scholarly journals Geopolymers and Alkali-Activated Materials for Wastewater Treatment Applications and Valorization of Industrial Side Streams

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Samarina ◽  
Esther Takaluoma ◽  
Outi Laatikainen
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Resource Recovery ◽  
Water Remediation ◽  
Recovery Models ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Alkali Activated ◽  
Adsorption Capability

The EU has the ambitious goal to transition from linear to circular economy. In circular economy, the old saying of “one’s waste is the other’s treasure” is being implemented. In this chapter, valorisation of industrial side streams, traditionally branded as waste, is discussed with respect to their applications as raw materials for new adsorptive products – geopolymers (GP) and alkali-activated materials (AAM) – as adsorbents in wastewater treatment. The chemical nature and structure of materials generally have great influence on GP/AAM adsorption capability. The approaches used for the raw materials preparation (chemical or physical) prior geopolymerization to increase the adsorption capacity of the final products will be discussed. Adsorption properties and performance of GPs/AAMs towards various contaminants are described, and the latest research on testing those materials as water remediation are reviewed. Special attention is paid to regeneration of exhausted materials and available resource recovery options that the regeneration approach opens. New forms of geopolymer adsorbent such as foams or core-shell structures are described and in the last part of the chapter, a short economic evaluation of resource recovery models is provided.

scholarly journals The SPPD-WRF Framework: A Novel and Holistic Methodology for Strategical Planning and Process Design of Water Resource Factories

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kehrein ◽  
Mark van Loosdrecht ◽  
Patricia Osseweijer ◽  
John Posada ◽  
Jo Dewulf
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Resource Recovery ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Wwtp Design

This paper guides decision making in more sustainable urban water management practices that feed into a circular economy by presenting a novel framework for conceptually designing and strategically planning wastewater treatment processes from a resource recovery perspective. Municipal wastewater cannot any longer be perceived as waste stream because a great variety of technologies are available to recover water, energy, fertilizer, and other valuable products from it. Despite the vast technological recovery possibilities, only a few processes have yet been implemented that deserve the name water resource factory instead of wastewater treatment plant. This transition relies on process designs that are not only technically feasible but also overcome various non-technical bottlenecks. A multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach is needed to design water resource factories (WRFs) in the future that are technically feasible, cost effective, show low environmental impacts, and successfully market recovered resources. To achieve that, the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) design space needs to be opened up for a variety of expertise that complements the traditional wastewater engineering domain. Implementable WRF processes can only be designed if the current design perspective, which is dominated by the fulfilment of legal effluent qualities and process costs, is extended to include resource recovery as an assessable design objective from an early stage on. Therefore, the framework combines insights and methodologies from different fields and disciplines beyond WWTP design like, e.g., circular economy, industrial process engineering, project management, value chain development, and environmental impact assessment. It supports the transfer of the end-of-waste concept into the wastewater sector as it structures possible resource recovery activities according to clear criteria. This makes recovered resources more likely to fulfil the conditions of the end-of-waste concept and allows the change in their definition from wastes to full-fledged products.

scholarly journals Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs): The Case Study of Palermo University (Italy)

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 3413
Author(s):  
Giorgio Mannina ◽  
Rosa Alduina ◽  
Luigi Badalucco ◽  
Lorenzo Barbara ◽  
Fanny Claire Capri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Resource Recovery ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Eu Project ◽  
The University

The wastewater sector paradigm is shifting from wastewater treatment to resource recovery. In addition, concerns regarding sustainability during the operation have increased. In this sense, there is a need to break barriers (i.e., social, economic, technological, legal, etc.) for moving forward towards water resource recovery facilities and demonstration case studies can be very effective and insightful. This paper presents a new water resource recovery case study which is part of the Horizon 2020 EU Project “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions—Wider Uptake”. The final aim is to demonstrate the importance of a resource recovery system based on the circular economy concept. The recovery facilities at Palermo University (Italy) are first presented. Afterwards, the resource recovery pilot plants are described. Preliminary results have underlined the great potential of the wastewater treatment plant in terms of resources recovery and the central role of the University in fostering the transition towards circular economy. The fermentation batch test highlighted a volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation suitable for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production. The results of static adsorption and desorption tests showed that the highest amount of adsorbed NH4+ was recorded for untreated and HCl-Na treated clinoptilolite.

scholarly journals Parametric Studies Regarding the Development of Alkali-Activated Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete Using Romanian Local Raw Materials

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Adrian-Victor Lăzărescu ◽  
Henriette Szilagyi ◽  
Cornelia Baeră ◽  
Andreea Hegyi
Keyword(s):  
Fly Ash ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Geopolymer Concrete ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Alternative Material ◽  
Parametric Studies ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Alkali Activated

Current research and development policies in the field of building materials, in the context of sustainable development, have the main objectives of increasing the safety and performance of the built environment at the same time as reducing pollution and its negative impact. Today, the idea that the sustainable city of the future should meet human needs and maintain a higher quality of life is worldwide unanimously accepted. The aim of this paper is to present results regarding the production of alkali-activated fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, a new, alternative material, produced using local available raw materials from Romania.

