A methodology for the design of efficient resource conservation networks using adaptive swarm intelligence

The implementation of resource conservation schemes in industry can be enhanced through the application of systematic design methodologies. In particular, process integration methods allow resource consumption and waste generation in industrial plants to be reduced through the identification of efficient material reuse/recycle schemes. Various approaches, ranging from graphical pinch analysis to mathematical programming, have been developed by different researchers. Mathematical programming techniques provide considerable flexibility in the representation of network design problems, although in many cases, these approaches result in mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) models which are difficult to solve. This paper presents a simplified approach using a zero–one programming or “knapsack” formulation for the design of industrial material reuse/recycle networks. It is possible to solve the resulting model using an efficient heuristic algorithm based on adaptive particle swarm optimization. Two sample applications are provided to illustrate the methodology. The first case shows the application of the methodology to the implementation of industrial water conservation and the second case demonstrates its use in the design of a hydrogen gas reuse/recycle scheme in a refinery.     

Optimal retrofit of water conservation networks

This paper presents a new general mathematical programming model for the optimal retrofit of material conservation networks considering recycle, reuse and regeneration schemes (notice that most of the previously reported methods only have considered the synthesis case, and nowadays it is very important to have strategies for the retrofit of water networks because several existing water network are functioned under suboptimal conditions because these were synthesized using inefficient approaches or because the process and environmental constraints have changed). The model considers the reconfiguration of existing networks to satisfy stricter process and environmental constraints considering the repiping for the network, the reuse of the existing treatment units, the modification for the capacity and performance of the existing units and the installation of new treatment units to reduce the overall operating cost through the reduction of the use of fresh sources. The objective function accounts for the minimization of the total annual cost associated to the retrofit process. This retrofit process involves simultaneously economic (because the reduction of the fresh sources costs) and environmental (because the reduction of the waste streams discharged to the environment and with a better quality) improvements. The applicability of the proposed model is proved through a set of example problems addressed, where no numerical complications were observed. In addition, the proposed approach is general and it can be applied to any specific case with the information required.     

Water reuse in tannery beamhouse process

In tanneries, the phases of conditioning and preparing the hide for tanning, as well as the transportation and fixation of tanning substances, are all carried out in aqueous media. Most of the steps of these processes are carried out with fresh water, which is used as a vehicle for the diffusion of chemical products and the extraction of undesirable materials from the hide. The objective of this study is to provide the minimization of water consumption at tanneries by applying the reuse of water at some stages of the process. Alternatives for water reuse were evaluated through analysis of the process wastewater to determine the concentration of some contaminant parameters. In tests with half-hides, the possibility of reusing the liquors from the 2nd bating washing in the 1st bating washing, and of reusing the liquors from the pre-deliming washing in the pre-deliming operation, was verified. In industrial scale the water reuse from a mixture of bating washings in the deliming and deliming bating was tested successfully. The quality of wet-blue leather analyzed in the systems with and without water reuse did not show any considerable differences and satisfies the tannery specifications. Finally, a mathematical program for mass integration was applied to solve the problem of water reuse in the beamhouse steps.     

Graphical strategies for design of evaporation crystallization networks for environmental wastewater applications

This paper introduces graphical strategies for the design of an evaporation/crystallization network for ternary wastewater environmental applications. Sources, sinks and other streams are located on a ternary composition diagram. While a source is any wastewater stream that has the potential to be recycled, a sink is any unit in the process that can accept sources. The proposed methodology is extremely simple to understand and implement, as it only requires basic solid-liquid phase equilibria data and uses lever arm principles to generate alternative process designs. Geometric constructions are carried out on the ternary composition diagram and the respective lever arms are used to determine intermediate flow rates in the evaporation/crystallization network. The relative locations and flow rates of the sources and sinks under consideration, as well as the unique shape of the solid-liquid equilibrium, drive the design of the separation (via evaporation/crystallization) network. Some generic structures are proposed for a typical evaporation and crystallization network. Once the general problem statement has been defined, special cases consisting of a single source-single sink, single source-two sinks and two sources-single sink are described. These special cases are representative of commonly occurring industrial wastewater design problems. Several graphical insights are listed that allow one to represent evaporation and crystallization operations on a ternary triangular composition diagram and avoid mathematical complexity. The possibility of bypassing a part of the initial feed streams is also considered. Certain feasible composition regions are identified on the ternary composition diagram for cases dealing with multiple sources and sinks. The methodology is useful in pre-screening and eliminating certain sources/sinks and is readily applicable to cases with lower number of sources and sinks. A case study involving the ammonium nitrate manufacturing process is included to demonstrate the broad applicability and value of the proposed approach.     

