ISO 22524:2020

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 22524
First edition
2020-05
Pilot plan for industrial wastewater
treatment facilities in the objective of
water reuse
Plan pilote pour les installations de traitement des eaux résiduaires
industrielles en vue de la réutilisation de l’eau
Reference number
©
ISO 2020
© ISO 2020
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ii © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 1
3.1 Terms and definitions . 1
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 2
4 Lifecycle of a pilot study . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Pilot plan lifecycle phases . 3
4.2.1 General. 3
4.2.2 Statement of pilot plan goals . 4
4.2.3 Pilot study programme . 4
4.2.4 Pilot plant/facility design and construction . 5
4.2.5 Operation and maintenance procedures and protocols . 6
4.2.6 Action planning . 6
4.2.7 Pilot plant/facility commissioning . 6
4.2.8 Pilot plant/facility operation and management . 7
4.2.9 Sample collection plan . 7
4.2.10 Pilot plan summary . 7
4.2.11 Pilot plant/facility shutdown and decommissioning . 7
5 Programme and project management . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Oversight committee . 8
5.3 Pilot study team . 8
5.3.1 General. 8
5.3.2 Team members . 8
5.3.3 Team leader . 9
5.3.4 Additional team members . 9
5.3.5 Technical experts . 9
5.3.6 Team meetings . 9
5.4 Quality management system . 9
5.5 Risk management . 9
5.6 Schedule planning .10
5.6.1 General.10
5.6.2 Time reserve .10
6 Statement of pilot plan goals, scope and boundaries .10
6.1 Goals .10
6.2 Safety .10
6.3 Sustainability .10
6.4 Effectiveness .11
6.5 Efficiency .11
7 Pilot plan study programme .11
7.1 General .11
7.2 Pilot plan study programme contents and structure .12
7.2.1 General.12
7.2.2 Background and pilot plan goals and objectives .12
7.2.3 Prior project history, current project state and post-pilot-plan planned
activities .12
7.2.4 Pilot plan scope (within/beyond) .12
7.2.5 Pilot plan success/failure criteria .12
7.3 Description of technology and facilities .12
7.4 Description of pilot facility environment and site .12
7.5 Pilot plan correctness and coverage .12
7.6 Pilot plan flexibility .13
7.7 Plan review .13
7.8 Statistical measures, tools and techniques .13
7.9 Pilot plan study programme approval .13
8 Pilot plant/facility development and construction .13
8.1 General .13
8.2 Basis of design (BoD) .14
8.3 Conceptual and preliminary design .14
8.4 Detailed engineering design .14
8.5 Contracting and construction .14
8.6 Acceptance testing .15
8.7 Handover to commissioning and operational team .15
9 Operational framework establishment .15
9.1 General .15
9.2 Pilot plant/facility procedure manual .15
9.2.1 General.15
9.2.2 List of procedures .16
9.3 Sampling and measurement .16
9.3.1 Sampling and analysis planning .16
9.3.2 Measurement and sampling equipment, analysers and tools .17
9.3.3 Sampling frequency and sample size .17
9.3.4 Sampling and analysis validation .17
10 Pilot plant/facility commissioning phase .17
10.1 General .17
10.2 Commissioning process basic stages .17
10.2.1 General.17
10.2.2 ‘Dry’ run .18
10.2.3 ‘Wet’ run (water run) .18
11 Pilot plan operational phase .18
11.1 General .18
11.2 Reduced loading performance (best case).18
11.3 Normal loading performance (typical case) .19
11.4 Stressed loading performance (worst case) .19
12 Study summary and reporting .19
13 Permanent shutdown and decommissioning .19
Bibliography .21
iv © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
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ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 282, Water reuse, Subcommittee SC 4,
Industrial water reuse.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
Introduction
Climate change impacts on water availability have industries across the globe seeking ways to drought-
proof their operations. One of the key water conservation methods is to implement water treatment
and reuse practices, simultaneously reducing demands on potable water resources and on industrial
wastewater effluent discharges, and associated residual contaminants, to the environment. The
greatest challenge to this approach lies in the characteristics of industrial wastewater and the water
quality requirements for reuse, which vary significantly between industries and processes and are
unique for each industrial operation. This variation depends on the type of process, raw materials,
reagents and additives used, all resulting in a unique set of circumstances for each location, even within
one industry. Therefore, industrial wastewater often requires unique treatment approaches, as well as
the development and implementation of novel and innovative water treatment technologies.
