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Chapin FT, Bolorinos J, Mauter MS. Electricity and natural gas tariffs at United States wastewater treatment plants. Sci Data 2024; 11:113. [PMID: 38263407 PMCID: PMC10805726 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02886-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are large electricity and natural gas consumers with untapped potential to recover carbon-neutral biogas and provide energy services for the grid. Techno-economic analysis of emerging energy recovery and management technologies is critical to understanding their commercial viability, but quantifying their energy cost savings potential is stymied by a lack of well curated, nationally representative electricity and natural gas tariff data. We present a dataset of electricity tariffs for the 100 largest WWTPs in the Clean Watershed Needs Survey (CWNS) and natural gas tariffs for the 54 of 100 WWTPs with on-site cogeneration. We manually collected tariffs from each utility's website and implemented data checks to ensure their validity. The dataset includes facility metadata, electricity tariffs, and natural gas tariffs (where cogeneration is present). Tariffs are current as of November 2021. We provide code for technical validation along with a sample simulation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jose Bolorinos
- Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Meagan S Mauter
- Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
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Bolorinos J, Mauter MS, Rajagopal R. Integrated Energy Flexibility Management at Wastewater Treatment Facilities. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:18362-18371. [PMID: 37327453 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c00365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
On-site batteries, low-pressure biogas storage, and wastewater storage could position wastewater resource recovery facilities as a widespread source of industrial energy demand flexibility. This work introduces a digital twin method that simulates the coordinated operation of current and future energy flexibility resources. We combine process models and statistical learning on 15 min resolution sensor data to construct a facility's energy and water flows. We then value energy flexibility interventions and use an iterative search algorithm to optimize energy flexibility upgrades. Results from a California facility with anaerobic sludge digestion and biogas cogeneration predict a 17% reduction in electricity bills and an annualized 3% return on investment. A national analysis suggests substantial benefit from using existing flexibility resources, such as wet-weather storage, to reduce electricity bills but finds that new energy flexibility investments are much less profitable in electricity markets without time-of-use incentives and plants without existing cogeneration facilities. Profitability of a range of energy flexibility interventions may increase as a larger number of utilities place a premium on energy flexibility, and cogeneration is more widely adopted. Our findings suggest that policies are needed to incentivize the sector's energy flexibility and provide subsidized lending to finance it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose Bolorinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Meagan S Mauter
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Ram Rajagopal
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California 94305, United States
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Kim AH, Criddle CS. Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment and Potable Reuse: Energy and Life Cycle Considerations. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:17225-17236. [PMID: 37917041 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic secondary treatment has the potential to facilitate energy-positive operations at wastewater treatment plants, but post-treatment of the anaerobic effluent is needed to recover dissolved methane and nutrients and remove sulfide. In this study, a life cycle assessment was conducted to compare hypothetical full-scale wastewater treatment trains and direct potable reuse trains that combine the staged anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactor (SAF-MBR) with appropriate post-treatment. We found that anaerobic wastewater treatment trains typically consumed less energy than conventional aerobic treatment, but overall global warming potentials were not significantly different. Generally, recovery of dissolved methane for energy production resulted in lower life cycle impacts than microbial transformation of methane, and microbial oxidation of sulfide resulted in lower environmental impacts than chemical precipitation. Use of reverse osmosis to produce potable water was also found to be a sustainable method for nutrient removal because direct potable reuse trains with the SAF-MBR consumed less energy and had lower life cycle impacts than activated sludge. Moving forward, dissolved methane recovery, reduced chemical usage, and investments that enable direct potable reuse have been flagged as key research areas for further investigation of anaerobic secondary treatment options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew H Kim
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
- Codiga Resource Recovery Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Craig S Criddle
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
- Codiga Resource Recovery Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
- Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
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Ahmad A, Senaidi AS. Sustainability for wastewater treatment: bioelectricity generation and emission reduction. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:48703-48720. [PMID: 36862299 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-26063-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
This review covers the technological measures of a self-sustainable anaerobic up-flow sludge blanket (UASB) system compared with an aerobic activated sludge process (ASP) for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The ASP requires a huge amount of electricity and chemicals and also results in the emission of carbon. The UASB system, instead, is based on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and is associated with biogas production for cleaner electricity. WWTPs including the ASP system are not sustainable due to the massive financial power required for clean wastewater. When the ASP system was used, the amount of production was estimated to be 10658.98 tonnes CO2eq-d- of carbon dioxide. Whereas it was 239.19 tonnes CO2eq-d-1 with the UASB. The UASB system is advantageous over the ASP system as it has a high production of biogas, needs low maintenance, yields a low amount of sludge, and is also a source of electricity that can be used as a power source for the WWTPs. Also, the UASB system produces less biomass, and this helps in reducing costs and maintaining work. Moreover, the aeration tank of the ASP needs 60% of energy distribution; on the other hand, the UASB consumes less energy, approximately 3-11%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anwar Ahmad
- Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Architecture, University of Nizwa, PO 33 Postal Code 616, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman.
