Assessment of water-energy-emissions nexus in wastewater treatment plants using emergy analysis

Mahshad Modiri, Atiye Haj Hasan, Hamid Zafari Koloukhi, Fatemeh Rostami, Seyyed Mohammad Tafazzoli and Akram Avami ()
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Mahshad Modiri: Sharif University of Technology
Atiye Haj Hasan: Sharif University of Technology
Hamid Zafari Koloukhi: Water and Wastewater Company
Fatemeh Rostami: Sharif University of Technology
Seyyed Mohammad Tafazzoli: Water and Wastewater Company
Akram Avami: Sharif University of Technology

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2023, vol. 25, issue 10, No 53, 11905-11929

Abstract: Abstract The aim of this study is to quantify the water-energy-emissions nexus in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). At first, energy auditing is done for two real WWTPs to find out the energy consumption of different plant stages and the energy-saving potentials. The power plant and carbon capture units are taken into account to assess the energy-emission nexus based on emergy flows. Then, the emergy analysis is applied to evaluate the environmental, economic and technical aspects. An emergy performance index (EmIGHG) is presented by the means of emergy flow diagram of the WWTP beside a power plant (considering the electricity production emergy cost) and carbon capture unit (considering the CO2 separation emergy cost). The ratio can be applied to assess environmental cost-effectiveness in terms of equivalent emergy values. The results show that the index has more generality (over 18 percent) than WWTPs conventional energy consumption indexes to evaluate sustainability and reflects GHG emissions emergy costs. The co-generation of heat and power from renewables is capable to improve sustainability, effectively. The present framework provides an efficient approach to assess the nexus in WWTPs for decision makers as well as engineers.ä

Keywords: Nexus; Wastewater treatment; Emergy analysis; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-022-02559-1

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