To overcome this challenge, following a review of source control measures and water treatment
alternatives, industries can choose to evaluate novel technologies using a scale-up study to transition
the research-based laboratory-scale or bench-scale proof-of-concept treatment process into a
functional demonstration or full-scale process. The use of a pilot plan for testing and evaluation of a
novel technology or process is the focus of this document.
Pilot plant/facility is a relative term in the sense that it is typically smaller than a full-scale production
plant. Still, it is built in a range of sizes and does not necessarily infer a small-scale application as it
could be conducted at demonstration-scale or full-scale and often involves a significant investment
of financial, equipment and labour resources; therefore, the term ‘pilot’ is relative. For new water
treatment technologies emerging from laboratory and bench-scale development, pilot-testing is the
first opportunity to establish or demonstrate commercial potential.
Pilot-testing can be used to check, on a reduced scale, a water treatment process developed through
laboratory research. The experience gained by operating a pilot plant/facility can assist in making a
decision as to whether or not to proceed with the full-scale plant by determining the likelihood of a
full-scale successful implementation. Furthermore, pilot-testing provides for more reliable capital and
operational cost estimates, and all necessary inputs (e.g. chemicals, power, labour resources), as well
as the ease of operation and maintenance of a given water treatment process. Other objectives can be
fulfilled simultaneously and some definitive considerations for the decision to build the pilot plant/
facility are possible.
An industrial wastewater treatment pilot plan is a specific case of a chemical, physical and biological
processing pilot plan. However, this type of treatment poses many unique challenges that need to
be covered by the pilot plan. For example, because some industrial wastewater characteristics vary
seasonally or are based on changes in industrial processing and product generation, it could be
necessary to adjust or test different operating conditions and control strategies and settings to achieve
the highest efficiencies and determine the most suitable economic operating conditions.
The concept of serviceability limit state (SLS) could be useful to determine these stress conditions.
To satisfy SLS criterion, a facility ought to remain functional for its intended use (subject to routine
operation conditions) after achieving SLS. A typical range of a ratio between the critical parameter values
characterizing SLS and routine operation conditions (e.g. concentration of treated target contaminants,
flow of wastewater stream, stream temperature) is 1,2/2, although it could be significantly higher for
the modern robust wastewater treatment technologies.
The transition from laboratory-scale to a pilot-scale study requires detailed knowledge about the
critical design and operating parameters, which initially does not exist and could include assumption
making within an iterative process of refinement. The inability to replicate laboratory-scale research
findings is often caused by failure to adequately scale-up critical process parameters. It is necessary
that the principles of similitude to correlate model and prototype behaviour are carefully observed.
Hydraulic similitude, commonly based on the Froude Number Law, is important, as it affects physical
attributes such as energy dissipation, as well as dimensional analysis, thus establishing the basic
relationship of the physical quantities involved in the dynamic behaviour of the treatment process. The
physical, chemical and biological behaviour of the pilot process can simulate, in a known manner, the
behaviour of the laboratory or bench-scale prototype, and similarly the behaviour of the pilot process
vi © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

can simulate that of a full-scale application. All scalability criteria and specific similitude requirements
ought to be carefully defined prior to pilot planning.
Similarity assessment: since the similarity concept implies checking if the laboratory results are to be
applicable to the real-life situation, as a rule, the initial conditions for the simulation correspond to the
conditions of the performed laboratory research, whereas the boundary conditions correspond to the
expected 'typical' future conditions. In some cases, the boundary conditions also include design limit
states [e.g. SLS, fatigue limit state (FLS)] defined as the boundary conditions beyond which the tested
[3]
technology/process/system fails (or could fail) to perform the function that is expected of it .
This document, with some necessary modifications and adjustments, can be used for comparative
testing and analysis of the suitability of existing and proven commercial solutions to specific sites and
applications (given, for example, operational conditions or specific requirements).
