scholarly journals Water-Energy Nexus: A Pathway of Reaching the Zero Net Carbon in Wastewater Treatment Plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9377
Author(s):  
Beatriz Del Río-Gamero ◽  
Alejandro Ramos-Martín ◽  
Noemi Melián-Martel ◽  
Sebastián Pérez-Báez
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Chemical Potential ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Water Energy Nexus

The water-energy nexus, together with the need for sustainable management of these interconnected resources, has attracted growing attention from the scientific community. This paper focuses on this nexus from the point of view of the energy that is required by wastewater treatment plants, which are intensive energy consumers and major emitters of greenhouse gases. The main objective of the study is to investigate the possible use of a wastewater plant’s internal chemical, potential, and kinetic energy, and the addition of external renewable technologies with a view to achieving clean energy consumption and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For this purpose, an analysis is made of the feasibility of introducing alternative technologies—anaerobic digestion, hydraulic turbines, wind turbines, and photovoltaic modules— to meet the plant’s energy needs. The plant chosen as case study (Jinamar plant, Canary Islands, Spain) has an energy consumption of 2956 MWh/year, but the employed methodological framework is suitable for other plants in locations where the renewable energy potential has previously been analyzed. The results show that a renewable energy production of 3396 MWh/year can be obtained, more than enough to meet plant consumption, but also confirm the need for an energy storage system, due to seasonal variability in energy resource availability. In terms of climate change mitigation, the emission of 2754 tons/year of greenhouse gases is avoided. In addition, the economic viability of the proposed system is also confirmed.

scholarly journals Net Zero Energy Model for Wastewater Treatment Plants

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Mohammad D. Qandil ◽  
Ahmad Abbas ◽  
Abdel Salem ◽  
Ahmad Abdelhadi ◽  
Alaa Hasan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero

Abstract The primary objective of this study is to achieve net-zero-energy (NZE) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by utilizing energy efficiency opportunities (EEO's), combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and other renewable energy sources, e.g., solar, water, and wind powers. This study discusses an innovative energy solution for WWTPs in the United States, and one of the WWTPs with a flow capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD) was selected as a case study. An optimization tool, Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) software, is used in this study to find the best energy system configuration to run the system. An energy audit for one WWTP in early 2020 and the report is used to do this study. The proposed EEO's were able to reduce WWTP energy consumption by about 11%. The excess anaerobic digester gas was utilized in a CHP system to cover about 42% of the facility's consumption. Also, 3% of the utility energy consumption can be claimed by microturbines in the aeration tanks. Another two renewable energy systems, solar photovoltaic (PV) with 29% and water turbines with 15%, contribute to covering 100% of the WWTP energy consumption and achieving an NZE WWTP.

scholarly journals Forecasting Energy Consumption of Wastewater Treatment Plants with a Transfer Learning Approach for Sustainable Cities

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1149
Author(s):  
Pedro Oliveira ◽  
Bruno Fernandes ◽  
Cesar Analide ◽  
Paulo Novais
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Transfer Learning ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Short Term Memory ◽  
Gated Recurrent Units

A major challenge of today’s society is to make large urban centres more sustainable. Improving the energy efficiency of the various infrastructures that make up cities is one aspect being considered when improving their sustainability, with Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) being one of them. Consequently, this study aims to conceive, tune, and evaluate a set of candidate deep learning models with the goal being to forecast the energy consumption of a WWTP, following a recursive multi-step approach. Three distinct types of models were experimented, in particular, Long Short-Term Memory networks (LSTMs), Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs), and uni-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Uni- and multi-variate settings were evaluated, as well as different methods for handling outliers. Promising forecasting results were obtained by CNN-based models, being this difference statistically significant when compared to LSTMs and GRUs, with the best model presenting an approximate overall error of 630 kWh when on a multi-variate setting. Finally, to overcome the problem of data scarcity in WWTPs, transfer learning processes were implemented, with promising results being achieved when using a pre-trained uni-variate CNN model, with the overall error reducing to 325 kWh.

