RT Journal Article
T1 Bottom-up approach in the assessment of environmental impacts and costs of an innovative anammox-based process for nitrogen removal
A1 Arias Cisterna, Andrea
A1 Câmara Salim, Iana
A1 Pedrouso Fuentes, Alba
A1 Mosquera Corral, Anuska
A1 Rogalla, Frank
A1 Feijoo Costa, Gumersindo
A1 Moreira Vilar, María Teresa
K1 Scale-up analysis
K1 Partial nitritation-anammox
K1 Sustainable wastewater treatment
K1 Life cycle assessment (LCA)
K1 Eco-efficiency
K1 Economic evaluation
AB In recent decades, the wastewater treatment sector has undergone a shift to adapt to increasing discharge limits. In addressing the evaluation of innovative technologies, it is necessary to determine the scale at which reliable and representative values of environmental impacts and costs can be obtained, ensuring that the system under assessment follows the direction of eco-efficiency.This study has evaluated the environmental and economic indicators of an autotrophic nitrogen removal technology (ELAN®) from laboratory conception (1.5 L) to full scale (2 units of 115 m3) using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Indirect emissions related to electricity consumption are the main contributor in all impact categories except eutrophication. Electricity consumption referred to the functional unit (1 m3 of treated wastewater) decreases as the scale increases. The rationale behind this can be explained, among other reasons, by the low energy efficiency of small-scale equipment (pumps and aerators). Accordingly, a value of approximately 25 kg CO2eq per m3 of treated water is determined for laboratory scale, compared to only 5 kg CO2eq per m3 at full-scale. When it comes to assessing the reliability of data, a pilot scale system of 0.2 m3 allowed to perform a trustworthy estimation of environmental indicators, which were validated at full-scale. In terms of operational costs, the scale of approximately 1 m3 provided a more accurate estimate of the costs associated with energy consumption
PB Elsevier
SN 0301-4797
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29376
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29376
LA eng
NO Journal of Environmental Management 225 (2018)
NO This research was supported by the UE projects: Pioneer_STP (PCIN-2015-22 (MINECO)/ID199 (WaterJPI) and Run4Life (730285-1). The authors (A. Arias, I. Cámara Salim, A. Pedrouso, A. Mosquera-Corral, G. Feijoo and M.T. Moreira) belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29) and to the CRETUS Strategic Partnership (AGRUP2015/02)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026