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Life Cycle, PESTLE and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Membrane Contactor-Based Nitrogen Recovery Process.
Judit Nagy1, Huyen Trang Do Thi1, Andras Jozsef Toth1
1Environmental and Process Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical and Environmental Process Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.
Membranes
|January 21, 2023
Summary
This study evaluates a novel membrane contactor process for efficient nitrogen removal from wastewater. Renewable energy sources, particularly wind power, significantly reduce environmental impact compared to traditional energy, offering a sustainable solution.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Engineering
- Biogeochemistry
- Sustainable Resource Management
Background:
- Nitrogen is a vital plant nutrient, but atmospheric nitrogen gas is unusable by plants.
- Reactive nitrogen recovery from wastewater is crucial for resource management.
- Wastewater treatment processes must efficiently remove nitrogen to prevent environmental pollution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a comprehensive environmental analysis of a novel membrane contactor process for nitrogen removal from wastewater.
- To compare the environmental performance of the process using various energy sources.
- To assess the viability of the process through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), PESTLE, and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA).
Main Methods:
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using EF 3.0, IMPACT World+, ReCiPe 2016, and IPCC 2021 GWP100 methods.
- Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) employing the TOPSIS score.
- Gate-to-gate analysis with a functional unit of 1 m³ of water product.
- Evaluation across six energy resources: electricity, solar, nuclear, combined heat and power, and wind energy.
Main Results:
- Renewable energy resources demonstrably result in a lower environmental load compared to conventional energy sources.
- The membrane contactor process shows high efficiency in nitrogen removal from wastewater.
- Onshore wind energy was identified as the most advantageous option in the EU region for the MCDA, achieving a TOPSIS score of 0.76, followed by nuclear energy (0.70).
Conclusions:
- The novel membrane contactor process offers an efficient method for nitrogen recovery from wastewater.
- Utilizing renewable energy, especially wind power, significantly enhances the environmental sustainability of nitrogen removal processes.
- The study provides valuable insights for optimizing wastewater treatment strategies towards reduced environmental impact and resource recovery.
