Mitigation of environmental impacts in warm-weather wastewater treatment plants using the life cycle assessment tool

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Rebello ◽  
R. F. Gonçalves ◽  
J. L. Calmon
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Warm Weather

Evaluating new processes and concepts for energy and resource recovery from municipal wastewater with life cycle assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 1074-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Remy ◽  
M. Boulestreau ◽  
J. Warneke ◽  
P. Jossa ◽  
C. Kabbe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Resource Recovery ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Iso 14040 ◽  
Using Data

Energy and resource recovery from municipal wastewater is a pre-requisite for an efficient and sustainable water management in cities of the future. However, a sound evaluation of available processes and pathways is required to identify opportunities and short-comings of the different options and reveal synergies and potentials for optimization. For evaluating environmental impacts in a holistic view, the tool of life cycle assessment (LCA, ISO 14040/44) is suitable to characterize and quantify the direct and indirect effects of new processes and concepts. This paper gives an overview of four new processes and concepts for upgrading existing wastewater treatment plants towards energy positive and resource efficient wastewater treatment, based upon an evaluation of their environmental impacts with LCA using data from pilot and full-scale assessments of the considered processes.

Development of a Life-Cycle Assessment Tool to Quantify the Environmental Impacts of Airport Pavement Construction

2017 ◽  
Vol 2603 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Yang ◽  
Imad L. Al-Qadi
Keyword(s):  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Portland Cement ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Material Production ◽  
Airport Pavement ◽  
Pavement Construction

The environmental impacts of airport pavement construction were evaluated in this study through a life-cycle analysis approach. Total primary energy (TPE) consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from material production and construction of pavement were determined by using life-cycle assessment (LCA), a quantitative methodology described in the ISO 14040 series. A tool was developed to implement a probabilistic LCA through the Monte Carlo method. This tool allowed for consideration of uncertainty from life-cycle inventory data. A case study on the construction of Runway 10R-28L at Chicago O'Hare International Airport focused on mainline and shoulder pavement designs. Environmental impacts from producing materials for the pavements increased from lower to upper layers, while asphalt layers had relatively higher TPE consumption than the upper portland cement concrete layer—and vice versa for GHGs. Impacts from material production overshadowed those from construction, which contributed less than 2% of TPE consumption and GHGs. Further analysis showed that two production processes—for asphalt binder and portland cement—were the leading contributors (45.3% and 29.2%, respectively) of TPE consumption, while the latter was the leading contributor (73.4%) of GHGs. A probabilistic analysis compared the original 10R-28L runway design and a modified design that did not use recycled materials or warm-mix asphalt technology. The results from 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations showed that the environmental impacts from the two cases were statistically significant, with the original design having lower TPE consumption (482 versus 693 MJ/yd2 for TPE) and GHGs (37.5 versus 53.9 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per square yard).

scholarly journals Environmental performance of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant applying Life Cycle Assessment

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thaís Andrade de Sampaio Lopes ◽  
Luciano Matos Queiroz ◽  
Asher Kiperstok
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Treated Effluent ◽  
Useful Life

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to estimate and analyze the environmental impacts from the construction and operation phases of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in the municipality of Lauro de Freitas, Bahia, Brazil. The WWTP process consists of the association of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor followed by four constructed wetlands (CWL) and a disinfection step. The functional unit was defined as one cubic meter of treated effluent during the useful life of this WWTP (20 years). The LCA was carried out using SimaPro® software and the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) assessment method. The environmental impacts during construction phase were mainly from the wooden forms for concrete and the use of reinforcing steel. During the operation phase, the chlorine used as effluent disinfectant caused the greatest impacts in the abiotic depletion and acidification categories. Macronutrient concentrations present in the treated effluent and the methane generated also caused significant environmental impacts during the WWTP’s useful life. The results obtained highlight the importance of the application of a methodology like LCA to assist in decision-making with regard to the implementation, construction and operation of a WWTP.

scholarly journals Life cycle assessment of urban wastewater treatment plants: a critical analysis and guideline proposal

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais Ayres Rebello ◽  
Regiane Pereira Roque ◽  
Ricardo Franci Gonçalves ◽  
João Luiz Calmon ◽  
Luciano Matos Queiroz
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Guideline Development ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Allocation Process

Abstract In its 30 years of existence, there are still many improvement possibilities in studies performing the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP). Hence, this paper aims to start a guideline development for LCA of urban WWTP based on the information available in the scientific literature on the topic. The authors used the Proknow-C systematic review methodology for paper selection and 111 studies were analyzed. The most significant points that can be improved are caused by missing essential information (e.g. functional unity and input data). Other important methodological aspects are covered: allocation process, functional unit choice, sensitivity analysis, and important fluxes to be considered. Many opportunities within the LCA on WWTP were identified, such as optimization of WWTP operational aspects and resource recovery. Furthermore, LCA should be combined with other methodologies such as Big Data, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Life Cycle Cost Assessment, and Social Life Cycle Assessment. To achieve this potential, it is clear that the scientific and technical community needs to converge into a new protocol to ensure that LCA application becomes more reliable and transparent.

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