ALBERT

Beschreibung: This article emphasizes on waste heat recovery for the implementation of organic Rankine cycle technology in the Indian industrial sector. A large proportion of energy is consumed by various industries, which leads to environmental pollution in multiple ways. Since the past few years, research is going on for re-using this low-grade waste energy utilizing organic Rankine cycle technology. In this report, a thorough review has been carried out to find the significant scope for recovering low-grade waste energy, primarily in cement, iron and steel and glass industries. Case studies based on the data collected from the associated plants have also been reported. A summary of different waste heat recovery cycles mechanism and working fluid selection procedure is also included. In the succeeding stage, various technological and legal aspects of using the recovered energy through power grid lines have been discussed. The review sketches a potential scope of using the low-grade waste energy in fulfilling the high energy demand of Indian commercial sector as well as domestic energy industry.

Beschreibung: In this experimental study, biodiesel production from free fatty acids of soybean oil and the effects of its blends with alcohol–diesel on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions were studied. Crude glycerine was neutralized to produce the free fatty acids. Methyl alcohol was reacted with the free fatty acids in the presence of acid catalyst to form biodiesel. Biodiesel, diesel, and alcohols were mixed at different volumetric ratios, and the properties of each blend were determined. The blends and diesel were tested in a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine at full-load conditions. In conclusion, torque and power characteristics of blends were found similar to those of diesel. Break specific fuel consumption of the blends slightly increased depending on lower heating values. CO and smoke emissions decreased up to 34.52 and 39.30 %, respectively. Although NO x emissions increased with B50, it showed a downward trend with alcohol-containing blends.

Beschreibung: A novel environmentally friendly type of scale inhibitor acrylic acid–allylpolyethoxy carboxylate (AQn) was synthesized. The antiscale property of the AQn copolymer towards Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 in the artificial cooling water was studied through static scale inhibition tests, The observation shows that Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 inhibition increases with increasing the degree of polymerization of AQn from 5 to 15, and t he dosage of AQn plays an important role on Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 inhibition. The effect on the formation of Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 was investigated with combination of scanning electronic microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, respectively. Inhibition mechanism is proposed that the interactions between calcium ions and polyethylene glycol are the fundamental impetus to restrain the formation of the scale in cooling water systems.

Beschreibung: This paper presents the evaluation of the performance of an in-vessel composting system by examining the kinetic reactions of the processes developed for the treatment of sewage sludge and agricultural waste. The aim of this work is (a) to describe the composting process using a kinetic model that is based on the biodegradable organic matter losses during decomposition of the substrate, (b) to evaluate the efficiency of the bioxidation process that takes place in the system and (c) to determine the factors and the rate at which they limit the composting process. The simulation of the composting process considers a first-order kinetic model including the environmental parameters (environmental correction factors) that influence bioxidation of the biodegradable organic matter (BOM) of the substrate namely temperature, moisture content and oxygen concentration. The experimental results, recorded and monitored throughout the composting processes, were fitted using the proposed model. The results obtained suggest that the system operates efficiently by recording increased levels of BOM losses, high decomposition rates while composting limitations, due to the environmental conditions, is not significant during the main stages of the processes.

Beschreibung: In this study, we attempt to mitigate household air pollution (HAP) through improved kitchen design. Field surveys were conducted in ten kitchens of rural western India, which were then modelled and simulated for dynamic indoor airflow network analysis. The simulated results were statistically clustered using principal component analysis and hierarchical agglomerative clustering, to construct a cumulative built environment parameter called ‘Built Factor’ for each kitchen, and subsequently a derivative matrix was developed. Categorization of better performing kitchens from this derivative matrix enabled in deriving the built parameter thresholds for a ‘better’ kitchen design. This derived kitchen showed 60 % reduction in PM2.5 peak concentration during cooking hours. The evaluation described here is essentially a “proof of concept”, that effective building design can be an alternative way to reduce HAP without the introduction of chimneys, improved cookstoves or shifting to cleaner fuel.

Beschreibung: Lubrication is one of the most essential requirements for proper working of internal combustion engines, and mineral lubricants are extensively used for that. However, their disposal causes environmental degradation. A logical solution for this may be achieved by using bio-degradable and environmentally acceptable lubricants. A few recent researches have focused on utilizing biofuels, which are primarily used as alternative engine fuels, as lubricants to address environmentally related issues with mineral lubricant. In this context, straight vegetable oils seem to be a promising option. The available literature suggests that 20 % biodiesel has superior effects on the lubricating oil properties compared to diesel when mineral oil is used as lubricant. Therefore, the study of the effect of infiltration of lubricant into the fuel side on the performance and emission characteristics on one hand and infiltration of fuel in the lubricant on the other have been considered in the present work for long-term engine operation. For that, the performance and emission characteristics of palm biodiesel blends with palm oil as lubricant were compared with those of conventional diesel fuel with mineral lubricant for 60 h operation. The variations in viscosity and density of both the lubricants for 60 h operation were also considered. Based on the comparative assessment of the considered fuel–lubricant combinations, it is concluded that the same B30 palm biodiesel fuel blend with palm straight vegetable oil as lubricant may be considered as the most suitable combination. This fuel–lubricant combination will surely reduce the dependency on fossil fuel to a large extent and earn more carbon credits.

Beschreibung: Amine-terminated MnFe 2 O 4 , using urea solution (UMF-MNPs) fabricated by a combined ultrasonic/microwave technique, was characterized and applied as a magnetic adsorbent to remove catechol, phenol, and benzene micro-pollutants from wastewater solutions. The simultaneous effect of solution pH, TDS, micro-pollutants concentrations, UMF-MNPs dose, and temperature was investigated and optimized using D-optimal design in a batch experiment. The quadratic regression, as the best-structured simulated model, predicted the maximum adsorption rates at pH 6.0, TDS 1855 mg/l, UMF-MNPs dose of 0.73 g/l, and temperature 320 K for 50 mg/l micro-pollutant concentrations. Kinetic and isotherm models, through linear and nonlinear regression methods, reflected an excellent correlation ( R 2  ≈ 0.83 to 1) to simulate the adsorption data. The column breakthrough curves were tested using the equivalent length of the unused bed approach, which well fitted the Thomas model equation. The film diffusion, consequently with Lewis acid–base, is the major rate-controlling adsorption mechanism, and recovered by alkali ethanolic solution.

Beschreibung: Generous subsidies granted in recent years by EU to promote the green energy policy and also to counterbalance changes in agricultural policies of the new member states have resulted, among other things, in development of numerous heating plants that utilize agricultural residues. With no previous experience, farmers are offered ash in unprecedented amounts as a cheap source of nutrients. A robust technical and economic analysis of the ash and its interactions with topsoil was carried out in a commercial scale in the course of 4 vegetation seasons. It has been proved that high doses of ash worsen water management of topsoil, specifically its susceptibility to erosion. Based on the result, a new economically justified method has been proposed which allows utilization of nutrients contained in the ash without jeopardizing quality indicators of the topsoil.

Beschreibung: Beijing faces a serious problem of carbon emissions and the economic sectors are the main source of carbon emissions. Previous literatures have extensively focused on estimating the impact of carbon emissions of individual sector. Little attention has been paid to the multisectoral carbon emissions. In this paper, a multisectoral decomposition analysis was reported to explore the carbon emissions in Beijing. The emissions are decomposed into energy structure, energy intensity, economic structure (in industry), economic output, and population scale effects by the method of logarithmic mean Divisia index. Agricultural, industrial, construction, transportation, commercial, and other sectors are taken into consideration. The results show that population scale effect is the main factor for increasing carbon emissions in all sectors. The energy efficiency improvements are primarily responsible for the decrease in emissions in the industrial sector, while it increases emissions in construction, transportation, and commercial sectors. The economic output in agricultural and other sectors exerts a positive effect on emissions. In contrast, the energy structure effect only makes a minor contribution to the emission decrease in industrial, construction, commercial, and other sectors.

Beschreibung: Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), at the early stage of their commercialization, possess potential for different applications. Analogous to any other new technologies, PEFC technology is also facing several challenges and uncertainties during precommercialization phase. Platinum, used as the catalyst in PEFCs, is considered as one of the key obstacles towards the commercialization as it contributes significantly to the overall cost. In the present work, a life-cycle cost analysis is carried out based on the annual growth in the platinum price and the discount rate based on the local market for different economic zones. It is observed that the high investment in platinum could be beneficial instead of acting as the hurdle if the salvage value of platinum is considered. Based on the platinum cost per kW of the fuel cell, two different scenarios (32 and 3 US$ kW −1 ) are considered. It is observed that in spite of very high cost of platinum, the net present value of the fuel cell is comparable with the scenario with low investment cost in platinum when the salvage value of platinum is considered. In some situations, the high investment cost in the platinum offers high salvage value leading to a profitable case. Hence, the high cost of platinum might promote the commercialization of the fuel cells if appropriate business model is in place.

Beschreibung: Palm Oil industry is one of the major contributors to Malaysia’s economic activity. Accounting for 39 % of the world palm oil production and 44 % of world exports, Malaysia holds an important niche in fulfiling the growing global needs for oils and fats sustainably. This industry has high potential for further improvements especially in terms of energy saving as a major contributor to cost and emission reduction. An analysis of the refining process of palm oil in Sahabat Oil Products, Lahad Datu has been performed and presented in this paper for scoping potential energy and cost savings using heat integration. A first stage optimisation of the minimum temperature difference, ∆ T min , of a heat exchanger network (HEN) has been performed. The goal has been to evaluate the maximal possible heat recovery as well as the appropriate placement of utilities. The HEN design is presented in both grid diagram and shifted retrofit thermodynamic grid diagram (SRTGD). SRTGD representation has been illustrated in this paper as a useful tool for guiding eventual future retrofit. The capital-energy trade-off of the heat recovery targets indicates optimum ∆ T min of 12.3 °C. The hot and cold utility targets at ∆ T min  = 12.3 °C are 1419 and 1649 kW, indicating potential saving of 3.5 and 3.1 % as compared to the existing utility consumption and emissions. Future work could proceed further to seek potentially viable retrofit of the existing heat recovery network.

Beschreibung: Power to gas (P2G)-methane, pumped hydroelectric storage (PHES) and compressed air energy storage (CAES) are three methods to store surplus electricity with high capacity and long discharge time. However, there is a few research included P2G—methane in comparing with other storage technologies in general and in terms of sustainability development. This paper explored and compared the cost, efficiency, position flexibility, storage capacity/discharge time, energy carrier vector and environmental issues of those storage technologies in terms of single criterion and group multi-criteria analysis. The single criterion data of each technology was reviewed from literature and compared with each other. The data from single criterion were normalised then used as inputs of the linear additive model. The weights of criteria were determined by sending out the weighting assessment form to 10 researchers. The comparison in terms of cost and efficiency showed that PHES is better than P2G and CAES. And P2G has many benefits such as: conversion of energy vector from electricity to gas which is available for renewable thermal and transport energy; longest storage time; and minimal impact on the environment. From sustainable development strategy perspective, the evaluation results of P2G, PHES and CAES are 4.03, 2.46 and 2.16, respectively. Which means P2G was assessed as preferable.

Beschreibung: One of the main concerns of humankind in the last years is the availability of energy sources. Research has been focused on finding clean and renewable ways to satisfy the energy demand worldwide. In the particular case of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, clay industry burns each year about 15,000 m 3 of fuel oil and residual oils, and 96,000 t of wood derivatives. As a way to reduce the environmental impact of clay industry, the use of solid fuel pellets, obtained from vegetable residual material, is proposed. The raw material for the pellets is obtained from agribusiness and from the cities of the state. The solid biofuel has high density, low content of humidity, a homogeneous shape and high energy density. Nevertheless, special care must be taken about the location of the production facility and hubs, in order to make the production of the biofuel economically feasible. Furthermore, to have an environmentally friendly fuel, the supply chain and the production process must minimize the global environmental impact. In this work, a mathematical programming model is proposed to determinate the optimal location of the production facilities, the hubs, and the best distribution logistics. The problem is modelled using a general disjunctive programming approach, and then relaxed into a mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem. It has been determined that the main plant should be located in the city of Irapuato, while secondary plants must be established in the cities of León, Irapuato, Abasolo and Salamanca. Moreover, it has been estimated that, when the residual biomass is converted into pellets, about 72,548 t/year of equivalent CO 2 are avoided in the main plant, together with 24,182 of equivalent CO 2 avoided per secondary facility.

