Multi-criteria analysis of strategies towards sustainable recycling of phosphorus from sewage sludge in Austria.

To promote optimal phosphorus (P) recovery from municipal wastewater and sewage sludge with viable legal instruments, it is imperative to understand the regional and national consequences of different legal requirements for recycling. In this study we develop a scenario-based analysis to assess the environmental and economic impact of different national P recovery strategies in the context of a detailed representation of the existing Austrian wastewater infrastructure. This assessment combines material flow analysis, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing and includes the indicators P recycling rate, P utilization degree, heavy metal removal rate, share of heavy metals' content in wastewater redirected to agricultural soils, global warming potential, cumulated energy demand, terrestrial acidification potential, volume of freight transport and annual costs. The following main conclusions can be drawn. P recovery from ash shows the highest potential regarding the utilization of P from wastewater. A high P utilization from wastewater should rely on recovery technologies that decontaminate products, otherwise pollutant loads to agricultural soils might increase. P recovery to the extent of 60-85 % of P in WWTPs influent can be achieved by savings/costs of -0.8 to +4.7 EUR inhabitant-1 yr-1 in addition to current cost of the wastewater treatment/sludge disposal system. Key factors to be considered for costs are the choice of recovery process, revenues from products, and the use of existing incineration infrastructure. P recovery can lead to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Austria if nitrous oxide emissions from sludge incineration are limited and efficient heat utilization strategies are implemented. There is a trade-off in terms of environmental and economic costs in choosing a more centralized or decentralized mono-incineration strategy.

Phosphorus stocks and flows in an intensive livestock dominated food system.

Current use and management of phosphorus (P) in our food systems is considered unsustainable and considerable improvements in the efficiency of P use are required to mitigate the environmental impact of poor P stewardship. The inherent low P use efficiency of food production from animals means food systems dominated by livestock agriculture can pose unique challenges for improving P management. This paper presents the results of a substance flow analysis for P in the Northern Ireland (NI) food system for the year 2017 as a case study for examining P stewardship in a livestock dominated agricultural system. Imported livestock feed was by far the largest flow of P into the NI food system in 2017 (11,700 t ± 1300 t) and P from livestock excreta the largest internal flow of P (20,400 ± 1900t). The P contained in livestock slurries and manures alone that were returned to agricultural land exceeded total crop and grass P requirement by 20% and were the largest contributor to an annual excess soil P accumulation of 8.5 ± 1.4 kg ha-1. This current livestock driven P surplus also limits the opportunities for P circularity and reuse from other sectors within the food system, e.g. wastewater biosolids and products from food processing waste. Management of livestock P demand (livestock numbers, feed P content) or technological advancements that facilitate the processing and subsequent export of slurries and manures are therefore needed.

Extended statistical entropy analysis (eSEA) for improving the evaluation of Austrian wastewater treatment plants.

Extended statistical entropy analysis (eSEA) is used to evaluate the nitrogen (N) budgets of 13 Austrian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The eSEA results are then compared to the WWTPs specific N-removal rates. Among the five WWTPs that achieve a removal rate of 75% the eSEA detects significant differences in the N-performance. The main reason for this is that eSEA considers all N-species and seems to be more discriminating than the N-removal rate. Additionally, the energy consumption and the costs of the mechanical-biological treatment process are related to the N-performance according to the eSEA. The influence of the WWTP size on the energy- and cost-efficiency of the N-treatment is investigated. Results indicate that energy-efficiency does not necessarily coincide with cost-efficiency. It is shown that smaller WWTPs between 22,000 PE (population equivalents) and 50,000 PE can be operated as energy-efficiently as larger WWTPs between 100,000 and 1,000,000 PE. On average, the smaller plants operate less cost-efficiently than the large ones. This research offers a new method for the assessment of the N-performance of WWTPs, and suggests that small WWTPs are not necessarily less energy- and cost-efficient than large ones.

Determination of reliable CO2 emission factors for waste-to-energy plants.

At Vienna University of Technology, the so-called balance method (BM) was developed to determine fossil and biogenic CO(2) emissions from waste-to-energy (WTE) plants. Meanwhile, the BM has been routinely applied to several WTE plants for some years, providing a large set of data. The average site-specific emission factors for fossil CO(2) were found to be in the range of 260- 780 kg CO(2) t(-1) waste, and 30-67 kg CO(2) GJ(-1) energy of the waste incinerated. These values are significantly different from the values that are found in the literature. Our results show that there is no such typical emission factor for WTE which could be applied to national CO(2) measurements or accurate emission trading. This study reveals that instead of generic emission factors the BM can be used as a standard for WTE plants, since its application requires either no or only a few additional installations.

Determination of biogenic and fossil CO(2) emitted by waste incineration based on (14)CO(2) and mass balances.

