Energy coverage of atakoy-ambarli municipal wastewater treatment plants by salinity gradient power

Abstract

The present study investigated the reverse electrodialysis (RED) energy generation potential of treated wastewaters from AtakoEuroy and Ambarl. wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) when discharged at the Marmara Sea. The good quality of the WWTP effluents and their suitable conductivity (around 1 mS.cm(-1)) resulted in a power density around 0.5 W.m(-2) when they are operated together with the Marmara Sea in a lab-scale RED system. This led to the generation of an approximative daily gross energy of 18.6 MW h and 16 MW h with AtakoEuroy and Ambarl. WWTP, respectively. Considering optimal RED conditions able to reach a power density of 2.5 W.m(-2), AtakoEuroy WWTP can generate net energy of 39.9 MW h.day which represents 25.1 % of the total energy demand of the plant. Similarly, the Ambarl. WWTP can cover 25 % of the plant energy demand by generating daily net energy of 36.8 MW h. Improving the characteristics of the ions exchange membranes (IEMs) by introducing highly selective and cost-effective membranes is part of the necessary solution to increase the power output of the process.