Beschreibung: For the last 9 years, the Government of Bangladesh has been trying to change the way bricks are produced in the country using a technology mandate that bans the widespread conventional technology. In a bid to control the severe air pollution emanating from the brick sector, mandating production technology was chosen to be the preferred policy instrument for regulating the sector. However, the regulatory history shows limited success in making the brick sector less polluting. This paper reviews and analyzes the shortcomings of this technology mandate to spur technology diffusion in the brick sector of Bangladesh. Whereas previous research studied the brick sector on the technological aspects and supply side economics, this paper focuses on the underlying factors hampering policy implementation on the part of the regulatory agency. In order to reorient the policy direction for this important manufacturing sector, this study outlines the policy history of the technological mandate and their shortcomings in generating an impact.

Beschreibung: Many organizations have attempted to develop an accurate well-to-pump life cycle model of petroleum products in order to inform decision makers of the consequences of its use. Our paper studies five of these models, demonstrating the differences in their predictions and attempting to evaluate their data quality. Carbon dioxide well-to-pump emissions for gasoline showed a variation of 35 %, and other pollutants such as ammonia and particulate matter varied up to 100 %. Differences in allocation do not appear to explain differences in predictions. Effects of these deviations on well-to-wheels passenger vehicle and truck transportation life cycle models may be minimal for effects such as global warming potential (6 % spread), but for respiratory effects of criteria pollutants (41 % spread) and other impact categories, they can be significant. A data quality assessment of the models’ documentation revealed real differences between models in temporal and geographic representativeness, completeness, as well as transparency. Stakeholders may need to consider carefully the tradeoffs inherent when selecting a model to conduct life cycle assessments for systems that make heavy use of petroleum products.

Beschreibung: Concentrated solar power (CSP) plant is an emerging technology among different renewable energy sources. Parabolic trough collector (PTC)-based CSP plant, using synthetic or organic oil as a heat-transfer fluid, is the most advanced technology. About 87 % of the operational capacities of CSP plants worldwide are based on PTC technology. Direct steam-generating linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) systems have been developed as a cost-effective alternative to PTC systems. Line-focusing concentrating solar collectors (PTC and LFR), with single-axis tracking, are simple in design and easy to operate. Prior to the detailed design of a CSP plant, it is necessary to finalize type of the solar field, type of the power-generating cycle, overall plant configuration, sizing of the solar field and the power block, etc. The optimal design of a CSP plant minimizes the levelized cost of energy for a given site. In this paper, a detailed review of important design parameters which affect the design of line-focusing concentrating solar collector-based power plants is presented. This includes parameters for solar collector field design, receiver, heat-transfer fluid, thermal energy storage, power-generating cycle, sizing and configuration of the plant, etc. This review may provide a reference for designing CSP plants. Future research directions are also identified.

Beschreibung: Energy and Resources use efficiency in industrial sector holds the key in achieving sustainable development. Networking among industries to use by-product and waste product streams as input sources to the other industrial units, which is termed as Eco-industrial Networking holds the key for Eco-industrial development which is a building block of sustainable development of cities. Based on the Korean eco-industrial park (EIP) experience, the present paper reviews the key drivers to such a networking, identifies what are the conditions and strategies required at different levels, and barriers for their implementation. The paper further contextualizes the same to Asian region by linking EIPs to urban systems and that evolves into Eco-city concepts. Ability of such eco-efficiency imbibing network towards decarbonizing the development paths is also discussed.

Beschreibung: This work aims at developing reliable solar technologies for regions characterized by hot climate and with high dust density, which are considered as significant constraints to the development of high-performance photovoltaic systems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. After reviewing actual technologies to solve these issues in MENA region, where water is considered a precious resource, a proposal to apply a nanocoating on photovoltaic panels in a simple and cost-effective way is examined. Experimentations realized under control of optical and electrical benches revealed a considerable gain in light transmission and open circuit voltage, respectively. A thermoelectric analysis demonstrated that nanocoated photovoltaic (PV) modules are running cooler than untreated ones. This behavior is due to hot spot caused by shading effects of dusts in case of uncoated PV panels. The tested hydrophobic coating layer reduces these issues and solves the problems of dust and electrical losses.

Beschreibung: This study evaluates the use of solid industrial waste generated by a water treatment plant (WTP) at a pulp mill in Brazil for manufacturing building bricks. The sludge from the WTP was mixed with three different wastes generated by the same factory (dregs, grits, and lime mud) and other wastes generated from crushing and grinding granite rock (granite fines). Mathematical and statistical methods are proposed for designing mixtures that satisfy the material properties for ceramic processing and the mechanical properties for the end product. A method for solving a linear system of equations using fewer equations than variables was required, as the number of materials exceeded the number of reference grain size distributions. This type of system is generally compatible and indeterminate. To obtain feasible solutions, a combination-of-variables method is proposed to optimize the mixture design. The formulation of the mixtures was based on the grain size distribution of the residues and the proportions of calcium, sodium, and potassium oxides in the mixtures. The nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test and the median test were applied for all mixtures, followed by a multiple comparison test of classes. The mechanical properties of the specimens were evaluated after drying (linear shrinkage and flexural strength) and firing (ignition loss, linear shrinkage, and flexural strength) according to the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards and Brazilian Standards for red ceramics.

Beschreibung: This paper analyzes the drivers of renewable energy development and consumption in Sub-Sahara African countries for the period, 1980–2011. The fully modified ordinary least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares, and fixed-effects estimation techniques are used to evaluate the statistical significance of the determinants of renewable energy consumption. Results indicate that income has the desired positive, albeit statistically insignificant contribution to renewable energy consumption growth. This indicates that recent economic strength in the region has not been accompanied by increased development and consumption of renewable energy, in contrast to empirical evidence in other developing economies. A review of the possible reasons for this incongruence is presented. Also, increased consumption of renewable energy is associated with heightened concerns for climate change caused by pollutants such as carbon dioxide. Population and industrial expansion are statistically significant determinants of renewable consumption, and oil prices correlate negatively with renewable energy consumption.

Beschreibung: In this paper, the performances of two iron-based syngas-fueled chemical looping (SCL) systems for hydrogen (H 2 ) and electricity production, with carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture, using different reactor configurations were evaluated and compared. The first investigated system was based on a moving bed reactor configuration (SCL-MB) while the second used a fluidized bed reactor configuration (SCL-FB). Two modes of operation of the SCL systems were considered, namely, the H 2 production mode, when H 2 was the desired product from the system, and the combustion mode, when only electricity was produced. The SCL systems were modeled and simulated using Aspen Plus software. The results showed that the SCL system based on a moving bed reactor configuration is more efficient than the looping system with a fluidized bed reactor configuration. The H 2 production efficiency of the SCL-MB system was 11 % points higher than that achieved in the SCL-FB system (55.1 % compared to 44.0 %). When configured to produce only electricity, the net electrical efficiency of the SCL-MB system was 1.4 % points higher than that of the SCL-FB system (39.9 % compared to 38.5 %). Further, the results showed that the two chemical looping systems could achieve 〉99 % carbon capture efficiency and emit ~2 kg CO 2 /MWh, which is significantly lower than the emission rate of conventional coal gasification-based plants for H 2 and/or electricity generation with CO 2 capture.

Beschreibung: Biochar simply is the material produced when biomass undergoes any chemical processes under the conditions of pyrolysis. The variety of biomasses, including wood waste, agricultural crop leftover, organic waste, animal manure, and forestry residues, have been considered as raw material to produce biochar. Biochar is widely used for generation of heat and power and an addition to soils, in which it serves as a fertilizer and carbon sequestration agent. Also in the form of being activated, it finds significant role for various adsorption applications. The most beneficial use of a given char depends on its physical and chemical characteristics, even though the relationship of char properties to these applications is not well defined. Various widely used modern analytical techniques, which are applicable and crucial for biochar characterization, have been reviewed in the present work, such as solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-rays photoelectron spectroscopy, X-rays diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, near edge X-rays absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Utilization of these modern techniques provides the quantitative as well as qualitative information, i.e., determining the sizes, shapes, and physicochemical characteristics of biochar, which is reliable to track changes in the carbon arrangement over reaction time and temperature, and will be useful for efficient production of biochar and application. It provides the useful information for the researchers in this area and is beneficial not only for the effective biochar production, but also for potential utilization/application, and not only for environment but also for agriculture.

Beschreibung: This paper aims to open the discussion about the possibility and economic feasibility of applying pollution prevention techniques in industrial enterprises with smaller production capacities than those specified in Directive 2010/75/EU. The work refers to countries with transition economies where low cost of environmental resources and pollution fees are present. The research is conducted on pilot sample of seven small- and medium-size enterprises belonging to the food and beverage sector. The enterprises have different characteristics in terms of company size, capacity levels, production processes employed, and status of the transition in terms of their ownership status. The selection of appropriate prevention techniques is done using newly developed Method for Identification of Prevention Techniques (“MIP”). The MIP method combines: (i) Minimization Opportunities Environmental Diagnosis methodology developed by Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production Barcelona and its approach to data collection, (ii) United Nation Industrial Development Organisation’s step-by-step approach to environmental diagnosis of industrial enterprises, (iii) Driving Forces, Pressure, State, Impact, Response Framework used by European Environmental Agency to facilitate problem–solution identification, (iv) Multicriteria ranking method for selection of best available techniques, and (v) Philosophy of Shewhart–Deming’s circle to introduce the system of planning, control, and correction and integrate prevention concept into business policy. This provided necessary flexibility corresponding to companies’ abilities to finance implementation. The results confirmed that the pollution prevention concept can be applied to small- and medium-sized companies of different production capacities and organization levels with both environmental and economic benefits.

Beschreibung: Techno-economic performance analysis of a biomass-fired combined cycle plant, employing a topping air turbine (AT) cycle and a bottoming steam turbine cycle, is reported in this paper. The net power output is 500 kWe, the AT producing 350 kWe and the ST producing the rest. Biomass (saw dust) is directly fired in a biomass combustor-heat exchanger (BCHX) duplex unit which supplies heat to the topping cycle. Influences of major plant parameters on the thermo-economic performance of the plant are analysed. Overall efficiency is found to maximise at topping cycle pressure ratio of 4. Higher TIT results in better energetic performance, while higher hot end temperature difference of the BCHX unit lowers the plant efficiency. Thermo-economic analysis reveals that the lowest unit cost of electricity (UCOE) of about 0.12 $/kWh could be achieved for the plant, while still giving an overall efficiency of about 48 %. Based on minimum UCOE, the payback period is estimated to be about 6 years with 50 % capital subsidy and about 13 years with no capital subsidy.

Beschreibung: Scrubbing by liquid sprayingis one of the most effective processes used for removal of fine particles and soluble gas pollutants (such as SO 2 , HCl, HF) from the flue gas. The primary function of venturi scrubber, which represents the first stage of the wet flue gas cleaning processes, such as in waste incineration plants, is to capture fine particles as well as remove HCl, HF or SO 2 as a result of the decrease in the flue gas temperature before entering the absorption column. In this paper, a newly developed four-branch O-element is proposed as a replacement for venturi scrubber. By means of this device, sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) removal efficiency and pressure loss and temperature drop were experimentally calculated. The dependence of these variables on liquid–gas ratio was monitored. The simulated flue gas was prepared by the combustion of the carbon disulphide solution in toluene (1:1 vol.) in the presence of the flame in the reactor. Such prepared flue gas with temperature around 150 °C was processed in the laboratory-designed O-element scrubber. Water was used as an absorbent liquid. The maximal efficiency of SO 2 removal achieved by this process was up to 70 %, which is far better in comparison with the commonly used venturi scrubbers. The pressure drop of our proposed newly designed wet scrubber is similar to that of the commonly used venturi scrubbers; nevertheless, the influence of the amount of the liquid on pressure drop is not so significant. In parallel, a mathematical model describing the mass transfer, enthalpy balance and pH change of the absorbing solution was also developed. Enthalpy balance was calculated by numerical iteration to determine the unknown outlet liquid temperature. Mass transfer calculation was used for the determination of complete Henry constant from all the subsequent SO 2 absorption reactions.

