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Biorefinery of Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Pathway to Sustainable Development
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Biorefinery of Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Pathway to Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Waste and Recycling".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 7548

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Rolando Chamy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Escuela de Ingeniería Bioquimica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Interests: environmental biotechnology engineering
Dr. Estela Tapia-Venegas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Ingeniería para la Sostenibilidad, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Interests: environmental biotechnology engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater has great potential to create a circular economy through the recovery and efficient use of resources and the reduction of emissions. Treated water, biosolids, biomethane and nutrients, among other resources, can be recovered from wastewater.

These resources are recovered mainly from biochemical processes using environmental biotechnologies such as anaerobic digestion, thermal hydrolysis, biogas desulfurization, Annamox, struvite precipitation and microalgae.

This is relevant both globally and locally due to natural hazards such as water scarcity, soil contamination and climate change, especially considering that globally 80% of sewage is introduced into the environment without adequate treatment, and 40% of the world's population faces the challenge of water scarcity. In addition, Sustainable Development Goal 6 on sustainable sanitation requires significant investment in infrastructure, which is of particular interest to the Latin American region.

Therefore WWTPs are a key infrastructure and a major point of interest for the development of circular economies. The configuration of a WWTP depends on the geographical region, population served and the respective quality and quantity of wastewater to be treated. This is why there is no universal solution for the application of a circular economy in WWTPs.

Typical bottlenecks are related to the level of technological development of the different biotechnologies mentioned, the economic risk and state of the market segment, public policies and public acceptance of waste reuse systems for domestic wastewater.

The purpose of the Special Issue is to know the current state and technological advances that it will allow a total transforming and/or improve a wastewater treatment plant into a product and energy producer plant using wastewater as raw material, under the concept of bio-refinery. Please, to enter a title, authors and a tentative 200-word abstract before submitting a full paper. In turn, the deadline to submit the full paper is August 2023.