By the nature of dealing with the unexpected, any pilot plan represents a big challenge. Even a successful
pilot plan cannot fully guarantee future success of full-scale implementation of tested solutions in real
industrial conditions, for the following reasons:
— partial relevance of pilot conditions and environment to real full-scale conditions and environment
(e.g. scale-up effects);
— partial coverage of tested pilot conditions of a spectrum of all possible full-scale states;
— short-term pilot performance (long-term effects, such as progressive failures as well as equipment-
degraded performance due to ageing or seasonal effects, could hardly be evaluated in the framework
of a pilot plan);
— uncertainty of statistical conclusions derived from rather limited collected pilot data;
— it could be that testing conducted at a single site of specific conditions will not represent the entire
range of possible conditions characterizing other sites.
This document is not oriented towards a specific type of industrial process; use of raw materials,
reagents and additives; or to a particular kind of wastewater. Rather, it provides comprehensive
general guiding principles for pilot planning and performance to verify laboratory-scale findings and
potential for commercialization. This document includes the critical considerations, methods, criteria
and processes which need to be a part of every pilot plant study, from the initial planning through to
the post-pilot analysis of the data collected during the pilot study.
A decision about performing a pilot plan ought to be made directly by all relevant stakeholders
and interested parties. This document is therefore intended to provide the critical guidelines and
considerations for successful implementation of a pilot plan.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 22524:2020(E)
Pilot plan for industrial wastewater treatment facilities in
the objective of water reuse
1 Scope
This document provides the fundamental principles and guidelines for industrial wastewater treatment
technology pilot studies.
It does not address laboratory research and development, study or testing of a given technology. It does
not cover reuse applications or operations, such as irrigation.
This document applies to a wide range of industrial water treatment systems for the purposes of reuse.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 20670, Water reuse — Vocabulary
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 20670 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1.1
pilot plan
plan
programme
small (reduced) representative scale preliminary study, or a trial implementation and testing of a
proposed solution (technology/process/processing chain), limited by some timeframe and conducted in
predefined special conditions, in order to evaluate feasibility, effectiveness, efficiency, compliance and
sustainability of this solution in an attempt to reveal all possible deficiencies and address them prior to
performance of a full-scale project
Note 1 to entry: A pilot plan is a framework in which verification can be executed.
Note 2 to entry: For the purposes of this document, the terms pilot plan, plan and programme are used
interchangeably.
3.2 Abbreviated terms
BoD base of design
CSP continuous sampling plan
DCS distributed control system
DoE design of experiments
DR design review
FLS fatigue limit state
FMEA failure mode and effect analysis
HLD high-level design
HSE health, safety and environment
IQ installation qualification
IT information technology
LLD low-level design
LLI long lead items
NDCS non-distributed control system
OQ operational qualification
P&I piping and instrumentation
PMBoK project management body of knowledge
PMI project management institute
PQ performance qualification
QA quality assurance
QC quality control
RFP request for proposal
R&R repeatability and reproducibility
SLS serviceability limit state
SOP standard operating procedure
WBS work breakdown structure
4 Lifecycle of a pilot study
4.1 General
To achieve the desired objectives, a pilot study requires a substantial investment, often including a
long-term operation. A thorough analysis of the intended objectives and potential outcomes should
be carried out before pilot-testing is carried out. The appropriate cost of constructing, operating and
2 © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

maintaining the pilot system should be weighed against the expected advantages to be gained in
completing and meeting the pilot plan’s objectives.
The decision about the performance of a pilot plan should be made directly by all relevant stakeholders
and interested parties.
The knowledge and the experience obtained during performance of a pilot plan can be used for the
design of full-scale water treatment systems and commercial products, as well as to identify further
research objectives and to assist in reducing technical and financial risks associated with investment
decisions. Pilot-testing of reclaimed water processes can also be used to demonstrate the effectiveness
and robustness of the technology in protecting public and environmental health and safety and can also
be useful in gaining public support for new technologies. They can also be used to train personnel for a
full-scale plant.
4.2 Pilot plan lifecycle phases
4.2.1 General
In its lifecycle, a pilot plan may go through some or all of the phases depicted in Figure 1.
a
Refer to 11.2, 11.3 and 11.4 for an explanation of the terms ‘reduced’, ‘normal’ and ‘stressed’ performance.
Figure 1 — Block-diagram of pilot plan phases
4.2.2 Statement of pilot plan goals
Pilot plan goals, scope and boundaries may be stated, based on the laboratory R&D outcomes, industrial
wastewater characteristics and analysis of all relevant regulatory requirements, technology needs and
constraints.
