Cleaner Production Technologies Research Articles

AN EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF EPA RESEARCH IN THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION IN IRELAND

AN EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF EPA RESEARCH IN THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION IN IRELAND

Degradation of C.I. Acid Red 88 aqueous solution by combination of Fenton's reagent and ultrasound irradiation

AbstractBACKGROUND: Pollution caused by industrial wastewater has become a common problem for many countries. In particular, dye pollutions from industrial effluents disturb human health and ecological equilibrium. The discharge of highly colored synthetic dye effluents is aesthetically displeasing and can damage the receiving water body by impeding penetration of light. Azo dyes can be reduced to more hazardous intermediates on anaerobic conditions. Therefore, an effective and economic treatment of effluents containing a diversity of textile dyes has become a necessity for clean production technology for textile industries. Herein we wish to report the degradation of Acid Red 88 by the combination of Fenton's reagent and ultrasound irradiation.RESULTS: The results show that the combination of ultrasonic irradiation and Fenton's reagent is effective for the degradation of Acid Red 88 aqueous solution. Furthermore, it can achieve better results than either Fenton's reagent or ultrasound alone. The optimum conditions for the degradation of Acid Red 88 aqueous solution were 1.96 mmol L−1 H2O2, 0.108 mmol L−1 Fe2+, pH 3.0, and ultrasonic irradiation frequency of 40 kHz. A degradation efficiency of 98.6% was achieved within 135 min.CONCLUSION: We have provided an efficient and convenient procedure for the degradation of Acid Red 88 aqueous solution. In the present procedure, the azo linkage of Acid Red 88 is broken and some carbonyl compounds are formed, but the complete mineralization of dye cannot be achieved. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry

Integration of direct contact membrane distillation and recirculating cooling water system for pure water production

A novel cleaner production technology (CPT) using waste heat for pure water production was established by integration of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) and traditional recirculating cooling water (RCW) process. The effect of temperature difference and flow rate of fluid between the hot and cold sides in a membrane module on the membrane flux was investigated. The results of the study show that the membrane flux increases with an increase in the flow rate in both hot and cold sides and also increases linearly with the increase in fluid temperature difference between the hot and cold sides of the membrane module. Waste heat was utilized for pure water production, which will reduce the pure water production cost. The employment of DCMD in the RCW process may also reduce the amount of scale and corrosion inhibition additives needed in the CPT, the makeup water and blowdown quantity.

Towards single-microorganism detection using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The identification and discrimination of microorganisms is important not only for clinical reasons but also for pharmaceutical clean room production and food-processing technology. Vibrational spectroscopy such as IR, Raman, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) can provide a rapid ‘fingerprint’ on the chemical structure of molecules and is used to obtain a ‘fingerprint’ from microorganisms as well. Because of the requirement that a single bacterium cell and noble metal nanoparticles must be in close contact and the lack of a significant physical support to hold nanoparticles around the single bacterium cell, the acquisition of SERS spectra for a single bacterium using colloidal nanoparticles could be a challenging task. The feasibility of SERS for identification down to a single bacterium is investigated. A Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, is chosen as a model for the investigation. Because the adsorption of silver nanoparticles onto the bacterial cell is an exclusive way for locating nanoparticles close to the bacterium cell, the absorption characteristics of silver nanoparticles with different surface charges are investigated. It is demonstrated that the citrate-reduced colloidal silver solution generates more reproducible SERS spectra. It is found that E. coli cells aggregate upon mixing with silver colloidal solution, and this may provide an additional benefit in locating the bacterial cell under a light microscope. It is also found that a laser wavelength in the UV region could be a better choice for the study due to the shallow penetration depth. It is finally shown that it is possible to obtain SERS spectra from a single cell down to a few bacterial cells, depending on the aggregation properties of bacterial cells for identification and discrimination.