An effective technique for wastewater minimisation in batch processes

This paper presents a mathematical formulation for freshwater and wastewater minimisation in multipurpose batch plants. The minimisation of wastewater is achieved through the exploitation of recycle and reuse opportunities. A superstructure that entails all possible recycle and reuse possibilities is used as the basis for the formulation. The existence of an optimal production schedule, which provides starting and finishing times for water using operations, is assumed. The paper addresses the specific case where the contaminant concentration in the outlet water stream from each operation is maintained at its maximum. This condition allows the overall model to be cast as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem for which global optimality is guaranteed. The effectiveness of the developed formulation is demonstrated through a published literature example and a practical case study.     

城市污水再生利用途径分析与利用量预测

水资源匮乏与水环境污染是制约经济社会发展的主要瓶颈,提高城市污水资源化水平是解决这一问题的重要途径.文章结合〈城市污水再生利用分类标准〉（GB/T 18919-2002）,深入分析包头市城市污水处理与再生利用现状及存在问题,提出包头市再生水近期应主要回用于城市杂用、工业和景观用水,再生水回用率可达到50%以上,为解决城市污水再生利用提供参考.     

城市污水再生利用途径分析与利用量预测

水资源匮乏与水环境污染是制约经济社会发展的主要瓶颈,提高城市污水资源化水平是解决这一问题的重要途径。文章结合《城市污水再生利用分类标准》（GB／T18919-2002）,深入分析包头市城市污水处理与再生利用现状及存在问题,提出包头市再生水近期应主要回用于城市杂用、工业和景观用水,再生水回用率可达到50％以上,为解决城市污水再生利用提供参考。     

A simultaneous optimization approach for the design of wastewater and heat exchange networks based on cost estimation

A new systematic methodology for designing wastewater and heat exchange networks for process industries involving effluent streams containing multiple contaminants is proposed. A simultaneous optimization approach mathematically combines the problems of wastewater and heat exchanger network optimization into a single step. This process includes two global iterations of a similar two-stage approach and optimizes networks for water and heat exchange simultaneously based on cost estimation. The objective function is to minimize the total annual cost of the wastewater and heat exchange network design which is subject to the mass and energy balance constraints on all the pertinent flows and to constraints related to the concentrations of contaminants. The proposed method employs a strategy to address a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) formulation. Cost estimates for optimized wastewater and heat exchange networks for an oil refinery process are generated, illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

促进我国电子废物循环利用的政策途径

我国电子废物再生利用过程中产生的环境污染问题已经引起全社会的关注。随着电子产品报废量的不断增加，如何推动电子废物的循环利用，加强再利用过程二次污染的控制是我国当前迫切需要解决的问题。在分析我国电子废物管理法律法规演进特点的基础上，结合发达国家的管理经验，提出了促进电子废物循环利用，控制再利用过程环境风险的政策建议。     

Water savings and sludge minimization in a beet-sugar factory through re-design of the wastewater treatment facility

The task of rehabilitating the already existing waste treatment facilities of a sugar factory was undertaken. A detailed survey of the water and wastewater streams indicated a necessity for immediate action towards water conservation within the plant. The spent waters from the beet-washing unit were first being intercepted at an integrated solids–liquid separation system (ISLSS) where they were partially recycled for reuse. Sludge from the ISLSS was going to an end-of-pipe treatment plant composed of lagoons. In order to conserve and recycle water, it was firstly deemed essential to modify the operating regime of the ISLSS. Consequently the sludge going to the lagoons could be decreased by one third. Next, the existing lagoons were re-arranged to comply with the discharge standards, at a very little extra cost.     

一种面向材料回收和元器件再利用的WEEE回收技术

文章以废旧电脑为例介绍了自主开发的一种面向材料回收和元器件再利用的废旧电子电器产品(WEEE)的回收与再利用技术,详细讨论了该技术的四个关键单元:阴极射线管(CRT)回收,电路板拆解,印刷线路板(PCB)回收和元器件可再利用性测试。该技术通过环境友好的材料回收工艺和电路板的自动化无损拆解可实现最大的材料和元器件回收率,从而实现较高的WEEE回收收益。     

