Stefano Bellazzi

Graduation: Environmental Engineering (specialization in Plant Engineering)

Supervisor: Prof. Maria Cristina Collivignarelli
Co-supervisor: Prof Ferdinando Auricchio

Thesis title: Advanced Management Tools for the Optimization of Wastewater/Aqueous Waste Treatment Plants

Abstarct: Nature itself is the primary factor of production on planet Earth. Without the interconnectedness of ecosystems, it would be impossible to produce anything, from food to the most advanced technology. For years, wastewater treatment plants have been considered platforms for minimizing the environmental impact of waste production, defined by law as "any substance or object which the holder discards or has the intention or obligation to discard.” This definition does not align with the needs of our planet, where the real possibility of "discarding" is not feasible. Thanks to the scientific interconnection between environmental health engineering and monitoring techniques from the fields of statistics, chemistry, and biology, this work aims to overcome the old conception of treatment plants, re-envisioning them as resource recovery plants—valuable and reusable. The doctoral thesis focuses on the identification of unconventional monitoring tools for wastewater and liquid waste treatment plants. The approach is divided into two main phases: identifying innovative tools to be applied to the process phases of a WWTP and applying these tools to the incoming matrices and residues of the WWTP, with the aim of transforming the plant into a resource recovery center. The thesis includes articles and research chapters published during the doctorate and is divided into four main operational phases (WS). These phases include the statistical analysis of monitoring data, the use of genetic probes for biological characterization, respiratory tests to evaluate toxic effects on substrates, rheological measurements to optimize operating conditions, and the study of thermal energy production through the degradation of organic matter. Furthermore, a protocol was developed to evaluate the feasibility of connecting new industrial wastewater to the public sewer system, along with a quaternary treatment for the reuse of wastewater in agriculture. Unconventional tools offer new opportunities for research and experimentation, improving system optimization and automation. The transition from a wastewater treatment plant to a resource recovery plant aligns with the concept of a circular economy, valuing treated water as reusable raw materials in production cycles.