Integrated water resource management through water reuse network design for clean production technology: State of the art

This article considers new and existing technologies for water reuse networks for water and wastewater minimization. For the systematic design of water reuse networks, the theory of the water pinch methodology and the mathematical optimization are described, which are proved to be effective in identifying water reuse opportunities. As alternative solutions, evolutionary solutions and stochastic design approaches to water system design are also illustrated. And the project work flow and an example in a real plant are examined. Finally, as development is in the forefront in process industries, this paper will also explore some research challenges encountered in this field such as simultaneous water and energy minimization, energy-pinch design, and eco-industrial parks (EIP).

Cleaner production technologies for the palm oil industry

AbstractThis paper discusses some potential cleaner production technologies for the palm oil industry. These include supercritical fluid extraction, short path distillation and membrane separation. Over the last two decades, palm oil and minor components especially phytonutrients such as carotenoids, tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols), sterols, squalene and phospholipids have received much attention for their nutritional properties. The recovery of these phytonutrients is a challenging task because (i) some of them (e. g. carotenoids and vitamin E) are sensitive to heat, light and air; (ii) they are of different polarity, from non‐polar (e. g. squalene) to relatively polar (e. g. phospholipids) and (iii) they are of differing molecular weights. Suitable technologies are needed to recover all these phytonutrients without damage. The paper discusses the latest development of these technologies.

Principle Guided Investing: The Use of Exclusionary Screens and Its Implications for Green Investors

Summary This paper examines how “green” investors can induce firms to invest in clean production technology. The 1-period model incorporates heterogeneous agents — Markowitz investors and green investors — and two groups of firms working either with clean or polluting technology. Since green investors apply exclusionary environmental screens, some firms will invest in abatement technology in order to switch to a clean technology and thereby raising firm value. The number of firms working with clean technology will be larger, the higher the proportion of green investors, the lower costs of abatement technology, the higher diversification benefits of stocks of clean firms and if positive spill-overs for clean firms exist.

Application of cleaner production technology in chemical industry: a near zero emission

The main objective of this study is to investigate and evaluate opportunities for implementation of pollution prevention and waste minimization in a chemical industrial company producing poly sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde which is used as a super plasticizer for concrete. Environmental problems encountered were mainly the highly polluted wastewater and a semi-solid cake containing considerable amount of the final product. Possible modules for remedial measures and their cost estimation were investigated. The proposed remedial modules included recycling of retained water discharge in filter press, recycling of washing water of reaction vessels (reactors), closed circuit cooling system for high-pressure pump, good housekeeping through control of leakage of raw material, products and water and finally utilization of retained residual product from the solid waste. The implemented pollution control measures proved to be cost effective and have short payback periods. Also, minimization of the hydraulic and organic loads in the final effluent was achieved.

End‐of‐pipe or cleaner production? An empirical comparison of environmental innovation decisions across OECD countries

AbstractWhile both fundamental types of abatement measure mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of production, cleaner production technologies are frequently more advantageous than end‐of‐pipe technologies for environmental and economic reasons. This paper analyzes a variety of factors that might enhance firms' propensity to implement cleaner production technologies instead of end‐of‐pipe technologies. On the basis of a unique facility‐level data set derived from a recent OECD survey, we find a clear dominance of cleaner production in seven OECD countries: 76.8% of the facilities report that they invest predominantly in cleaner production technologies, above all in new production processes, but not so much in new products. Based on a discrete choice model, our estimation results indicate that regulatory measures and the stringency of environmental policies are more important for end‐of‐pipe technologies, while cost savings, general management systems and specific environmental management tools tend to favor clean production. We conclude that improvements towards cleaner production may be reached by the continuous development and wider diffusion of these management tools. Improvements may also be stimulated by widening the cost gap between the two types of technology, for instance by additionally charging for waste and energy use. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

An environmental assessment method for cleaner production technologies

An environmental assessment method for cleaner production technologies enabling quantitative analysis of environmental impact is presented. The proposed method is based on material and energy flows and uses a set of profile indices, including raw material, energy, waste, product and packaging profiles that describe all material and energy flows related to the technology under investigation. The indices are used as a basis for determining an integrated index for overall environmental assessment of cleaner production technologies. The presented method can be employed to evaluate environmental nuisance of implemented, modernised and modified technological processes and products as well to perform comparative analyses of alternative technologies.

Promoting active learning in sustainable development: experiences from a 4th year chemical engineering course

Engineering educators in South Africa have to introduce students to a particularly complex set of issues in sustainable development, which can only be achieved through engaged, active learning. In 2003 the Chemical Engineering Programme at the University of Cape Town introduced a mandatory 4th year course on Business, Society and Environment. The course bears a credit rating equivalent to 200 learning hours. The coverage of topics and the set of intended learning outcomes is ambitious, spanning concepts of societal and financial benefits, engineering economic analysis, entrepreneurship, physical risk in terms of health, safety and environment, stakeholder involvement, clean production and clean technology, and engineering ethics. Student success rates have been high in the first two years (100 and 93%), but some concern remains as to the actual learning outcomes, particularly in relation to the depth of learning, and the ability of non-first language speakers of English to fully engage with the course material.

Assessment of industrial solid waste management and resource recovery practices in Tanzania

A study on industrial solid waste management (ISWM) and resource recovery practices was carried out in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. Practices pertaining to generation, storage, collection and transportation, processing, and final disposal were investigated. The ISW was also quantified and characterised. It is observed that 89% of sources of ISW produce process solid waste only while the remaining 11% produce a mixture of process and non-process ISW. ISW is stored in open-air piles, bins, masonry enclosures, and silos. Collection of ISW is done by the source industries (60%) and private contractors (40%). The total ISW generation rate is 39,000 tonnes/yr and of this 91.7% comes from food and beverage industries. Although formal cleaner production technologies (CPTs) are practiced by only a handful of industries, many industries practice both intra- and inter-industry reuse and recycling. The commonest reusable and recyclable materials are glass cullets (60.7%) and spent grain and yeast (21.6%). Notably, all glass cullets are recycled. The most problematic stage of ISWM is disposal, which is not done in a sanitary manner. Also, the fact that the hazardous component of ISW is not segregated for proper and separate handling is a potential cause of health and environmental problems. Notable observations in this study are: (1) cleaner production is practiced much more extensively than reported and (2) resource recovery has a considerable potential of improving ISWM, especially in developing countries since most of the ISW components are reusable or recyclable.

Membrane Separation of Stable Gas Condensates

Essentially new, environmentally clean technology for production of motor fuels from stable gas condensate using membranes that separate the feedstock on the molecular level is examined.

Thermodynamic analyses on technical framework of clean production

Clean production is studied from thermodynamic perspectives. Based on comparative analyses of industrial processes and thermodynamic systems, mechanisms of clean production are thermodynamically revealed and a guiding theoretical framework for clean production is correspondingly proposed. The framework not only provides a theoretical foundation for clean production technologies, but also offers a possible quantitative way for the operation and assessment of clean production.

Toward cleaner production of hydrogen peroxide in China

Industrial production of hydrogen peroxide by anthraquinone (AO) process in China was briefly introduced. The pathways for cleaner production of hydrogen peroxide were discussed in detail from the viewpoint of process development and design, these included the replacement of Raney-Ni catalyst by highly active and highly selective Pd/Al 2O 3 catalyst, the reduction of raw materials, steam and power consumption, the usage of high boiling point, low water-soluble and low toxic solvents, the regeneration of degradations, the proper treatment of waste gas, water and solids. Because of these innovations and improvements, the AO process with Pd/Al 2O 3 catalyst for producing hydrogen peroxide was certified as a cleaner production technology by the Chinese government.

Principle Guided Investing: The Use of Negative Screens and its Implications for Green Investors

In recent years Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) has received considerable attention from both private investors as well as pension funds. Despite this proliferation in interest, several topics are still unresolved, namely selection methods, performance and effects regarding sustainability. This paper examines how green investors can induce firms to invest in cleaner production technology by using exclusionary investment screens. SRI is more likely to be successful when abatement costs are low and if principle guided investors are numerous and have homogenous investment principles. The transformation process becomes more probable when shares of clean firms are viewed as a separate asset class by all investors. Green investors have to accept lower returns from shares of clean firms, even in the case of positive externalities.

