0000000000329680

AUTHOR

R. Reif

Assessment of wastewater treatment plant design for small communities: Environmental and economic aspects

The preliminary design and economic assessment of small wastewater treatment plants (less than 2000 population equivalent) are issues of particular interest since wastewaters from most of these agglomerations are not covered yet. This work aims to assess nine different technologies set-up for the secondary treatment in such type of facilities embracing both economic and environmental parameters. The main novelty of this work is the combination of an innovative environmental decision support system (EDSS) with a pioneer approach based on the inclusion of the environmental benefits derived from wastewater treatment. The integration of methodologies based on cost-benefit analysis tools with th…

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Implementation of a knowledge-based methodology in a decision support system for the design of suitable wastewater treatment process flow diagrams.

In light of rapid global change, the demand for wastewater treatment is increasing rapidly and will continue to do so in the near future. Wastewater management is a complex puzzle for which the proper pieces must be combined to achieve the desired solution, requiring the simultaneous consideration of technical, economic, social and environmental issues. In this context, a knowledge-based methodology (KBM) for the conceptual design of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) process flow diagrams (PFDs) and its application for two scenarios is presented in this paper. The core of the KBM is composed of two knowledge bases (KBs). The first, a specification knowledge base (S-KB), summarizes the main …

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Economic valuation of environmental benefits of removing pharmaceutical and personal care products from WWTP effluents by ozonation.

Continuous release of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) present in effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is nowadays leading to the adoption of specific measures within the framework of the Directive 2000/60/EC (Water Framework Directive). The ozonation process, normally employed for drinking water production, has also proven its potential to eliminate PPCPs from secondary effluents in spite of their low concentrations. However, there is a significant drawback related with the costs associated with its implementation. This lack of studies is especially pronounced regarding the economic valuation of the environmental benefits associated to avoid the discharge of …

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Including the environmental criteria when selecting a wastewater treatment plant

Abstract Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology to generate environmental impact estimates associated with the life cycle stages of a product or process. The approach facilitates a more comprehensive outlook of the end-of-pipe process impacts, in which wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are included. Here we describe the implementation of the LCA methodology within a knowledge-based Decision support system (DSS) in order to include the environmental criteria to the decision making process when selecting the most appropriate process flow diagrams for specific scenarios. A sample group of 22 actual operating facilities in Spain, corresponding to five different typologies were assessed …

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The BaBar detector: Upgrades, operation and performance

The BABAR detector operated successfully at the PEP-Il asymmetric e(+) e(-) collider at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory from 1999 to 2008. This report covers upgrades, operation, and performance of the collider and the detector systems, as well as the trigger, online and offline computing, and aspects of event reconstruction since the beginning of data taking.

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