Toward a sustainable system of wastewater treatment plants in Chile: a multi-objective optimization approach
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Toward a sustainable system of wastewater treatment plants in Chile: a multi-objective optimization approach Natalia Jorquera-Bravo1 · Andrea Teresa Espinoza Pérez1
· Óscar C. Vásquez1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Over the past fifty years the population of the world has doubled, while resources as water have become increasingly scarce. In particular, water consumption has far exceeded the available of this resource in some regions of the world. In order to address the above problem, the possibility of reusing grey water by installing wastewater treatment plants could be a suitable alternative for several developing countries. This paper seeks to find the best configuration for these facilities in Chile by considering the economic and environmental aspects conjoint to the social dimension. The problem is modeled as a multi-objective optimization including: minimizing costs, minimizing environmental impact, maximizing phosphorus extraction from wastewater and maximizing the number of workers to be required with the goal of analyzing the sustainability of the system. To find the Pareto frontiers of multi-objective problem, a resolution framework based on an adaptation of elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is provided for the problem. From the obtained results, the non-dominated solutions and a compromise solution are computed, reporting configuration alternatives that integrate the three sustainability dimensions, the economic, the environmental and the social as objectives for the design for a sustainable system of wastewater treatment plants. Keywords Multi-objective optimization · Wastewater treatment plant · Sustainability
1 Introduction Nowadays, several environmental concepts such as sustainability have been introduced in management systems to face the scarcity of resources due to demographic factors, patters, consumption patterns among others. In fact, the population of the world has doubled in the past 50 years and vital resources as water have become increasingly limited Desa (2019).
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Andrea Teresa Espinoza Pérez [email protected] Natalia Jorquera-Bravo [email protected] Óscar C. Vásquez [email protected]
1
Industrial Engineering Department, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
123
Annals of Operations Research
In literature, the multi-dimensional character of sustainability is formally defined by the balance of three dimensions, namely economic, environmental, and social–cultural Balkema et al. (2002). Thus, the search for sustainability in the management of water resources is focused on avoiding negative externalities that may occur in their consumption, as well as reducing water pollution and meeting demand, both agricultural, industrial and domestic. It means that sustainable water resource management is a challenge of worldwide significance. In Chile, the increasing demand for water can be explained by several factors: the population growth, the seemingly low concern of government age
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