Toward better understanding and feasibility of controlling greenhouse gas emissions from treatment of industrial wastewater with activated sludge

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been recognized as important sources for anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The objective of the study was to thoroughly investigate a typical industrial WWTP in southern Taiwan in winter and summer which possesses the emission factors close to those reported values, with the analyses of emission factors, mass fluxes, fugacity, lab-scale in situ experiments, and impact assessment. The activated sludge was the important source in winter and summer, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) was the main contributor (e.g., 57 to 91 % of total GHG emission in a unit of kg carbon dioxide-equivalent/kg chemical oxygen demand). Albeit important for the GHGs in the atmosphere, the fractional contribution of the GHG emission to the carbon or nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment was negligible (e.g., less than 1.5 %). In comparison with the sludge concentration or retention time, adjusting the aeration rate was more effective to diminish the GHG emission in the activated sludge without significantly affecting the treated water quality. When the aeration rate in the activated sludge simulation was reduced by 75 %, the mass flux of N₂O could be diminished by up to 53 % (from 9.6 to 4.5 mg/m²-day). The total emission in the WWTP (including carbon dioxide, methane, and N₂O) would decrease by 46 % (from 0.67 to 0.36 kg CO₂-equiv/kg COD). However, the more important benefit of changing the aeration rate was lowering the energy consumption in operation of the WWTP, as the fractional contribution of pumping to the total emission from the WWTP ranged from 46 to 93 % within the range of the aeration rate tested. Under the circumstance in which reducing the burden of climate change is a global campaign, the findings provide insight regarding the GHG emission from treatment of industrial wastewater and the associated impact on the treatment performance and possible mitigation strategies by operational modifications.

     

Life cycle assessment of fuel selection for power generation in Taiwan

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to performance data from 1997-2002 to evaluate the environmental impacts of the energy input, airborne emission, waterborne emission, and solid waste inventories for Taiwan's electric power plants. Eco-indicator 95 was used to compare the differences among the generation processes and fuel purification. To better understand the environmental trends related to Taiwan's electric power industry, three fuel scenarios were selected for LCA system analysis. Results indicate that there are differences in characteristic environmental impact among the 13 power plants. Scenario simulation provided a basis for minimizing environmental impacts from fuel selection targets. Fuel selection priority should be a gas-fired combined cycle substituted for a coal-fired steam turbine to be more environmentally friendly, particularly in the areas of the greenhouse effect, acidification, winter smog, and solid waste. Furthermore, based purely on economic and environmental criteria, it is recommended that the gas-fired combined cycle be substituted for the oil-fired steam turbine.