4.2.3 Pilot study programme
A pilot study (experiment) comprehensive programme may be established to ensure that the pilot plan
results can be extrapolated and used for full-scale design purposes while minimizing the potential for
process failure.
As an extension to laboratory research, the pilot plan should start with a study of the laboratory research
findings and recommendations, and the process parameters determined during lab testing, with
particular emphasis on critical aspects that have a significant impact on capital and operating costs.
4 © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

This includes, but is not limited to, consideration of the following questions:
— Which aspects of the process need to be verified and optimized?
— Which parameters should be measured or assessed and how will the collected data be analysed,
processed and ultimately used?
— Which range of operating conditions have to be covered by the pilot plan?
— Which experiments and tests have to be performed?
— What is the scope for each experiment and how can it be determined when the objectives of each
experiment have been reached?
— How long should each experiment be, and what should be the overall duration of a pilot study, taking
into account possible temporal variability?
— What sequence of tests should be carried out?
— From which locations should samples be collected to account for special and common variability?
The answers to all these questions strongly depend on many factors, including the specific pilot plan
(customized solution), the tested technology, the relevant regulatory requirements, the available
equipment and the environment. The guiding principle should be based on cost-effectiveness
considerations; the pilot plan should be as effective and comprehensive as reasonably practicable.
Important characteristics for consideration in establishing a pilot study programme are volume,
physical, biological and chemical properties, and constituent concentrations of the wastewater which
often vary significantly over time. If possible and relevant, the pilot testing plan should cover or simulate
the seasonal changes in wastewater flow, such as flowrates, concentrations and temperatures. As it is
often not practical to carry out lengthy testing during which such variations can be experienced, it can
be necessary to create extreme characteristic conditions as stress tests or stress conditions as part of
the pilot testing plan. A pilot plan should determine all pre-treatment and post-treatment requirements
(e.g. removal of floatables).
Prior to programme finalization, all implicit and explicit assumptions should be exposed, clarified,
documented and carefully examined (their correctness and possible impact on pilot results). The
guiding principles of the pilot programme should correspond with the concepts and principles of DoE
[12]
statistical methodology .
4.2.4 Pilot plant/facility design and construction
The pilot plant/facility should be designed and constructed taking into consideration the operating
environment, for example the area available for pilot plant/facility, site feasibility and the possible
need for site adaptation, access to this area and operating conditions. This includes deciding whether
the pilot-testing will comprise the whole system of unit processes or separate unit process operations
within the system, as well as the size and capacity of the pilot plant/facility.
The first step in a pilot plant/facility design should be the preparation of a block diagram, consisting of
a series of connected rectangular blocks, each representing a unit process component, and connected
by arrows in order of flow sequence. Such a diagram can be a useful tool in the initial stages of pilot
programme planning, as it provides an overview of the stages and can incorporate external inputs such
as flocculants, coagulants and anti-scaling chemicals.
Consideration should also be given to whether the process is to be batch or continuously fed. In
conjunction with the preparation of the block diagrams during the design phase, the different streams
that enter or leave the process can be used to prepare preliminary mass and energy balance diagrams.
Particular attention should be paid to flexibility in the design of a pilot plant/facility, which is critical
for adapting the pilot facility operation to different field circumstances.
Potential modifications should be considered at the stage of the pilot plant/facility design such that
changes can be made during testing, in relation to uncertain aspects or elements of the process
being tested.
The plant should be designed taking into consideration that changes in equipment might be required
or that new components could be introduced. For example, if the expected results of a particular unit
process are not achieved, or the component is found ineffective, then it is possible that an alternative
component needs to be installed.
The scale-up factor from the pilot plant/facility to a commercial plant should be carefully considered.
A larger pilot plant/facility will provide more reliable information and reduce technical and associated
financial risks for the project, but will be more expensive to build and operate. Alternatively, controlling
flow rates and chemical feed rates can be difficult in a small plant/facility and result in process failures
and pipe blockages. The pilot plant/facility layout should be compact and simple, allowing sufficient
space in the operating area for access to operate and maintain the plant.
Once the block diagrams are complete, a process diagram, including all relevant equipment in a
particular process section, should be prepared for each block, typically omitting pipes and electrical
details which are, instead, addressed through the preparation of P&I diagrams.