Beschreibung: The air staging to combustion approach introduced to a coke oven heating system as a primary method of nitrogen oxide (NO) formation reduction is considered in this paper. To numerically investigate the thermal and prompt NO formation, a heating flue model representing the most popular Polish coke oven battery was used. The model was developed and experimentally validated as a transient coupled model for the representative heating flue and the two coke ovens. Numerical simulations were performed to estimate the amount of NO passing into the atmosphere during the operation of such a heating system with and without the secondary air inlets. Various strategies for the secondary air distribution along the flue gas flow as well as the secondary air velocity were studied. The results of the numerical investigation demonstrated the substantial positive effect of the considered air staging on NO formation reduction.

Beschreibung: Heavy metal removal from industrial wastewaters has been intensively studied, since it is well known that they can cause severe problems to human health and aquatic life, even at very low concentrations. In this work, it was demonstrated that electrodeposition in fluidized bed electrode (FBE) can be efficiently employed to remove metal ions from solution, avoid contamination, and recover the metal. Copper electrodeposition from diluted solutions was efficiently performed using a membraneless FBE. The average current efficiency (ACE), average energy consumption (AEC), and space–time yield (AY) was optimized taking into account the operational and process variables. It was noted that for all response variables studied, the raise of supporting electrolyte concentration ( C s ) contributed to improvements in the process. The operational conditions current ( I ) and bed expansion ( E ) determined the values of CE, Y , and EC under activated control, but the initial copper concentration ( C 0 ) determined how long the electrodeposition process will work under activated or mass transfer control, thus affecting the average values of CE, Y , and EC. Considering C 0 of 500 mg L −1 , copper can be optimally recovered with ACE 〉60 %, AY 〉38 kg h −1 m −3 , and AEC 〈4.0 kWh kg −1 by applying the lowest I and the highest levels of E and C s . It was concluded that the electrochemical technology using a membraneless FBE reactor is economically competitive and be applied for the treatment of wastewaters contaminated with copper or other metals.

Beschreibung: This paper investigates the possibilities and the sustainability of “biomass for power” solutions on a real power system. The case example is JP Elektroprivreda BiH d.d.—Sarajevo (EPBiH), a typical conventional coal-based power utility operating in the region of South East Europe. Biomass use is one of the solutions considered in EPBiH as a means of increasing shares of renewable energy sources (RES) in final energy production and reducing CO 2 emissions. This ultimately is a requirement for all conventional coal-based power utilities on track to meet their greenhouse gas (GHG) cut targets by 2050. The paper offers a discussion of possible options as a function of sustainability principles, considering environmental, economic and social aspects of biomass use. In the case of EPBiH, the most beneficial would be waste woody biomass and energy crop co-firing on existing coal-based power plants, as suggested by biomass market analyses and associated technological studies. To assess the sustainability of the different biomass co-firing options, a multicriteria sustainability assessment (MSA) and single criteria analysis (SCA) were used. Four different options were considered, based on different ratios of biomass for co-firing: 0 wt%-reference case, and 5, 7 and 10 wt% of biomass. Both the MSA and the SCA confirmed that the option with the highest share of biomass is the most preferable one for the considered case. In addition to that, the CO 2 parameter proved to be a key sustainability indicator, effecting the most decision making with regard to preference of options from the point of sustainability. Following up on the results of the analyses, the long-term projection of biomass use in EPBiH has shown an increase in biomass utilization of up to 450,000 t/y in 2030 and beyond, with associated CO 2 cuts of up to 395,000 t/y. This resulted in a 4 % CO 2 cut achieved with biomass co-firing, compared to the 1990 CO 2 emission level. It should be noted that the proposed assessment model for biomass use may be applied to any conventional coal-based power utility as an option in contributing to meeting specific CO 2 cut targets, provided that the set of input data is available and reliable.

Beschreibung: The present paper deals with the development of cellular light weight bricks using bio-briquette ash. The necessary physical and chemical tests were conducted on a bio-briquette ash sample to investigate its suitability for the development of bricks. Physico-mechanical, durability and thermal conductivity tests were conducted on cellular light weight bio-briquette ash bricks that fulfilled the requirements of Indian standard. The test results of cellular light weight bio-briquette ash bricks were compared with commercially available fly ash bricks. With reference to fly ash bricks, the cellular light weight bio-briquette ash bricks were found 43 % light in weight, having 13 % higher compressive strength and resulted in 66 % lesser thermal conductivity. A small scale model room (1 m × 1 m × 1 m) made up of fly ash bricks was designed. A similar built form for the cellular light weight bio-briquette ash bricks was also modelled. Both the models were analysed for indoor temperature control and cost. When compared with fly ash model room, cellular light weight bio-briquette ash brick model resulted in a 6 % better indoor temperature control and 29 % cost savings. Thus, the developed cellular light weight bio-briquette ash bricks were found suitable as an alternate construction material for non-load bearing walls.

Beschreibung: In Canada, the residential building sector consumes 17 % of the total energy and 15 % of the total greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the energy demand for cooling in the residential sector is increasing due to the large occupancy floor area and high usage of air conditioning. Minimizing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions is one of the highest priority goals set for national energy management strategies in developed countries including Canada. In this study, a framework based on the life cycle assessment approach is developed to assess the environmental impacts of different building cooling systems, namely conventional snow storage system, watertight snow storage system, high-density snow storage system, and the conventional chiller cooling system. Moreover, all these systems have varying energy requirements and associated environmental impacts during different phases (extraction and construction, utilization, and end of life) of the life cycle of a building. A low-rise residential building in Kelowna (BC, Canada) has been selected for the pragmatic application of the proposed framework. The annual cooling energy demand for the building is estimated for different phases. Subsequently, the life cycle impact assessment has been carried out using SimaPro 8.1 software and TRACI 2.1 method. For sustainability evaluation of different cooling systems over their life cycle, multi-criteria decision analysis has been employed using the ‘Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE II).’ The results showed that the snow storage systems tend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and associated environmental impacts more than the conventional system.

Beschreibung: The human dependency on finite fossil fuel has led to its drastic depletion. Along with its detrimental effects on the environment, such practice is now deemed unsustainable. This phenomenon has led to the growth for utilisation of biomass in the production of biofuels, biochemical and other related bioproducts. This waste-to-wealth strategy is no doubt highly beneficial to the society. However, the major challenge in the commercialisation of bioproducts production includes the complex conversion processes and the uncertainty in the supply and sources of biomass. Therefore, efficient supply chain management and optimisation is essential to overcome these barriers and variables that may constrain the development of a competitive and sustainable bioproducts market. This overview provides an extensional definition of biomass-to-bioproducts supply chain and systematically describes the problems and decisions along this chain. It also identifies the characteristics of a sustainable integrated biomass supply chain, and finally presents an overview of biomass supply chain synthesis and optimisation methods. Based on the existing research gap, the key challenges and potential future works are highlighted. This paper will provide readers with an initial point to understand the concept of sustainable biomass supply chain management and the synthesis and optimisation of sustainable biomass supply chain models.

Beschreibung: We evaluated the chemical sequestration of carbon dioxide into the phosphogypsum from the Lowveld region of South Africa. The phosphogypsum was converted to saleable ammonium sulphate and precipitated calcium carbonate in a modified Merseburg process. The heat from the ammonium carbonate formation exothermicity increased the temperature in the gypsum conversion reactor contents by 35 K, significantly reducing the heating requirements to achieve the reaction temperature of 343 K. The modified process will lower capital layout but no fundamental energy superiority or inferiority to the original Merseburg process. The gypsum conversion efficiency of 95 % was achieved. The purity of the ammonium sulphate produced is comparable to the chemical grade, commercially available in South Africa. The calcium carbonate precipitated as calcitic scalenohedral polymorphs with a mean size of 3.4 μm in diameter. The economic feasibility study must be done to determine the cost implication of the omission of the carbon dioxide scrubbing towers in the modified Merseburg process.

Beschreibung: Sustainable manufacturing is a valuable tool for measuring and enhancing the machining performance. The implementation of sustainability frameworks in concerned industries poses enormous challenges despite various frameworks available in the literature. Thus, the objective of this paper is to present an integrated sustainability assessment framework wherein two machining scenarios (dry and wet turning) have been analysed by conducting experiments based on the process for a manufactured component in an industry from economic and environmental perspectives. The study further evaluates the economic and environmental indicators such as cost per component and energy consumption for Taguchi array design using empirical relations to evaluate sustainability by grey relational analysis and further optimise the machining performance by particle swarm optimisation. The results, however, indicate the possibility of transitioning the machining process from wet to dry at specific operating conditions with improved performance. In addition to this, the study also presents an illustration of social sustainability assessment framework which has been proposed after consultation with various manufacturing industries in order to make it convenient for them to implement and enhance the sustainability aspects of the machining process.

Beschreibung: The main purpose of this study is to develop composites and laboratory technology for the production of construction materials with the highest percentage of Kraft pulp production wastes—dregs, grits, and lime mud, with the lime production waste as a binding component. The concentration of these wastes, used as raw materials, varied in the following limits: dregs 0–45 %, grits 0–45 %, lime mud 0–30 %, and lime waste production 10–25 %. The values of uniaxial compressive strength of the developed construction materials on the 3rd day of curing reached 5.89 MPa, on the 7th day—7.95 MPa, on the 14th day—9.35 MPa, on the 60th day—18.52 MPa, and on the 180th day, 19.34 MPa. Through XRF, XRD, SEM, EDS, and LAMMA methods, it was determined that these values of mechanical properties can be explained by dissolving the solid particles surfaces of the components in an alkaline environment, and by synthesizing new formations, specially amorphous and partly crystalline carbonates. The results of the study indicate that the waste of Kraft pulp production can be used as valuable components in the production of the construction materials without the application of traditional natural materials.

Beschreibung: Air pollution is caused by variety of sources such as industries, vehicles, cremation, bakeries, and open burning. These sources have variation in emission with different time scales. Industry and bakeries have variation in emission with day or week, rest of the sources like vehicles and domestic sector have variation with time in a day. In fact, vehicles have a large variation in emission with time period of the day. The average concentration of 24 h is much less than hourly concentration of peak time when there is heavy vehicular emissions. The hourly concentration of off-peak time or lean time is very low due to low emission for that period. The air quality standards of India are prescribed for 24-h average concentration with which the predicted average concentration from models is compared. However, the peak time concentration may be much higher than the standard. In the peak time, outdoor concentration is more and since a large proportion of the population is out the exposure is also very high and can cause severe health effect. In this paper, vehicular pollution modeling has been carried out using AERMOD with simulated meteorology by Weather Research and Forecasting model. NO x and PM concentrations were 3.6 and 1.45 times higher in peak time than off-peak and evening peak, respectively. Lean time has higher concentration for both NO x and PM than off-peak and evening peak. It shows the misleading concept of comparing average predicted concentration of 24 h with standards for vehicles.

Beschreibung: The systematic and rigorous model-based optimization of the configuration and operating conditions of a methane membrane steam reforming reactor for hydrogen production is performed. A permeable membrane with Pd–Ru deposited on a ceramic dense support is used to selectively remove the produced hydrogen from the reaction zone. The shifted chemical equilibrium towards hydrogen production enables the achievement of high methane conversion at relatively low reactor temperature levels. Steam reforming takes place over a Ni–Pt/CeZnLa ceramic foam-supported catalyst that ensures better thermal distribution, at an operating temperature of 773 K and a pressure of 10 6  Pa. A nonlinear, two-dimensional, and pseudo-homogeneous mathematical model of the membrane fixed-bed reactor is developed and subsequently validated using experimental data. For model validation purposes, two sets of experiments have been performed at the experimental reactor installed at CPERI/CERTH. The first set of experiments aims to investigate membrane permeability in order to estimate the parameters involved in the applied Sieverts law. The second set of experiments explores the performance of the membrane reactor at different steam to carbon ratios and total inlet volumetric flowrates. The derived mathematical model, consisted of mass, energy, and momentum balances that consider both axial and radial gradients of temperature and concentration, is then utilized within a model-based optimization framework that calculates the optimal operating conditions for the highly interactive reactor system. The optimal steam to carbon ratio and sweep gas flow rate that minimize the overall methane utilization (i.e., reformed methane and equivalent methane for heating purposes) are calculated for a range of hydrogen production rates. Τhe optimal reactor design configuration described by the length of the catalyst zone is also obtained for a given pure hydrogen production rate.