scholarly journals Methodology for Energy Optimization in Wastewater Treatment Plants. Phase II: Reduction of Air Requirements and Redesign of the Biological Aeration Installation

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1143
Author(s):  
Ana Belén Lozano Avilés ◽  
Francisco Del Cerro Velázquez ◽  
Mercedes Llorens Pascual Del Riquelme
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Phase Ii ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Energy Optimization ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Pressure Losses ◽  
San Pedro ◽  
Air Supply ◽  
Optimization Methodology

Phase I of the proposed energy optimization methodology showed how the selection of best management criteria for the biological aeration process, and the guarantee of its control at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia, Spain) produced reductions of around 20% in energy consumption by considerably reducing the oxygen needs of the microorganisms in the biological system. This manuscript focused on phase II of this methodology, which describes the tools that can be used to detect and correct deviations in the optimal operating points of the aeration equipment and the intrinsic deficiencies in the installation, in order to achieve optimization of the oxygen needs by the microorganisms and improve the efficiency of their transfer from the gas phase to the liquid phase. The objectives pursued were: (i) to minimize the need for aeration, (ii) to reduce the pressure losses in the installation, (iii) to optimize the air supply pressures to avoid excessive energy consumption for the same airflow, and (iv) to optimize the control strategy for the actual working conditions. The use of flow modeling and simulation techniques, the measurement and calculation of air transfer efficiency through the use of off-gas hoods, and the redesign of the aeration facility at the San Pedro del Pinatar WWTP were crucial, and allowed for reductions in energy consumption in Phase II of more than 20%.

Energy Consumption Optimization in Agriculture and Development Perspectives

2021 ◽  
pp. 1505-1525
Author(s):  
Dmitry Tikhomirov ◽  
Andrey Izmailov ◽  
Yakov Lobachevsky ◽  
Anatoly Tikhomirov
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Production Wastes ◽  
Energy Consumption Optimization ◽  
Decentralized Energy ◽  
Supply Systems

In this article, indicators of energy consumption in agriculture for Russian Federation are discussed, starting from the year 1990, and their forecast values for the period up to 2030 with the analysis of the decay in the period from 1991 to 2010 and gradual growth of energy resources consumption started in 2010 and continued to the present day has been analyzed. The outlines of the strategy of rural energy base development and optimization have been considered. Demand, development, and implementation conditions of decentralized energy supply systems have been substantiated, and their features, composition, and application field have been specified. It has been shown that the major energy resource of standalone energy systems is local and renewable energy sources and of agricultural production wastes. Methods and technologies for the conversion of renewable energy sources (RES), biomass, and waste of agricultural production into heat and power have been characterized.

Energy Production and Consumption Patterns and Planning: A Case of Northeast Minnesota

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 373-392
Author(s):  
Felix Amenumey ◽  
Melissa Pawlisch ◽  
Okechukwu Ukaga
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Technical Expertise ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Set Up

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) is a project designed to give local citizens and other stakeholders a voice in planning and determining their energy future. In total, there are seven CERTs operating in seven regions across Minnesota, USA. CERTs connect citizens with technical expertise to facilitate planning and implementation of energy conservation and renewable energy projects. These technical resources are helping the teams identify and prioritize the most appropriate and cost-effective opportunities within their regions. This paper will describe one of these energy teams (the Northeast CERT) and its efforts in promoting clean energy production and conservation. A key product of the Northeast CERT is a strategic energy plan that highlights the region's top energy priorities. As part of its project priorities, the Northeast Minnesota CERT is working to set up demonstration projects at every school and community in the region. Toward this goal, the team is currently collaborating with two schools in the region to set up renewable energy projects such as wind and solar, which in turn would help students to understand that renewables and conservation can and should be an integral part of our energy system.

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