IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v204y2017icp1463-1475.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The feasibility and challenges of energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment plants

Author

Listed:
  • Gu, Yifan
  • Li, Yue
  • Li, Xuyao
  • Luo, Pengzhou
  • Wang, Hongtao
  • Robinson, Zoe P.
  • Wang, Xin
  • Wu, Jiang
  • Li, Fengting

Abstract

Energy efficiency optimization is crucial for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) because of increasing energy costs and concerns about global climate change. Energy efficiency optimization can be achieved through a combination of energy recovery from the wastewater treatment process and energy saving-related technologies. Through these two approaches energy self-sufficiency of WWTPs is achievable, and research is underway to reduce operation costs and energy consumption and to achieve carbon neutrality. In this paper, we analyze energy consumption and recovery in WWTPs and characterize the factors that influence energy use in WWTPs, including treatment techniques, treatment capacities, and regional differences. Recent advances in the optimization of energy recovery technologies and theoretical analysis models for the analysis of different technological solutions are presented. Despite some challenges in implementation, such as technological barriers and high investment costs, particularly in developing countries, this paper highlights the potential for more energy self-sufficient WWTPs to be established in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Gu, Yifan & Li, Yue & Li, Xuyao & Luo, Pengzhou & Wang, Hongtao & Robinson, Zoe P. & Wang, Xin & Wu, Jiang & Li, Fengting, 2017. "The feasibility and challenges of energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1463-1475.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:204:y:2017:i:c:p:1463-1475
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.02.069
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917302179
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.02.069?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Hongtao & Yang, Yi & Keller, Arturo A. & Li, Xiang & Feng, Shijin & Dong, Ya-nan & Li, Fengting, 2016. "Comparative analysis of energy intensity and carbon emissions in wastewater treatment in USA, Germany, China and South Africa," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 873-881.
    2. Shen, Yanwen & Linville, Jessica L. & Urgun-Demirtas, Meltem & Mintz, Marianne M. & Snyder, Seth W., 2015. "An overview of biogas production and utilization at full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States: Challenges and opportunities towards energy-neutral WWTPs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 346-362.
    3. Longo, Stefano & d’Antoni, Benedetto Mirko & Bongards, Michael & Chaparro, Antonio & Cronrath, Andreas & Fatone, Francesco & Lema, Juan M. & Mauricio-Iglesias, Miguel & Soares, Ana & Hospido, Almudena, 2016. "Monitoring and diagnosis of energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants. A state of the art and proposals for improvement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1251-1268.
    4. Plappally, A.K. & Lienhard V, J.H., 2012. "Energy requirements for water production, treatment, end use, reclamation, and disposal," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4818-4848.
    5. Shen, Chao & Jiang, Yiqiang & Yao, Yang & Wang, Xinlei, 2012. "An experimental comparison of two heat exchangers used in wastewater source heat pump: A novel dry-expansion shell-and-tube evaporator versus a conventional immersed evaporator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 600-608.
    6. Scott, Christopher A. & Pierce, Suzanne A. & Pasqualetti, Martin J. & Jones, Alice L. & Montz, Burrell E. & Hoover, Joseph H., 2011. "Policy and institutional dimensions of the water-energy nexus," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6622-6630, October.
    7. Siddiqi, Afreen & Anadon, Laura Diaz, 2011. "The water-energy nexus in Middle East and North Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 4529-4540, August.
    8. Wakeel, Muhammad & Chen, Bin & Hayat, Tasawar & Alsaedi, Ahmed & Ahmad, Bashir, 2016. "Energy consumption for water use cycles in different countries: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 868-885.
    9. Sevda, Surajbhan & Dominguez-Benetton, Xochitl & Vanbroekhoven, Karolien & De Wever, Heleen & Sreekrishnan, T.R. & Pant, Deepak, 2013. "High strength wastewater treatment accompanied by power generation using air cathode microbial fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 194-206.
    10. Dincer, Ibrahim, 2002. "The role of exergy in energy policy making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 137-149, January.
    11. Chae, Kyu-Jung & Ren, Xianghao, 2016. "Flexible and stable heat energy recovery from municipal wastewater treatment plants using a fixed-inverter hybrid heat pump system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 565-574.
    12. Koch, Konrad & Helmreich, Brigitte & Drewes, Jörg E., 2015. "Co-digestion of food waste in municipal wastewater treatment plants: Effect of different mixtures on methane yield and hydrolysis rate constant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 250-255.
    13. Panepinto, Deborah & Fiore, Silvia & Zappone, Mariantonia & Genon, Giuseppe & Meucci, Lorenza, 2016. "Evaluation of the energy efficiency of a large wastewater treatment plant in Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 404-411.