Beschreibung: An economically efficient and eco-benign new approach was performed for the treatment of rice mill wastewater by Fenton-like process using rice husk ash (RHA)-based silica-supported iron catalyst. The detailed characterization of the prepared catalyst was described by SEM, XRD, and FT-IR. The maximum COD reduction of 75.5 % was achieved at response surface-optimized conditions that constitutes of catalyst dose 4.12 g/L, H 2 O 2 concentration 4.2 g/L and pH 3.2. The non-toxic nature of the treated rice mill effluent using green catalyst was revealed by phytotoxicity. Meticulous efforts have been made for judicious utilization of one waste (RHA) against another serious waste (rice mill wastewater) abatement of the same industry. Findings clearly established that the proposed designed scheme offered a complete sustainable solution towards minimization of various wastes generated from rapidly growing rice mills.

Beschreibung: Microalgae are considered to be a promising source of biomass compared with first and second generation feedstocks. However, the high energy requirement for harvesting and drying of the algal biomass poses challenge to commercialization due to implications on both carbon footprint (CF) and cost. In this work, we propose a systematic methodology for the multi-criteria evaluation of alternatives for the harvesting and drying processes. A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach is used, where the pairwise comparison of the multiple criteria and alternatives were done to prioritize the best harvesting and drying method within the fuzzy bounds of the value judgment that satisfies the consistency index. FAHP also allows the degree of confidence of the expert to be quantified. A case study of four alternatives each for the harvesting and drying process is used to demonstrate the process. Technology capability, cost and environmental impacts (comprised CF, land footprint and water footprint) are identified as the selection criteria for harvesting and drying process, respectively. Results show that flotation is the best alternative for harvesting process, while sun drying is the best among the drying alternatives. Sensitivity analysis is used to give insights on the robustness of the decision model and enables the understanding of critical criteria that would significantly influence the ranking of the alternatives. The proposed FAHP approach therefore can effectively deal with the uncertainty of judgment in the decision-making process in the evaluation of microalgae harvesting and drying processes.

Beschreibung: Rising CO 2 emissions that have been primarily attributed to fossil fuel utilisation have motivated extensive research on optimal CO 2 reduction planning and management. Carbon (more precisely CO 2 ) capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) have been the potential solutions to control CO 2 emissions. However, mitigating CO 2 emissions via CO 2 storage in geological reservoirs without utilisation is merely a technology transition, and CO 2 utilisation is limited due to the short lifespan of products. The integration of CCS and CCU, described as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), has recently been introduced as a better option to mitigate CO 2 emission. This study introduces a new algebraic targeting method for optimal CCUS network based on a Pinch Analysis–Total Site CO 2 integration approach. A new concept of Total Site CO 2 Integration is introduced within the CCS development. The CO 2 captured with a certain quality from the largest CO 2 emissions sources or plants is injected into a CO 2 pipeline header to match the CO 2 demands for utilising by various industries. The CO 2 sources and demands are matched, and the maximum CCU potential is targeted before the remaining captured CO 2 is injected into a dedicated geological storage. One or more headers are divided into certain composition ranges based on the purity level of the CO 2 sources and demands. The CO 2 header can satisfy the CO 2 demands for various industries located along the headers, which require CO 2 as their raw material. The CO 2 can be further regenerated, and mixed as needed with pure CO 2 generated from one or multiple centralised CO 2 plants if required. The main consideration for the problem is the CO 2 purity composition of targeted sources and demands. The proper estimation of CO 2 integration will reduce the amount of CO 2 emission needed to be stored and introduced to systematic CO 2 planning and management network. Graphical Abstract

Beschreibung: This paper presents a life cycle assessment of two alternative processes for the production of bio-oil from Malaysian oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB), namely, fast pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction, in which limited studies have been reported in the literature. In this study, both processes were evaluated and compared in terms of their impacts to the environment, specifically based on the selected impact categories: global warming potential (GWP), acidification, eutrophication, toxicity, and photochemical-oxidant formation. The results indicated that fast pyrolysis process of EFB caused more severe impact on the environment compared to hydrothermal liquefaction process. Fast pyrolysis process caused almost 50 % more GWP impact compared to hydrothermal liquefaction process, due to both high energy demand in the drying process and high-temperature operation of fast pyrolysis. Other than that, the assessment on other environmental impacts indicated that hydrothermal liquefaction operation is more environmentally benign compared to fast pyrolysis due to the reduced energy consumption. Lastly, sensitivity analysis involving three scenarios (change in bio-oil yield, thermal efficiency of boilers, and thermal efficiency of dryers), respectively, were constructed and presented.

Beschreibung: In this paper, a new model for estimating disassembly effort during early stages of product design is proposed. The model has been developed by integrating two well-known models in the field of product disassembly: Das et al. Disassembly Effort Index (DEI) model and Kroll and Hanft Disassembly Evaluation model. The first one is a multi-factor cost and effort model, which is widely used for determining disassembly effort in terms of a DEI score. This score is a representative of the total operating cost incurred in disassembling a product. The second model is commonly used for evaluating ease of disassembly, by assigning task difficulty scores to disassembly tasks. Data necessary for determining these scores are obtained from work-measurement analyses of standard disassembly tasks. The proposed model has been demonstrated by an estimation of disassembly effort for a CRT monitor disassembly process using the model and validated by benchmarking the results obtained using the proposed model against results from an existing model for a case study conducted on fifteen computer electronic products.

Beschreibung: A bioflocculant prepared with Bacillus fusiformis was used to treat tannery wastewater to detect the ability to remove total nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and colority from tannery wastewater. The bioflocculant was then subjected to component analysis for saccharides, proteins, glycoprotein, osamine, fat, and nucleic acid using the Molisch reaction, Biuret reaction, Anthrone reaction, Elson–Morgan method, Soxhlet extraction method, and spectrophotometry, respectively. The results demonstrated that the prepared bioflocculant was able to remove total nitrogen, COD, and colority from tannery wastewater. Component analysis revealed that the bioflocculant contained saccharides and proteins, which may have existed as glycoproteins, in addition to osamines and fats. The bioflocculant did not contain nucleic acid. These results will contribute to future research into the mechanism by which bioflocculants remove contaminants from tannery wastewater.

Beschreibung: The pure NaA zeolites used as adsorbents for ammonium removal were successfully synthesized from coal fly ash by means of alkaline fusion followed by hydrothermal treatment. The experiment samples were characterized in terms of X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Automated specific surface area and pore size analyzer. The results showed that the NaOH solution’s concentration, reaction temperature, and reaction time had significant effects on the species of the zeolite phases. Well-ordered cubic NaA zeolite with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface areas of 41.6 m 2 /g was prepared in 3 M NaOH solution at 353 K for 3 h. The adsorption behavior of NH 4 + from aqueous solution onto NaA zeolites was investigated at different initial concentrations, pH values, and contact times. The adsorbent equilibrium could be reached within 60 min, and the maximum removal efficiency of NH 4 + was achieved at pH 7.0. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were also applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms. The obtained results show that the experimental data have a better ( R 2  = 0.99) fit to Freundlich model and the adsorption of NH 4 + ions using synthesized NaA zeolite is favorable.

Beschreibung: Biomass-based synthetic natural gas (Bio-SNG) has attracted extensive attention in recent years. In order to analyze the energy efficiency of Bio-SNG production system, a simulation model of this system via interconnected fluidized beds and fluidized bed methanation reactor is built and validated. Then, the influences of operating conditions and biomass categories on the energy efficiency are studied. The results show that the Bio-SNG production process can achieve energy efficiency higher than 64 %. There exists an appropriate gasification temperature (around 750 °C), gasification pressure (about 0.3 MPa), ratio of steam to biomass (ranging from 0.4 to 0.8), methanation temperature (around 350 °C), and pressure (around 0.3 MPa) to maximize the energy efficiency. With respect to the typical biomass, the highest energy efficiency is found in sawdust, while the lowest is in rice straw. After comparing with the hydrogen production and diesel oil production from biomass, the Bio-SNG production is more competitive in the energy efficiency.

Beschreibung: Fertilizer production is one of the most important industries for ensuring a growing demand for food resources. Regrettably, this industry is characterized by high energy intensity. Even today, fossil fuel such as natural gas is the main raw material and the main source of primary energy in nitrogen fertilizer production. According to the data of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, about 40 % of total natural gas consumption in Lithuania is used in the fertilizer production company. Evaluation of the possibilities to reduce energy intensity and use alternative resources in nitrogen fertilizer production is the main objective of this research. All the technological processes of nitrogen fertilizer production in the analyzed company are objects of research of this work. Recent researches into the area of cleaner chemical product production are reviewed and systematized. The methods of cleaner production (CP), industrial ecology, material flow analysis, environmental impact assessment, and evaluation of environmental efficiency are integrated into the methodology of this work. Results of the initial environmental analysis of nitrogen fertilizer production processes show that the analyzed company has already implemented several CP projects with a view to minimizing energy intensity and air emissions. Despite their efforts, an enormous amount of energy is wasted in the main and additional processes (for example, ammonia production, cooling process, and heat energy production). Several alternatives for resource efficiency and energy saving have been suggested when doing the research. This paper presents the results of the feasibility analysis of three case studies in which pollution prevention methods are applied jointly with industrial symbiosis.

Beschreibung: Biogas has limited use in energy generation mainly due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S). Currently, most of the techniques employed in the removal of H 2 S from biogas have a chemical base, with high material costs and generating secondary pollutants. Biological processes for H 2 S removal have become effective and economical alternative techniques to traditional gas-treatment systems based on physicochemical techniques. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the performance of a bench-scale biofilter for the removal of H 2 S present in synthetic biogas. In addition, CO 2 and CH 4 concentrations in the outlet biogas were evaluated. The inoculum used in the experiment was composed of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans fixed on a packing of wood chips. Synthetic biogas was supplied to the system with a composition of 60 % CH 4 , 39 % CO 2 and 1 % H 2 S. The biofilter operated continuously for 37 days with an average H 2 S removal efficiency of 75 ± 13 % and maximum of 97 %. The elimination capacity of the system reached an average of 130 ± 23 g m −3  h −1 and a maximum of 169 g m 3  h −1 . The biofiltration system showed an average reduction of only 6 % in CH 4 concentration from biogas. Thus, besides being efficient in the removal of H 2 S, the system was able to maintain the biogas energy value.

Beschreibung: This article addresses the selection of electricity generation technologies for a decentralised electricity generation system based on local renewable sources for a rural area of a developing country (six municipalities in Western Honduras). In this work, rather than designing a high-reliable electricity generation system with high-quality power, our objective is to provide the basic configuration of an energy mix for a rural area for which energy data are not of high resolution. The selection of technologies is accomplished through a non-linear integer programming model that minimises the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). The model uses as inputs information related to the energy resources, the conversion technologies, the Honduran economic framework, the electricity demand of the study area, and the energy storage cost. The evaluated energy resources are solar, wind, and local biomass, while the electricity generation technologies considered include solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, biomass direct combustion with a steam turbine, and biomass gasification with a gas engine. Three different case studies were proposed as functions of power capacity: off-grid, mini-grid, and grid-connected. For each case study, the model outputs are the electricity supply share for each technology, the LCOE, and the number of power plants with the respective power capacity required to satisfy the electricity demand of the study area. This work can serve as a reference for preliminary feasibility studies of electrification projects based on renewable energy sources for other rural areas in Honduras or in other developing countries.

Beschreibung: Wheat flour is a necessity in our daily life. Wheat with impurities and pesticide residues will seriously affect the quality of wheat flour, and thereby wheat cleaning before milling is essential for the whiteness, purity, ash, pesticide residues, and other important indicators of flour. Wheat washing could refine wheat and remove stones with the dissolution and flushing of water, and meanwhile there are some shortcomings about the current wheat washing: fresh water consumption and pollution to the environment. For conserving fresh water and the environment, a novel water-saving cleaning technology based on rough–fine-washing separation has been proposed and investigated. In this, there are no chemical additives added in cleaning and no secondary pollution to the grain. And this can also bring us more safe food and reduced the pollution to the environment. In this paper, the principle of rough–fine-washing separation is first shown. Next, an experimental approach based on rough–fine-washing separation is developed. With the help of water-cycling system, the effective reuse for water is achieved. In order to verify the washing effect and the water-saving effect, the comparative experiments were done. The results show that the measurement values about cleaning effect are not reduced when the water consumption is only 1/3 of the traditional wheat washing. As the same time, the pollution to the environment is reduced radically with smaller water consumption, and the production cost of enterprises is significantly reduced with the decrease of water consumption.

Beschreibung: The nanocidal and antifeedant activities of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 ) against the widespread pest of wool carpets, apparel, building insulation, and other wool textiles, Tineola bisselliella (common clothes moth), were investigated using an industry-recognized bioassay test, and a feeding preference test. Wool fabric was pre-treated with citric acid/sodium hypophosphite, TiO 2 applied, and then loosely bound TiO 2 was removed by ultrasound. A statistically significant ( p  〈 0.05) increase in larval mortality was found using 1.7 % on mass of wool (omw) TiO 2 , whereas levels as low as 0.1 % omw significantly reduced feeding. TiO 2 did not show any repellence in the feeding preference test. The TiO 2 was considerably less effective than the commercial insect-resist agent Lanacare FPL (Shamrock Group Ltd) was. This study extends understanding of entomotoxic nanocides on textiles to a new insect species and to new test methods, and further illustrates their potential for protecting wool textiles from keratinophagous insects.

Beschreibung: A magnetic iron oxide nanopowder (MnP) prepared by a new combustion technique was characterized and tested as adsorbent for methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solution. The effects of pH, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration, contact time, and temperature on the amount of MB adsorbed were studied. The adsorption kinetics were described by a pseudo-second-order model, and the equilibrium experimental data were well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm, yielding a maximum adsorption capacity of 25.54 mg g −1 . The adsorption mechanism is governed by electrostatic forces and is highly dependent on the pH. The MnP adsorbent demonstrated excellent stability, showing good removal efficiency even after eight cycles of reuse, suggesting its potential large-scale application for the removal and recovery of MB from wastewater.

Beschreibung: This study improves cement–water glass two-shot grouting materials by adding fly ash and slag, making a new kind of anti-seepage grouting material for the prevention of soil contamination. The chemical corrosion mechanism and chemical resistance properties of the new grouting material were studied, and the contamination prevention performance of the anti-seepage system in complex geological environments, such as tailings ponds and heavy metal-contaminated sites, was also evaluated. The basic properties of the grouting materials, including stability and mobility, were tested. Sodium sulfate was used to corrode the grout gels after demolding, and the effects of chemical corrosion on mechanical properties were tested by unconfined compressive strength tests. The strength of the solution gels increased rather than decreased when fly ash and slag were added. The effect of chemical corrosion on grouting material composition was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The results show that CaSO 4 ·2H 2 O crystals have a higher diffraction peak under sodium sulfate corrosion than in standard curing conditions. This difference explains the reason for the increasing strength of the material. The effect of chemical corrosion on the gels’ microstructure was analyzed by SEM. Numbers of clubbed tri-sulfur calcium sulphoaluminate and diamond-shaped gypsum crystals were found.

Beschreibung: In this work, effects of various split injection strategies and dwell between injections on diesel engine combustion and emissions characteristics have been studied experimentally and numerically using Converge computational fluid dynamics tool. The electronic fuel injection unit, which is capable of injecting fuel up to four injections per cycle, was attached to the engine to achieve various split injection strategies. Results of the study showed that a significant reduction in nitrogen oxides with an acceptable change in particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and brake thermal efficiency has been achieved with 2-shot:50(−27)-50 split injection strategy with a dwell of 8 crank angle as compared to the single injection strategy. Hence, split injection technique may be considered as an alternative to exhaust gas recirculation technique. Results also showed a fall in premixed heat release peak with an increase in diffusion combustion phase, when the dwell period was increased for all split injection strategies. As a consequence, reduction in nitrogen oxides and increase in particulate matter, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide were observed with increased dwell between injections. Results of numerical study showed that contour area with higher temperature was observed to be lesser for 2-shot:50(−27)-50 split injection as compared to that for single injection, resulting in reduced nitrogen oxides.

Beschreibung: This study reports on the combination of electrokinetics remediation (EKR) and modified activated alumina permeable reactive barrier (PRB) for the remediation of fluorine-contaminated soil. Experimental results showed that fluorine could be removed more effectively from contaminated soil by EKR combined with PRB technology than the single EKR, because of PRB filled with modified activated alumina for adsorption of fluorine and lower electrical resistance in the combined remediation system. Under the conditions of the experiment, the removal efficiency of fluorine by combined remediation was 76 %, after 240 h. Meanwhile the combined remediation could also resolve the problem to some degree that fluorine contaminants accumulated in central and cathode regions by the single EKR. These indicated that EKR/PRB (modified activated alumina) was a promising technology to eliminate fluorine in contaminated soils.

Beschreibung: Biodiesel fuel (BDF) is an important alternative fuel because of the carbon neutral nature of biomass and the exhaustion of fossil fuel resources. Jatropha curcas oil (JCO) produced from J. curcas seeds contains toxic phorbol esters that can cause cancer. The behaviors of toxic phorbol esters were investigated during BDF production. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and photodiode array analyses revealed that the phorbol esters contained in JCO had a tigliane skeleton. The partition coefficients of phorbol esters between methanol (MeOH) and the oil (K MeOH/oil ) ranged from 2.4 to 20. As a result, the phorbol esters in the JCO were largely partitioned into the MeOH phase. The phorbol esters in the oil were converted stoichiometrically into phorbol and the corresponding fatty acid methyl esters via a transesterification reaction in a potassium hydroxide (KOH)/methanol (MeOH) solution. The phorbol produced predominantly partitioned into the glycerin phase. A small amount of phorbol residue contained in the BDF could be removed by washing with water. These results suggest that it is safe to use BDF produced by the aforementioned transesterification reaction and purification process. However, phorbol contamination of glycerin and wastewater from the production process should not be ignored.

Beschreibung: Huge quantities of waste cellulose fibres are being produced in textile, food and particularly paper industries. Their incineration without a costly external increase of the combustion temperature raises environmental concerns because hazardous substances may be formed due to the fact that commercially produced biomass is routinely exposed to excessive amounts of agrochemicals. Fermentation techniques are also unfavourable as the naturally low biodegradability of cellulose requires energy-intensive pretreatment, long hydraulic retention times and heating of huge volumes or costly catalysts. A technical-economic assessment was carried out in a newly developed pyrolysis apparatus that prevents production of tar and flue gases and produces exclusively solid pyrolysis residues. It was confirmed that such a solution could be economically and environmentally beneficial.

Beschreibung: Appropriate disposal of hyperaccumulator biomass is a problem inhibiting the widespread use of phytoremediation technology. In the present study, kinetic analysis of the pyrolysis process of Sedum plumbizincicola , the behaviour of heavy metals and bio-oil composition were studied. The kinetic analysis of the pyrolysis process shows that activation energy ( E ) changed from 150 to 186 kJ mol −1 and the frequency factor ( A ) changed from 1.34 × 10 11 to 8.99 × 10 15 s −1 . At temperatures of 450–750 °C more than 66.3 % of zinc (Zn) remained in the char. More than 87.6 % of the cadmium (Cd) was found in the bio-oil. Pyrolysis at 650 °C led to the highest yield of alkanes with low-oxygen compounds found in the bio-oil. Pyrolysis at 650 °C can likely offer a valuable processing method for S. plumbizincicola and recovery of Zn from the char and recovery of Cd from the bio-oil will be attempted in future research.

Beschreibung: The paper discusses development of a method for estimating disaster waste that can be potentially generated by a natural disaster in the future for pre-disaster waste management. In particular, this research focuses on micro-disaster waste originating from household consumer durables. We documented the number of household consumer durables and built a mass per unit database of major consumer durables using web-based and statistical surveys. We also estimated present and future figures of disaster waste that can be generated in the study area. The estimated total amount of disaster waste that could be generated in 2015 was 24.1 kt (18.1–29.8 kt) and 108 kt (81.8–133 kt) for Kobe City and Ise-Shima region, respectively. The total quantities of TV sets, air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines generated in Kobe and Ise-Shima will range between 10.9 and 22.8 kt (247,000–545,000 units) in 2015, and 10.7 kt to 22.8 kt (249,000–550,000 units) in 2035. The quantity estimated for 2015 is equal to 61 % of the annual processing capacity of Plant A, Japan’s leading home appliances recycling plant. Finally, we discussed the contribution of the estimation results and geographic information systems in future recycling planning.

Beschreibung: As human needs evolve, information technologies and natural environments require a wider perspective of sustainable development, especially when examining the built environment that impacts the central of social-ecological systems. The objectives of the paper are (a) to review the status and development of building information modeling (BIM) in regards to the sustainable development in the built environment, and (b) to develop a future outlook framework that promotes BIM in sustainable development. Seven areas of sustainability were classified to analyze forty-four BIM guidelines and standards. This review examines the use of BIM in sustainable development, focusing primarily on certain areas of sustainability, such as project development, design, and construction. The developed framework describes the need for collaboration with the multiple disciplines for the future adoption and use of BIM for the sustainable development. It also considers the integration between “BIM and green assessment criteria”; and “BIM and renewable energy” to address the shortcomings of the standards and guidelines.

Beschreibung: In this study, process integration methods have been used to investigate the heat integration of new processes with a model wood processing cluster. Due to anticipated future demand for bio-derived fuels and chemicals, it is important to identify which emerging conversion processes would benefit from integration with existing facilities. Identifying specific integration schemes help quantify economic and environmental benefits and can assist the commercialisation and adoption of these new processes. The synergies gained through integration are examples of industrial symbiosis, which is the sharing of resources between co-located facilities. A background/foreground analysis of the grand composite curves was used to determine any heat recovery potential between the cluster and the new entrant and the effect on the utility system. The model cluster consisted of a thermo-mechanical pulp and paper mill, kraft pulp and paper mill and saw mill. Some of the processes had little or no integration potential due to having similar pinch temperatures as the cluster. Processes based on biomass gasification had large potential due to the pinch temperatures being very different and the shape of grand composite curve being complimentary. The integration of geothermal energy for process heat was also investigated and if available has a distinct advantage of allowing surplus black liquor to be used as a feedstock to some of the new processes. Results show that high pinch temperature processes show the greatest integration potential and can provide significant fuel reduction potential.

Beschreibung: The building industry has regularly been criticized for resource exploitation, energy use, waste production, greenhouse gas emissions, and impacts on the landscape. The growing population demands more built environment to accommodate the socioeconomic wellbeing. Adopting conventional construction practices would continue the aforementioned issues. Therefore, it is important to integrate life cycle thinking into building construction to minimize its social, environmental, and economic impacts. The objective of this study is to assess the life cycle impact of commonly used wall–roof systems for low rise commercial building construction in Canada. A framework is developed to assess different building alternatives using the triple bottom line of sustainability. Identified environmental and socioeconomic impact indicators are eventually aggregated to develop a life cycle impact index. Material quantities of six wall–roof combinations for a single-storey commercial building were obtained from industrial partners. State-of-the-art life cycle assessment software is used to assess the life cycle impacts of different wall–roof systems. To accommodate decision makers’ preferences of sustainability, wall–roof combinations are assessed for three potential scenarios namely, eco-centric, neutral, and economy-centric using multi-criteria decision analysis. The framework has also been implemented on a case study of low rise building in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) to evaluate its practicality. The study results revealed that the concrete–steel building is the most sustainable alternative in neutral and economy-centric scenario while steel–wood building is the most sustainable building in eco-centric scenario.

Beschreibung: As a developing country, Malaysia’s prosperity and welfare depends heavily on having access to reliable and secure supplies of energy. As a result, the country’s future energy requirements have become a policy priority in recent years. Energy is essential for human life, and a secure and accessible supply of energy becomes important for the modern societies. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are currently the world’s primary energy sources and continue to provide energy source to the world. These energy sources have depleted in reserves in recent years and they can also cause irreparably damage to the environment such as global warming and climate change. These environmental concerns can be addressed, to some extent, through more sustainable solutions such as the use of renewable energy resources. In Malaysia, the economic and environmental impacts of fossil fuels use have become hard to ignore. The government has introduced and implemented policy measures to address concerns surrounding the use of fossil fuels and to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy use. In this paper, we review the historical evolution of Malaysian energy policies and initiatives designed to secure diverse energy sources and avoid over-reliance on fossil fuels. In recent years, Malaysia has been catching up with global call to shift to renewable energy use and is now putting a focus on renewable energy in its future energy mix. The paper also discusses challenges and concerns over the future of sustainable energy of the country.

