran, North Macedonia. Three alternative solutions for improving the capacity for wastewater treatment in the municipality of Dojran were analyzed. The shortlist of variants was made on the basis of several criteria, including: analysis of the system in the tourist season and beyond, assessment of the condition and efficiency of the existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in combination with a new treatment plant, treatment efficiency when using different wastewater treatment technologies, the size of the site needed to accommodate the capacity, as well as the financial parameters for the proposed system. The selection of the most favorable solution for the improvement of the wastewater treatment system was made using the AHP (analytic hierarchy process) method. In order to select the optimal solution, a detailed analysis was conducted, considering several decision-making criteria, namely the initial investment, operating costs and management complexity. Based on the obtained results, Variant 3 was recommended, that is, the construction of a completely new station with MBBR technology, with a capacity for 6000 equivalent inhabitants.

A novel fuzzy framework for technology selection of sustainable wastewater treatment plants based on TODIM methodology in developing urban areas

Optimal technology selection of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) necessitates the adoption of data-driven scientific approaches that satisfy the sustainability requirements of the urban ecosystem. Such approaches should be able to provide actionable insights to decision makers constrained by factors such as population growth, land scarcity, and loss of functionality of wastewater treatment plants. The framework in this study proposes a hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model consisting of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and the TODIM (an acronym in Portuguese of interactive and multi-criteria decision-making) by using alpha cut series which takes into account the risk aversion of decision makers (DMs) to overcome uncertainties of environmental conditions. The literature to date indicates that the study is the first to presents how a systematic decision-making process is approached by interpreting the interaction of criteria for the selection of wastewater treatment technology through the membership function of Prospect Theory. The proposed methodology reveals that the prominent reference criterion manipulates other sub-criteria according to the function of risk-aversion behavior. The fuzzy sets based on alpha cut series are employed to evaluate both the criteria weight and the rank of the alternatives in the decision-making process to obtain compromise solutions under uncertainty. The dominance degrees of the alternatives are achieved by fuzzy TODIM integrated with the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) which deals with the uncertainty of human judgements. According to the ranking results determined by the dominance degree of alternatives, anaerobic–anoxic–oxic (A2O) without pre-clarification was the most effective process in relation to the sludge disposal cost (C25) calculated as reference criteria. The ranking of four full-scale WWTPs in a metropolitan city of an EMEA country based on 24 sub-criteria listed under the four main criteria, namely the dimensions of sustainability, is used as a case study to verify the usefulness of the fuzzy approach. Motivated by the literature gap related to the failure to consider the psychological behavior of DMs in technology selection problem for wastewater treatment, it is discussed how the proposed hybrid MCDM model can be utilized by reflecting human risk perception in wastewater treatment technology selection for developing urban areas.

Estimation of greenhouse gases emission from domestic wastewater in Nepal: A scenario-based analysis applicable for developing countries

Domestic wastewater and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are key emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Quantifying these emissions in the present and future is crucial to tackle global climate change issues. As a developing country with few rural and urban wastewater treatment facilities, Nepal may have a unique opportunity to reduce future GHGs emissions by a proper selection of wastewater treatment technology. In this paper, the authors used Python programming to estimate the GHGs emissions from the domestic wastewater sector in Nepal under various technological development scenarios for 2020 to 2040 using the refined 2019 estimation methodology developed by Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Results show total equivalent CO2 emission of 3829.43 and 4523.65 Gigagrams in 2020 and 2040, respectively. The 2020 value is seven times greater than Nepal's 2017 national estimates because this study considered rural population and updated methodology. Comparing the technology development scenarios with the Business as Usual scenario, the highest GHGs reduction could be achieved by hybrid constructed wetlands (69.20%) followed by a combined anaerobic and aerobic system with biogas recovery for energy generation (61.72%). Further accuracy may be attained only through the actual measurement of WWTPs emissions and country-specific emission factors. Thus, this paper proposes GHGs estimation of future scenarios portraying urban and rural populations may be invaluable to policymakers of GHGs mitigation for selection of feasible WWTPs, especially in developing countries with limited wastewater treatment facilities and wastewater activity data.

Wastewater treatment technology selection using a hybrid multicriteria decision‐making method

AbstractVarious technological methods are available for industrial wastewater treatment (WWT), ranging from conventional to advanced treatment processes. It is therefore a complex exercise to select the most appropriate technology to treat the industrial wastewater in a particular situation. Many criteria can be considered in the decision‐making process; therefore, multicriteria decision‐making methods are especially appropriate for solving this problem. In this paper, we aim to select the most appropriate municipal WWT technology for agricultural usages. We propose a new hybrid methodology based on the best–worst method (BWM) and the behavioral technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution (BTOPSIS). This new hybrid takes advantage of the benefits of both methods. The BWM incorporates consistency checks, while the BTOPSIS can model the risk behavior of the decision maker. Using the proposed methodology, we calculate the performance of seven WWT technologies using criteria categorized into sustainability dimensions (i.e., economic, social, and environmental). The results, based on different levels of decision makers’ loss aversion, indicate that energy consumption and an integrated fixed‐film activated sludge reactor are the most effective criterion and technology, respectively. The proposed new methodology is generic and can be employed for any multicriteria decision problems.

