Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Related Special Issue
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 22253

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment book cover image

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Kaan Yetilmezsoy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Davutpasa Campus, 34220, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
Interests: environmental modeling; water and wastewater treatment; anaerobic digestion processes; post-treatment technologies; agricultural applications; Struvite (MAP) precipitation; fluid mechanics and hydraulics; artificial intelligence; design of potable and wastewater treatment plants; multi-objective optimization; MATLAB-based programming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In a rapidly globalizing world, it is crucial for industries to consider waste minimization and therefore adopt and implement environmentally friendly and sustainable/circular waste/water/wastewater management and treatment strategies. For this purpose, priority should be given to the reuse of the treated process stream, recovery of beneficial nutrients, and valorization of waste/wastewater-derived by-products to create a more eco-friendly and sustainable production model. On the other hand, due to the limiting high costs and the various process-related difficulties associated with traditional methods, there is a need to explore cost-effective, manageable, environmentally sound, and profitable treatment methods that will effectively remove/recover excess nutrients/contaminants from industrial waste streams. In this context, it is critical and urgent to deploy proper innovative and techno-sustainable water/wastewater treatment solutions from an environmental standpoint, while fulfilling the expanding industrial demands worldwide.

This Special Issue entitled "Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment" will cover ground-breaking approaches to innovative water and wastewater treatment and environmental research that promote sustainability. To this end, this Special Issue aims to highlight and disseminate sustainable, ecologically responsible and solution-oriented economic strategies and cutting-edge technologies to reduce anthropogenic/industrial environmental risks.

High-caliber manuscripts with novel insights or findings as well as reviews with fresh viewpoints are encouraged for this Special Issue. This Special Issue welcomes papers with original perspectives or pertinent case studies on the following subjects:

Innovative and sustainable methods for water/wastewater treatment;
Valorization of waste-derived by-products from industrial effluents;
Sustainable/circular water/wastewater management solutions;
Techno-economic analysis of sustainable environmental technologies;
Life-cycle assessment of water/wastewater treatment systems;
Recovering value-added materials from industrial waste streams;
Nutrient recovery from slaughterhouse/agro-industrial wastewaters;
Eco-friendly, product-oriented and technologically sustainable processes;
Utilization of waste-originated additives in sustainable cement production;
Application of struvite (MAP) precipitation for removal/recovery of nutrients;
Modeling of water and wastewater treatment processes.

Manuscripts covering other subjects demonstrating the necessity of sustainable environmental science and water/wastewater treatment are also invited for submission.

References:

Yetilmezsoy, K., Dinç-Şengönül, B., Ilhan, F., Kıyan, E., Yüzer, N. (2022), “Use of sheep slaughterhouse-derived struvite in the production of environmentally sustainable cement and fire-resistant wooden structures”, Journal of Cleaner Production 366, 132948, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132948.

Yetilmezsoy, K., Kıyan, E., Ilhan, F., Özçimen, D., Koçer, A.T. (2022), “Screening plant growth effects of sheep slaughterhouse waste-derived soil amendments in greenhouse trials”, Journal of Environmental Management 318, 115586, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115586.

Yetilmezsoy, K., Ilhan, F., Kiyan, E., Bahramian, M. (2022), “A comprehensive techno-economic analysis of income-generating sources on the conversion of real sheep slaughterhouse waste stream into valorized by-products, Journal of Environmental Management 306, 114464, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114464.

Yetilmezsoy, K., Çetinkaya, A.Y., Bilgili, L. (2022), “A synergistic assessment of bio-kinetics and life cycle environmental impacts of different agricultural biomass sources in Turkey, Waste and Biomass Valorization 13, 2651–2671, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-021-01674-w.

Ozdemir S., Ozdemir S., Ozer H., Yetilmezsoy K. (2021), “A techno-sustainable bio-waste management strategy for closing chickpea yield gap”, Waste Management 119, 356–364, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.10.030.

Ozdemir, S., Yetilmezsoy, K. (2020), “A mini literature review on sustainable management of poultry abattoir wastes”, Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management 22, 11–21, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00934-1.

Ozdemir, S., Ozdemir, S., Yetilmezsoy K. (2019), “Agro-economic and ecological assessment of poultry abattoir sludge as bio-nutrient source for walnut plantation in low-fertility soil”, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy 38, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.13225.

Varouchakis, E.A., Yetilmezsoy, K., Karatzas, G.P. (2019), “A decision-making framework for sustainable management of groundwater resources under uncertainty: Combination of Bayesian risk approach and statistical tools”, Water Policy 21, 602–622, https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2019.128.

