Opportunities and Challenges for Industrial Water Treatment and Reuse

Aidan Francis Meese, David J. Kim, Xuanhao Wu, Linh Le, Cade Napier, Mark T. Hernandez, Nicollette Laroco, Karl G. Linden, Jordan Cox, Parthiv Kurup, James McCall, David Greene, Michael Talmadge, Zhe Huang, Jordan MacKnick, Kurban A. Sitterley, Ariel Miara, Anna Evans, Kiran Thirumaran, Mini MalhotraSusana Garcia Gonzalez, Prakash Rao, Jennifer Stokes-Draut, Jae Hong Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

As the impact of water scarcity in the United States (U.S.) continues to grow through the 21st century, it is critical to develop strategies to reduce water use and improve the security of water resources. One such strategy is to diversify the sources from which water is supplied. Industrial withdrawals represent the fourth largest category of U.S. water use, the majority of which is sourced from fresh surface and groundwater. In this study, we critically explore the potential of industrial wastewater to serve as an alternative water resource through direct treatment and reuse. We begin by reviewing the state of the art of water use, treatment, and reuse across six representative industries: food and beverages, primary metals, pulp and paper, petroleum refining, chemicals, and data centers and campuses, highlighting key challenges and opportunities toward the expansion of reuse. We then employ a technoeconomic assessment of water treatment processes to analyze the capital investment, operating and maintenance costs, levelized cost of water, and electricity consumption of three specific industrial plants as case studies to better understand where research can promote impactful innovation. Finally, drawing together the results of our literature review and technoeconomic analyses, we provide a broad outlook on the future of industrial water reuse and discuss strategies for its expansion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)465-488
Number of pages24
JournalACS ES and T Engineering
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 11 2022

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, Advanced Manufacturing Office under Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA- 0001905. This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC for the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. This material is based upon work supported by the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, Advanced Manufacturing Office under Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA- 0001905. This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

Keywords

  • industrial wastewater treatment
  • manufacturing
  • techno-economic assessment
  • waste valorization
  • water reuse

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