The Influence of Wire Properties on the Quality and Performance of Wire+Arc Additive Manufactured Aluminium Parts

2014 ◽  
Vol 1081 ◽  
pp. 210-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang Long Gu ◽  
Jia Luo Ding ◽  
Bao Qiang Cong ◽  
Jing Bai ◽  
Hui Min Gu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
External Surface ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Additive Manufacture ◽  
Layer By Layer ◽  
Micro Hardness ◽  
Deposited Metal ◽  
Near Net Shape ◽  
And Performance

Wire+arc additive manufacture (WAAM) is a high build rate process for production of near-net shape components layer by layer. The performance and quality of the deposited metal are heavily affected by the properties of wires, which are the raw materials for WAAM. Therefore there may be higher requirements for the qualities and properties of wires for WAAM than for welding. External surface qualities, micro hardness, composition and microstructures of five ER4043 aluminium wires were investigated in the present research. The results indicate that the internal and external properties of the wires exert great influence on the performance of the WAAM parts.

scholarly journals An Exploration of Circular Economy Practices and Performance Among Romanian Producers

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Botezat ◽  
Anca Dodescu ◽  
Sebastian Văduva ◽  
Silvia Fotea
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cluster Membership ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Global Economic Growth ◽  
Protective Methods

Economic growth is the mandate of the global economy and with our planet’s population poised to reach 10 billion people, economists are searching for sustainable economic growth approaches that do not increase raw materials consumption nor deplete and damage our environment. This mandate is the heart of the Circular Economy (CE), a challenge to theoreticians and practitioners alike to continue global economic growth, but with fewer resources and protective methods for our environment. The European Union (EU) economies were early adopters of CE and are now demanding similar adoptions from its recently integrated members from the East. Romania is one of the laggard states in this transition, given its heritage and lack of economic sophistication. Our paper identifies the practices and performance of Romanian producers regarding the implementation of the CE principles, so future recommendations can be formulated. In surveying the Romanian firms, we applied a cluster analysis based on their level of green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) practices. The respondents were grouped into two clusters: “low green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) scorers” and “high green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) scorers’. The results suggest that cluster membership partially influence CE practices and fully influence CE-targeted performance.

scholarly journals Towards the Implementation of Circular Economy in the Wastewater Sector: Challenges and Opportunities

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Guerra-Rodríguez ◽  
Paula Oulego ◽  
Encarnación Rodríguez ◽  
Devendra Narain Singh ◽  
Jorge Rodríguez-Chueca
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Added Value ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Reclaimed Wastewater ◽  
Human Lifespan ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

The advancement of science has facilitated increase in the human lifespan, reflected in economic and population growth, which unfortunately leads to increased exploitation of resources. This situation entails not only depletion of resources, but also increases environmental pollution, mainly due to atmospheric emissions, wastewater effluents, and solid wastes. In this scenario, it is compulsory to adopt a paradigm change, as far as the consumption of resources by the population is concerned, to achieve a circular economy. The recovery and reuse of resources are key points, leading to a decrease in the consumption of raw materials, waste reduction, and improvement of energy efficiency. This is the reason why the concept of the circular economy can be applied in any industrial activity, including the wastewater treatment sector. With this in view, this review manuscript focuses on demonstrating the challenges and opportunities in applying a circular economy in the water sector. For example, reclamation and reuse of wastewater to increase water resources, by paying particular attention to the risks for human health, recovery of nutrients, or highly added-value products (e.g., metals and biomolecules among others), valorisation of sewage sludge, and/or recovery of energy. Being aware of this situation, in the European, Union 18 out of 27 countries are already reusing reclaimed wastewater at some level. Moreover, many wastewater treatment plants have reached energy self-sufficiency, producing up to 150% of their energy requirements. Unfortunately, many of the opportunities presented in this work are far from becoming a reality. Still, the first step is always to become aware of the problem and work on optimizing the solution to make it possible.

