Project ID:2006TX229B
Title: Property-Based Management and Optimization of Water Usage and Discharge in Industrial Facilities
Project Type: Research
Start Date: 03/01/2006
End Date: 02/28/2007
Congressional District: 17
Focus Categories: Wastewater, Management and Planning
Keywords: Wastewater, Pollution Prevention, Industrial Facilities, Management
Principal Investigators: Rabie, Arwa; El-Halwagi, Mahmound
Federal Funds: $5,000
Non-Federal Matching Funds: $10,000
Abstract: Industrial facilities are among the most intensive users and dischargers of water. Standard design techniques for industrial pollution prevention "P2" and management of water usage and discharge in the process industries have been traditionally based on tracking individual chemical species. Nonetheless, many of the overarching issues dictating P2 and water-usage and recycle strategies are not component dependent, but are driven by properties and functionalities. This project is aimed at developing systematic design techniques to optimize the usage and discharge of water in industrial facilities by using the new paradigm of property integration. We define property integration as a functionality-based, holistic approach to the allocation and manipulation of water/wastewater streams and processing units which is based on tracking, adjustment, assignment, and matching of functionalities throughout the process. The proposed work will demonstrate that in addition to the identification of cost-effective water management and pollution-prevention strategies for industrial systems, significant economic benefits will accrue as a result of optimizing the usage of water resources, minimizing treatment costs, maximizing the recovery of valuable materials, and debottlenecking the process. Furthermore, the generic nature of this research will enable its applicability to wastewater minimization in a wide variety of industrial facilities.
Progress/Completion Report, PDF