Determining the best practicable control technology and its associated emission levels for Iron and Steel industry in Iran

Industrial effluent limitations should be established regarding the special characteristics of each sector with emphasis given to the local context, whereas, in Iran, a uniform “Wastewater Effluent Standard” is employed throughout the country in which no specific industrial effluent limitations have been considered. This gap highlights the essential need for a transparent and scientifically proven methodology for determining effluent emission limit values (ELVs) at the sector level. In this research, an integrated approach is proposed based on the application of the Best Practicable Control Technology Currently Available (BPT) concept. The modelling framework includes a series of sequential steps comprising two main sections: 1. identifying the effluent emission datasets, and 2. computing the emission levels associated with the BPT (BPT-AELs). To identify the datasets, the methodology follows two different procedures: 1. a detailed analysis of the environmental performance of this sector in the country to determine the plants reflecting BPT, and 2. screening their emission datasets through statistical analysis. The Best Available Techniques (BAT) principle is employed as a reference element for determining the best representative plants, and the results indicate that corrective measures in accordance with the BAT considerations should be implemented in many of the plants under consideration. The comparison of the derived BPT-AELs with the existing standards show that they are mainly lower than the standard levels and are reasonable estimations for the involved parameters. Conclusively, this methodology presents a reliable and practical stepwise process at the sector level, which can be developed for other industries

The application of hybrid model for identifying and ranking indicators for assessing the sustainability of waste water treatment systems

This paper proposes a combination of the Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) as an efficient tool for dealing with complex decision-making problems and to prove that integrating the Fuzzy Delphi and FAHP modeling is an objective and practical process. The application of these methods allows a large amount of information to be aggregated in a rigorous manner. The suggested fuzzy set theory helps to represent the uncertainty and vagueness of human’s subjective thinking process in dealing with decision problems. This hybrid approach enables decision-makers to evaluate priorities more efficiently and objectively and make the decision process more reliable. Therefore, the main goal of the present research is to develop this decision support approach to identify the key evaluation criteria and indicators in the process of selecting industrial wastewater treatment technology (WTT) from a sustainability perspective based on expert opinion and questionnaires. Since a realistic evaluation needs to be conducted in an actual condition, Iran’s steel industry was selected as the case study. In this research, based on the findings of the literature review and Fuzzy Delphi method screening, several evaluation criteria and indicators are identified. Then, the FAHP is employed to examine their relationships under a hierarchy structure and to determine their weights and priorities. The findings of this paper can be applied as a reference for the steel industry in decision-making for the selection of the optimal wastewater treatment technology. In addition, other industries can apply this feasible and practical approach in their decision-making process with respect to their differences in capacities, limitations, wastewater characteristics and local conditions

A framework for establishing industrial effluent limits with application to the iron and steel industry in Iran

The establishment of Emission Limit Values (ELVs), especially in the industrial sector, is one of the most problematic environmental issues in developing countries. In addition, industrial effluent limitations should be established regarding the special characteristics of each sector. In Iran, with a uniform “Wastewater Effluent Standard”, a scientific methodology for determining ELVs at the sector level is an essential need. The objective of this study is to present a reliable and pragmatic methodology for establishing ELV thresholds at the sector level with an emphasis on the Best Available Technology (BAT) concept. In general, the most common approach for technology evaluation and ELVs identification, in both developed and developing countries, is expert judgment. Therefore, this research employs a multi-dimensional approach. A hybrid Fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making (FMCDM), consisting of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) in combination with fuzzy logic is structured to make use of the combined benefits of several methods. The modelling framework includes three main sections that is: a) determining the most appropriate Wastewater Treatment Technologies (WTTs); b) computing the emission levels associated with the Best Practicable Control Technology Currently Available (BPT) concept; and c) identifying the final ELVs based on the results of the two previous sections. Iran’s iron and steel industry, which constitutes a fundamental sector in the country’s economy, is selected as the case study. The results obtained indicate that experts have considered the country-specific information, which consists of the most appropriate WTTs and ELVs related to BPT, as a reliable reference in their decisions. According to the findings, corrective measures in accordance with the BAT considerations should be implemented in many of the plants under consideration and the experts largely prefer the more advanced WTTs, because of their high system efficiency and compatibility with environmental impact criteria. This transparent stepwise process has resulted in defensible country-specific ELVs for the iron and steel industry, which can be developed for other sectors. As the main conclusion, this study demonstrates that FMCDM is a systematic and robust operational decision tool for this comprehensive assessment regarding the data availability limitations in developing countries and emphasises industrial sustainability. This hybrid model of AHP, TOPSIS and Fuzzy logic offers better results and provides a higher degree of confidence for this sophisticated judgment. It is a multi-dimensional approach that considers the sector characteristics; the interaction of the technical, environmental and economic aspects; and the specific preferences in developing countries

An Investigation on the Industrial Wastewater in Tehran Province

During 1994 to 1999  a research program titled “A qualitative and quantitative review of industrial wastewater in Tehran province”  was done . This article presents the most important results obtained from this study . The research covered 330 food , textile , chemical , and Materials (Metal and liquid materials)  factories . Completing of the questionnaire , sampling from the wastewater and analyzing have been done for 5  years . The results show that completely wastewater treatment in food , textile and metal industries were done in 8% , 18% and 17% of units respectively . In chemical industries for major groups include pharmaceutical , soap and detergent , pulp and paper , and paint industries were studied . In pharmaceutical and pulp and paper industries , there were only one factory in each group which were doing a complete treatment , and in detergent and paint industries there were no complete treatment at all . Maximum discharge of wastewater in food and textile industries were into surface waters . They were 62.4% and 48.8% respectively . But mainly wastwater discharging in metal and liquid materials industries were into ground waters which were 86% and 83% respectively