Effectiveness of Centralized Wastewater Treatment Plant in Removing Emerging Contaminants: A Case Study at Kuching, Malaysia

Before the construction of the Kuching Centralized Wastewater Treatment System Package 1 (KCWTSP1), partially treated blackwater and greywater were discharged directly into natural waterways. The accumulated wastewater had polluted Sarawak river, which is regulated and cannot discharge freely into the South China Sea. The polluted Sarawak river has endangered human health, river water quality, and aquatic ecosystems. Hence, the KCWTSP1 commissioned in 2015 serves the purpose of removing pollutants from wastewater before it is discharged into natural waterways. However, the effectiveness of KCWTPP1 is unknown. This paper is aimed to discuss and review the effectiveness of KCWTPP1 in treating wastewater since its inception in 2015. From 2017 to 2020, KCWTPP1 has treated an average of 4,200,000 m3 of wastewater per year. Generally, most of the discharge effluent met Environmental Quality Act (1974) Standard A criteria, except for the oil and grease parameter. Initially, the plant could not treat suspended solids and total phosphorus, but this was greatly improved in subsequent years. Therefore, some improvements are required to treat oil and grease parameters effectively and efficiently to ensure that only Standard A effluent is discharged into the Sarawak River in the future.

Optimal Percentage of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement in Central Plant Hot Recycling Mixture

For determining the optimal percentage of RAP material in central plant hot recycling, binder was recovered from RAP by means of Abson recovery method, and properties tests of mixed binders consisting of recovered asphalt and fresh asphalt at different ratios were performed. In addition, the performances of mixture with different percentages of RAP such as rutting resistance, anti-cracking, moisture susceptibility and fatigue resistance were tested. The binder test results showed that the high temperature performance was improved with the increase of the percentage of the RAP, while the low temperature performance was declined. When the percentage of the recovered binder was less than 30%, the mixed binder could match the technical standards for fresh asphalt. Tests on the mixtures showed that rutting resistance increased gradually as RAP percentage increased, while thermal anti-cracking at low temperature and fatigue properties declined. The effect of the percentage of RAP on moisture susceptibility was limited. It is indicated that low temperature performance and fatigue properties are important for selecting the optimal percentage of RAP. Based on data obtained from binders and mixtures, it is concluded that the maximum percentage of RAP is approximately 30% without the addition of rejuvenating agent.

Compensating active power imbalances in power system with large-scale wind power penetration

Large-scale wind power penetration can affect the supply continuity in the power system.This is a matter of high priority to investigate,as more regulating reserves and specified control strategies for generation control are required in the future power system with even more high wind power penetration.This paper evaluates the impact of large-scale wind power integration on future power systems.An active power balance control methodology is used for compensating the power imbalances between the demand and the generation in real time,caused by wind power forecast errors.The methodology for the balance power control of future power systems with large-scale wind power integration is described and exemplified considering the generation and power exchange capacities in2020 for Danish power system.