混凝-水解酸化-接触氧化-脱色工艺处理印染废水及回用

印染废水具有水量大、色度高、有机物含量高、可生化性较差等特点,采用混凝-水解酸化-接触氧化-脱色工艺处理某印染公司污水,经过实践证明,处理后出水水质稳定,操作管理方便等,出水直接回用到印染车间,提高了公司回用水的比率,具有较大的经济效益和社会效益,所以这处理工艺在印染废水处理及回用方面具有巨大的应用价值。     

关于我国污水资源化的研究

我国面临着严重的水资源危机,污水资源化把水污染防治与解决水资源短缺相结合,具有开源节流与减轻水污染的双重功能,越来越受到关注。文章主要探讨我国污水资源化中存在的问题并提出相关对策。     

A process integration approach to industrial water conservation: a case study for an Indian starch industry

A case study for water using network of a Starch industry in the state of Gujarat, India, is undertaken with an aim to reduce demineralised water and freshwater flow rates and consequently the wastewater flow rate. The problem was identified as a multi contaminant, reuse and recycle problem. The freshwater consumption and demineralised water consumption were 100 t/h and 51 t/h respectively before modification and the network was dealing with three major contaminants such as total organic content, total dissolved solids and total suspended solids. A program was developed in MATLAB for analysis using Water Pinch. The improved water using network designed for the present work consumed less demineralised and freshwater. The reductions are of the tune of 28% and 64.38% for demineralised and fresh water respectively. Due to alteration in piping, there will be a saving of 406 026 INR per year, which will be utilized for development of efficient environment policy for the company. The entire concept had been implemented on plant level on 1st February-2009 and the reductions are of the tune of 25% and 60% for demineralised and fresh water respectively.     

Initiating automotive component reuse in Malaysia

As the production of local vehicles increases, the impact of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) wastes to the environment will also increase. ELVs recovery including reuse, remanufacture, and recycle apparently become a strategy in solving this environmental problem. This study identifies the existing conditions of automotive reuse in Malaysia by conducting some interviews in selected local automotive and automotive component manufacturers. Results from the interviews indicated that reuse of automotive components in newly manufactured vehicles has never been practiced by the selected companies. However, there is interest among respondents in developing automotive components for after-market reuse. Some strategies were proposed in this study to initiate automotive components reuse in the local automotive manufacturers including the establishment of the end-of-life directive, enhance research and development on design for reuse and increase reusability and economic benefits of reuse.     

天津石化PTA装置精制单元废水处理及回用技术探讨

综述了中国石化天津分公司精对苯二甲酸装置精制单元废水处理及回用的技术研究工作,分析了精制废水中的主要污染物组成及含量,采用回用处理新技术进行了试验,结果表明新处理工艺可行。     

乙烯排海废水深度处理及回用研究

茂名石化乙烯公司排海废水水质较好，远低于国家排放标准。经过深度处理后，水质可达到回用水要求。再进一步通过挂片腐蚀试验、杀菌试验和动态模拟试验，证明了乙烯排海废水能回用做循环水补充水。     

城市生活垃圾自动分选技术

迅速而巨量增长的城市生活垃圾给我国带来了严峻的社会、环境压力;城市生活垃圾的资源化、无害化综合利用,对于改善人民群众生活环境、减少资源浪费、发展循环经济,都具有十分重要的意义。要使城市垃圾综合利用目的得以实现,必须突破制约垃圾处理的瓶颈问题——垃圾分类技术这一世界难题。在分析垃圾特点和各种垃圾处理方法优势的基础上,经过多年的探索与研制,开发了一种新型的用于城市生活垃圾资源化综合利用的自动分选技术。     

垃圾处理产业体系的构建原则

垃圾处理产业体系的构建应从实际出发,坚持“政府引导,社区组织、企业参与、自产自消、因地制宜、源头控制、资源回收利用”的原则和“物质利用先于能量利用,物质再利用先于物质再生利用”的资源回收利用原则,并按部就班实施。     

探析清洁生产模式在化工企业的应用与效益

介绍了河南神马尼龙化工公司的生产工艺及存在的主要环境问题,指出进行清洁生产的必要性和可行性,并从生产工艺改进、水再生及回用、设备改造、废物回收利用及清洁生产管理等多个方面介绍了河南神马尼龙化工公司实施清洁生产的具体措施,分析了该企业实施清洁生产后产生的效果,实施后达到了充分优化工艺、回收资源、降低系统能耗、减少污染排放、保护环境并取得了良好经济效益和社会效益的三赢目的,对相关企业起到相应的参考作用,从而可以加快清洁生产在化工企业的应用.