Design of Mass Exchange Network and Effluent Distribution System for effective water management

The environmental impact of industrial wastewater and higher cost of fresh water are the serious challenges faced by the process industries. It has led to the development of many new techniques to minimize fresh water consumption. Of the many approaches, which have been developed, the Water Source Diagram (WSD) is a flexible and dynamic alternative for the generation of different scenarios for the management of water networks with reduction in total consumption. In the present study WSD concept was coupled with water mains concept to mains simplify the piping network and reduce the cost. A new procedure was developed for integrating the effluent treatment processes to evolve Effluent Treatment Network. Example from literature having multi contaminants was considered. This simple procedure involving hand calculations will be a useful tool for process engineers to design water and effluent treatment networks. Also the WSD and ETN were combined to form an evolutionary WAMEN (Water Allocation and Mass Exchange Network) and the proposed WAMEN aims for minimum fresh water consumption.     

Optimal retrofit of water conservation networks

This paper presents a new general mathematical programming model for the optimal retrofit of material conservation networks considering recycle, reuse and regeneration schemes (notice that most of the previously reported methods only have considered the synthesis case, and nowadays it is very important to have strategies for the retrofit of water networks because several existing water network are functioned under suboptimal conditions because these were synthesized using inefficient approaches or because the process and environmental constraints have changed). The model considers the reconfiguration of existing networks to satisfy stricter process and environmental constraints considering the repiping for the network, the reuse of the existing treatment units, the modification for the capacity and performance of the existing units and the installation of new treatment units to reduce the overall operating cost through the reduction of the use of fresh sources. The objective function accounts for the minimization of the total annual cost associated to the retrofit process. This retrofit process involves simultaneously economic (because the reduction of the fresh sources costs) and environmental (because the reduction of the waste streams discharged to the environment and with a better quality) improvements. The applicability of the proposed model is proved through a set of example problems addressed, where no numerical complications were observed. In addition, the proposed approach is general and it can be applied to any specific case with the information required.     

不确定性流域污染负荷优化分配模型及其应用

流域优化决策模型以最优化建模方法指导流域管理决策过程,然而流域系统的不确定性会导致决策存在一定风险.本研究通过建立区间参数机会约束线性规划(ICILP)模型来处理流域决策过程中的不确定性,并将该模型运用于太滆运河流域优化决策中,探讨在不同违反概率下系统最优解.结果表明,随着允许入湖量约束违反概率增加,系统对污染物削减量和削减成本有所降低.由于受到经济成本和削减量约束,系统优先减小环境代价较大、削减效率较低的工程项目规模.但受到最低处理率约束,违反概率增加到一定水平时各工程项目趋于定值.虽然较高的违反概率使系统成本降低,但也会导致削减效率降低,不利于流域保护.因此,在实际管理中应根据管理需求选择合适的削减方案以达到保护流域水质的目标.     

城市水价预测长期边际成本模型的GMM参数估计

论文介绍了GMM方法原理,应用GMM估计方法对城市水价预测长期边际成本数学模型的参数估计进行了研究,通过用水人数、用水量、用水结构、可变成本及固定成本等水价相关因子的参数估计,实现水价长期边际成本的预测,并以苏州市为实例进行了案例研究。研究结果表明:应用GMM的样本估计解决了长期边际成本数学模型需求数据量较大的要求,提高了水价长期边际成本预测模型的实用性。     

Cost–benefit analysis of methyl tert-butyl ether and alternative gasoline formulations

This paper presents a cost–benefit analysis of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) requiring the addition of oxygen content in gasoline, using California as a case study. The valuation and comparison of costs and benefits for several fuel blends (with and without oxygen content) provides a framework to investigate cross-media (air, water, soil) tradeoffs. We use known valuation methods such as the travel cost method to derive recreational value, the averting expenditures approach and cost of illness approach to derive public health costs, and market price method to quantify increases in fuel price and fuel efficiency costs in order to compare the alternatives. We use data from California to evaluate the current fuel blend with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a fuel blend with ethanol (ethyl alcohol), and a fuel blend without oxygenated compounds. The most expensive option to meet the 1990 CAAA is the current reformulated gasoline blend with MTBE, which results in a net cost to California's economy of between $0.9 and 2.7 billion dollars annually. The cost of treating groundwater contaminated with MTBE is a major cost factor. Our assessment indicates that the non-oxygenated gasoline formulation is the most cost-effective, particularly in the long-term, once refiners are able to implement modifications to their installations or negotiate long-term supply contracts for these additives. Several strategies are identified to transition out of using the current gasoline blend with MTBE.     

A process integration approach to industrial water conservation: a case study for an Indian starch industry

A case study for water using network of a Starch industry in the state of Gujarat, India, is undertaken with an aim to reduce demineralised water and freshwater flow rates and consequently the wastewater flow rate. The problem was identified as a multi contaminant, reuse and recycle problem. The freshwater consumption and demineralised water consumption were 100 t/h and 51 t/h respectively before modification and the network was dealing with three major contaminants such as total organic content, total dissolved solids and total suspended solids. A program was developed in MATLAB for analysis using Water Pinch. The improved water using network designed for the present work consumed less demineralised and freshwater. The reductions are of the tune of 28% and 64.38% for demineralised and fresh water respectively. Due to alteration in piping, there will be a saving of 406 026 INR per year, which will be utilized for development of efficient environment policy for the company. The entire concept had been implemented on plant level on 1st February-2009 and the reductions are of the tune of 25% and 60% for demineralised and fresh water respectively.     

关于钢铁工业海水直接利用的技术探讨

在工业领域中钢铁工业是用水大户,临海建厂是未来中国钢铁产业布局的方向。向海洋要淡水,取之不尽、用之不竭。将海水直接利用于生产,可减少海水淡化成本、节约能源、降低钢铁企业生产成本。就钢铁企业的海水直接利用技术进行了初步的分析和探讨,可作为实际工程的参考。     

基于离散仿真分析的废弃电器电子产品回收网络优化

优化电子废弃物回收网络对控制回收成本、降低环境污染具有重要意义.因此,本文建立了一种综合考虑运输、存储及淡旺季的回收过程离散仿真模型,提出了一种以经济、能源及环境为指标的回收网络评价方法.同时,以安徽省为例,结合现有回收模式,分别设计了4种回收网络布局及运输方案,在不同的回收覆盖率及库存能力条件下以回收成本、燃油消耗及CO2排放为优化目标对比分析各备选方案,提出了在报废量大于0.15万t·a-1的地区建立回收点并采取全局运输模式的最优方案.研究表明,本文提出的方法同样适用于我国其他省市回收网络的优化.     

我国人工林生态系统的水成本核算

健康的生态系统能够提供水土保持、防风固沙、涵养水源、调节气候、减少环境污染、增加游憩地与文化保护等良好的生态服务价值。然而,生态环境修复与建设不仅需要巨大的经费投入,也需要占用大量的自然资源。为了正确理解人工造林活动的成本问题,论文用7种蒸散发模型首次对我国1949年以来人工造林和自然植被恢复的耗水量及人工造林耗水量的机会成本进行计算,初步了解人工修复活动对水资源供给的影响。结果显示,1952—2011年我国人工造林累计耗水量比自然修复多767×10⁸ m³,水机会成本累计536×10⁸元。为了维护生态平衡,生态修复（尤其是人工修复）和经济活动都应关注水资源的成本问题,通过不同措施的成本效益比较,最大限度地降低生态修复成本,这是修复生态学需要面对的重要科学问题之一。     

典型海水淡化系统的水足迹评价

海水淡化是缓解我国水资源匮乏的有效方式之一。目前国内外主要关注海水淡化技术的成本和水质,缺乏对海水淡化水资源效益的量化评价。根据ISO水足迹理论,划定海水淡化量化边界,进行典型海水淡化工艺生产阶段清单分析,建立了海水淡化水足迹量化及评价方法。结果表明:低温多效蒸馏水稀缺足迹比反渗透水稀缺足迹高出3~4倍,2种工艺的海水淡化水稀缺足迹的关键影响因素均为电耗;反渗透工艺的水劣化足迹均低于低温多效蒸馏工艺海水淡化。因此,在样本范围内,反渗透工艺的水资源效益整体优于低温多效蒸馏工艺。水足迹评价研究结果揭示,海水淡化生产阶段的水资源消耗和水质影响,有助于引导海水淡化技术向提高水资源效益和降低能耗、消除水污染的方向发展,以期为海水资源科学开发利用提供技术支撑。     

Water and wastewater eco-efficiency indicators for the sugar cane industry

The consumption of large volumes of water and the generation of organic compounds as liquid effluents are major environmental problems in sugar cane processing industry. The volume of freshwater required by this industry can be significantly reduced by recovering the intrinsic water present in sugar cane. This amount of freshwater will depend on the process technology. Three new indices for sugar cane plants are introduced in this work: WIN, which indicates the efficiency of water use, and EIN1 and EIN2, which quantify Chemical Oxygen Demand of wastewater. Selected case studies illustrate the advantages of employing these indices as guides for the selection among process design alternatives that account for environmental performance.     

Three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model for TMDL development of Lake Fuxian, China

Lake Fuxian is the largest deep freshwater lake in China. Although its average water quality meets Class I of the China National Water Quality Standard (CNWQS), i.e., GB3838-2002, monitoring data indicate that the water quality approaches the Class II threshold in some areas. Thus it is urgent to reduce the watershed load through the total maximum daily load (TMDL) program. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model was developed for Lake Fuxian, simulating flow circulation and pollutant fate and transport. The model development process consists of several steps, including grid generation, initial and boundary condition configurations, and model calibration processes. The model accurately reproduced the observed water surface elevation, spatiotemporal variations in temperature, and total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations, suggesting a reasonable numerical representation of the prototype system for further TMDL analyses. The TMDL was calculated using two interpretations of the water quality standards for Class I of the CNWQS based on the maximum instantaneous surface and annual average surface water concentrations. Analysis of the first scenario indicated that the TN, TP and COD loads should be reduced by 66%, 68% and 57%, respectively. Water quality was the highest priority; however, local economic development and cost feasibility for load reduction can pose significant issues. In the second interpretation, the model results showed that, under the existing conditions, the average water quality meets the Class I standard and therefore load reduction is unnecessary. Future studies are needed to conduct risk and cost assessments for realistic decision-making.     

A novel framework for analysis of cross-media environmental effects from agricultural conservation practices

Agricultural ecosystems are a source of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions and losses of nutrients to waterways. Several studies have recognized this and have documented the potential to reduce GHG fluxes and nutrient loss to waterways by using carbon offsets to fund the implementation of land retirement and afforestation. However, the ability to use land for both agricultural production and environmental conservation is also important. This study develops a novel analytical framework that is used to examine the cross-media (water and air) environmental effects of implementing offset-funded conservation practices in a working-lands setting. The framework is applied to a case study which examines the extent to which carbon pricing can affect practice implementation costs and the optimal distribution of these practices throughout an agricultural watershed. Results indicate that carbon offsets can reduce conservation practice implementation costs and have the potential to reduce greater amounts of nonpoint source pollution for a given cost of implementation. This conclusion has significant implications for policymaking, particularly with regard to using markets for GHG emissions to achieve water quality improvements where water quality trading or government conservation programs have historically been unsuccessful.     

Reducing mine water network energy requirements

Increasing energy efficiency and reducing water consumption are two of the key requirements in moving toward a more sustainable mining industry. This paper demonstrates a method of determining the lowest energy option for a mine/mill water system network. The method uses a linear programming algorithm to compare different possible combinations of supplying water to mine and mill consumers. First, a site water balance is determined and then every major water consumer and source is specified. Water sources may require pumping, cooling and/or treatment before the water meets the specifications of the water consumer. The amount of energy required for each water source to supply each consumer is calculated and then the model is solved to minimize power consumption. An example is used to illustrate the method.     

Conceptual design of an integrated heating system at LKAB Malmberget with consideration of social-environmental damage costs

LKAB Malmberget is a Swedish mining site located at Malmberget, Sweden. Seven boiler centers are located in the north part of Malmberget. There are no connections in between these boiler centers, meaning that it is a decentralized heating system. The heat generated is used to heat up buildings and for mine ventilation air mainly during the cold periods. The heat is mainly provided from electric and oil boilers. However, most boilers under use are over 20 years old, and it is time to retrofit the boiler system and infrastructure. The purpose of this work is to design and optimize the heating system by introducing an integrated concept to minimize the heat production cost.An optimization model based on the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) has been developed. Several technical options have been considered in a new centralized heating system. The optimization principle is based on two kinds of perspectives: current price and external costs. With consideration of environmental and health damage from society concerns point of view, instead of environmental taxes in the current price perspective, the monetary values of externalities due to pollutants such as CO₂, NO_x, SO₂ and particulates emitted from the heating system are included. On the basis of data input and assumptions, modeling results indicate that a lower cost could be achieved when a waste heat recovery boiler is installed at the older pelletization plant to recover sensible heat from flue gas. This technical option is the best solution or at least contributes to the best solution in all optimization results. Including the externality cost is useful for making fair evaluation of the social-environmental impacts of the alternatives.     

水和废水中化学需氧量测定方法的改进研究

在水的CODcr测定中,将30 ml回流量确定为常规检测回流量,可节省浓硫酸和硫酸银用量50%;将消解回流时间从120 min缩短为30 min,已满足对地表水和各类废水中CODcr的准确测定,可节省水电费用75%以上,含氯水样中Cl-的掩蔽研究表明:按国标法用10倍Cl-重量的HgSO4 掩蔽Cl-,加标(CODcr =100 mg/L)回收率为110%~120%左右,用30~40倍Cl -重量的HgSO4 掩蔽Cl-,加标回收率为100%左右,对HgSO4 掩蔽Cl-的条件和机理作了适当探讨.另外,采用加入H2 SO4-后加入HgSO4 的方法可减少HgSO4 的耗用量70%以上.     

