CAREER: INTEGRATED WATER, ENERGY, AND EMISSIONS DECISION MAKING FOR A LOW CARBON FUTURE WITH COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS

1554117 Mauter经济有效地减少发电对人类健康和环境的外部影响是21世纪世纪可持续发展的一项重大挑战。这个复杂问题的解决方案必须跨越多个空间尺度、时间尺度和学科。综合决策模型可以帮助研究人员、工程实践者和政策制定者从短期解决方案转向整体可持续性解决方案。该研究为燃煤电厂开发了一个综合决策模型，该模型调查了市场条件、监管政策、电厂排放控制过程和材料性能对可持续发电成本的影响。对燃煤电厂进行综合评估的最大障碍是以下方面的不确定性：1）废水处理技术的成本和效率，以符合EPA发布的拟议污水限制指南;（2）在分阶段实施煤-水污染物排放法规的过程中，大气和水污染物排放控制技术之间的相互影响; 3）替代废水处理工艺的可行性，通过使用燃煤发电厂工艺的废热来规避辅助电力消耗;以及，4）新的膜材料在未来实现这些替代水处理工艺中可能发挥的作用。拟议的工作将填补这些基本的知识空白，并将研究结果整合到一个水排放控制决策模型中，以指导政策，指导合规途径，激励技术开发，并实现对未来排放的可靠预测。利益相关者使用综合决策工具为燃煤电厂的合规途径提供信息的最大障碍是，这些学术衍生工具很少随着利益相关者的需求而发展。拟议的利益攸关方参与进程将增加这一模式被广泛采用的可能性，这一进程从一个研究优先事项研讨会开始，一直持续到年度会议，最后形成一个简单和适应性强的决策工具。额外的推广和教育任务被集成到模型开发过程中，并跨越K-12，本科和博士研究社区。主要研究者（PI）将让高中生参与记录俄亥俄州河谷燃煤电厂的水排放。PI还将为PI实验室的本科研究人员和博士生导师制定正式的导师计划，这将促进有针对性的目标设定，提高技能发展，并提高STEM领域本科研究人员的保留率。

1554117MauterCost-effectively reducing the human health and environmental externalities of electricity generation is a defining sustainability challenge of the 21st century. Solutions to this complex problem will necessarily span multiple spatial scales, time scales, and disciplines. Integrated decision models can aid researchers, engineering practitioners, and policy makers in moving away from short-term fixes toward holistic sustainability solutions. The proposed research develops an integrated decision model for coal-fired power plants that investigates the effects of market conditions, regulatory policy, power plant emission control processes, and materials performance on the cost of sustainable electricity generation.The most significant barriers to performing integrated assessment of coal-fired power plants are uncertainties in: 1) the cost and efficacy of wastewater treatment technologies for compliance with proposed effluent limitation guidelines issued by the EPA; 2) the interaction effects between air and water emission control technologies during phased implementation of emission regulations at coal-fired power plants; 3) the viability of alternative wastewater treatment processes that circumvent auxiliary power consumption by using waste heat from coal-fired power plants processes; and, 4) the role that new membrane materials might play in enabling these alternative water treatment processes in the future. The proposed work will fill these fundamental knowledge gaps and integrate the findings into an aqueous emissions control decision model that guides policy, directs compliance pathways, motivates technology development, and enables the reliable prediction of future emissions. The most significant barrier to stakeholders using integrated decision-making tools to inform compliance pathways at coal-fired power plants is that these academically-derived tools rarely evolve with stakeholder needs. The proposed stakeholder engagement process, beginning with a research prioritization workshop, continuing through yearly meetings, and culminating in a simple and adaptive decision tool, will increase the probability that this model is widely adopted. Additional outreach and educational tasks are integrated into the model development process and span the K-12, undergraduate, and doctoral research communities. The principal investigator (PI) will engage high-school students in documenting aqueous emissions from Ohio River Valley coal-fired power plants. The PI will also develop a formal mentorship program for undergraduate researchers and doctoral student mentors in the PI's laboratory that will promote targeted goal setting, improve skill development, and enhance retention of undergraduate researchers in STEM fields.