Abdul-Wahab, S.A., Hassan, E.M., Al-Jabri, K.S., Yetilmezsoy, K. (2019), “Application of zeolite/kaolin combination for replacement of partial cement clinker to manufacture environmentally sustainable cement in Oman”, Environmental Engineering Research 24, 246–253, https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2018.047.

Prof. Dr. Kaan Yetilmezsoy
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

agro-valorization
circular waste/wastewater treatment strategies
environmentally friendly agriculture
life-cycle assessment
lucrative bio-waste management
nutrient removal/recovery
struvite precipitation
sustainable cement manufacturing
sustainable treatment technologies
waste-derived fertilizers

Related Special Issue

Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment: 2nd Edition in Sustainability

Published Papers (12 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2333 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Sustainability in Italian Water Supply Pipes through Life Cycle Analysis

by Isabela Maria Simion, Sara Pennellini, Eric Awere, Alessandro Rosatti and Alessandra Bonoli

Sustainability 2024, 16(7), 2685; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072685 - 25 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1102

Abstract

The primary concern regarding the sustainability of the urban water cycle remains the performance of water supply systems. This, in turn, is determined by the functionality and sustainability of the system components, such as the pipe networks, pumps, and other appurtenances, which must be analyzed from an environmental perspective. The aim of the present study is to analyze the sustainability of two different types of water supply pipe materials that are commonly used, polyvinyl chloride and high-density polyethylene, using a comparative Life Cycle Analysis methodology. The functional unit was established in accordance with the water supply system that serves an Italian metropolitan city with a dimension of 9240 km, as one meter of water supply infrastructure, with 40 years as a life span. A cradle-to-gate analysis was conducted, starting from the production phase of the water pipelines to the maintenance phase, excluding the end of life and disposal phases. The chosen methodology was CML, justified by the fact that the results are more understandable and reproducible. Results comparison revealed a higher environmental impact during the production phase, while the maintenance phase had a very low impact. Notably, PVC pipe in comparison with HDPE material had a higher impact, except in two categories of impact: abiotic depletion and photochemical oxidation. The study contributes to the future development of alternative approaches for sustainable and eco-efficient water supply infrastructure designs and materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2494 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From Scarcity to Abundance: Nature-Based Strategies for Small Communities Experiencing Water Scarcity in West Texas/USA

by Luis Carlos Soares da Silva Junior, David de Andrade Costa and Clifford B. Fedler

Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1959; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051959 - 27 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1123

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the global challenges that threatens economic development and imposes constraints on societal growth. In the semi-arid expanse of West Texas, small communities are struggling with both growing populations and decreasing water resources in the regional aquifer. This study compares two nature-based methods that could solve this problem. The first approach uses ponds and wetlands to make natural processes work together to treat the wastewater that the community receives. We applied a novel Pond-in-Pond system, which offers advantages compared to conventional pond system configurations. This system unlocks strategic hydrodynamic advantages by introducing a deeper anaerobic pit surrounded by berms, which then outflows into a larger pond. The second approach consists of an alternative strategy which integrates waste stabilization ponds, a storage basin, and the reuse of wastewater for crop irrigation—a feat that not only treats water but also enriches soil fertility. Both approaches were analyzed in terms of economic potential and pollution control. The land application had a better return on investment and emphasized the importance of innovative solutions for sustainable water management in arid regions, offering economic and community benefits. The application conveys a clear message: where water is scarce, innovation can grow; where problems are big, solutions are available; and where nature’s processes are understood, they can be used. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 3322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An In-Depth Analysis of Physical, Chemical, and Microplastic Parameters of Landfill Fine Fraction for Biocover Construction

by Anastasiia Sholokhova, Inna Pitak, Gintaras Denafas, Regina Kalpokaitė-Dičkuvienė, Marius Praspaliauskas and Juris Burlakovs

Sustainability 2023, 15(24), 16914; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152416914 - 17 Dec 2023

