Browsing by Author "Eusebi, Anna L."

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    ENERWATER – A standard method for assessing and improving the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants
    (Elsevier, 2019-03-21) Longo, Stefano; Mauricio-Iglesias, Miguel; Soares, Ana; Campo Moreno, Pablo; Fatone, Francesco; Eusebi, Anna L.; Akkersdijk, E; Stefani, L.; Hospido, Almudena
    This paper describes the first methodology specifically tailored to estimate energy efficiency at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Inspired by the cycle of continuous improvement, the method (i) precisely defines the concept of energy efficiency in WWTPs, (ii) proposes systematic and comparable ways to measure it, and (iii) allows benchmarking and diagnosing energy hotspots. The methodology delivers an aggregated measure of the WWTP energy efficiency defined as the Water Treatment Energy Index, a single energy label that uses universally known illustrations enabling wide communication of standardized information on the WWTP energy status. The accuracy, reproducibility and generality of the methodology were validated by a widespread energy benchmarking method, and a case study is presented to show its capabilities. By promoting dialogue towards the creation of a specific European Standard, the actions accomplished by the H2020 Coordination Support Action ENERWATER should positively contribute to improving the exchange of information on energy saving actions and results between wastewater utilities and towards other stakeholders.
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    Hybrid membrane distillation reverse electrodialysis configuration for water and energy recovery from human urine: an opportunity for off-grid decentralised sanitation
    (Elsevier, 2019-05-06) Mercer, Edwina V.; Davey, Christopher J.; Azzini, D.; Eusebi, Anna L.; Tierney, Ross; Williams, Leon; Jiang, Ying; Parker, Alison; Tyrrel, Sean; Pidou, Marc; McAdam, Ewan
    The integration of membrane distillation with reverse electrodialysis has been investigated as a sustainable sanitation solution to provide clean water and electrical power from urine and waste heat. Reverse electrodialysis was integrated to provide the partial remixing of the concentrate (urine) and diluate (permeate) produced from the membrane distillation of urine. Broadly comparable power densities to those of a model salt solution (sodium chloride) were determined during evaluation of the individual and combined contribution of the various monovalent and multivalent inorganic and organic salt constituents in urine. Power densities were improved through raising feed-side temperature and increasing concentration in the concentrate, without observation of limiting behaviour imposed by non-ideal salt and water transport. A further unique contribution of this application is the limited volume of salt concentrate available, which demanded brine recycling to maximise energy recovery analogous to a battery, operating in a ‘state of charge’. During recycle, around 47% of the Gibbs free energy was recoverable with up to 80% of the energy extractable before the concentration difference between the two solutions was halfway towards equilibrium which implies that energy recovery can be optimised with limited effect on permeate quality. This study has provided the first successful demonstration of an integrated MD-RED system for energy recovery from a limited resource, and evidences that the recovered power is sufficient to operate a range of low current fluid pumping technologies that could help deliver off-grid sanitation and clean water recovery at single household scale.