Simms Andrew, Hamilton Stacey, Biswas Wahidul K
Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Water Corporation, Perth, Australia.
Environ Manage. 2017 Apr;59(4):557-570. doi: 10.1007/s00267-016-0816-x. Epub 2017 Jan 11.
This research has determined the carbon footprint or the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO eq) of potable water production from a groundwater recycling scheme, consisting of the Beenyup wastewater treatment plant, the Beenyup groundwater replenishment trial plant and the Wanneroo groundwater treatment plant in Western Australia, using a life cycle assessment approach. It was found that the scheme produces 1300 tonnes of CO eq per gigalitre (GL) of water produced, which is 933 tonnes of CO eq higher than the desalination plant at Binningup in Western Australia powered by 100% renewable energy generated electricity. A Monte Carlo Simulation uncertainty analysis calculated a Coefficient of Variation value of 5.4%, thus confirming the accuracy of the simulation. Electricity input accounts for 83% of the carbon dioxide equivalent produced during the production of potable water. The chosen mitigation strategy was to consider the use of renewable energy to generate electricity for carbon intensive groundwater replenishment trial plant. Depending on the local situation, a maximum of 93% and a minimum of 21% greenhouse gas saving from electricity use can be attained at groundwater replenishment trial plant by replacing grid electricity with renewable electricity. In addition, the consideration of vibrational separation (V-Sep) that helps reduce wastes generation and chemical use resulted in a 4.03 tonne of CO eq saving per GL of water produced by the plant.
本研究采用生命周期评估方法，确定了西澳大利亚州由比尼普污水处理厂、比尼普地下水回灌试验厂和万罗地下水处理厂组成的地下水循环利用方案生产饮用水的碳足迹或二氧化碳当量（CO₂eq）。研究发现，该方案每生产10亿升（GL）水产生1300吨CO₂eq，比西澳大利亚州宾宁普由100%可再生能源发电驱动的海水淡化厂高出933吨CO₂eq。蒙特卡洛模拟不确定性分析计算出变异系数值为5.4%，从而证实了模拟的准确性。电力输入占饮用水生产过程中产生的二氧化碳当量的83%。选定的缓解策略是考虑使用可再生能源为碳密集型的地下水回灌试验厂发电。根据当地情况，通过用可再生电力替代电网电力，地下水回灌试验厂最多可实现93%、最少可实现21%的电力使用温室气体减排。此外，考虑采用有助于减少废物产生和化学品使用的振动分离（V-Sep）技术，该厂每生产1GL水可减少4.03吨CO₂eq的排放。