| | - Alaya Said Senaidi
- Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Architecture, University of Nizwa, PO 33 Postal Code 616, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman
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Tarpeh WA, Chen X. Making wastewater obsolete: Selective separations to enable circular water treatment. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ECOTECHNOLOGY 2021; 5:100078. [PMID: 36158609 PMCID: PMC9488079 DOI: 10.1016/j.ese.2021.100078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
By 2050, the societal needs and innovation drivers of the 21st century will be in full swing: mitigating climate change, minimizing anthropogenic effects on natural ecosystems, navigating scarcity of natural resources, and ensuring equitable access to quality of life will have matured from future needs to exigent realities. Water is one such natural resource, and will need to be treated and transported to maximize resource efficiency. In particular, wastewater will be mined for the valuable product precursors it contains, which will require highly selective separation processes capable of capturing specific target compounds from complex solutions. As a case study, we focus on the nitrogen cycle because it plays a central role in both natural and engineered systems. Nitrogen occurs as several species, including ammonia, a fertilizer and precursor to many nitrogen products, and nitrate, a fertilizer and component of explosives. We describe two applications of selective separations: selective materials and electrochemical processes. Ultimately, this perspective outlines the next thirty years of modular, selective, resource-efficient separations that will play a major role in enabling element-specific circular economies and redefining wastewater as a resource.
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Affiliation(s)
- William A. Tarpeh
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
- Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt), Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
- Corresponding author. 443 Via Ortega, Room 387, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
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Guo Z, Sun Y, Pan SY, Chiang PC. Integration of Green Energy and Advanced Energy-Efficient Technologies for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:E1282. [PMID: 30974807 PMCID: PMC6479948 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16071282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 04/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment can consume a large amount of energy to meet discharge standards. However, wastewater also contains resources which could be recovered for secondary uses under proper treatment. Hence, the goal of this paper is to review the available green energy and biomass energy that can be utilized in wastewater treatment plants. Comprehensive elucidation of energy-efficient technologies for wastewater treatment plants are revealed. For these energy-efficient technologies, this review provides an introduction and current application status of these technologies as well as key performance indicators for the integration of green energy and energy-efficient technologies. There are several assessment perspectives summarized in the evaluation of the integration of green energy and energy-efficient technologies in wastewater treatment plants. To overcome the challenges in wastewater treatment plants, the Internet of Things (IoT) and green chemistry technologies for the water and energy nexus are proposed. The findings of this review are highly beneficial for the development of green energy and energy-efficient wastewater treatment plants. Future research should investigate the integration of green infrastructure and ecologically advanced treatment technologies to explore the potential benefits and advantages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyang Guo
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 10673, Taiwan.
- Carbon Cycle Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 10672, Taiwan.
| | - Yongjun Sun
- College of Urban Construction, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211800, China.
| | - Shu-Yuan Pan
- Department of Bioenvironmental System Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan.
- Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Pen-Chi Chiang
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 10673, Taiwan.
- Carbon Cycle Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 10672, Taiwan.
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