Optimal Design of Water Networks in Eco-Industrial Parks Incorporating a Fairness Approach

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 60; no. 24; pp. 8844 - 8860
• Main Authors: Cruz-Avilés, Daniela Jacqueline, Munguía-López, Aurora del Carmen, Ponce-Ortega, José María
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 23.06.2021
• Subjects: Process Systems Engineering
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.1c00197

Water is an essential resource that is used intensively in industrial processes. Recently, eco-industrial parks have become an interesting alterative to reduce and optimize water consumption through reuse and recycling networks. In this work, a new approach is proposed for the optimal design of water networks in eco-industrial parks that for the first time considers fair distribution schemes among the different involved users. The synthesis of water networks includes the recycling and reusing of water by treating it through property interceptors. The total cost of each plant considers treatment, piping and pumping costs, and the cost of the required fresh sources. The incorporation of three different fairness schemes (social welfare, Rawlsian welfare, and Nash) is proposed. Mathematical models are proposed to find the best distribution of resources in a scarcity scheme. The presented approach is general and can be useful for different case studies. However, in this work, we address three case studies to illustrate the applicability of the model. Furthermore, different trends can be observed depending on the analyzed case study.