A simultaneous optimization approach for the design of wastewater and heat exchange networks based on cost estimation

A new systematic methodology for designing wastewater and heat exchange networks for process industries involving effluent streams containing multiple contaminants is proposed. A simultaneous optimization approach mathematically combines the problems of wastewater and heat exchanger network optimization into a single step. This process includes two global iterations of a similar two-stage approach and optimizes networks for water and heat exchange simultaneously based on cost estimation. The objective function is to minimize the total annual cost of the wastewater and heat exchange network design which is subject to the mass and energy balance constraints on all the pertinent flows and to constraints related to the concentrations of contaminants. The proposed method employs a strategy to address a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) formulation. Cost estimates for optimized wastewater and heat exchange networks for an oil refinery process are generated, illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

Evaluation of alternatives for extending the life of landfills

Given the difficulty, as well as the high cost, of siting and constructing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills it is incumbent on landfill managers to evaluate all practical measures to extend the useful life of existing landfills. This necessitates not only identifying potential methods to extend their life, but also the means to assess at what time horizons in the landfill's life such measures are cost effective. Some typical examples of methods to extend their life include: size reduction of incoming waste, improved in-place compaction density, use of alternative daily cover, waste diversion, and accelerating the degradation to enhance attendant settlement on the MSW. Most, if not all, of these methods incur capital/operating costs that must be evaluated. The methodology for this analysis is presented using the existing landfill at Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB), Guam, as a model for the procedure. The Landfill Extension Model (LEM) computer program was written to model the AAFB landfill and to analyze various extension alternatives to include compaction, shredding, alternative daily cover and operation outsourcing (contracting). The LEM computer program may be used to evaluate any landfill operation and is consequently useful for evaluating any existing landfill. It was found that by utilizing all of the proposed alternatives the life of AAFB landfill could be extended from 10 years to 48 years.     

Life cycle assessment of spray dried soluble coffee and comparison with alternatives (drip filter and capsule espresso)

This paper aims to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with spray dried soluble coffee over its entire life cycle and compare it with drip filter coffee and capsule espresso coffee. It particularly aims to identify critical environmental issues and responsibilities along the whole life cycle chain of spray dried coffee. This life cycle assessment (LCA) specifically uses foreground data obtained directly from coffee manufacturers and suppliers. Aside from energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions, water footprint is also studied in detail, including regionalization of water impacts based on the ecological scarcity method 2006. Other impact categories are screened using the IMPACT 2002+ impact assessment method.The overall LCA results for a 1 dl cup of spray dried soluble coffee amounts approximately to 1 MJ of primary non-renewable energy consumption, to emissions of 0.07 kg of CO_2-eq, and between 3 and 10 l of non-turbined water use, depending on whether or not the coffee cultivation is irrigated and wet treated. When considering turbined water, use can be up to 400 l of water per cup. Pouch – and to a lesser extent metal can packaging alternatives – show lower environmental burdens than glass or sticks.On average, about one half of the environmental footprint occurs at a life cycle stage under the control of the coffee producer or its suppliers (i.e., during cultivation, treatment, processing, packaging up to distribution, along with advertising) and the other half at a stage controlled by the user (shopping, appliances manufacturing, use and waste disposal). Key environmental parameters of spray dried soluble coffee are the amount of extra water boiled and the efficiency of cup cleaning during use phase, whether the coffee is irrigated or not, as well as the type and amount of fertilizer used in the coffee field. The packaging contributes to 10% of the overall life cycle impacts.Compared to other coffee alternatives, spray dried soluble coffee uses less energy and has a lower environmental footprint than capsule espresso coffee or drip filter coffee, the latter having the highest environmental impacts on a per cup basis. This study shows that a broad LCA approach is needed to help industry to minimize the environmental burdens directly related to their products. Including all processes of the entire system is necessary i) to get a comprehensive environmental footprint of the product system with respect to sustainable production and consumption, ii) to share stakeholders responsibility along the entire product life cycle, and iii) to avoid problem shifting between different life cycle stages.     

Water,wastewater and waste management in brewing industries

Water and wastewater management constitutes a practical problem for the food and beverage industry including the brewing industry. In spite of significant improvement over the last 20 years, water consumption and disposal remain critical from an environmental and economic standpoint. This paper gives an overview of the world beer market in order to highlight the heterogeneity in capacity of global beer production. From a synthesis of existing literature, water consumption is analysed and the most common treatments and the associated costs are reported. Finally, biological and technical alternatives including membrane operation processes and economic reality are described.