(248f) An MINLP Model for Sustainable Water Management in Macroscopic Systems: Integrating Optimal Resources Management to the Synthesis of Distributed Treatment Systems

An MINLP Model for Sustainable Water Management in Macroscopic Systems: Integrating Optimal Resources Management to the Synthesis of Distributed Treatment Systems

Vicente Rico-Ramirez^a, Jaime Garibay-Rodriguez^a and Jose M. Ponce-Ortega^b

^aInstituto Tecnologico de Celaya, Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Av. Tecnologico y

Garcia Cubas S/N, Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico 38010

^bUniversidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, 58060

Abstract

Recognizing the growing pressure on water resources (from population and economic growth, climate change, pollution, and other challenges), literature reports several efforts in the area of mathematical programming to deal with the management of industrial and macroscopic water systems.

Some works have proposed the optimal management (distribution and storage) of conventional (superficial and groundwater) and non conventional sources of water (rainwater and treated wastewater) in order to find the optimal schedule of distribution to different users in a macroscopic system, considering both economic and sustainability aspects of water resources (See, for instance, Martinez-Gomez et al., 2013). Other approaches address the optimal treatment of industrial effluents discharged to a watershed; those works generally apply Material Flow Analysis (MFA) to track the flows and characteristics within the watershed and to account for the natural degradation of the pollutants. Thus, the MFA considers the interaction of the industrial effluents with other sources of discharges and users (Napoles-Rivera et al., 2013).

This paper presents a mathematical programming model which integrates both of the strategies described above for sustainable water management. On the one hand, the model allows finding an optimal schedule for the distribution and storage of natural (rain water harvesting) and alternative water sources to satisfy the demands of the different users in a macroscopic system (i.e., domestic and agricultural users) while maintaining sustainable levels of water in the natural water bodies. On the other hand, optimal decisions also involve the number, capacity, type and location of the treatment units in the macroscopic system. Further, to ensure the sustainability of the system, the interactions among the several industrial discharges, the different treatment technologies involved and the quality requirements along the surrounded watersheds are taken into account.

Our approach results in an MINLP multi-period model which has been solved through the GAMS® modeling environment. A case study with different scenarios shows the scope of the proposed approach and the results show the significance of the results; as the end goals, our approach to sustainable water management: i) allows satisfying the demands of the different users in the macroscopic system, ii) reduces fresh water consumption and iii)allows the optimal installation of treatment facilities for the industrial effluents.

References

Martinez-Gomez, J., O. Burgara-Montero, J. M. Ponce-Ortega, F. Napoles-Rivera, M. Serna-Gonzalez, M. M. El-Halwagi, On the environmental, economic and safety optimization of distributed treatment systems for industrial effluents discharged to watersheds, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 26, 908-923, 2013.

Napoles-Rivera, F., M. Serna-Gonzalez, M. M. El-Halwagi, J. M. Ponce-Ortega, Sustainable water management for macroscopic systems, Journal of Cleaner Production, 47, 102-117, 2013.