A basic engineering document should then be produced to establish the criteria for the project, taking
into consideration physical, chemical and microbiological processes, civil engineering, mechanical
engineering, instrumentation and electrical engineering aspects of the design. This should then be used
to prepare detailed engineering project documents, including drawings for construction purposes.
4.2.5 Operation and maintenance procedures and protocols
The pilot plant location should be considered. It should also be decided if raw water for treatment is to
be directly fed to the pilot plant in the field or transported to a laboratory that can offer more controlled
operating conditions (e.g. a cold room to evaluate climate conditions on operation).
Operations should also include consideration for siting and the supply of water and electricity, as well
as overall facility access. This is of particular concern where the pilot plant/facility is to be operated in
a country with limited infrastructure.
4.2.6 Action planning
Capital and operation budgets, programmes and schedules should be planned for the pilot-testing
programme.
Programming and scheduling as well as tracking whether the data collection has addressed the
intended objectives will minimize the time required for testing and, inherently, reduce costs. This
includes referencing and tracking the experimental design and appropriate statistical analyses to
determine when a hypothesis has been sufficiently investigated to arrive at a conclusion for the set
objective. Properly established experimental design and selection of appropriate statistical analyses
will reduce the effects of human bias, identify when a line of testing has reached a conclusion or dead
end, eliminate less productive experimentation and generate maximum information at minimum cost.
Appropriate statistical tests belonging to either parametric or non-parametric statistics should be used
for examination of all underlying statistical assumptions related to the measures of central tendency
[13]
and spread .
4.2.7 Pilot plant/facility commissioning
Pilot plant/facility commissioning should be performed to ensure that all systems and components of
the pilot facilities (e.g. equipment, instrumentation, control systems) as well as infrastructure systems
and elements are designed, installed, tested, operated and maintained according to the operational
requirements.
6 © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Pilot plant/facility commissioning should include the following:
— inspections during construction;
— supervision of installation and testing unit components;
— overall process to establish that the pilot facility functionality is as designed.
4.2.8 Pilot plant/facility operation and management
Depending upon the size and extent of the pilot plan's objectives, its management may range from an
informal to a relatively complex organizational structure.
Management functions should include planning, staffing and controlling of the operation. The operation
should follow a set routine of field measurements, sample collection and equipment maintenance,
including sensor calibration and an overall QA/QC programme.
Depending on the operating environment and size of the operations group, ongoing training could be
required throughout the testing programme, particularly where there are rotating shifts.
Schedule delays caused by equipment malfunctions and breakdowns, or other mechanical problems,
are the most frequent causes of exceeding budgets and cost overruns, and should thus be considered.
The availability of spare parts and an effective programme of preventive/predictive maintenance
should be taken into account to control costs and budget.
4.2.9 Sample collection plan
A sample collection plan includes appropriate use of grab samples and time or flow proportional
composite samples, field measurements and calibration protocols, sampling design, QA/QC samples,
field treatments and preservation, sample handling and delivery, sample storage times, analytical
procedures and resolution requirements, and analytical laboratory coordination.
Laboratory test results may be used to establish design and operating parameters for the project.
While the parameter values established by laboratory or bench-scale testing (e.g. reaction times,
reagent doses, temperatures) should be considered, basic values and adjustments should be evaluated
to determine the most favourable values for the process.
The pilot plant/facility design and construction should have adequate flexibility to allow for possible
modifications of these parameters, whereby every stage should be similarly analysed.
4.2.10 Pilot plan summary
Data analysis, pilot plan summary and reporting should be made to capture whether the tested
technology/process/facility could be recommended for use in industrial wastewater treatment facilities
in the objective of water reuse.
A pilot plan report should present estimations of the uncertainty associated with all data-based critical
conclusions concerning pilot plan results for a chosen confidence level (by default, a confidence level of
95 % is used).
4.2.11 Pilot plant/facility shutdown and decommissioning
Permanent pilot plant shutdown and decommissioning (total or partly) should be performed, for
example disassembly of installations and equipment, cleaning and waste disposal.
5 Programme and project management
5.1 General
A pilot plan should be managed as a programme. 5.2 to 5.6 describe key components to make the pilot
...