title: Extended statistical entropy analysis (eSEA) for improving the evaluation of Austrian wastewater treatment plants.
abstract: Extended statistical entropy analysis (eSEA) is used to evaluate the nitrogen (N) budgets of 13 Austrian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The eSEA results are then compared to the WWTPs specific N-removal rates. Among the five WWTPs that achieve a removal rate of 75% the eSEA detects significant differences in the N-performance. The main reason for this is that eSEA considers all N-species and seems to be more discriminating than the N-removal rate. Additionally, the energy consumption and the costs of the mechanical-biological treatment process are related to the N-performance according to the eSEA. The influence of the WWTP size on the energy- and cost-efficiency of the N-treatment is investigated. Results indicate that energy-efficiency does not necessarily coincide with cost-efficiency. It is shown that smaller WWTPs between 22,000 PE (population equivalents) and 50,000 PE can be operated as energy-efficiently as larger WWTPs between 100,000 and 1,000,000 PE. On average, the smaller plants operate less cost-efficiently than the large ones. This research offers a new method for the assessment of the N-performance of WWTPs, and suggests that small WWTPs are not necessarily less energy- and cost-efficient than large ones.
authors: Vienna University of Technology, Centre for Water Resource Systems, Vienna, Austria. sobantka@waterresources.at
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Sobańtka
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Rechberger
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D019277:Entropy; D062065:Wastewater; D018508:Water Purification / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater