| Title |
Targeting economic and environmental benefits associated with the integration of regeneration units in water systems |
| ID_Doc |
27428 |
| Authors |
Lechtenberg, F; Somoza-Tornos, A; Espuña, A; Graells, M |
| Title |
Targeting economic and environmental benefits associated with the integration of regeneration units in water systems |
| Year |
2021 |
| Published |
|
| DOI |
10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129022 |
| Abstract |
Water treatment is traditionally seen as an "end-of-pipe" solution to deal with contaminated water satisfying discharge regulations at a minimum expense. However, the reuse of treated water as regenerated water is a promising strategy to counteract water scarcity. This approach to transform waste into resources is motivated by the circular economy paradigm. This study presents a mathematical programming approach to target both the environmental and economic benefits of water systems by introducing additional regeneration units to close the loop. In addition to water users and authorities, the approach also considers operators and dealers, which are revealed as key stakeholders. Hence, the feasible region of the regeneration units design specifications is determined and visualized through a multi-objective optimization approach targeting the systems operating cost and freshwater consumption. Its application is demonstrated on a benchmark case study from the literature, revealing a potential economic benefit of 37.5% and a freshwater reduction of 80.9% over the case without regeneration units. Furthermore, we show that a cooperative exchange strategy leads to higher benefits compared to the solutions presented in the literature. Finally, we demonstrate how the barrier plots introduced in this work can be used by different stakeholders in the water market to support their decision-making. |
| Author Keywords |
Circular economy; Regenerated water; Mathematical programming; Water networks; Sensitivity analysis |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:000705653800002 |
| WoS Category |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences |
| Research Area |
Science & Technology - Other Topics; Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129022
|