A field application of the radiocarbon ((14)C) method was developed to determine the ratio of biogenic vs. fossil CO(2) emissions from waste-to-energy plants (WTE). This methodology can be used to assign the Kyoto relevant share of fossil CO(2) emissions, which is highly relevant for emission budgets and emission trading. Furthermore, heat and electricity produced by waste incinerators might be labelled depending on the fossil or biogenic nature of the primary energy source. The method development includes representative on-site CO(2) absorption and subsequent release in the laboratory. Furthermore, a reference value for the (14)C content of pure biogenic waste (f(M,bio)) was determined as 1.130+/-0.038. Gas samples for (14)CO(2) analysis were taken at three WTEs during one month each. Results were compared to an alternative approach based on mass and energy balances. Both methods were in excellent agreement and indicated a fraction of biogenic CO(2) slightly above 50%.

Phosphorus recovery from municipal wastewater: An integrated comparative technological, environmental and economic assessment of P recovery technologies.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential and limited resource. Municipal wastewater is a promising source of P via reuse and could be used to replace P derived from phosphate rocks. The agricultural use of sewage sludge is restricted by legislation or is not practiced in several European countries due to environmental risks posed by organic micropollutants and pathogens. Several technologies have been developed in recent years to recover wastewater P. However, these technologies target different P-containing flows in wastewater treatment plants (effluent, digester supernatant, sewage sludge, and sewage sludge ash), use diverse engineering approaches and differ greatly with respect to P recycling rate, potential of removing or destroying pollutants, product quality, environmental impact and cost. This work compares 19 relevant P recovery technologies by considering their relationships with existing wastewater and sludge treatment systems. A combination of different methods, such as material flow analysis, damage units, reference soil method, annuity method, integrated cost calculation and a literature study on solubility, fertilizing effects and handling of recovered materials, is used to evaluate the different technologies with respect to technical, ecological and economic aspects. With regard to the manifold origins of data an uncertainty concept considering validity of data sources is applied. This analysis revealed that recovery from flows with dissolved P produces clean and plant-available materials. These techniques may even be beneficial from economic and technical perspectives under specific circumstances. However, the recovery rates (a maximum of 25%) relative to the wastewater treatment plant influent are relatively low. The approaches that recover P from sewage sludge apply complex technologies and generally achieve effective removal of heavy metals at moderate recovery rates (~40-50% relative to the WWTP input) and comparatively high costs. Sewage sludge ash is the most promising P source, with recovery rates of 60-90% relative to the wastewater P. The costs highly depend on the purity requirements of the recycled products but can be kept comparatively low, especially if synergies with existing industrial processes are exploited.

Evaluation of resource recovery from waste incineration residues--the case of zinc.

Solid residues generated at European Waste to Energy plants contain altogether about 69,000 t/a of Zn, of which more than 50% accumulates in air pollution control residues, mainly boiler and filter ashes. Intensive research activities aiming at Zn recovery from such residues recently resulted in a technical scale Zn recovery plant at a Swiss waste incinerator. By acidic leaching and subsequent electrolysis this technology (FLUREC) allows generating metallic Zn of purity>99.9%. In the present paper the economic viability of the FLUREC technology with respect to Zn recovery from different solid residues of waste incineration has been investigated and subsequently been categorised according to the mineral resource classification scheme of McKelvey. The results of the analysis demonstrate that recovery costs for Zn are highly dependent on the costs for current fly ash disposal (e.g. cost for subsurface landfilling). Assuming current disposal practice costs of 220€/ton fly ash, resulting recovery costs for Zn are generally higher than its current market price of 1.6€/kg Zn. With respect to the resource classification this outcome indicates that none of the identified Zn resources present in incineration residues can be economically extracted and thus cannot be classified as a reserve. Only for about 4800 t/a of Zn an extraction would be marginally economic, meaning that recovery costs are only slightly (less than 20%) higher than the current market price for Zn. For the remaining Zn resources production costs are between 1.5 and 4 times (7900 t/a Zn) and 10-80 times (55,300 t/a Zn) higher than the current market value. The economic potential for Zn recovery from waste incineration residues is highest for filter ashes generated at grate incinerators equipped with wet air pollution control.

A new approach towards modelling of the carbon degradation cycle at two-stage activated sludge plants.

A pilot plant has been operated in order to investigate the performance and operating characteristics of the plant concept developed for the extension of the main Vienna STP. Due to the different operational modes included in the plant concept, modelling of the carbon degradation becomes of crucial importance. A new activated sludge model is introduced which combines parts of the carbon degradation model concepts as they have been released in the ASM1-model and the ASM3-model, respectively. A method is presented which utilises results from mass balance calculations and sludge stabilisation experiments to reduce the uncertainty in the determination of the values of the simulation model parameters.

Comparison of different operational modes of a two-stage activated sludge pilot plant for the extension of the Vienna STP.

A pilot plant has been operated over a period of two years in order to investigate the performance and the operating characteristics of the plant concept developed for the extension of the main Vienna STP and to develop a simulation model which will be applied for operation support of the full stage plant. The pilot plant is a two stage activated sludge plant, each stage comprising of four aeration tanks and a clarifier tank. The pilot plant layout allows three different operational modes, each of which has been operated for several periods. The performance of the pilot plant during these periods is described and the different operational modes are compared to each other.

Two stage activated sludge plants--influence of different operational modes on sludge bulking and nitrification.