Synthesis of wastewater treatment plant based on minimal waste generation cost: A material flow cost accounting (MFCA) approach

Wastewater treatment (WWT) is a mandatory process to ensure wastewater quality meets legislation requirements and to reduce environmental impacts. Many established WWT technologies are available in the market and the selection of such technologies is usually based on heuristics. However, technologies selected using heuristics may not be able to guarantee optimal economic performance. In this respect, it is important for manufacturing companies to synthesise a WWT process with minimum investment cost while meeting legislation requirements. Most manufacturing companies face issues to achieve this goal. Among these issues, is the fact that part of the investment invested into a WWT process will be lost to waste (sludge cake) generation. The generated waste (sludge cake) will require additional high waste disposal costs. Therefore, to reduce the loss of investment in a WWT process, the waste generation cost and waste disposal cost must be minimised. This can be addressed via Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA), a management tool that quantifies material flows across physical and monetary values in a production process. Previous works had adapted the concept of MFCA for prioritisation of waste streams for waste recovery and minimisation of investment cost in processes with revenue streams. Thus, the objective of this paper is to extend the use of MFCA as a preliminary decision-making tool in the selection of WWT technologies with minimum waste generation cost. To illustrate the developed approach, a case study on sago-based WWT process is solved in this work. Based on the results, the synthesised WWT process from the developed model is capable of recovering as much as 93.3 % of the total operating cost back into the manufacturing process while minimising the waste generation cost to 6.7 % of the operating investment cost.

Development of a decision support system for the selection of wastewater treatment technologies

Multiple factors including technical, social, economic, regulatory, governmental, and environmental add complexity in the process of selecting a suitable wastewater treatment technology. To overcome this issue, this paper aims to propose a decision support system (DSS) for the selection of wastewater treatment technologies. The proposed system has been developed using a detailed review of the state-of-the-art in wastewater treatment, implemented using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and validated through real-time case studies. The system is categorized into four treatment levels based on wastewater complexity and the required degree of treatment. These include preliminary, primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment. Based on the identified treatment levels, the proposed system suggests using any physical, biological, chemical, or hybrid treatment process. The developed DSS will aid the selection of suitable wastewater treatment technology from a set of alternatives while keeping user constraints, conflicting requirements, and prevailing conditions under consideration. Moreover, the system is capable to customize the treatment assembly at the planning stage with minimized costs, eliminate mistakes at the planning and design stage, facilitate decision making by narrowing down the alternative solution as per user requirements and prevailing conditions, incorporate customer demand, and promote sustainable development.

Analysis of eutrophication potential of municipal wastewater.

One of the main factors of the increased eutrophication level of surface waters is the high anthropogenic loads of biogenic substances discharged into water bodies. Municipal wastewaters, containing large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus play one of the key roles in the acceleration of eutrophication intensity. The main direction in the prevention of eutrophication caused by wastewater discharge has become the reduction of nutrient loads introduced to wastewater receivers in accordance with strict legal requirements achievable only in advanced technologies. The treated wastewater quality standards are actually developed for total nitrogen and total phosphorus content, disregarding the fact that eutrophication potential of treated wastewater is determined by the content of non-organic nutrient forms directly bioavailable for water vegetation. That is why the currently used energy-consuming and expensive technologies do not always guarantee effective protection against eutrophication and its consequences. The goal of the study was to analyze the most widely used wastewater treatment technologies for enhanced biological nutrients removal in treated wastewater eutrophication potential. For this purpose, an analysis of the operation of 18 wastewater treatment plants based on different technologies in Finland, Canada, Poland, Russia and the United States was realized. The analysis concluded that the eutrophication potential of treated wastewater to a large extent is conditioned by the applied technology. The results of the research concluded that the eutrophication potential can serve an important criterion for decision-making regarding the proper selection of wastewater treatment technologies aimed at eutrophication mitigation.

Evaluation and analysis of wastewater treatment technology applied in highway service area

The selection of wastewater treatment technology in service area should be adapted to the features of the wastewater quality and quantity. Also, the construction investment, the operating energy consumption, and the system simplicity should be considered as the demands of highway service area construction and maintenance. Based on investigations, this article analyzed the limitations of conventional treatment processes currently represented by contact oxidation. Evaluation and discussion for typical applicable processes were conducted from aspects of low energy consumption, treatment and discharge in cold regions, and reclaim water reuse.