Beschreibung: Biodiesel is an alternative to tackle global warming, especially for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions when replacing fossil fuels. However, it can compete for land with food production. Brazil is a global player on soybeans farming and most of the biodiesel produced in the country comes from it. This work proposes a new approach to evaluate its impact, associating land use change (LUC) analysis with life cycle assessment (LCA) in a representative Brazilian soybeans farming zone. LUC assessment used Landsat satellite imagery analysis from the years 1993 and 2013, and intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) guidelines to estimate GHG emissions. LCA was based on field data collection processed with SimaPro ® . Results show that the increment on annual GHG emissions per hectare, derived from the apportioning total emissions for the period studied, was 50.16 kg CO 2 eq ha −1  y −1 . From this increment, 97.1 % come from LUC, being the largest share from converting pastures to soybeans farming (81.2 % of the total emissions). However, in the area, a large share of converted pastures are degraded, acting as source of emissions, not as sink as considered by IPCC. At the same time, practices like no-tillage make soybeans a carbon sink. Therefore, results could change if alternative approaches were to be adopted, being a challenge for future work. Therefore, when considering biodiesel from soybeans, a close regard to local land use dynamics is essential to evaluate impacts. Besides, promoting more efficient use of land already cleared with the goal to avoid deforestation can turn biodiesel into a sustainable renewable energy source.

Beschreibung: Catalytic fast pyrolysis is one of the most promising and prevailing technologies for the improvement of bio-oil quality. In this contribution, catalytic fast co-pyrolysis of mushroom waste and waste oil over HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst was conducted to promote the production of aromatics using pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The effects of pyrolysis temperature and waste oil to mushroom waste mass ratio on the pyrolytic product distribution were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that with temperature increasing, the relative contents of hydrocarbons increased at first and then decreased, and 600 °C was an optimum temperature as the maximum yield of hydrocarbons could be reached. Besides, the waste oil to mushroom waste mass ratio was of great significance in the catalytic fast co-pyrolysis process, and the total relative contents of hydrocarbons increased with the increasing of waste oil to mushroom waste ratio. On the other hand, a significant synergistic effect between waste oil and mushroom waste was studied during catalytic fast co-pyrolysis, which played an effective role in promoting the production of aromatics remarkably. Catalytic fast co-pyrolysis of waste oil and mushroom waste made a significant contribution to the practical utilization of biomass pyrolysis and provided an effective and efficient way to promote the upgrading of bio-oil.

Beschreibung: Remanufacturing can reduce the energy intensity and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions significantly and increase the eco-efficiency of product systems by utilizing recovered end-of-life parts. This paper presents the GHG mitigation potential of technically feasible remanufactured alternators in Indonesian small- and medium-sized enterprizes. Life cycle assessment approach and Weibull ++8 software have been used to calculate environmental and quality parameters. Since existing remanufactured alternators have not been found to meet the technical criterion for customers’ satisfaction, a number of alternative remanufacturing strategies have been explored to identify an option that has not only reduced GHG emissions but also has satisfied reliability, durability and warranty period criterion. Three improvement scenarios involving three different remanufacturing strategies were investigated in this case study, and yielded useful insights in order to come up with a technically feasible remanufacturing strategy for reducing a significant amount of GHG emissions. The improvement scenario III, which maximizes the use of used components, was found to offer technically and environmentally feasible remanufacturing solutions. Overall, this research has found that about 7207 t of CO 2 - eq GHG emissions and 111.7 TJ embodied energy consumption could potentially be avoided if 10 % of alternators in Indonesian automobile sector are remanufactured using technically feasible remanufacturing strategy.

Beschreibung: Heavy metals in drinking water act as contaminants that can cause serious health problems. These metal ions in drinking water are generally removed using cation exchange resins that are used as adsorbents. Generally, chelating resins with limited adsorption capacity are commercially available. Manufacturing novel resin polymers with enhanced adsorption capacity of metal ion requires ample experimental efforts that are expensive as well as time consuming. To overcome these difficulties, application of computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) will be an efficient way to develop novel chelating resin polymers. In this paper, CAMD based on group contribution method (GCM) has been used to design novel resins with enhanced adsorption capability of removing heavy metal ions from water. A polymer consists of multiple monomer units that repeat in a polymer chain. Each repeat unit of the polymer can be subdivided into different structural and functional groups. The adsorption mechanism of heavy metals on resin depends on the difference between activities in adsorbents and the bulk fluid phase. The contribution of the functional groups in the adsorption process is found by estimating the activity coefficient of heavy metal in the solid phase and bulk phase using a modified version of the UNIFAC GCM. The interaction parameters of the functional groups are first determined and then they are used in a combinatorial optimization method for CAMD of novel resin polymers. In this work, designs of novel resin polymers for the removal of Cu ions from drinking water are used as a case study. The proposed new polymer resin has an order of magnitude higher adsorption capacity compared to conventional resin used for the same purpose.

Beschreibung: Microalgae-based biorefineries for the production of renewable biofuels like biodiesel, upgraded bio-oil, biochar, biogas and other high-value chemicals have received great attention in recent decades as potential major sources of energy for the future. Microalgae are a suitable species to produce biodiesel and other high energy density by-products; however, it is questionable whether a net energy gain can be realized or not considering the whole processing chain. In the present study, the energy balances of different algae-based biofuel and bioenergy production technologies are investigated in detail and compared to each other corresponding to a cradle-to-grave overall energetic analysis. The study includes cultivation, harvesting, cell pretreatments (cell disruption, drying, grinding), lipid extraction, transesterification, gasification and hydrothermal liquefaction with bio-oil stabilization and hydroprocessing. The energy consumption and energy gain are estimated for each operational step to determine the net energy ratio (NER, energy output over energy input) for the overall technologies studied. Our detailed investigation enables to detect the most energy consuming unit operation, that is, the bottleneck point(s) of the microalgae-based technologies which should be still improved in the future for the sake of more efficient algae-based biorefineries. The investigation makes also possible to evaluate and compare the different large scale alternatives for biomass transformation. Positive energy balances with a NER value of 1.109 and 1.137 are found in two already existing processes: open raceway ponds and closed photobioreactors, respectively. Our work gives also a detailed algorithm that can be followed at the evaluation of other microalgae-based biorefineries.

Beschreibung: Essential service providers face unique challenges that are specific delivering a secure and safe water and energy supply to remote communities such as islands and isolated mainland townships. Many remote communities rely on energy intensive water supply systems which are inherently costly to operate. Water demand management programmes such as retrofitting households with water-efficient devices and appliances are one way of reducing the water-energy costs in these communities. This paper presents modelling results from a comparison between business as usual and a scenario where water-efficient strategies were retrofitted in households in three remote communities in Northern Australia. The modelling demonstrated considerable savings to both the water and energy average daily consumption and associated economic costs though reduced reliance on desalination plants and bore pumping. The retrofit scenario was shown to reduce water demand by between 14 and 39 ML/y and total energy demand in off-grid communities by between 83 and 208 MWh/y. Cost reductions for delivering treated water to households ranged between around AUD$11,000 and AUD$70,000 per year, depending on uptake rates of the retrofit programme by each community. This paper forms part of Stage 1 of the Remote and Isolated Communities Essential Services (RICES) project. Stage 2 will confirm many of the assumptions underlying the modelling and build on the smart metering datasets and community engagement process currently underway in Stage 1. The overall outcome of the RICES project is to ensure that such strategies are practical to implement on a broader scale to ultimately achieve more sustainable water and energy efficient off-grid communities.

Beschreibung: The discussion on the new strategies related to the sustainable product development process has required a new perception of strategies in the design process. In this context, this paper proposes a method for integrated product development process oriented to sustainability. The method presents a logical sequence to promote the interaction between the definitions of product category, and the selection of design for environmental strategies for the product design. The proposed method consists of three steps: (i) definition of product category and phases most impacted by the strategies; (ii) definition of design for environment strategies for the product; and (iii) definition of recommendations for design. Its logical sequence promotes the interaction between the involved areas and its adoption does not depend on the integrated product development process model selected and does not generate any additional costs. Four case studies were developed to evaluate the method and the results showed that it is a comprehensive and practicable method that promotes significant reduction on resources and energy consumption in the product manufacturing processes. The method has great potential to support decision-making in the design process of a sustainable product since it guides the design towards the development of more efficient products and anticipates the visualization of critical points and the improvements that need to be addressed.

Beschreibung: The empirical relationship between electricity consumption and gross domestic product, population, the product of primary industry, second industry, and tertiary industry are investigated. The strong multicollinearity among EC ’s affecting factors does not meet the criteria of the ordinary least square regression (OLS) regression model. Principle component analysis is used to eliminate multicollinearity. Three principle components with no multicollinearity can explain 99.34 % of affecting factors’ variance. The three principle components seemed as independent, and EC seemed as dependent variables when OLS regression is employed. The results show that: gross domestic product, primary industrial production value, second industrial production value, and tertiary industrial production value codetermined the trend of electricity consumption, while the proportion of primary industrial production value, second industrial production value, and tertiary industrial production value and population codetermined the starting point and fluctuation of electricity consumption; the economic scale is the mainly affecting factors on electricity consumption; as some parts of electricity consumed by primary industry are not included in the state grid, there is an illusion that the primary industry can produce electricity.

Beschreibung: Due to increased environmental awareness and social responsibility, social and human welfare have been increasingly viewed through the prism of sustainable development. As sustainable development is a highly multi-disciplinary field of research, a considerable number of studies have been devoted to this issue. The studies show that sustainable development has become an urgent task for the international community, academia, industry experts, policy makers and the general public, due to the rapidly growing social challenges of mankind. This review article provides a short assessment of the current state-of-the art papers related to sustainable development covered in the recent publications mostly originated from previous SDEWES conferences.

Beschreibung: Seaweed supply chains in Indonesia, especially carrageenan and agar products, are subject to risks arising both inside the participating companies and in their external networks. Uncertainties in yield, quality, price, and infrastructure in one part of the supply chain can affect the whole chain. To ensure a sustainable seaweed industry, an appropriate supply chain risk management (SCRM) is needed. There are four critical steps in SCRM: identifying seaweed supply chains, identifying and categorizing risks, assessing risks, and mitigating risks. To identify seaweed supply chains, we conducted field research, in-depth interviews, and literature studies. The field survey was conducted in the Provinces of South Sulawesi, West Java, East Java, Banten, and West Nusa Tenggara. The seaweed supply chains were modeled by the software Umberto to get a better understanding of material and energy flows between the key members. To identify and categorize the risks, we started with the risks mentioned in the existing literature works, and then applied the Delphi method to analyze the potential risk sources, their causes, and their impacts. To assess risks, we used a semiquantitative approach through the face-to-face interviews to generate a risk map showing the likelihood, and impact of adverse events. Afterward, the risk intensity was categorized based on the value of the responses and classified into five categories: negligible, marginal, critical, most critical, and catastrophic risks. The mitigation strategies considered sustainability (environment, economy, and social) and risks criteria. Multi-criteria decision analysis was used to evaluate these strategies.

Beschreibung: A considerable number of studies have been performed and are ongoing for enhancing cleaner production, process Integration and also process intensification. These topics reflect some of the most important challenges of our society and have been targeted in this journal. Considerable research effort has been devoted to addressing process Integration and process intensification as well as environmentally friendlier production. This article has made an attempt to provide a short assessment of the current state-of-art covered in the recent publications.

