Sustainable Design of Wastewater Treatment Systems: Evaluations ofOperational Flexibility and Phototrophs for Resource Recovery.

Sustainable Design;Sanitation;Microalgae;Life Cycle Design;Systems Engineering;Water-energy Nexus;Civil and Environmental Engineering;Engineering;Environmental Engineering

Guest, Jeremy S.Scavia, Donald ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Sustainable Design;    Sanitation;    Microalgae;    Life Cycle Design;    Systems Engineering;    Water-energy Nexus;    Civil and Environmental Engineering;    Engineering;    Environmental Engineering;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/91603/jsguest_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to advance the sustainability of wastewater systems.Although concepts surrounding sustainable wastewater infrastructure have advanced in recent years, a defined methodology to develop designs and elucidate trade-offs across dimensions of sustainability (social, economic, environmental, functional), space (local, regional, global), and time (present, future) does not exist.In particular, social barriers have not been sufficiently addressed and there is a lack of integration in quantitative assessments of economic, environmental, and functional sustainability.This limitation not only impacts the industry’s ability to develop more sustainable designs and evaluate configuration alternatives, but it also inhibits the comparative evaluation of traditional with emerging technologies in wastewater management (e.g., the use of phototrophic microorganisms for energy recovery).In order to address social factors, we have developed a planning and design process for wastewater treatment systems that is centered on a process of continuous stakeholder participation and that is enhanced through communication tools and lessons learned from the social sciences literature.To provide stakeholders with the a broader set of information in the context of WWTP design, we have also integrated state of the art tools to assess the performance, cost, and life cycle environmental impacts of WWTP designs.Although these tools have been developed independent of one another in the literature, their integration creates opportunities to elucidate tensions and synergistic relationships among goals for sustainability.Ultimately, this methodology and the case study used for its demonstration offer insight into broader themes of WWTP sustainability, improve designs in multiple dimensions, and provide a framework to evaluate emerging technologies in wastewater management.Finally, we have developed a phototrophic process model to predict the performance of phototrophic microorganisms as an energy recovery technology.Through these efforts, this dissertation advances the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems by facilitating sustainable design and decision-making in the context of WWTP design and operation.