Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management - Research Unit for Water Quality, TU Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226-1, 1040, Vienna, Austria.
Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management - Research Unit for Waste and Resource Management, TU Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226-2, 1040, Vienna, Austria.
J Environ Manage. 2024 Jun;362:121339. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121339. Epub 2024 Jun 1.
To promote optimal phosphorus (P) recovery from municipal wastewater and sewage sludge with viable legal instruments, it is imperative to understand the regional and national consequences of different legal requirements for recycling. In this study we develop a scenario-based analysis to assess the environmental and economic impact of different national P recovery strategies in the context of a detailed representation of the existing Austrian wastewater infrastructure. This assessment combines material flow analysis, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing and includes the indicators P recycling rate, P utilization degree, heavy metal removal rate, share of heavy metals' content in wastewater redirected to agricultural soils, global warming potential, cumulated energy demand, terrestrial acidification potential, volume of freight transport and annual costs. The following main conclusions can be drawn. P recovery from ash shows the highest potential regarding the utilization of P from wastewater. A high P utilization from wastewater should rely on recovery technologies that decontaminate products, otherwise pollutant loads to agricultural soils might increase. P recovery to the extent of 60-85 % of P in WWTPs influent can be achieved by savings/costs of -0.8 to +4.7 EUR inhabitant yr in addition to current cost of the wastewater treatment/sludge disposal system. Key factors to be considered for costs are the choice of recovery process, revenues from products, and the use of existing incineration infrastructure. P recovery can lead to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Austria if nitrous oxide emissions from sludge incineration are limited and efficient heat utilization strategies are implemented. There is a trade-off in terms of environmental and economic costs in choosing a more centralized or decentralized mono-incineration strategy.
为了通过可行的法律手段促进从城市污水和污水污泥中最佳地回收磷（P），了解不同的回收法律要求对区域和国家的影响至关重要。在这项研究中，我们基于情景分析，在详细描述奥地利现有废水基础设施的情况下，评估了不同国家 P 回收策略对环境和经济的影响。这种评估结合了物质流分析、生命周期评估和生命周期成本核算，包括 P 回收率、P 利用率、重金属去除率、农业土壤中重新定向的废水中重金属含量的份额、全球变暖潜能、累积能源需求、陆地酸化潜能、货运量和年度成本等指标。可以得出以下主要结论。从灰烬中回收 P 显示出从废水中回收 P 的最大潜力。从废水中回收 P 应依赖于能净化产品的回收技术，否则可能会增加污染物对农业土壤的负荷。通过节省/污水处理厂和污泥处置系统的当前成本，可以实现 60-85%的 WWTP 进水 P 回收率，节省成本为-0.8 至+4.7 欧元/居民年。关键因素是要考虑回收工艺的选择、产品的收入以及现有的焚烧基础设施的利用。如果限制污泥焚烧的氧化亚氮排放并实施有效的热能利用策略，那么从奥地利的温室气体排放中可以回收 P。选择更集中或分散的单焚烧策略在环境和经济成本方面存在权衡。