Viewed by 832

Abstract

Landfills pose global challenges, notably in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, pollution release, and extensive land occupation. The transformative practice of landfill mining has redefined these sites as valuable resource reservoirs. The fine fraction (FF), often constituting the majority of excavated waste, is currently underutilized but holds the potential for biocover construction to mitigate methane emissions. This study comprehensively analyzes the FF from the Kuršenai landfill, collecting samples from various depths, reaching up to 10.5 m. The most suitable layers for biocover construction were determined based on basic physical and chemical parameters, along with the concentration of heavy metals and microplastics. The findings unveil significant parameter variations across different depths. Moderate–high correlations (ranging from 0.5 to 0.84) between several parameters were observed. The layer at a depth of 4.5–6 m emerged as the most suitable for biocover construction. However, this layer is characterized by elevated microplastic concentrations (30,208 ± 273 particles/kg), posing a challenge for its use in biocovers as microplastics can be released into the environment during FF extraction and biocover construction. Additionally, microplastics become finer with depth, increasing the associated risks. Therefore, a balanced approach considering material properties and pollution concentrations is vital for sustainable waste management practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2902 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Water Management with Design and Economic Evaluation of Recycling Greywater at Abu Dhabi University—A Case Study on Decentralization

by Chandra Mouli R. Madhuranthakam, Malak AbuZaid, Omar Chaalal and Tala Ghannam

Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16208; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316208 - 22 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1332

Abstract

Wastewater can be segregated as greywater and blackwater separately. The greywater generated in malls, restaurants, and university buildings is generally dilute, while it will later become concentrated when it is merged into the main sewage collection line. It would be more economical and environmentally friendly if the greywater is treated locally using a modular wastewater treatment facility that produces treated water amenable for other uses such as irrigation or horticulture. The objective of this article is to study the economic feasibility and design a decentralized plant that produces fresh water from greywater generated at the Abu Dhabi university campus located in the United Arab Emirates. The proposed unit will consist of a compact design of filtration, chemical treatment and disinfection processes that would generate treated wastewater that can be used for horticulture in and around the local campus or can be stored and supplied for irrigation purposes. Several parameters such as total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand, and chemical oxygen demand are measured and monitored throughout the entire process and are regulated by appropriate operations performed for each unit. This study shows that decentralization of greywater treatment is not only economical but also essential for the management of fresh water, which in turn assures environmental sustainability. By using coagulation, flocculation and chlorination with a 30 mg/L alum dosage, 0.6 mg/L of polyacrylamide and 0.12 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite, respectively, greywater is treated to meet the water specification for reusing it for horticulture. Further, a modular plant with an investment of USD 8 M is proved to process 90,000 tons of greywater with a 34% discounted rate of return. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 4719 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Water Level in Lakes by RNN-Based Deep Learning Algorithms to Preserve Sustainability in Changing Climate and Relationship to Microcystin

by Serkan Ozdemir and Sevgi Ozkan Yildirim

Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 16008; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152216008 - 16 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1288

Abstract

In recent years, intensive water use combined with global climate change has increased fluctuations in freshwater lake levels, hydrological characteristics, water quality, and water ecosystem balance. To provide a sustainable management plan in the long term, deep learning models (DL) can provide fast and reliable predictions of lake water levels (LWLs) in challenging future scenarios. In this study, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and four recurrent neural network (RNN) algorithms were investigated to predict LWLs that were applied in time series such as one day, five days, ten days, twenty days, one month, two months, and four months ahead. The results show that the performance of the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model with a prediction of 60 days is in the very good range and outperforms the benchmark, the Naïve Method, by 78% and the ANN at the significance level (p < 0.05) with an RMSE = 0.1762 compared to other DL algorithms. The RNN-based DL algorithms show better prediction performance, specifically, for long time horizons, 57.98% for 45 days, 78.55% for 60 days, and 58% for 120 days, and it is better to use a prediction period of at least 20 days with an 18.45% performance increase to take advantage of the gated RNN algorithms for predicting future water levels. Additionally, microcystin concentration was tightly correlated with temperature and was most elevated between 15 and 20 m water depths during the summer months. Evidence on LWL forecasting and microcystin concentrations in the context of climate change could help develop a sustainable water management plan and long-term policy for drinking water lakes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 4018 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bacteriophage and Their Potential Use in Bioaugmentation of Biological Wastewater Treatment Processes

by Şuheda Reisoglu and Sevcan Aydin

Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12216; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612216 - 10 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1477