Micro-Raman spectroscopic identification of bacterial cells of the genus Staphylococcus and dependence on their cultivation conditions

Microbial contamination is not only a medical problem, but also plays a large role in pharmaceutical clean room production and food processing technology. Therefore many techniques were developed to achieve differentiation and identification of microorganisms. Among these methods vibrational spectroscopic techniques (IR, Raman and SERS) are useful tools because of their rapidity and sensitivity. Recently we have shown that micro-Raman spectroscopy in combination with a support vector machine is an extremely capable approach for a fast and reliable, non-destructive online identification of single bacteria belonging to different genera. In order to simulate different environmental conditions we analyzed in this contribution different Staphylococcus strains with varying cultivation conditions in order to evaluate our method with a reliable dataset. First, micro-Raman spectra of the bulk material and single bacterial cells that were grown under the same conditions were recorded and used separately for a distinct chemotaxonomic classification of the strains. Furthermore Raman spectra were recorded from single bacterial cells that were cultured under various conditions to study the influence of cultivation on the discrimination ability. This dataset was analyzed both with a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and a support vector machine (SVM).

Transferring cleaner production technology to industries in Changzhou and Nantong, China

By relying on cleaner production (CP), companies can simultaneously cut pollution and increase the efficiency of resource use. Governments at all levels in China have invested substantial resources to encourage companies to adopt CP. We investigate what these government efforts have accomplished by examining fourteen case-study companies' responses to CP requirements of city-level government CP programmes in Changzhou and Nantong. Types of company responses can be divided into four categories: complete CP audit adopter, one-time CP audit adopter for assessing an existing technology renovation plan or addressing known pollution violation, pro forma CP audit adopter, and CP audit report producer. Based on our case-study data, the following variables appear to be correlated with companies that are complete CP adopters: leadership commitment to CP; a strong monitoring and management system; an internal system for generating innovations and improvements; and, a high degree of integration of multiple functions such production, R&D, and environmental protection.

End-of-Pipe or Cleaner Production? An Empirical Comparison of Environmental Innovation Decisions Across OECD Countries

While both fundamental types of abatement measures mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of production, cleaner production technologies are frequently more advantageous than end-of-pipe technologies for environmental and economic reasons. This paper analyzes a variety of factors that might enhance firms' propensity to implement cleaner products and production technologies instead of end-of-pipe technologies. On the basis of a unique facility-level data set derived from a recent OECD survey, we find a clear dominance of cleaner production in seven OECD countries: Surprisingly, 76.8% of the facilities report that they invest predominantly in cleaner production technologies. With regard to environmental product innovations, the large majority of facilities reports that the measures they have undertaken to reduce environmental impacts were geared at production processes and not so much at products. Our estimation results are based on multinomial logit models which indicate that regulatory measures and the stringency of environmental policies are positively correlated with end-of-pipe technologies, while cost savings, general management systems, and specific environmental management tools tend to favor clean production. We conclude that improvements towards cleaner products and production may be reached by the continuous development and wider diffusion of these management tools. Improvements may also be stimulated by widening the cost gap between the two types of technologies, for instance, by additionally charging for waste and energy use.

A diagnostic model for green productivity assessment of manufacturing processes

Goal, Scope and Background Green Productivity (GP) is a new paradigm in sustainable manufacturing where resource conservation and waste minimization constitute the strategy in simultaneously enhancing environmental performance and productivity. This productivity approach to the sustainability of industries requires the adoption of clean production technology and the development of appropriate indicators and instruments to measure environmental performance in a continuous improvement strategy that focuses on the manufacturing stage of the product life cycle. The analysis may be expanded to include the entire life cycle with increasing details on impacts, improvement strategies and indicators.