Wastewater treatment technology selection under various influent conditions and effluent standards based on life cycle assessment

Influent concentration and effluent standards have strong impacts on technology selection by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and on resource recovery processes. In this paper, resource recovery simulation scenarios incorporated with conventional WWTP models were designed in an imitation of typical existing facilities. We integrated economic analysis and a life cycle assessment to evaluate the impacts of treatment technologies selected for different influent conditions and effluent standards. The results revealed that high concentration influents required the most complicated treatment processes to meet a strict effluent standard. The pattern of total impacts was strongly dependent on the influent conditions. High concentration influent was found to correlate with low energy consumption, low costs, a high nutrient recovery potential but also a high global warming potential when removing 1 kg of pollutants. The incorporation of resource recovery improved the overall performance of WWTPs; however, low concentration influents were not suitable for resource recovery due to their limited benefits. The strict effluent standard limited the resource recovery potential from wastewater, and a loose effluent standard may improve the resource recovery performance, especially for high concentration influents.

Abordagem multicritério na seleção de alternativas de tratamento de efluentes: uma revisão sistêmica da literatura

O estudo bibliográfico estruturado tem se tornado uma excelente ferramenta para avaliar tendências cientificas em diferentes campos do conhecimento. Neste sentido, este trabalho busca analisar as oportunidades de pesquisa, apresentando uma visão geral a cerca da tomada de decisão em projetos de tratamento de efluentes no cenário internacional. ProKnow-C (Knowledge Development Process - Constructivist) foi a ferramenta de intervenção utilizada, que consiste em um processo estruturado para geração de conhecimento em um tema determinado a partir dos interesses e limitações do pesquisador. Ao final do processo de busca foram identificados 16 artigos com reconhecimento científico e conteúdo alinhado ao tema de pesquisa. Os primeiros resultados da pesquisa demostraram uma acentuada tendência de crescimento a cerca do tema nos últimos 7 anos. A análise aprofundada dos trabalhos demonstrou que a construção dos modelos no cenário internacional segue padrões possíveis de serem replicados em diferentes cenários, considerando diferentes aspectos e necessidades dos decisores. De modo geral, os estudos aplicando métodos de apoio à decisão, especialmente para a seleção de tecnologias de tratamento de efluentes se demonstraram de alto impacto, e por consequência alta relevância.

Integrated Assessment Challenges in the Water, Wastewater and Waste Domains: Case Studies

the integrated assessment represents an effective tool for the evaluation of complex environmental problems and situations as it integrates several aspects (technical, environmental, economic, social, health) and actors (e.g., decision makers, stakeholders). Different case studies are presented in this work concerning the application of integrated assessment tools for the selection of wastewater treatment technologies, for choosing the best options for sludge management, for the implementation of sustainable approaches for risk management in drinking water supply systems and for the selection of the most appropriate cooking technology in a low income setting. The results show, from one hand, the benefit of integrating different dimensions in solving environmental problems, and, from the other hand, the need for standardization.

Hierarchy grey relational analysis using DEA and AHP

Purpose This paper aims to apply an integrated data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach to a multi-hierarchy grey relational analysis (GRA) model. Consistent with the most real-life applications, the authors focus on a two-level hierarchy in which the attributes of similar characteristics can be grouped into categories. Nevertheless, the proposed approach can be easily extended to a three-level hierarchy in which attributes might also belong to different sub-categories and further be linked to categories. Design/methodology/approach The procedure of incorporating the DEA and AHP methods in a two-level GRA may be broken down into a series of steps. The first three steps are under the heading of attributes and the latter three steps are under the heading of categories as follows: computing the grey relational coefficients of attributes for each alternative using the basic GRA model which further provides the required (output) data for an additive DEA model; computing the priority weights of attributes and categories using the AHP method which provides a priori information on the adjustments of attributes and categories in additive DEA models; computing the grey relational grades of attributes in each category for alternatives using an additive DEA model; converting the grey relational grades of attributes to the grey relational coefficients of categories; computing the grey relational grades of categories for alternatives using an additive DEA model; computing the dissimilarity grades of categories for the tied alternatives using an additive DEA exclusion model. Findings The proposed approach provides a more reasonable and encompassing measure of performance in a hierarchy GRA, based on which the overall ranking position of alternatives is obtained. A case study of a wastewater treatment technology selection verifies the effectiveness of this approach. Originality/value This research is a step forward to overcome the current shortcomings in a hierarchy GRA by extracting the benefits from both the objective and subjective weighting methods.