    14. Kligerman, Debora Cynamon & Bouwer, Edward J., 2015. "Prospects for biodiesel production from algae-based wastewater treatment in Brazil: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1834-1846.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Macintosh, C. & Astals, S. & Sembera, C. & Ertl, A. & Drewes, J.E. & Jensen, P.D. & Koch, K., 2019. "Successful strategies for increasing energy self-sufficiency at Grüneck wastewater treatment plant in Germany by food waste co-digestion and improved aeration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 797-808.
    2. Longo, S. & Mauricio-Iglesias, M. & Soares, A. & Campo, P. & Fatone, F. & Eusebi, A.L. & Akkersdijk, E. & Stefani, L. & Hospido, A., 2019. "ENERWATER – A standard method for assessing and improving the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 897-910.
    3. Luo, Li & Dzakpasu, Mawuli & Yang, Baichuan & Zhang, Wushou & Yang, Yahong & Wang, Xiaochang C., 2019. "A novel index of total oxygen demand for the comprehensive evaluation of energy consumption for urban wastewater treatment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 253-261.
    4. Lee, Mengshan & Keller, Arturo A. & Chiang, Pen-Chi & Den, Walter & Wang, Hongtao & Hou, Chia-Hung & Wu, Jiang & Wang, Xin & Yan, Jinyue, 2017. "Water-energy nexus for urban water systems: A comparative review on energy intensity and environmental impacts in relation to global water risks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 589-601.
    5. Lam, Chor-Man & Leng, Ling & Chen, Pi-Cheng & Lee, Po-Heng & Hsu, Shu-Chien, 2017. "Eco-efficiency analysis of non-potable water systems in domestic buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 293-307.
    6. Huang, Runyao & Shen, Ziheng & Wang, Hongtao & Xu, Jin & Ai, Zisheng & Zheng, Hongyuan & Liu, Runxi, 2021. "Evaluating the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants in the Yangtze River Delta: Perspectives on regional discrepancies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    7. Odabaş Baş, Gözde & Aydınalp Köksal, Merih, 2022. "Environmental and techno-economic analysis of the integration of biogas and solar power systems into urban wastewater treatment plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 579-597.
    8. Yan, Peng & Shi, Hong-Xin & Chen, You-Peng & Gao, Xu & Fang, Fang & Guo, Jin-Song, 2020. "Optimization of recovery and utilization pathway of chemical energy from wastewater pollutants by a net-zero energy wastewater treatment model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. Yan, Guoxin & Kenway, Steven J. & Lam, Ka Leung & Lant, Paul A., 2024. "Water-energy trajectories for urban water and wastewater reveal the impact of city strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    10. Adam Masłoń & Joanna Czarnota & Paulina Szczyrba & Aleksandra Szaja & Joanna Szulżyk-Cieplak & Grzegorz Łagód, 2024. "Assessment of Energy Self-Sufficiency of Wastewater Treatment Plants—A Case Study from Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-19, March.
    11. Rosa M. Llácer-Iglesias & P. Amparo López-Jiménez & Modesto Pérez-Sánchez, 2021. "Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    12. Guven, Huseyin & Ersahin, Mustafa Evren & Dereli, Recep Kaan & Ozgun, Hale & Isik, Isa & Ozturk, Izzet, 2019. "Energy recovery potential of anaerobic digestion of excess sludge from high-rate activated sludge systems co-treating municipal wastewater and food waste," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1027-1036.
    13. Duan, Cuncun & Chen, Bin, 2020. "Driving factors of water-energy nexus in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    14. Michela Gallo & Desara Malluta & Adriana Del Borghi & Erica Gagliano, 2024. "A Critical Review on Methodologies for the Energy Benchmarking of Wastewater Treatment Plants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Sharifzadeh, Mahdi & Hien, Raymond Khoo Teck & Shah, Nilay, 2019. "China’s roadmap to low-carbon electricity and water: Disentangling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electricity-water nexus via renewable wind and solar power generation, and carbon capture and sto," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 31-42.
    16. Kirchem, Dana & Lynch, Muireann Á. & Bertsch, Valentin & Casey, Eoin, 2020. "Modelling demand response with process models and energy systems models: Potential applications for wastewater treatment within the energy-water nexus," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    17. Bey, M. & Hamidat, A. & Nacer, T., 2021. "Eco-energetic feasibility study of using grid-connected photovoltaic system in wastewater treatment plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    18. Li, Xian & Yang, Lili & Zheng, Heran & Shan, Yuli & Zhang, Zongyong & Song, Malin & Cai, Bofeng & Guan, Dabo, 2019. "City-level water-energy nexus in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 827-834.
    19. Smith, Kate & Liu, Shuming & Liu, Ying & Guo, Shengjie, 2018. "Can China reduce energy for water? A review of energy for urban water supply and wastewater treatment and suggestions for change," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 41-58.
    20. Khan, Zarrar & Linares, Pedro & García-González, Javier, 2017. "Integrating water and energy models for policy driven applications. A review of contemporary work and recommendations for future developments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1123-1138.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:204:y:2017:i:c:p:1463-1475. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.