Decision making software for effective selection of treatment train alternative for wastewater using analytical...

Proper selection of treatment process and synthesis of treatment train is complex engineering activity requires crucial decision making during planning and designing of any Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Earlier studies on process selection mainly considered cost as the most important selection criteria and number of studies focused on cost optimization models using dynamic programming, geometric programming and nonlinear programming. However, it has been noticed that traditional cost analysis alone cannot be applied to evaluate Treatment Train (TT) alternatives, as number of important non-tangible factors cannot be easily expressed in monetary units. Recently researches focus on use of multi-criteria technique for selection of treatment process. AHP provides a powerful tool for multi-hierarchy and multi-variable system overcoming limitation of traditional techniques. The AHP model designed to facilitate proper decision making and reduce the margin of errors during optimization due to number of parameters in the hierarchy levels has been used in this study. About 14 important factors and 13 sub factors were identified for the selection of treatment alternatives for wastewater and sludge stream although cost is one of the most important selection criteria. The present paper provides details of developing a soft-tool called "ProSelArt" using an AHP model aiding for proper decision making.