A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Synergism of Life Cycle Assessment and Sustainable Development Goals Techniques to Evaluate Downflow Hanging Sponge System Treating Low-Carbon Wastewater
While recent researchers have focused on optimizing the operational conditions of low-carbon wastewater treatment processes, they have not sufficiently evaluated the sustainability of such systems. This study is the first to assess the performance of a low-carbon wastewater treatment facility using an integration of techno-economic and life cycle assessment (LCA) criteria accompanied by several sustainability indicators. A downflow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor was operated at a hydraulic retention time of 3.4 h, an organic loading rate of 3.8 kg COD/m3 sponge/d, and 24–35 °C (scenario_1). Another two DHSs were operated in parallel, i.e., a 50% influent bypass (scenario_2) and 260 mg/L charcoal addition (scenario_3), providing carbonaceous matter to maintain the nitrification/denitrification pathway. Employing the DHS’s scenario_3 could fulfill most of the SDGs regarding the environmental (e.g., COD and nitrogen removals) and socio-economic (e.g., reliability, labor, and health and safety) targets. The LCA tool also confirmed the superior environmental benefits of scenario_3, concerning effluent quality, GHG emissions, and sludge generation. The synergistic interaction of LCA and SDGs approaches ranked the proposed DHS modifications as scenario_3 > scenario_1 > scenario_2. Hence, the current study provided an innovative strategy that could be employed to assess the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems worldwide.
Synergism of Life Cycle Assessment and Sustainable Development Goals Techniques to Evaluate Downflow Hanging Sponge System Treating Low-Carbon Wastewater
While recent researchers have focused on optimizing the operational conditions of low-carbon wastewater treatment processes, they have not sufficiently evaluated the sustainability of such systems. This study is the first to assess the performance of a low-carbon wastewater treatment facility using an integration of techno-economic and life cycle assessment (LCA) criteria accompanied by several sustainability indicators. A downflow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor was operated at a hydraulic retention time of 3.4 h, an organic loading rate of 3.8 kg COD/m3 sponge/d, and 24–35 °C (scenario_1). Another two DHSs were operated in parallel, i.e., a 50% influent bypass (scenario_2) and 260 mg/L charcoal addition (scenario_3), providing carbonaceous matter to maintain the nitrification/denitrification pathway. Employing the DHS’s scenario_3 could fulfill most of the SDGs regarding the environmental (e.g., COD and nitrogen removals) and socio-economic (e.g., reliability, labor, and health and safety) targets. The LCA tool also confirmed the superior environmental benefits of scenario_3, concerning effluent quality, GHG emissions, and sludge generation. The synergistic interaction of LCA and SDGs approaches ranked the proposed DHS modifications as scenario_3 > scenario_1 > scenario_2. Hence, the current study provided an innovative strategy that could be employed to assess the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems worldwide.
Synergism of Life Cycle Assessment and Sustainable Development Goals Techniques to Evaluate Downflow Hanging Sponge System Treating Low-Carbon Wastewater
Samuel Anang (author) / Mahmoud Nasr (author) / Manabu Fujii (author) / Mona G. Ibrahim (author)
2024
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
Unknown
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Treatment of agricultural drainage water via downflow hanging sponge system for reuse in agriculture
| Online Contents | 2013