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The Treatment and Recycling of Industrial Wastewater Under Low-Carbon Constraints

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Pollution Prevention, Mitigation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 September 2024) | Viewed by 2636

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
Interests: environmental engineering; treatment technology of industrial wastewater; research and application of key technology in recycling high phosphorus organic wastewater

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Guest Editor
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: water regeneration and recycling technology; refractory wastewater treatment; membrane filtration; biochemical treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Interests: analysis and characterization of natural organic matter and humus in typical water bodies; on-line water quality monitoring technology and device for smart water; advanced oxidation and disinfection technologies (ozone, UV/chlorine, electrochemical oxidation and reduction); distributed drinking water purification and sewage treatment technology and equipment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In line with more stringent standards and requirements for industrial wastewater treatment, conventional water treatment processes, at the cost of high carbon emissions to reduce pollution, cannot meet the aim of sustainability. Faced with such a dilemma, there is increasing demand for technological innovation, fostering resource recovery and transformation from industrial wastewater. Relevant research has shown that resource recovery and waste-to-energy from industrial wastewater can be achieved through the oriented transformation and separation of pollutants, thus enabling sustainable wastewater treatment. At the same time, using new energy and sustainable products can further promote the realization of low-carbon or even zero-carbon industrial wastewater treatment.

The goal of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutralization” has triggered a profound change in economic and social systematic areas. From the aspect of wastewater sustainability, the advanced treatment of high-COD and -salt wastewater has become the priority and main challenge of current research. A reasonable treatment strategy for “CO2 product-oriented” to “biological carbon source-target” is of great significance in the development of a “green” and low-carbon society. The aim is to create CCER environmental protection projects in line with “dual-carbon” goals and respond to the new era of environmental protection EOD projects.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: 

  1. High-salt wastewater;
  2. Fine chemical wastewater;
  3. Refractory organic wastewater;
  4. Wastewater catalytic treatment;
  5. Wastewater reuse and recycling;
  6. Low-carbon water treatment theory and technology;
  7. Paths and methods of resource utilization.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Huangzhao Wei
Dr. Jinglong Han
Dr. Wen-Tao Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • high-salt wastewater
  • fine chemical wastewater
  • refractory organic wastewater
  • wastewater catalytic treatment
  • wastewater recycling
  • low-carbon water treatment theory and technology
  • paths and methods of resource utilization

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 2073 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Environmental Impact and Energy Utilization Efficiency of Wastewater Treatment Plants in Tumen River Basin Based on a Life Cycle Assessment + Data Envelopment Analysis Model
by Jiaxin Liu, Bo Sun, Wenhua Piao and Mingji Jin
Sustainability 2024, 16(4), 1690; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16041690 - 19 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2171
Abstract
The environmental impacts from energy consumption account for a high percentage of the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) throughout their life cycle; therefore, controlling energy use in WWTPs could bring substantial benefits to the environment. In this study, according to the [...] Read more.
The environmental impacts from energy consumption account for a high percentage of the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) throughout their life cycle; therefore, controlling energy use in WWTPs could bring substantial benefits to the environment. In this study, according to the different percentages of electricity generation from renewable energy compared to fossil energy, the global warming, acidification, eutrophication, human toxicity, and photochemical smog, the environmental impacts of WWTP operation were considered. Furthermore, to explore a more sustainable way of operating WWTPs under the “dual-carbon” strategic decision, the environmental impacts and energy utilization efficiency of different power allocation scenarios at present and in the next 40 years were compared based on the LCA+DEA integrated model. The study revealed that in scenarios 1–5, as the proportion of renewable energy power generation gradually increased, all LCA results showed a gradual decrease, of which GWP decreased by 83.32% and human toxicity decreased by 93.34%. However, in scenarios 2–5, the contribution ratio (proportion) of gas and electricity to GWP and POCP gradually increased, reaching 77.11% and 59.44%, respectively, in scenario 5. The contribution ratio (proportion) of biomass generation to AP and EP gradually increased as well, reaching 65.22% and 68.75%, respectively, in scenario 5. Meanwhile, the combined technical efficiency in energy utilization in the five scenarios showed a decreasing trend; only scenario 1 was fully efficient, and the combined efficiency was 1. The values of combined technical efficiency in scenarios 2, 3, 4, and 5 gradually decreased and were 0.7386, 0.4771, 0.2967, and 0.1673, respectively. This study discusses whether the use of renewable energy in place of fossil energy power elicits an environmental impact in WWTPs. We explore the feasibility of achieving energy savings and emission reductions in WWTPs within the Tumen River Basin, to provide a theoretical basis for their sustainable development. Full article
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