Aqualia, Production Area, Cami Sot de Fontanet, 29, Lleida 25197, Spain.
UPC BarcelonaTECH, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
Water Res. 2022 Aug 15;222:118924. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118924. Epub 2022 Jul 29.
On their path to becoming sustainable facilities, it is required that wastewater treatment plants reduce their energy demand, sludge production, and chemical consumption, as well as increase on-site power generation. This study describes the results obtained from upgrading the sludge line of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant over 6 years (2015-2021) using three advanced process control strategies. The advanced process control tools were designed with the aim of (i) enhancing primary and secondary sludge thickening, (ii) improving anaerobic digestion performance, and (iii) reducing chemical consumption in the sludge line. The results obtained show that the use of advanced process control tools allows for optimising sludge thickening (increasing solids content by 9.5%) and anaerobic digestion (increasing both the removal of volatile solids and specific methane yield by 10%, respectively), while reducing iron chloride and antifoam consumption (by 75% and 53%, respectively). With the strategies implemented, the plant increased its potential energy self-sufficiency from 43% to 51% and reduced de-watered sludge production by 11%. Furthermore, the upgrade required a low investment, with a return of capital expense (CAPEX) in 1.98 years, which presents a promising and affordable alternative for upgrading existing wastewater treatment plants.
在实现可持续设施的过程中，污水处理厂需要降低能源需求、减少污泥产量和化学品消耗，并增加现场发电。本研究描述了在 6 年（2015-2021 年）内使用三种先进的过程控制策略对一座全规模污水处理厂的污泥处理线进行升级所取得的成果。先进的过程控制工具的设计旨在（i）增强初沉和二沉污泥的浓缩效果，（ii）改善厌氧消化性能，以及（iii）减少污泥处理线中的化学品消耗。研究结果表明，使用先进的过程控制工具可以优化污泥浓缩（使固体含量增加 9.5%）和厌氧消化（挥发性固体去除率和特定甲烷产量分别提高 10%），同时减少氯化铁和消泡剂的消耗（分别减少 75%和 53%）。通过实施这些策略，该工厂的潜在能源自给自足能力从 43%提高到 51%，脱水污泥产量减少了 11%。此外，该升级所需的投资较低，资本支出（CAPEX）在 1.98 年内即可收回，这为升级现有污水处理厂提供了一种有前途且经济实惠的替代方案。
