Evaluation of aerobic/anaerobic industrial wastewater treatment processes: The application of multi-criteria decision analysis

Various technological methods are available for industrial wastewater treatment; from conventional to advanced treatment processes. Hence, it is a difficult task to select the most appropriate technology to treat industrial wastewater at a particular location. Many factors are involved in the decision-making process, including capital, operation, and maintenance costs, as well as land requirement. The present work reports the results of the application of multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) tool to industrial wastewater treatment plants operated under a hybrid aerobic/anaerobic biological process. At the first step, nine industrial wastewater treatment plants were evaluated and ranked by eight criteria using the Vikor method. Among the selected criteria, land requirements, energy consumption, and excess sludge production had the most pronounced effect on the decision-making process. The results also indicated that the integration of upflow anaerobic fixed bed with intergraded fixed-film activated sludge process could be used as the most appropriate treatment technology with a Vikor index of one. The result can provide wastewater treatment professionals and water agencies with an effective tool to choose the most appropriate hybrid process for industrial wastewater treatment plants. (c) 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13146, 2019