A multicriteria evaluation of urea removal technologies for water reclamation from dairy processing water

The dairy industry ranks among the world's largest agricultural water consumers, making water reclamation increasingly critical as environmental pressure increases. A key challenge in dairy process water reclamation, particularly in reverse osmosis permeates from whey processing, is the presence of urea, a low-molecular-weight organic compound. Despite the availability of various urea removal technologies, their effectiveness for dairy processing water remains poorly understood. This study employs Weighted Scoring Analysis (WSA), a multicriteria decision-making (MCDA) tool, to theoretically evaluate urea removal technologies based on technological, economic, operational, and socio-environmental criteria. Adsorption-based methods, particularly those utilising activated carbon, achieved the highest overall ranking (overall score of 430) across multiple criteria and emerged as promising potential solutions. The findings offer valuable insights for screening urea removal technologies and guiding the experimental evaluation of the most promising methods. Nevertheless, the reliance of the WSA method on subjective weighting and scoring may introduce potential biases, and strategies to mitigate these limitations are discussed. Future research will involve the experimental validation of the highest-ranked technologies to confirm their effectiveness and optimise their real-world applications. • Weighted Scoring Analysis (WSA) was used to rank urea removal technologies. • Technological, economic, operational & socio-environmental criteria were evaluated. • Activated carbon-based adsorption achieved the highest overall performance. • Electrochemical oxidation showed the lowest overall performance. • Results identified the best alternative for experimental validation of urea removal.