Selection of Wastewater Treatment Technology of the Capital of Podgorica in the New Plant

Selection of Wastewater Treatment Technology of the Capital of Podgorica in the New Plant

Analytic Network Process for Developing Relative Weight of Wastewater Treatment Technology Selection

Selecting the best wastewater treatment (WWT) technology requires a thorough qualitative and quantitative evaluation of multi-dependence criteria. A network based method is one of the many possible techniques that able to handle multi-dependence criteria in the selection. This paper proposes relative importance weights of alternatives in selecting the WWT technology using the analytic network process (ANP) in Terengganu Malaysia. The ANP is applied to establish the relative weights of alternatives based on criteria and sub-criteria that available in the WWT technology selection. Two faculty members attached to a public university and an engineer in Malaysian government agency were interviewed to provide evaluation within the framework of ANP. Inner dependence and outer dependence analysis of ANP are fully utilised to establish relative importance weights of alternatives. The experiment result reveals that the relative importance weights of the three alternatives are 0.3074, 0.2795 and 0.2447. The alternative ‘Composting’ has decided as the most suitable technology in WWT which provides the highest relative importance weight among all the three alternatives. The results would be a great significance for the practical implementation of the WWT technology selection.

MADM method considering attribute aspirations with an application to selection of wastewater treatment technologies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for solving the multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) problem in which the decision maker can provide the five types of attribute aspirations, namely: benefit type with requirements; cost type with requirements; interval type; benefit type; and cost type. Design/methodology/approach – First, for each type of attribute aspiration, the calculation formula of utility values of alternative concerning attributes is given. Then, using the calculation formulae, the attribute values are transformed into the corresponding utility values. On the basis of this, the overall ranking value of each alternative is calculated. Further, a ranking order of alternatives can be determined according to the obtained overall ranking values. Findings – Research shows that it is necessary to develop the method for MADM with attribute aspirations. The example shows that the proposed method is applicable. Practical implications – The proposed method can be applied to the selection of wastewater treatment technologies or other areas. Originality/value – This paper proposes a new MADM method with multiple types of attribute aspirations. It develops and enriches the existing MADM methods.

Membrane assisted technology appraisal for water reuse applications in South Africa

Water scarcity, pertaining to many interrelated issues e.g. rapid urbanisation and increasing water pollution, has been acknowledged around the world. Water reuse has emerged as a viable water conservation measure to satisfy water demand in many communities. Among the diversity of wastewater treatment processes, membrane assisted treatment technologies have been employed for different water reuse scenarios. In this regard, one of the most critical problems is how to select an appropriate membrane technology for a water reuse scenario. This research therefore develops a decision making framework for selection of wastewater treatment technology. The framework is applied to different non-potable reuse scenarios in South African cities and suburban areas by employing a multi criteria analysis method. The results show that this approach is able to provide a systematic and rigorous analysis which can help in comparing and selecting wastewater technologies.

The Optimization-based Design and Synthesis of Water Network for Water Management in an Industrial Process: Refinery Effluent Treatment Plant

The increasing awareness of the sustainability of water resources has become an important issue. Many process industries contribute to high water consumption and wastewater generation. Problems in industrial water management include the processing of complex contaminants in wastewater, selection of wastewater treatment technologies, as well as water allocation, limited reuse, and recycling strategies. Therefore, a water and wastewater treatment network design requires the integration of both economic and environmental perspectives. The aim of this work was to modify and develop a generic model-based synthesis process for a water/wastewater treatment network design problem utilizing the framework of Quaglia et al. (2013) in order to effectively design, synthesize, and optimize an industrial water management problem using different scenarios (both existing and retrofit system design). The modelbased mathematical problem was formulated as mixed integer linear (MILP) and mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) and strived to identify the best wastewater treatment processes among a set of predefined alternatives that produce a minimum total annualized cost, while meeting all wastewater specification criteria. In addition, the effluent options (for different retrofit scenarios) in the modified superstructure could be set as discharge only, zero liquid discharge (total recycling), or a combination of recycling and discharge with the aim of minimizing the amount of fresh process water consumption through the recycling of treated wastewater. Also, an industrial case study of a refinery wastewater treatment plant was implemented. Alternative recycling schemes (retrofit design problem) were proposed and solved. The retrofit design solution using developed generic model-based synthesis offered a preliminary guideline for a better wastewater treatment network in terms of economic benefits and environmental impact compared to the existing process and accomplished it in an effective time frame.

Waste water treatment technology selection using FAHP and GRA approaches

This paper describes an application of hybrid multi–criteria decision–making (MCDM) technique for the selection of waste water treatment (WWT) technology for treating wastewater. The proposed approach is based on fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and hierarchy grey relation analysis (GRA) technique. The FAHP is used to determine the weights of criteria and then ranking of the WWT technology alternatives is determined by GRA.