Mass Integration for Hazardous Wastewater Reuse with Incorporation of Economic and Safety Objectives

Abstract

With the development of society and the increasing population, the water crisis has been a severe problem for several regions in the world. Although various water-treatment technologies have been developed, water shortages continue to be on the rise. Due to the limited amount of available freshwater resources, maximizing the utilization of existing water resources has attracted much attention as a viable approach to addressing the water crisis. Among the factors contributing to the improvement of utilizing water, wastewater recycle plays a significant role. Wastewater is generally hazardous due to the presence of various pollutants. Therefore, wastewater reclamation and reuse can offer several economic, environmental, and health benefits.

In this study, analysis of the existing water stream network is conducted to develop potential sinks and sources of wastewater recycle. Mass integration is used as an overarching framework for optimizing water treatment and reuse. In addition to techno-economic analysis, assessments on the inherent safety and sustainability of the candidate solutions are conducted to evaluate the proposed wastewater reutilization networks.