Abstract

In wastewater treatment plants, the stability of the related microbiota is pivotal for a steady and appropriate operation in biological wastewater treatment (BWT). The interactions between phages, which are high in amounts and diversity, and their particular hosts are significant due to their specificity in this microbial community. As drivers of diversity, phages are capable of changing the microbial structure by affecting host cells. This study aimed to enhance the stability of the functional microbiota, a primary concern of BWT, by evaluating the influence of bioaugmentation with bacteriophage cocktails. The sequencing data revealed significant alterations in the entire microbiome, including microeukaryotes, induced by the bacteriophages. These alterations led to a reduction in opportunistic microorganisms while preserving the beneficial ones. The genus Proteobacteria was found unaffected by three antibiotics in the bioreactor due to its antibiotic-resistant members, leading to its further growth, while the antibiotic-sensitive genus decreased in quantity. Furthermore, the phages notably influenced the metabolic pathway such as nitrogen, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolisms by eliminating opportunistic microbes and providing improved growth conditions to bacterial species that are essential for effective reactor performance and wastewater treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 3417 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Role of Vermicomposting Microorganisms in the Conversion of Biomass Ash to Bio-Based Fertilizers

by Güldane Aslı Turp, Saim Ozdemir, Kaan Yetilmezsoy, Nurtac Oz and Ali Elkamel

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8984; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118984 - 2 Jun 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1905

Abstract

A high pH, low solubility of bound plant nutrients, and negative impacts on microbial communities are common drawbacks of biomass ash (BA) vermicomposting. In this study, nutrient-rich BA mixed with cow manure was tested at three different application rates to obtain final nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents of 3.5%, 7.0%, and 10.0% for bio-based fertilizers via vermicomposting. The results showed that all BA blends made with cow manure increased fermentation temperatures and allowed successful worm activity during the subsequent vermicomposting phase. The order of indicator enzyme activities in all vermicomposting samples was urease (220 μg NH₄ g⁻¹ h⁻¹) > β-glucosidase (95 μg PNP g⁻¹ h⁻¹) > alkaline phosphatase (91 μg PNP g⁻¹ h⁻¹) > arylsulfatase (83 μg PNP g⁻¹ h⁻¹) > acid phosphatase (60 μg PNP g⁻¹ h⁻¹). As an indicator of nutrient bioavailability, high correlations were observed between enzyme activities and microbial diversity in vermicompost samples. Determination coefficients (R²) obtained from multiple linear regressions between enzyme activities and bacterial population for T₀, T₁, T₂, and T₃ were determined as 0.90, 0.65, 0.73, and 0.90, respectively. According to a novel metagenome-based approach proposed within the scope of the present study, the stimulatory effects of Flavobacteriales, Burkholderiales, Saccharimonadales, and Pseudomonadales on enzyme activities for the nutrient solubility were found to be significant and positive. The findings of this study demonstrated that worm composting could be a sustainable bio-based technology for the production of slow-release fertilizer from nutrient-rich waste material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

27 pages, 6557 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Artificial Intelligence to Predict CO₂ Emissions: Critical Step towards Sustainable Environment

by Ahmed M. Nassef, Abdul Ghani Olabi, Hegazy Rezk and Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7648; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097648 - 6 May 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3545

Abstract

Prediction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is a critical step towards a sustainable environment. In any country, increasing the amount of CO₂ emissions is an indicator of the increase in environmental pollution. In this regard, the current study applied three powerful and effective artificial intelligence tools, namely, a feed-forward neural network (FFNN), an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and long short-term memory (LSTM), to forecast the yearly amount of CO₂ emissions in Saudi Arabia up to the year 2030. The data were collected from the “Our World in Data” website, which offers the measurements of the CO₂ emissions from the years 1936 to 2020 for every country on the globe. However, this study is only concerned with the data related to Saudi Arabia. Due to some missing data, this study considered only the measurements in the years from 1954 to 2020. The 67 data samples were divided into 2 subsets for training and testing with the optimal ratio of 70:30, respectively. The effect of different input combinations on prediction accuracy was also studied. The inputs were combined to form six different groups to predict the next value of the CO₂ emissions from the past values. The group of inputs that contained the past value in addition to the year as a temporal index was found to be the best one. For all the models, the performance accuracies were assessed using the root mean squared errors (RMSEs) and the coefficient of determination (R²). Every model was trained until the smallest RMSE of the testing data was reached throughout the entire training run. For the FFNN, ANFIS and LSTM, the averages of the RMSEs were 19.78, 20.89505 and 15.42295, respectively, while the averages of the R² were found to be 0.990985, 0.98875 and 0.9945, respectively. Every model was applied individually to forecast the next value of the CO₂ emission. To benefit from the powers of the three artificial intelligence (AI) tools, the final forecasted value was considered the average (ensemble) value of the three models’ outputs. To assess the forecasting accuracy, the ensemble was validated with a new measurement for the year 2021, and the calculated percentage error was found to be 6.8675% with an accuracy of 93.1325%, which implies that the model is highly accurate. Moreover, the resulting forecasting curve of the ensembled models showed that the rate of CO₂ emissions in Saudi Arabia is expected to decrease from 9.4976 million tonnes per year based on the period 1954–2020 to 6.1707 million tonnes per year in the period 2020–2030. Therefore, the finding of this work could possibly help the policymakers in Saudi Arabia to take the correct and wise decisions regarding this issue not only for the near future but also for the far future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1850 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study of Treatment of Reactive Red 45 Dye by Advanced Oxidation Processes and Toxicity Evaluation Using Bioassays