scholarly journals Operation and Performance of Austrian Wastewater and Sewage Sludge Treatment as a Basis for Resource Optimization

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 2998
Author(s):  
Arabel Amann ◽  
Nikolaus Weber ◽  
Jörg Krampe ◽  
Helmut Rechberger ◽  
Ottavia Zoboli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Resource Recovery ◽  
Contaminant Removal ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Additional Function ◽  
Current State ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment ◽  
P Recovery ◽  
And Performance

Recent years came with a paradigm shift for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to extend the sole purpose of contaminant removal to an additional function as resource recovery facilities. This shift is accompanied by the development of new European legislation towards better inclusion of resource recovery from wastewater. However, long operational lifespans and a multitude of treatment requirements demand thorough investigations into how resource recovery can be implemented sustainably. To aid the formulation of new legislation for phosphorus (P) recovery specifically, in 2017 we conducted a survey on Austrian WWTP-infrastructure, with a focus on P removal and sludge treatment, as well as disposal and sludge quality of all WWTPs above 2000 population equivalents (PE). Data were prepared for analysis, checked for completeness and cross-checked for plausibility. This study presents the major findings from this database and draws essential conclusions for the future recovery of P from wastewater. We see results from this study as useful to other countries, describing the current state of the art in Austria and potentially aiding in developing wastewater treatment and P recovery strategies.

scholarly journals Towards Circular Economy: Evaluation of Sewage Sludge Biogas Solutions

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Kiselev ◽  
Elena Magaril ◽  
Romen Magaril ◽  
Deborah Panepinto ◽  
Marco Ravina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Anaerobic Fermentation ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Specific Productivity ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation

Today it is obvious that the existing linear model of the economy does not correlate with the principles of sustainable development. The circular economy model can replace the current linear economy whilst addressing the issues of environmental deterioration, social equity and long-term economic growth. In the context of effectively implementing circular economy objectives, particular importance should be attributed to wastewater treatment sludge management, due to the possibility of recovering valuable raw materials and using its energy potential. Anaerobic digestion is one of the methods of recovering energy from sewage sludge. The main goal of this study is to make a preliminary evaluation of possible sewage sludge biogas and biomethane solutions using a computation model called MCBioCH4 and compare its results with laboratory tests of sewage sludge fermentation from the northern wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation). Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the volume and qualitative composition of biogas produced throughout anaerobic fermentation of raw materials coming from the WWTP. The specific productivity of samples ranged between 308.46 Nm3/tvs and 583.08 Nm3/tvs depending if mesophilic or thermophilic conditions were analyzed, or if the experiment was conducted with or without sludge pre-treatment. Output values from the laboratory were used as input for MCBioCH4 to calculate the flow of biogas or biomethane produced. For the case study of Ekaterinburg two possible energy conversion options were selected: B-H (biogas combustion with cogeneration of electrical and thermal energy) and M-T (biomethane to be used in transports). The results of the energy module showed a net energy content of the biogas between 6575 MWh/year and 7200 MWh/year. Both options yielded a favorable greenhouse gas (GHG) balance, meaning that avoided emissions are higher than produced emissions. The results discussion also showed that, in this case, the B-H option is preferable to the M-T option. The implementation of the biogas/biomethane energy conversion system in Ekaterinburg WWTP necessitates further investigations to clarify the remaining technical and economic aspects

European experience in transition to circular economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Ratner
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
National Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
European Experience ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Eu

Subject. The article considers the concept of circular economy, which has originated relatively recently in the academic literature, and is now increasingly recognized in many countries at the national level. In the European Union, the transition to circular economy is viewed as an opportunity to improve competitiveness of the European Union, protect businesses from resource shortages and fluctuating prices for raw materials and supplies, and a way to increase employment and innovation. Objectives. The aim of the study is to analyze the incentives developed by the European Commission for moving to circular economy, and to assess their effectiveness on the basis of statistical analysis. Methods. I employ general scientific methods of research. Results. The analysis of the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy enabled to conclude that the results of the recent research in circular economy barriers, eco-innovation, technology and infrastructure were successfully integrated into the framework of this document. Understanding the root causes holding back the circular economy development and the balanced combination of economic and administrative incentives strengthened the Action Plan, and it contributed to the circular economy development in the EU. Conclusions. The measures to stimulate the development of the circular economy proposed in the European Action Plan can be viewed as a prototype for designing similar strategies in other countries, including Russia. Meanwhile, a more detailed analysis of barriers to the circular economy at the level of individual countries and regions is needed.

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