Beschreibung: Malaysia is one of the world’s top edible oil producers, having more than 5.23 million hectares of palm oil plantations and more than 400 palm oil mills. The oil palm industry produces millions of tonnes of biomass waste during harvesting and mill processing. This paper presents an oil palm eco-industrial town (EIT) that integrates a palm oil mill with nine downstream oil palm-based industries, as well as a community. The downstream industries produce various types of products such as crude palm oil, bio-fertiliser, bio-gas, bio-diesel, bio-pellet, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), and are also involved in the paper industry, and livestock production. Through the concept of industry symbiosis, the oil palm EIT promotes energy and material sharing among the industries and the community to reduce energy consumption, virgin material consumption, and waste generation. Therefore, this concept could provide economic and environmental benefits to upstream industries (utilisation of biomass), downstream industries (conversion of biomass to valuable products), and the community (job creation). In this work, a multi-objective linear programming model is formulated to maximise economic performance, while minimising waste generation in the oil palm EIT. The applicability of the model is demonstrated using a case study in Iskandar Malaysia (IM). The optimised model suggests that the most efficient way to utilise abundant oil palm biomass is via the production of crude palm oil, MDF, bio-paper, paper, bio-gas, and bio-diesel. The model could assist decision makers to identify the sub-industries in the EIT that would promote sustainability in the oil palm industry.

Beschreibung: Wastewater generated from fresh, vegetables and meat shops contains high concentrations of nutrients, COD, BOD and TSS. Therefore, the direct discharge of wet market wastewater into natural water may increase the pollution level. Wet market wastewater is rich with nutrients necessary for microalgae growth. Therefore, it represent a superlative environment for producing high quantity of microalgae biomass which have several applications in aquaculture, human nutrition and pharmaceutical industries. Phycoremediation is a process with high potential for the treatment wastewater and removal of nutrients and heavy metals as well as the production of microalgae biomass. However, the main challenges for the phycoremediation technology lie in the wastewater composition, microalgae species, and the competition process between the microalgae strain and the indigenous organisms as well as final utilization of biomass yield. The present review discusses the dual roles of phycoremediation for nutrients and heavy metals removal and microalgae biomass production. The microbiological aspects of phycoremediation, mechanism for heavy metals removal from wastewater, as well as factors affecting wastewater treatment are reviewed. It appears that phycoremediation plays an important role in the treatment of wastewater and production of microalgae biomass.

Beschreibung: Sustainability assessment of manufacturing sector has been described by a single aggregate index for each process. A set of production processes give rise to an inequality ordering of such indices. This ordered hierarchy must be representative of the physical system otherwise it may yield misleading results. A recent paper has treated processes as vectors whose components are the manufacturing factors in a Euclidean space generated by a set of orthonormal vectors. Aggregate indices are defined by the Euclidean magnitude of the process vectors. A subsequent paper considered an enlarged space where the Euclidean space is a particular case. In this increased space, the robustness of the Euclidean indices was analyzed. The present work in this broader space focuses on the robustness of the ordered inequality. The central aim consists in determining the conditions by which the Euclidean indices belong to an invariant hierarchy in this space. The formalism was confirmed by providing consistent results when applied to real production processes.

Beschreibung: Biofuels are considered as eco-friendly fuels and can readily replace fossil fuels while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable rural development. Although Algeria is an oil producer and exporter, the development of renewable energies is a strategic goal for public authorities, which are giving new impetus to this sector to replace the fossil energy resources of which are becoming increasingly scarce. In this context, the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a second-generation biodiesel derived from Ricinus communis feedstock is undertaken. LCA is a tool that can be used effectively in evaluating various renewable energy sources for their sustainability and can help policy makers to choose the optimal energy source for specific purpose. The life cycle of Castor bean-based biodiesel production includes the stages of cultivation, oil extraction, and biodiesel production. The impact categories studied were global warming, Energy return-on-energy investment (EROEI), human health, and ecosystem. We have used the impact 2002 + evaluation method which is implemented in the SimaPro© software package. Moreover, it is the most useful method for identifying and measuring the impact of industrial products on the environment. Results show that among all the production stages, the cultivation process of Ricinus communis and the conversion of oil to biodiesel are the largest contributors to most of environmental impact categories. Life-cycle analysis revealed that the use of castor for biodiesel production could have many advantages like an energy return-on-energy investment (EROEI) of 2.60 and a positive contribution to climate-change reduction as revealed by a positive carbon balance.

Beschreibung: This study focuses on the potential of hydrogen-rich syngas production by CO 2 reforming of methane over Co/Pr 2 O 3 catalyst. The Co/Pr 2 O 3 catalyst was synthesized via wet-impregnation method and characterized for physicochemical properties by TGA, XRD, BET, H 2 -TPR, FESEM, EDX, and FTIR. The CO 2 reforming of methane over the as-synthesized catalyst was studied in a tubular stainless steel fixed-bed reactor at feed ratio ranged 0.1–1.0, temperature ranged 923–1023 K, and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 30,000 h −1 under atmospheric pressure condition. The catalyst activity studies showed that the increase in the reaction temperature from 923 to 1023 K and feed ratio from 0.1 to 1.0 resulted in a corresponding increase in the reactant’s conversion and the product’s yields. At 1023 K and feed ratio of 1.0, the activity of the Co/Pr 2 O 3 catalyst climaxed with CH 4 and CO 2 conversions of 41.49 and 42.36 %. Moreover, the catalyst activity at 1023 K and feed ratio of 1.0 resulted in the production of H 2 and CO yields of 40.7 and 40.90 %, respectively. The syngas produced was estimated to have H 2 :CO ratio of 0.995, making it suitable as chemical building blocks for the production of oxygenated fuel and other value-added chemicals. The used Co/Pr 2 O 3 catalyst which was characterized by TPO, XRD, and SEM-EDX show some evidence of carbon formation and deposition on its surface.

Beschreibung: This study assesses the environmental performance of biomass feedstocks, rice husk, wheat stalk, cotton stalk, sorghum stalk, and sugarcane bagasse, for ethanol production in India. The analysis calculates emergy indicators and demonstrates the dilemma in selection of biomass feedstocks for meeting the ethanol blending target decided by the biofuel policy of the Government of India. It considers spatial variability, and computes the production potential of each lignocellulosic feedstock considered in the study. Achieving high return on energy invested, high renewability, and large production rates simultaneously seems difficult for the considered feedstocks. Among these cellulosic feedstocks, rice husk shows highest renewability and ethanol production potential. Although sorghum stalk has a high return on investment, it has lowest renewability among the feedstocks considered in the study. Rice husk and cotton stalk should be targeted first to fulfil the blending demand of gasoline as they show highest renewability and quality corrected emergy return on investment, along with a high production potential. Emergy analysis of cellulosic biofuels can provide a holistic platform for decision makers for designing the biofuel policy and selection of feedstock in the Indian context.

Beschreibung: The demand of natural resources for Western Australia’s (WA) housing sector is increasing due to economic and population growth, which will be a challenging task for Australia to achieve its GHG reduction target. This paper has assessed possible GHG mitigation options for Western Australia’s houses, where energy-intensive clay brick walls and single-glazed windows are currently being used. A life cycle management framework has been used to determine cost-effective GHG emissions mitigation strategies. This framework integrates life cycle assessment tool, energy rating tool (AccuRate), and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis in order to ascertain environmentally and economically viable alternative building envelop for constructing a house in WA. The results show that the house made of cast in situ sandwich walls, recycled core materials and double-glazed windows, and equipped with solar energy system for electricity and water heating is the best option. This option has life cycle GHG emissions and LCC saving potentials of 7 and 20 %, respectively.

Beschreibung: Abundant wastewater discharges from palm oil industries in tropical nations being a valuable resource of biodiesel need proper exploration. Research hinted that such wastewater as economical nutrient source or substrate can support the cultivation of microalgae. In this experiment, we have tested the growth and lipid production of five different microalgal strains in palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME as a biofuel substrate is demonstrated to be lucrative for microalgae-assisted lipids production. POME is rich in macro- and micronutrients can be used as a growth medium for algal growth in order to reduce the growth medium cost and environmental pollutions. Among the five microalgal strains tested, Chlorella sorokiniana revealed optimum biomass and lipid production. The productivity was evaluated in terms of chlorophyll content, growth rate, biomass, and lipid content, which discerned to be 0.099/day, 8.0 mg/L day and 2.68 mg/mg cell dry weight (CDW). Furthermore, in this study, an optimization study was carried out to enhance the microalgae to produce high lipid content using carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and different light/dark periods. The presence of nitrogen combined glucose (with a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio 100:7) as an alternative source to carbon displayed higher lipid production of 2.68 (mg/mg CDW) by C . sorokiniana . This study confirms that 8:16 h light/dark condition at C:TN ratio of 100:7 supported to produce high lipid content of 17 mg lipid/mg CDW. The above results revealed that POME could be a suitable growth media for the alga C . sorokiniana to improve the maximum lipid yield for biofuels production.

Beschreibung: Research on the optimal design of heat exchanger networks (HENs) has primarily revolved around trading off technical design requirements for aspects of economy, such as capital cost of heat exchangers and utilities. As a result, considerations for safety, operability, and flexibility have received much less attention. This study presents a Pinch Analysis-based methodology that considers the inherent safety and operability aspects of an optimal HEN design. The procedure begins with data extraction, followed by utility targeting that gives due consideration to how each process stream impacts the inherent safety of the HEN. This is made possible via the use of a hot and cold Stream Temperature versus Enthalpy Plot (STEP) that prioritises the inherent safety index (ISI) on top of the heat capacity flow rate (CPs) during simultaneous targeting and design of the HEN. The Pinch temperatures and minimum utilities were determined using STEP. At the same time, the hot and cold stream pairs with higher ISIs and those with lower ISIs were matched together so that safety considerations could be emphasised and precautions taken with a particular heat exchanger. The disturbance propagation path through the HEN and the affected streams were also analysed. Network modification was performed using the downstream path concept in order to reduce disturbance propagation downstream of the HEN. The ∆ T min violations and energy penalties from network changes were assessed. Flexibility and structural controllability of each network option were compared. The highest percentage of change in every stream of the network indicates that network is the most flexible, while the index of structural controllability closest to 1 demonstrates that the network is most controllable. Application of this method within an illustrative case study showed that network 3 was the most flexible as it yielded the highest percentage of change at 22 %. It was also the most controllable as it had a controllability index closest to 1.0, i.e. at 0.917.

Beschreibung: Distributed renewable energy generation via micro-grid plays a strategic role in defining energy policy for mitigating the pressure of global climate changes and energy reservation. As the initial installation of the renewable generation equipment is costly, it is necessary that the government provides incentive schemes to private investors aiming at mobilizing private capital to support distributed renewable energy generation. This paper brings forward optimal subsidy to stimulate private investment and focuses more on the government’s expected policy benefit. We formulate principal–agent model in which the private investor’s preference toward renewable generation is described as asymmetric information. We analyze the optimal subsidy with the purpose of maximizing the expected policy benefit; besides, this paper reveals benefit conflicts between the policymakers and the private investors, and examines the parameters’ effect on the government’s purpose under the condition of asymmetric information. Finally, a numerical example is presented to test the effectiveness of the model. The results shed new light on the role of investor’s preference in determining the share of renewable energy generation; moreover, it has important implication for policymakers: the results suggest that radically innovative systems will get down the cost curve and may display higher long-term potentials, but in the short run, the government should eliminate asymmetric information as far as possible and improve the investors’ environment-friendly awareness.

Beschreibung: Environmental education in Malaysia is not a specific subject in the school curriculum. Rather, its general principles are dispersed across the whole of the curriculum. Consequently, teachers without adequate awareness regarding environmental issues may not make an effort to educate students on the importance of preservation and conservation of the environment, and may refrain from inculcating sustainable practices. The Iskandar Malaysia (IM) Ecolife Challenge is an initiative taken under a low-carbon policy. Its ambitions are twofold: first, to educate both students and teachers on low-carbon issues, and second, to impart the tools with which a low-carbon society may be developed in the IM region. The program took place in 2014, over a period of 1 month, with 80 primary schools participating across IM. The activities covered recycling, saving water and saving electricity, as well as the completion of a workbook designed to raise consciousness of local and global environmental concerns. A survey conducted before and after the program, with 5641 (36.1 %) of 15,623 primary sixth grade students (12 year olds) who had participated in the program, showed that their low-carbon practices had increased by 8 %, while their teachers’ awareness had increased by 5 %. The survey also showed that the total weight of recycling items collected during the period of intervention was 45,540 kg, while a total of 90,857 kWh of electricity and 767.85 m 3 of water were saved by the schools. If such an initiative was to be implemented across all 228 primary schools in the IM region, the implications are considerable: a total of 322 kt CO 2 could potentially be reduced in 1 month, which would help to achieve a low-carbon society.