Conventional two stage activated sludge plants often lack sufficient nutrient removal performance due to substrate limitation for denitrification in the second stage. For the extension of the Vienna Main WWTP a two stage concept has been developed and tested by means of a pilot plant (scale 1:10.000). The new concept enables the operation of two different modes: In BYPASS-mode a portion of the primary clarifier effluent is fed directly to the second stage; the HYBRID-mode includes the exchange of mixed liquor between the two stages; over the course of the pilot plant investigations it turned out that nutrient removal is strongly increased in comparison to conventional two stage mode, but the two modes of operation lead to different results with regard to the sludge quality and the nitrification performance. BYPASS mode yields a higher SVI in both stages and a lower nitrification performance in comparison to HYBRID mode. This is caused by the negative influence of the primary effluent on the biocoenosis of the second stage. Additionally, the reduced sludge loading of the first stage in this mode results in a higher sludge age which favours the growth of filaments (Microthrix and Nocardia). In HYBRID-mode the higher load of the first stage results in a lower sludge age, fatty components are metabolized and incorporated in the sludge, thus, the growth of filaments is significantly reduced. Additionally, nitrification inhibiting substances are degraded in the first stage, which results in a higher nitrification performance in the second stage.

Heavy metal removal from municipal solid waste fly ash by chlorination and thermal treatment.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) fly ash is classified as a hazardous material because it contains high amounts of heavy metals. For decontamination, MSW fly ash is first mixed with alkali or alkaline earth metal chlorides (e.g. calcium chloride) and water, and then the mixture is pelletized and treated in a rotary reactor at about 1000 degrees C. Volatile heavy metal compounds are formed and evaporate. In this paper, the effect of calcium chloride addition, gas velocity, temperature and residence time on the separation of heavy metals are studied. The fly ash was sampled at the waste-to-energy plant Fernwärme Wien/Spittelau (Vienna, Austria). The results were obtained from batch tests performed in an indirectly heated laboratory-scale rotary reactor. More than 90% of Cd and Pb and about 60% of Cu and 80% of Zn could be removed in the experiments.

The use of statistical entropy to evaluate the utilisation of incinerator ashes for the production of cement.

The paper discusses the utilisation of MSW incinerator residues for the production of cement with regard to materials management. Two objectives of waste management are the protection of men and the environment and resource conservation. Thus metals have to be recycled or transferred into appropriate final sinks. For both options a concentrating step is indispensable. MSW incinerators are such concentrating processes, as they accumulate metals in their residues. The mixing of high-concentrated residues with low-concentrated clinker in order to produce cement results in dilution of metals. This contradicts the above objectives. Concentrating and dilution processes can be described by materials balances. To evaluate different uses of MSW residues in the cement production the statistical entropy of the resulting distributions of selected metals (Cd, Pb, Cu) is assessed. The result is that in order to avoid an increase in the entropy, neither fly ashes nor bottom ashes of MSW incinerators should be utilised at large scale without pre-treatment. The method can be used to determine the quality of the residues so that they can be used in accordance with the objectives of waste management.

An entropy based method to evaluate hazardous inorganic substance balances of waste treatment systems.

At present, methods to assess the environmental performance of waste treatment systems are based mainly on emission standards. Since waste treatment yields also products used for recycling and/or land filling, new additional instruments are needed to analyse and evaluate the partitioning of substances during waste treatment. It is shown that in order to fulfil the goals of European Waste Management, waste treatment systems have to concentrate hazardous inorganic substances. Based on substance flow analysis and the statistical entropy function, a method is presented to classify waste treatment systems in view of their power to concentrate or dilute substances. The method allows for the determination of the Substance Concentrating Efficiency (SCE) of waste treatment systems quantitatively. The SCE approach is applied in a case study comparing waste incineration and mechanical-biological waste processing. The results show that this new tool is useful to support decisions regarding the selection of waste treatment systems.

Multilevel cycle of anthropogenic copper.

A comprehensive contemporary cycle for stocks and flows of copper is characterized and presented, incorporating information on extraction, processing, fabrication and manufacturing, use, discard, recycling, final disposal, and dissipation. The analysis is performed on an annual basis, ca. 1994, at three discrete governmental unit levels--56 countries or country groups that together comprise essentially all global anthropogenic copper stocks and flows, nine world regions, and the planet as a whole. Cycles for all of these are presented and discussed, and a "best estimate" global copper cycle is constructed to resolve aggregation discrepancies. Among the most interesting results are (1) transformation rates and recycling rates in apparently similar national economies differ by factors of two or more (country level); (2) the discard flows that have the greatest potential for copper recycling are those with low magnitude flows but high copper concentrations--electronics, electrical equipment, and vehicles (regional level); (3) worldwide, about 53% of the copper that was discarded in various forms was recovered and reused or recycled (global level); (4) the highest rate of transfer of discarded copper to repositories is into landfills, but the annual amount of copper deposited in mine tailings is nearly as high (global level); and (5) nearly 30% of copper mining occurred merely to replace copper that was discarded. The results provide a framework for similar studies of other anthropogenic resource cycles as well as a basis for supplementary studies in resource stocks, industrial resource utilization, waste management, industrial economics, and environmental impacts.