Prof. Dr. Rolando Chamy
Dr. Estela Tapia-Venegas
Guest Editors

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

  • water treatment plants
  • WWTPs
  • active sludge
  • nutrient recovery
  • energy recovery
  • sustainability
  • biorefinery
  • circular economy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 1329 KiB  
Article
Enrichment of a Mixed Culture of Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria for Hydrogen Production from Organic Acids
by Sean C. Smith, Javiera Toledo-Alarcón, María Cristina Schiappacasse and Estela Tapia-Venegas
Sustainability 2023, 15(24), 16607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152416607 - 06 Dec 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 723
Abstract
Hydrogen (H2) as a clean fuel holds global potential and can be produced through bio-processes. To enhance bioH2 yields, integrated systems have been proposed, combining dark fermentation (DF) of wastewater with a subsequent photofermentation (PF) stage involving purple non-sulfur (PNS) [...] Read more.
Hydrogen (H2) as a clean fuel holds global potential and can be produced through bio-processes. To enhance bioH2 yields, integrated systems have been proposed, combining dark fermentation (DF) of wastewater with a subsequent photofermentation (PF) stage involving purple non-sulfur (PNS) bacteria. Mixed cultures of PNS bacteria and their microbial ecology have been relatively understudied despite the known benefits of mixed cultures in industrial applications. The aim of this study was to obtain various mixed cultures of PNS bacteria under different environmental conditions during the enrichment stage. Four different mixed cultures were obtained (A, B, C, and D). However, in the H2 production phase, only Consortium A, which had been enriched with malic acid as the carbon source, exposed to 32 W m−2 of irradiance, and subjected to intermittent agitation, produced H2 with a yield of 9.37 mmol H2 g−1 COD. The consortia enriched were a hybrid of PF and DF bacteria. Especially in Consortium A, Rhodopseudomonas palustris was the dominant organism, and various DF bacteria were positively associated with H2 production, with their dominance comparable to that of PNS bacteria. Despite the reported low yields, optimizing environmental conditions for this culture could potentially enhance hydrogen production from DF effluents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery of Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Pathway to Sustainable Development)
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22 pages, 9040 KiB  
Article
The Biofactory: Quantifying Life Cycle Sustainability Impacts of the Wastewater Circular Economy in Chile
by Madeline Furness, Ricardo Bello-Mendoza and Rolando Chamy Maggi
Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 16077; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152216077 - 17 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1212
Abstract
The wastewater circular economy (WW-CE) represents a solution to improving sanitation coverage and management worldwide. However, the transition to circular wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) requires facilitation to enhance decision-makers’ understanding of the integral sustainability impacts of the WW-CE. This research implemented a Life [...] Read more.
The wastewater circular economy (WW-CE) represents a solution to improving sanitation coverage and management worldwide. However, the transition to circular wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) requires facilitation to enhance decision-makers’ understanding of the integral sustainability impacts of the WW-CE. This research implemented a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), combining Life Cycle Assessment, Social Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing with a Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model to quantify the environmental, social, and economic impacts of different WWTPs technologies. Two real WWTPs (Plant A and Plant B) in Chile have embraced alternative WW-CE configurations, adopting the title Biofactories, and are considered as case studies in this investigation. A comparative LCSA considered the service of a 1,000,000-population equivalent, under three scenarios: wastewater discharge without treatment, conventional WWTPs, and biofactory WW-CE configurations. The results demonstrate that the transition to WW-CEs improved integral sustainability, and decreased integrated environmental, social, and economic impacts by 30% in Plant A, demonstrating better performance in terms environmental and social impacts. However, a 58% decrease in integral sustainability impacts for Plant B was achieved via the economic advantage of the thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment of sludge. The urgent need to adopt sustainable decision-making models to improve sanitation coverage and sustainability performance of the sanitation industry across the globe is discussed. The WW-CE in Chile presents an opportunity for this to be achieved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery of Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Pathway to Sustainable Development)
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18 pages, 3891 KiB  
Article
Performance of a Full-Scale Vermifilter for Sewage Treatment in Removing Organic Matter, Nutrients, and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
by Victor Gutiérrez, Naomi Monsalves, Gloria Gómez and Gladys Vidal
Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6842; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086842 - 18 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1456
Abstract
The vermifilter (VF) is regarded as a sustainable solution for treating rural sewage. However, few studies have investigated the performance of a full-scale vermifilter. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of a full-scale vermifilter in reducing organic matter, nutrients, [...] Read more.
The vermifilter (VF) is regarded as a sustainable solution for treating rural sewage. However, few studies have investigated the performance of a full-scale vermifilter. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of a full-scale vermifilter in reducing organic matter, nutrients, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria contained in sewage. Influent and effluents were obtained from a rural sewage treatment plant using a VF and UV disinfection system. The results show a significant removal (p < 0.05) of chemical organic demand (COD) (77%), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) (84%), total nitrogen (TN) (53%), and total phosphorus (36%). Seasonality is an influential variable for COD, BOD5, and TN removal. In addition, the molecular weight distribution shows that the VF does not generate a considerable change in the distribution of organic matter (COD and total organic carbon (TOC)) and NH4+-N. The UV disinfection system eliminated 99% of coliform bacteria; however, they are not eliminated to safe concentrations. Therefore, it is possible to detect bacteria resistant to the antibiotics ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, and ceftriaxone at 63.5%, 87.3%, and 63.5%, respectively, which were detected in the effluents. This study shows the potential of a system for the removal of pollution and the need to optimize the VF to be a safe treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery of Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Pathway to Sustainable Development)
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Review

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19 pages, 6030 KiB  
Review
UV Disinfection Systems for Wastewater Treatment: Emphasis on Reactivation of Microorganisms
by Yenifer González, Gloria Gómez, Gabriela E. Moeller-Chávez and Gladys Vidal
Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11262; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411262 - 19 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3742
Abstract
UV disinfection is cost-effective and easy to maintain for decentralized areas. However, to ensure its effectiveness, some parameters need to be considered. In this study, a general search of Web of Science articles was performed to determine the possible influence of these parameters [...] Read more.
UV disinfection is cost-effective and easy to maintain for decentralized areas. However, to ensure its effectiveness, some parameters need to be considered. In this study, a general search of Web of Science articles was performed to determine the possible influence of these parameters on the reactivation of microorganisms in UV systems; in addition, different search strings were used focusing exclusively on wastewater treatment, UV systems and Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs). It was found that in order to maintain low transmittance, it is essential to remove suspended solids and reduce water hardness. It is recommended to control the zeta potential in the range of 0–5 mV to avoid the aggregation of particles and bacteria. Determining the appropriate UV dose is essential to mitigate the reactivation of microorganisms. A minimum dose of 40 mJ/cm2 can contribute to effective disinfection and reduce the likelihood of reactivation. In addition, maintaining a residual chlorine level of at least 0.5 mg/L provides an additional barrier to reactivation. It is also important to optimize the design flow rate of the UV system as recommended for each individual unit. These measures, together with the combination of UV disinfection and chemical or AOPS, can effectively reduce the reactivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery of Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Pathway to Sustainable Development)
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