by Muhammad Imran Kanjal, Majid Muneer, Muhammad Asghar Jamal, Tanveer Hussain Bokhari, Abdul Wahid, Shafqat Ullah, Abdeltif Amrane, Amina Hadadi, Hichem Tahraoui and Lotfi Mouni

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7256; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097256 - 27 Apr 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1429

Abstract

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) hold great promise to degrade and detoxify industrial-based effluents. The Reactive Red 45 dye aqueous solutions were treated with AOP using UV and gamma radiation alone and then in the presence of H₂O₂. The dye initial concentration, UV exposure time, and gamma-ray absorbed dose were optimized for maximum degradation. The degradation of dye was 88.85% and 77.7% using UV/H₂O₂ (1 mL/L) at a UV exposure time of 180 min for 50 mg/L and 100 mg/L, respectively. The degradation was noted as 100% and 93.82% as the solutions were subjected to a gamma/H₂O₂ (1 mL/L) absorbed dose of 2 kGy. The chemical oxygen demand was reduced to 77% and 85% by treating the dye samples with UV/H₂O₂ and gamma/H₂O₂, respectively. The removal efficiency (G-value), dose constant (k), D_0.50, D_0.90, and D_0.99 for gamma-irradiated samples were also calculated. The reduction in toxicity for treated samples was monitored by using the Allium cepa, Hemolytic, and brine shrimp (Artemia salina) tests while the Ames test was performed for mutagenic assessment. The A. cepa test showed 39.13%, 36.36%, and 47.82% increases in root length (RL), root count (RC), and mitotic index (MI), respectively, in UV/H₂O₂-treated samples while 48.78%, 48.14%, and 57.14% increases were shown with gamma-ray in conjunction with H₂O₂. The hemolytic test showed 21.25% and 23.21% hemolysis after UV/H₂O₂ and gamma/H₂O₂ treatments, respectively. The brine shrimp (Artemia salina) test showed 84.09% and 90.90% decreases in the nauplii death after UV/H₂O₂ and gamma/H₂O₂ treatments, respectively. The mutagenicity of UV/H₂O₂-treated solutions was reduced up to 84.41% and 77.87%, while it was 87.83% and 80.88% using gamma/H₂O₂ using TA98 and TA100 bacterial strains, respectively. The advanced oxidation processes based on UV and gamma radiation in conjunction with H₂O₂ can be applied for the degradation and detoxification of textile waste effluents efficiently. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 861 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Hybrid Fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS Approach for Implementation of Smart Sustainable Waste Management Strategies

by Bihter Gizem Demircan and Kaan Yetilmezsoy

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6526; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086526 - 12 Apr 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2369

Abstract

The integration of smart city technologies into waste management is a challenging field for decision makers due to its multivariate, multi-limiting, and multi-stakeholder structure, despite its contribution to the ecological and economic sustainability understanding of cities. The success of smart sustainable waste management strategies depends on many environmental, technical, economic, and social variables, and many stakeholders are involved in these processes. Using fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods helps decision makers determine effective, affordable, and acceptable smart waste management strategies. Although MCDM methods are widely used in various environmental engineering applications, the determination of smart sustainable waste management strategies using these methods has not yet received enough attention in the literature. This study aims to contribute to this gap in the literature by evaluating four different smart waste management strategies using a hybrid fuzzy MCDM method. The performance of the proposed strategy alternatives according to fifteen sub-criteria (under four main criteria selected from the literature) was evaluated using a combined application of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP) and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to obtain the ideal solution (fuzzy TOPSIS). For this evaluation, the subjective opinions of ten different experts working in academia, in the private sector, or in the public sector were obtained using prepared questionnaires. As a result, the sub-criteria of fewer atmospheric emissions (0.42), operational feasibility (0.64), initial investment costs (0.56), and increased awareness of sustainable cities (0.53) had the highest weight values in their main criteria groups. The performance ranking of the alternatives according to the closeness coefficient (CC_i) values was obtained as A2 (0.458) > A3 (0.453) > A4 (0.452) > A1 (0.440), with A3 being slightly ahead of A4 due only to a 0.001 higher CC_i value. To test the reliability and stability of the obtained performance ranking results, a sensitivity analysis was also performed using eighteen different scenarios, in which the weights of the different sub-criteria were increased by 25% or decreased by 50%, or they were assumed to be 1 and 0, or all sub-criteria in the same group had equal weight values. Since the performance ranking of the alternatives did not change, the ranking obtained at the beginning was found to be robust against the sub-criterion weight changes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 2394 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Additive Manufacture of Recycled Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Using Pyromellitic Dianhydride Targeted for FDM 3D-Printing Applications