Beschreibung: Wastewater treatment using microalgae is an eco-friendly process without secondary pollution. During the process, the wastewater produced is reused, which allows efficient nutrient recycling. This review provides constructive information to enable progress of competent technology for microalgae based productions in palm oil mill effluent (POME). The characteristics of POME that will be described in this paper would be a source of pollution in water if discharged directly. Since microalgae have great potential to be isolated and cultivated in POME, previous studies to improve POME based culture media are still limited. Microalgae are highly competent in diminishing CO 2 emissions and reducing the organic components in POME. In conclusion, biological treatments by using microalgae discussed in this paper and the lipid production from microalgae biomass can be used as an alternative for energy production. The POME treatment with microalgae may meet the standards or limits before being discharged into the water body.

Beschreibung: Although the costs of desalination have declined, traditional desalination systems still need large amounts of energy. Recent advances in direct contact membrane distillation can take advantage of low-quality renewable heat to desalinate brackish water, seawater, or wastewater. In this work, the performance of a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system driven by salt-gradient solar ponds was investigated. A mathematical model that couples both systems was constructed and validated with experimental data available in the scientific literature. Using the validated model, the performance of this coupled system in different geographical locations and under different operational conditions was studied. Our results show that even when this coupled system can be used to meet the future needs of energy and water use in a sustainable way, it is suitable for locations between 40°N and 40°S that are near the ocean as these zones have enough solar radiation, and availability of excess water and salts to operate the coupled system. The maximum freshwater flow rates that can be obtained are on the order of 3.0 L d −1 per m 2 of solar pond (12.1 m 3  d −1  acre −1 ), but the expected freshwater production values are more likely to be on the order of 2.5 L d −1 per m 2 of solar pond (10.1 m 3  d −1  acre −1 ) when the system operates with imperfections. The coupled system has a thermal energy consumption of 880 ± 60 kWh per m 3 of distillate, which is in the range of other membrane distillation systems. Different operational conditions were evaluated. The most important operating parameters that influence the freshwater production rates are the partial pressure of air entrapped in the membrane pores and the overall thermal efficiency of the coupled system. This work provides a guide for geographical zone selection and operation of a membrane distillation production system driven by solar ponds that can help mitigate the stress on the water-energy nexus.

Beschreibung: Pinch analysis concept has been recently stepped into the realm of design and optimisation of power systems. One well-established pinch analysis that has been used in power systems design and optimisation is called Power Pinch Analysis (PoPA). In PoPA, both graphical and numerical approaches have provided an insight on the systematic approach to target and design various power systems. By only visualising the minimum amount of outsource energy required by the power system, the graphical PoPA method as a whole does not show the purchasing of outsource energy based on the exact time intervals. Using graphical PoPA, the objective of this study is to determine a proper strategy to buy and sell outsource electricity to improve the overall performance of a hybrid power system comprising renewable power generators and energy storage system. The strategies are made based on three design parameters: energy-related capacity, power-related capacity of energy storage and maximum grid power rating between centralised grid and hybrid power system. While deciding on the best strategy and heuristics to be implemented, the effects on system operation and economy are indirectly analysed. It is experimented that the output can benefit electricity consumers or producers.

Beschreibung: An optimization of coagulation and flocculation of kaolin suspension by a newly synthesized quaternized oil palm empty fruit bunch cellulose denoted as a 9QC was investigated using the central composite design of the response surface methodology. The influences of coag-flocculant dosage, pH, and kaolin suspension on turbidity removal efficiency and sludge volume index responses were studied and assessed according to a 2 3 full factorial design. The developed quadratic models revealed that the overall optimum values to obtain the highest performance of the responses were 62.5 mg/L of coag-flocculant dosage, pH 7, and 1400 mg/L of kaolin concentration. The predicted optimum responses were found to be in close proximity to the observed responses. The coag-flocculating of river water using 9QC carried out at the optimum values showed encouraging results as compared to alum which is commonly used in drinking water treatment process.

Beschreibung: Manganese (IV) oxide (MnO 2 ) nano-sheets were synthesized using tetramethylamine, H 2 O 2 , and MnCl 2 ·4H 2 O and used in suspension for removal of methylene blue (MB). Up to 95 % removal was achieved for MB concentrations less than 500 mg/L. The adsorption data fitted better with the Freundlich isotherm model than the Langmuir model, indicating a heterogeneous adsorption of MB on MnO 2 nano-sheets. The maximum adsorption capacity of MnO 2 nano-sheets was approximately 4300 mg/g, which is the highest yet reported. Suspensions of MnO 2 nano-sheets aggregated as precipitates after adsorption of MB. Using a suite of analyses, including X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the high adsorption capacity was mainly attributed to ion exchange, coordination, and a fishing-net effect. The term, ‘fishing-net effect,’ is proposed here for the first time, to explain the extremely high adsorption capacity of nano-sheets, which increased with increasing ionic strength and sorbate concentration. Our results demonstrate that dispersive MnO 2 nano-sheets have a potential application in adsorption of organics from strongly basic solutions with high salinity.

Beschreibung: The social aspect is very important in sustainability assessment of waste treatment technique, as well as making decision on their application and planning. In recent years, it is becoming evident that a waste treatment technique, which ignores social aspects, is doomed to failure. The most commonly used social indicators are: number of jobs created, level of social acceptance, public knowledge, public health etc. The most of them are qualitative and measuring the sustainability and quantifying the social dimension of sustainability are difficult tasks. This paper presents the application of fuzzy logic for evaluating the social indicator—level of social acceptance. The fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic were used to develop a model for the evaluation of level of social acceptance, due to the lack of data, uncertainties, and qualitative character of indicators and also to provide effective way to include knowledge and gained experience on the process. A questionnaire was applied as instrument for data collection. The fuzzy model was verified using the city of Niš as a case study. The results obtained using the developed fuzzy model, shows that the highest level of social acceptance in the city of Niš is for recycling (57.47 %) and the lowest level of social acceptance is for incineration (17.74 %). The presented study suggests an innovative methodology for evaluation of level of social acceptance of certain waste treatment based on fuzzy logic approach and can be used for ranking of waste management scenarios in the sustainability assessment.

Beschreibung: Investigating laminar separation over the turbine blade of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) has been considered an important task to improve the aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine. To better understand the laminar separation phenomena, in this study, the aerodynamic forces of a SD8000 airfoil (representing the sectional blade shape) in the steady-state conditions were first predicted using an incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solver with the γ – Re θt and k – k L – ω transition models. By comparing simulation and experimental results, the k – k L – ω transition model was chosen to simulate the laminar separation on three-dimensional (3D) turbine blade. Experimentally, a HAWT with three blades was then tested in a close-circuit wind tunnel between the tip speed ratios (TSRs) of 2 and 7 at the wind speed of 10 m/s. In addition, through computational fluid dynamics, the turbine performance and flow characteristics on the blade as blade is rotating were investigated. It is shown that 3D simulations agreed well with the experimental results with regard to the mechanical power of the HAWT at the testing TSRs. Moreover, the separation and reattachment lines on the suction surface of the turbine blade were also observed through the skin friction line, indicating that laminar separation moved toward the trailing edge with the increasing TSR at the blade tip region.

Beschreibung: The relationship between microbe populations that are active on engineered-product surfaces and their relationship to surface corrosion or human health is increasingly being recognized by the materials engineering community as a critically important study-direction. Microbial contamination from biofilms and germ colonies leads to costs that are reported to be extremely high every year in infection control, epidemics, corrosion loss and energy/infrastructure materials loss throughout the world. Nanostructured surfaces, particularly those that are hard-surface nanoporous (pore radii between 2 and 1000 nm), are an emerging class of surfaces that have recently been recognized as important for the prevention of microbial colony growth and biofilm formation. Such nanostructured/nanoporous surfaces, whether made with deposited nanoparticles (welded nanoparticles), or formed by ion-assisted growth on a surface have been found to display biocidal activity with varying efficacy that depends on both the microbe and the nanosurface features. The rate of mortality from common pathogens that are resident in ubiquitous bio-films when attached to common engineering surfaces made of steels, titanium and zirconium appears to be increasing. In this short review, we look at methods of manufacture of durable (i.e., highly scratch resistant) nanostructuring on commonly used engineering surfaces. The microstructures, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy and other types of characterization of a few such surfaces are presented. Simple tests are required by the surface engineering community for understanding the efficacy of a surface for antimicrobial action. These are reviewed. The surface drying rate and the dynamics of the droplet spread have been proposed in the literature as quick methods that correlate well with the residual antimicrobial activity efficacy even after some surface abrasion of the nanostructured surface. A categorization of a surface against short-term antimicrobial action and long-term action is proposed in this review article. Test periods that span time-frames greater than 5 years have demonstrated a high efficacy of the nanoporous nanostructures for preventing bio-film formation. New comparative results for diamond- and graphite-containing surfaces are presented. A brief discussion on a recently developed plasma application technique for creating durable nanoporous surfaces is presented. Although considerable information is now available regarding tunable surface nanofeatures for antimicroabial efficacy, there is a need for more research activity, particularly directed toward the low cost manufacture and rapid characterization of durable (wear and chemical resistant) surfaces that display permanent antimicrobial behavior.

Beschreibung: The concept of clean technology was applied in the traditional process of using Eucalyptus globulus bark as fuel in the pulp and paper industry. The bark was investigated for its potential as a source of antioxidants by the solid–liquid extraction process before being used as fuel source. An experiment was set up to determine its antioxidant capacity and heating value. Volatile components of the extracts were also identified and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The experimental results suggested that ethanol extraction solution at a ratio of 1:20 yielded the highest content of phenolic compounds (674.19 mg of gallic acid/l) and antioxidant capacity (30.53 ± 1.76 mg/l). We also examined and compared the fuel properties of extracted and unextracted bark, and it was found that the fuel properties of extracted and unextracted bark showed no significant difference. These findings suggested that the bark can be put to a better use by extracting the compounds before being ultimately used as fuel source in the traditional process. This might lead to an alternative process for the pulp and paper industry in which the standard process is maintained to obtain the desired products, with the additional extraction process to obtain high-value compounds.

Beschreibung: Physiochemical properties of biodiesel, a sustainable and green alternative fuel produced from renewable resources, are greatly influenced by the structural features of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids. Two feedstock oils, potentially contribution to cleaner technologies, refined cooking oil and waste cooking oil derived from palm olein have been studied. Fatty acid compositions of the refined cooking oil and waste cooking oil were analysed and confronted with other literature sources. Critical parameters such as cetane number (CN), iodine value, cold filter plugging point (CFPP) and oxidation stability (OS) were correlated with long-chain saturated factor and degree of unsaturation (DU) of fatty acid to match the international standards of cleaner biodiesel. OS in biodiesel has been met with the absence of linolenic acid. High saturated fatty acid provides high CN. The iodine value of feedstock oil met the European standard where the DU of the oils was less than 138. However, CFPP of refined cooking oil and waste cooking oil did not meet the demanding Spanish regional (RD 61/2006) standard due to the presence of stearic and palmitic acid, which tended to clog the fuel filter by precipitating while the biodiesel becomes cool. With the proposed triangular chart for biodiesel properties prediction, potential biodiesel fuels from various feedstock oils can be analysed.

Beschreibung: In the present context of the globalized market, sustainable manufacturing has become a major concern for all organizations. The sustainable manufacturing system includes economic, environmental, and social sustainabilities. Green manufacturing enhances the environmental sustainability but, it also affects the economic and social sustainabilities. The compulsion to follow the environmental rules and regulation in any business activity has increased the awareness for the use of green products, recyclable materials for packaging, reduction of carbon emission, etc. Due to the involvement of extra costs in green manufacturing, some ignorance in the implementation of green practices may be observed. To ensure sustainable systems, selection of suppliers based on green performance measures is very important. This study evaluates the suppliers’ performances based on Green Practices as follows: environmental management and pollution control, cost, quality, and flexibility using the fuzzy-extended Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality approach. This approach helps the managers to incorporate the linguistic decision of the decision makers and convert it into quantitative scale. This method is used to eliminate and outrank the poor performers. As poor performers are outranked, this approach helps to select the most suitable green suppliers as per organization’s requirement.