| Abstract | The integration of an off-grid solar-assisted heat pump (SHP) and a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor (SBBGR) for thermal energy recovery from wastewater was assessed by means of a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC), by theoretically scaling up a pilot installation in Bari, Italy, to a full-scale unit designed for 5000 person-equivalents. The LCA and LCC included all activities in the life cycle of the SHP and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), namely construction, operation and end-of-life. The thermal energy produced by the SHP was assessed as supplying heating and cooling for an air-conditioning system, displacing a conventional air-source heat pump powered by electricity from the grid. This integrated system was compared to a reference situation where wastewater is treated in a conventional WWTP applying activated sludge with no thermal energy recovery system, showing clear environmental benefits in all impact indicators, such as a 42% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and a cost reduction of 53%. Several sensitivity analyses confirmed these findings, with the exception of the price rebound effect, which showed that the lower cost of the integrated system could lead to overturning the environmental benefits. As a limitation of the study, the distribution of the supplied air-conditioning to meet a demand off-site the WWTP premises, such as in residential buildings or hotels, was not included. Therefore, our results constitute only a preliminary positive outcome that should be validated in a real-life application. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
| Authors | Munoz, Ivan; Portillo, Francisco; Rosiek, Sabina; Battles, Francisco J.; Martinez-Del-Rio, Javier; Acasuso, Inaki; Piergrossi, Valentina; De Sanctis, Marco; Chimienti, Silvia; Di Iaconi, Claudio |
| Text | 420991 2019 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.074 ISI Web of Science WOS 000457952500108 Scopus 2 s2.0 85059309964 Life cycle assessment LCA Life cycle costing LCC Wastewater source heat pump Solar assisted heat pump Thermal energy recovery Prospective environmental and economic assessment of solar assisted thermal energy recovery from wastewater through a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor Munoz, Ivan; Portillo, Francisco; Rosiek, Sabina; Battles, Francisco J.; Martinez Del Rio, Javier; Acasuso, Inaki; Piergrossi, Valentina; De Sanctis, Marco; Chimienti, Silvia; Di Iaconi, Claudio 2. 0 LCA Consultants, Rendsburggade 14, Room 2.345, 9000, Aalborg, Denmark; Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Almeria, 04120, Almeria, Spain; CIESOL, Joint Centre of the University of Almeria CIEMAT, 04120, Almeria, Spain; Department of Economics and Business, University of Almeria, 04120, Almeria, Spain; Hedera Helix I B, Avda. Putxeta 1, Abanto y Zierbena, 48540, Bizkaia, Spain; Water Research Institute, Via F. De Blasio 5, 70132, Bari, Italy The integration of an off grid solar assisted heat pump SHP and a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor SBBGR for thermal energy recovery from wastewater was assessed by means of a prospective life cycle assessment LCA and life cycle costing LCC , by theoretically scaling up a pilot installation in Bari, Italy, to a full scale unit designed for 5000 person equivalents. The LCA and LCC included all activities in the life cycle of the SHP and wastewater treatment plant WWTP , namely construction, operation and end of life. The thermal energy produced by the SHP was assessed as supplying heating and cooling for an air conditioning system, displacing a conventional air source heat pump powered by electricity from the grid. This integrated system was compared to a reference situation where wastewater is treated in a conventional WWTP applying activated sludge with no thermal energy recovery system, showing clear environmental benefits in all impact indicators, such as a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a cost reduction of 53%. Several sensitivity analyses confirmed these findings, with the exception of the price rebound effect, which showed that the lower cost of the integrated system could lead to overturning the environmental benefits. As a limitation of the study, the distribution of the supplied air conditioning to meet a demand off site the WWTP premises, such as in residential buildings or hotels, was not included. Therefore, our results constitute only a preliminary positive outcome that should be validated in a real life application. C 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 212 Published version https //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095965261833782X via%3Dihub Versione pubblicata dell articolo Versione pubblicata dell articolo Munoz et al. 2019_JCP.pdf Supplementary material Supplementary material.pdf Articolo in rivista Butterworth Heinemann, 0959 6526 Journal of cleaner production Journal of cleaner production J. clean. prod. Journal of cleaner production. CHIMIENTI SILVIA PIERGROSSI VALENTINA claudio.diiaconi DI IACONI CLAUDIO marco.desanctis DE SANCTIS MARCO |
