Comprehensive evaluation of wastewater treatment technology in pharmaceutical industry based on AHP-FCE model

Pharmaceutical wastewater is difficult to be treated because of its complex water quality, high COD, high content of toxic and harmful substances, poor biodegradability and high chrominance. There are many kinds of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment technologies, and each technology has its own characteristics. In order to correctly select the appropriate pharmaceutical wastewater treatment technologies, the evaluation index system and the evaluation standard of the wastewater treatment technologies in pharmaceutical industry were established. The analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (AHP-FCE) method was used to comprehensively evaluate 13 pharmaceutical wastewater treatment technologies supported by National Major Scientific and Technological Special Projects for Water Pollution Control and Management (Major Water Project). The results showed that UASB-MBR was a more feasible pharmaceutical wastewater treatment technology among the 13 technologies, followed by two-stage separation internal circulation anaerobic reactor and ABR-CASS biological enhancement technology. The results could provide strong support for pharmaceutical enterprises to choose appropriate wastewater treatment technologies.