by Mohammed Alzahrani, Hesham Alhumade, Leonardo Simon, Kaan Yetilmezsoy, Chandra Mouli R. Madhuranthakam and Ali Elkamel

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065004 - 11 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1825

Abstract

The suitability of recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (R-PET) for 3D-printing applications was evaluated by studying the melt flow characteristics of the polymer. R-PET is known to experience significant deterioration in its mechanical properties when recycled due to molecular weight loss that results from reprocessing. Lower molecular weight hinders R-PET from being 3D-printable due to low viscosity and melt strength. The hypothesis was that R-PET can be modified with reasonable effort and resources to a 3D-printable thermoplastic if the low viscosity problem is tackled. Higher viscosity will enhance both the melt strength and the melt flow characteristic of the polymer, making it more suitable for processing and 3D printing. Reactive extrusion was selected as the method for modifying the polymer to achieve the objective via a coupling reaction with chain extender PMDA (pyromellitic dianhydride). A decrease in the melt flow index (MFI) from 90 to 1.2 (g/10 min) was recorded when PMDA was added at 0.75 wt% which lowered the MFI of modified R-PET to a comparable value to commercial 3D-printing filaments. Furthermore, FT-IR analysis was performed to investigate the chemical composition of the product. Finally, a 3D-printing filament was made from the modified R-PET by mimicking the main processing stations that exist in the filament-making process, which are the extrusion stage, water bath cooling stage and spooling stage. With 0.75 wt% PMDA, the melt strength was satisfactory for pulling the filament and, therefore, a filament with on-spec dimension was produced. Finally, a small object was successfully 3D-printed using the filament product at a minimum recommended temperature of 275 °C. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

34 pages, 6131 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Superstructure Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming Optimization for the Optimal Processing Pathway Selection of Sludge-to-Energy Technologies

by Omar Morsy, Farzad Hourfar, Qinqin Zhu, Ali Almansoori and Ali Elkamel

Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4023; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054023 - 22 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2188

Abstract

The perception of sewage sludge has increasingly changed from being a waste, which is a burden to the environment and society, to a useful resource of materials and renewable energy. There are several available technologies at different stages of maturity that aim to convert sludge to energy in the form of electricity and/or fuels. In this paper, a decision-making support tool is proposed to help in choosing the optimal pathway for the sludge-to-energy conversion from a techno-economic perspective. The conversion technologies under study are: (1) anaerobic digestion, (2) pyrolysis, (3) gasification, (4) incineration, (5) supercritical water oxidation, (6) supercritical water gasification, as well as the corresponding dewatering and drying methods for each technology. Different synergies between the available technologies are compared by the formulation of a superstructure optimization problem expressed in a mixed-integer non-linear program (MINLP) model. The applicability of the proposed model is explored via a case study for a hypothetical sludge treatment plant with a capacity of 100 tons of dry solids (tDS) per day. The model is solved via the BARON solver using GAMS software within a reasonable processing time. According to the obtained results, the fast pyrolysis technology, coupled with filter press dewatering and thermal drying as pre-treatment steps, show the most promising outcomes with the minimum treatment cost of USD 180/tDS. Fast pyrolysis converts the sludge to bio-oil, which can be used as an alternative fuel after further refining, and biochar, which can be used for soil amendment or adsorption purposes. The model parameters are subject to uncertainty that is addressed in the sensitivity analysis section of this paper. Moreover, the pyrolysis pathway shows a high degree of robustness in most of the sensitivity analysis scenarios. Meanwhile, anaerobic digestion coupled with fast pyrolysis demonstrates the best energy recovery performance upon increasing electricity prices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Sustainable Environmental Science and Water/Wastewater Treatment

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (12 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI