High Environmental Impact Research Articles

Review of aspects of processing and use of waste cooking oils as effective lubricants

In connection with environmental pollution and the depletion of oil reserves, biologically based lubricants have received great interest as a replacement for mineral oil-based lubricants. Biolubricants have a number of advantages over mineral lubricants, including high biodegradability, low toxicity, lubricating properties and minimal environmental impact. The presented review describes the main characteristics and properties of biological lubricants, various vegetable oils, which are used as raw materials for the production of biolubricant materials. The physicochemical properties of biological lubricants were analyzed from the point of view of improvement. The technological processes used for the chemical modification of vegetable oils, ensuring the lubricity and anti-wear properties of the obtained biolubricants are determined. Various additives used to improve the properties of biolubricants are also recommended. This review material will provide researchers and practitioners with additional information on the practice of using biolubricants.

The present and proposed sustainable food waste treatment technology in Indonesia: A review

Domestic waste is dominated by food waste (FW) in Indonesia. Indonesia has committed to advancing FW management based on The National Strategy Policy Guidelines (Presidential Regulation 97/2017), aiming for a 30% reduction and 70% waste handling by 2025. However, the current FW regulations and treatments are insufficient to reach these targets. This paper aims to quantify the potential FW generation and provide integrated government regulation and technical recommendations on the current technology to enhance the applicability of FW treatment in Indonesia. The proposed treatment technology is discussed within the context of technical, economic, and environmental concerns. The current practical FW treatments include composting and landfill, with landfill having the highest environmental impact. Black soldier flies and thermal treatments are new technologies considered promising by Indonesia’s Waste to Energy regulations. However, FW treatment technical considerations are expected to developing on different scales. Therefore, the environmental impact of current treatments must be considered. It is crucial to analyze specific FW treatment recommendations in terms of product and residuals to improve environmental impact assessment quality.

Sustainability in anaesthesia and intensive care - an obligation to turn danger into opportunity.

Sustainability in anaesthesia and intensive care - an obligation to turn danger into opportunity.

A new method to assess sustainability of agricultural systems by integrating ecosystem services and environmental impacts

Agricultural stakeholders disagree on how to put the general concept of sustainability into practice. But most recognize the need for assessment methods to characterize the current situation and gauge progress yet to be made. Many sustainability assessment methods for agricultural systems have been published, but very few integrate ecosystem services (ES). And yet, ES indicators are key to better integrating biological processes to support the agroecological transition. Although researchers have attempted to link the concept of environmental impact (EI) and ES through life cycle analysis (LCA), gaps remain when it comes to doing so within a sustainability assessment method. Here a new method based on an original conceptual indicator framework embedding new predictive indicators of EI and ES indicators was developed. This framework covers 22 environmental themes and integrates few basic economic and social indicators. The method was implemented on 33 farms with different certifications and production specifications. All farms were members of an agricultural cooperative in north-eastern France. We selected 250 plots to cover the farms’ crop rotations. The correlation analysis showed no systemic trade-off between EI or ES and economic indicators. Meanwhile, the joint assessment of ES and EI (like the multivariate analysis), delivered more nuanced results than a classical opposition between intensive and organic farming. Some farms with a moderate or even good level of ES often do not leverage them, as shown by their high EI. The principle component analysis and subsequent hierarchical ascendant classification allowed us to distinguish five clusters providing a more complex picture than simply opposing conventional and organic agriculture. Finally, the positive deviance analysis revealed that economic, environmental and social considerations can be balanced in a way that seems to be more sustainable than, for example, an organic farm that has very successfully reduced EI but at a cost of several economic and social trade-offs.

Review on Applications of Ionic Liquids (ILs) for Bitumen Recovery: Mechanisms, Challenges, and Perspectives

Water- and solvent-based ex situ extraction processes have been employed to extract bitumen from mineable oil sands. On the other hand, bitumen is recovered in situ from deeper deposits most efficiently by injecting steam to reduce viscosity and increasing production flow to the surface. However, the water-based process with or without solvent (including steam injection) is not sustainable due to various challenges including water requirement and treatment, high energy consumption, and related environmental pollution problems emanating from high volatility of solvents. Ionic liquids (ILs) have become desirable in several industrial applications due to many unique properties including low volatility compared with traditional organic solvents. The potential for application of ILs for bitumen extraction is reviewed in this work, with a focus on the mechanistic aspect. Depending on the properties and/or functionality, the ILs can be used in bitumen extraction (with or without organic solvents) with minimal clay fines contamination and lower water and energy requirements. In the solvent-assisted IL recovery system, the IL–clay interaction is responsible for reducing the adhesive force between bitumen and the sand, which subsequently facilitates separation. Conversely, considering the types of ILs explored in the absence of solvent, the IL–bitumen interaction plays an additional role. Hitherto, applications of ILs in bitumen recovery are at a very preliminary stage. Apart from understanding the mechanisms, the major impediment lies in the high cost and environmental impact due to toxicity. Therefore, to make ILs more attractive for bitumen recovery, concerted efforts should be intensified to reduce the cost of producing ILs, ameliorate environmental impacts, and facilitate field scale applications through technoeconomic analysis of the process.

#6825 ECOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR KIDNEY REPLACEMENT THERAPY IN CRITICAL CARE: SLED MAY BE A STRATEGY

Abstract Background and Aims Dialysis has an enormous environmental impact, not only for disposable consumables, but also for the water and energy consumption. Despite increasingly evidence regarding comparable outcomes between continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT) and slow low efficiency dialysis (SLED), ecological-based endpoints are not frequently evaluated. Literature in critical care concerning the environmental impact of these techniques is scarce. We aimed to determine the waste production, water and energy consumption in SLED and CKRT and identify the technique with higher environmental impact. Method We conducted a cross-sectional, observational, single-center study in patients with acute kidney injury requiring kidney replacement therapy admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). We analyzed the waste weight of each dialysis technique (Fresenius Medical Care 5008 for SLED and Baxter Prismaflex for CKRT) before and after the treatment. We estimated the water consumption of a SLED session with a Qd of 300 ml/min for 8 hours and 12 hours sessions, considering a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system with a 50% rate water rejection and a CKRT session for an 80Kg patient, with a Qd of 1300 mL/h and a reposition solution flow of 500 mL/h. Both techniques included a disinfection volume of 14 L. Results A SLED session produced 1600 g of waste (1200 g was hazardous and 400 g was non-hazardous waste). A CKRT session produced 2700 g of waste, not considering the substitution solution volume, which can vary up to a maximum of 15000 g/treatment. Waste consumables for each technique are discriminated in Table 1. The unpurified water consume of 8-hours and 12-hours SLED treatment was 237 L and 345 L, respectively. For CKRT, we estimated a consume of 43.2 L a day and 129.6 L for a 72-hour treatment. SLED had an energy consumption of 5.71 kW and 8.43 kW, for 8-hours and 12 hours treatment, respectively. The CKRT consumed about 12 to 14.4 kW per day. Conclusion Our study highlights the quantity of waste produced, water and power consumption of dialysis techniques in the critical patient. CKRT produces more hazardous waste, that generates a larger carbon footprint. Hazardous waste cannot be recyclable and implies specific management and disposal, which is more expensive and laborious than non-hazardous. CKRT has also a higher power consumption due to treatment duration and technology used to generate electricity. SLED has higher water consumption, nevertheless, current strategies used in hemodialysis units could also be implemented in UCI to minimize this effect. For example, the rejected water can be reused to agriculture and toilet flushing; more efficient water purification system with a lower proportion of rejected water can also reduce water consumption. SLED has unequivocal clinical benefits in the critical patient and, from an ecological perspective, seems to be a more sustainable option.

Impact of Bacillus species on Fe reduction of kaolin in bioleaching: surface, structural, and chemical studies.

Conventional techniques to remove Fe impurities in kaolin typically involve high environmental impact and cost. Alternative methods have been focused on the use of bioleaching where Fe in kaolin is reduced with microorganisms. Early results established a noticeable effect of the bacteria on the redox state of Fe, but knowledge gaps persist such as details on the bacterial-kaolin interactions during attachment of bacteria onto kaolin surface, the metabolites produced by bacteria, and changes in Fe(II)/Fe(III) ion equilibria in solution. To bridge these gaps, this study was conducted to determine the detailed physicochemical changes in bacteria and kaolin during bioleaching through surface, structural, and chemical analysis. Bioleaching experiments were conducted for 10days where each of the three Bacillus sp. was put in contact (at 9 × 108CFU) with 20g of kaolin powder using 200mL of 10g/L glucose solution. All samples treated with bacteria showed increasing trends in Fe(III) reduction up until day 6 or 8 followed by a slight decrease towards the end of the ten-day period. Examination of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images suggests that bacterial activity damaged the edges of kaolin particles during bioleaching. Ion chromatography (IC) results showed that during bioleaching, Bacillus sp. produced organic acids such as lactic acid, formic acid, malic acid, acetic acid, and succinic acid. EDS analysis of kaolin before and after bioleaching showed Fe removal efficiencies of up to 65.3%. Analyses of color properties of kaolin before and after bioleaching showed an improvement in whiteness index of up to 13.6%. KEY POINTS: • Dissolution of iron oxides by Bacillus species proven with phenanthroline analysis. • Organic acid type and concentration unique to species detected during bioleaching. • Whiteness index of kaolin is improved after bioleaching.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Package Deliveries: Sustainable Decision-Making for the Academic Institutions

Due to globalization, digitalization, and competition, the number and frequency of customer requests have grown quickly over the past few years in the fast-growing commercial trade. With this steady growth, express deliveries have become one of the most important things to study and research in order to lower costs and meet more customer orders. This study uses lifecycle assessment (LCA) to analyze the environmental footprints of current delivery packaging materials, mainly comprising corrugated cardboard boxes and polystyrene foam that arrives at the University of Regina central receiving and also suggests viable alternatives to reduce the lifecycle environmental impact. The study's objective is to identify the stages that contribute the most to environmental emissions and suggest viable alternatives to reduce the lifecycle environmental impact. We sourced packaging material data from GaBi Education Database 2020 and obtained other product-specific data from published LCAs for consistency. The current study on packaging materials analysis in the base scenario revealed that the cradle-to-grave polystyrene packaging material has the highest environmental impact. These results have significant implications for decision-makers in identifying sustainable packaging materials for long-term use and for stakeholders in comprehending environmental impacts.

An investigation into the dry processing of low specific gravity ores using a laboratory Knelson concentrator

ABSTRACT The Knelson concentrator (KC) was originally invented and developed for treating gold ores, and due to its high efficiency, low cost and minor environmental impact, it has become an active research area for processing low specific gravity (SG) deposits. The laboratory scale KC has shown its potential for processing high-density ores on a dry basis. This work investigated the feasibility and the optimum operating conditions when processing a dry low SG feed with a modified KC. A synthetic mixture of magnetite (SG 5.2) and quartz (SG 2.65) with a grade of 1% magnetite and three synthetic mixtures of magnetite and quartz with a grade of 5% magnetite in different sizes were used to mimic a low-density ratio ore. Central composite design (CCD) and response surface method (RSM) were used to design the experiments and optimise each process. The effects of each individual factors and their interactions on concentrate grade and magnetite recovery were evaluated for each feed. Optimum operating conditions were obtained at a bowl speed, solids feed rate and air fluidising pressure of 20G, 100 g/min and 12 psi, for 1% grade feed; 14, 300 g/min and 13 psi, for 5% coarse feed; 18 G, 300 g/min and 13 psi, for 5% intermediate feed; and 10 G, 100 g/min and 14 psi for 5% full-size feed.

Mode of innovative green production for concrete engineering: life cycle assessment of accelerators prepared from aluminum mud wastes.

In this study, two types of liquid alkali-free accelerators were prepared by aluminum sulfate (AF1) and aluminum mud wastes (AF2), and the life cycle assessment (LCA) in the preparation of AF1 and AF2 was compared. The LCA was considered from cradle to gate including raw materials used, transportation, and accelerator preparation based on the method ReCiPe2016. The results indicated that AF1 had a higher environmental impact in all midpoint impact categories and endpoint indicators than that of AF2, and AF2 reduced 43.59% emission of CO2, 59.09% emission of SO2, 71% consumption of mineral resources, and 46.67% consumption of fossil resources than that of AF1 respectively. As an environment-friendly accelerator, AF2 had a better application performance than traditional accelerator AF1. When the dosage of accelerators was 7%, the initial setting times of cement pastes containing AF1 and AF2 were 4 min 57 s and 4 min 04 s respectively, the final setting times of cement pastes containing AF1 and AF2 were 11 min 49 s and 9 min 53 s respectively, and the compressive strengths at 1 d of mortars containing AF1 and AF2 were 7.35 MPa and 8.33 MPa respectively. This study aims to provide technical feasibility and environmental impact assessment for exploring new avenues of preparing environment-friendly liquid alkali-free accelerators with aluminum mud solid wastes. It has great potential in reducing carbon and pollution emissions and has a greater competitive advantage due to great application performance.

Environmental performance of constructed wetland planted with monocultures and polycultures for wastewater treatment

The effects of culture systems and seasonality on the environmental impact of constructed wetlands (CWs) remain understudied. This study aims to quantify the environmental impact of common and ornamental plants in a pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) CW planted with monocultures and a polyculture. Eight scenarios were evaluated, differentiated by plant type, culture system, and season (warm season, cold season). Environmental performance was evaluated using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The environmental impact index (ƐP), based on eutrophication reduction (kgP removed), and net environmental benefit (NEB) indicators were also calculated. The results showed that a CW planted with polycultures reduced FE by 5–17% compared to those planted in monocultures. However, the polyculture had the highest environmental impact in the GW category, up to 1.5–9 times higher than that of monocultures. Furthermore, there was better performance in the cold season in all scenarios. Specifically, NEB showed an environmental benefit for freshwater eutrophication and a negative benefit for global warming. The ƐP indicator was inversely proportional to the elimination of phosphorus, with the polyculture CW reaching the highest values of 3399 kgCO2eq/kgP removed in the warm season. The assessment of environmental impact patterns could support the development of strategies for better environmental performance of CWs, with polycultures used as an alternative wastewater treatment.

Economic Assessment of the Impact of the Sugarcane Industry: An Empirical Approach with Two Focuses for San Luis Potosí, México

The sugarcane industry has a high environmental impact. In countries such as Mexico, cultivation and harvesting practices consume and pollute many ecological resources. However, quantifying these impacts is difficult due to their diverse nature and different units of measurement. In this study, an approach with two focuses was taken to assess the environmental costs of the sugarcane industry in San Luis Potosí, México. The first focus is human health costs related to air pollution (black carbon) and the second one is a lifecycle assessment applied to the production phase. In the first case, four scenarios, with different concentrations and populations, were projected. Costs of 516.8 thousand USD were estimated for a scenario in which black carbon concentrations exceeded the WHO reference by one unit for the total population. In the second case, costs of 642 million USD were estimated for the impairment of seven ecosystem-based services. These estimates may vary due to the source and specificity of the information provided, but nevertheless are considered an appropriate approximation of the cost of environmental damage. It is recommended that first-hand information be collected and systematized to improve the certainty of the estimates and that changes to sugarcane agrifood systems be considered to reduce environmental costs.

Preliminary study on the use of Big Data for environmental benchmarks of residential buildings in Flanders

Building construction and operation both have a high environmental impact. In Flanders (Belgium), public authorities have defined clear targets for improved building energy performance, but a strategy to reduce construction (embodied) impact is still lacking. Environmental benchmarks based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have been identified as a means to limit embodied impacts. Such benchmarks are often derived with a bottom-up approach consisting of a statistical analysis of the building stock, which is usually modelled based on a limited set of representative buildings or archetypes. In this paper, a data-driven approach is applied based on building data from the Flemish Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) database. In a recent study, the buildings from the EPB database were clustered based on geometric and energy-related parameters, and for each cluster representative buildings were selected. This resulted in 54 buildings representative of newly built residential buildings in Flanders. The building set distinguishes itself from other existing sets because it was automatically generated from a large building database. Up until now, the EPB building set has only been used to evaluate the financial feasibility of energy performance levels in Flanders. In this preliminary study, an LCA is performed to assess the life cycle environmental impacts of five sample cases in view of benchmarking. The sample includes two detached, two semi-detached, and one terraced house, all solid construction and in line with the Flemish EPB requirements of 2014. The results show that the environmental score of the buildings is comparable to benchmark values obtained based on the analysis of Belgian archetypes. Further, the building geometry and compactness are identified as key parameters, whereas the materialisation has a more limited influence on the environmental impact. Next research steps will focus on the modelling of more cases, including different construction types, energy performance levels, and potential impact mitigation strategies. The study concludes that the EPB buildings are promising to define environmental benchmarks for the Flemish dwelling stock.

The effect of conductive ink alternation on the sustainability and functioning of printed electronics

The demand for printed electronics (PE) is expected to increase for improved functionality and autonomy of products in the context of the Internet of Things, especially for sensing and communication. With this trend, the environmental performance of novel technologies is of growing importance, and researchers are exploring ways to make them more environmentally friendly using bio-based substrates and additive printing methods. Conductive inks have the highest environmental impact in the life cycle of PE, and there are two options to decrease the impact: increase recycling rates or replace commonly used silver inks with less impactful materials such as copper or graphite. With the current mixed waste management system, a higher recycling rate for silver is not achievable. Copper and graphite have a lower environmental impact than silver, however, the electrical conductivity of copper and graphite inks is lower than silver ink. This article introduces a double-parameter comparison to simultaneously assess the environmental and electrical conductivity of PE using three inks of silver, copper, and graphite inks. Then based on the technical feasibility, this study proposes suitable applications for each substrate and ink combination.

Environmental and economic assessment of carbon capture and utilization at coal-fired power plant in Thailand

Immense decarbonization from power generation plants has been aware of to achieve net zero targets with clean energy transition. Applying life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to the studies of coal-fired power plants with carbon capture and utilization technology helps to evaluate and avoid the potential environmental risks. In this study, carbon dioxide emissions are captured from 655 MW ultra-supercritical (USC) Mae Moh coal-fired power plant in Thailand and then utilized it in alternative CO2-based methanol and CO2-based formic acid productions. According to the environmental and economic analyses of the alternative CO2-based productions compared to the conventional productions, higher environmental impact and costs are resulted at 6 out 8 investigated impacts with 1227 US$ per ton of CO2-based methanol production and 2 out of those with 1044 US$ per ton of CO2-based formic acid production.

Blue ammonia an attractive pathway to decarbonize conventional ammonia plants

Ammonia is one of the basic ingredients for the fertilizer and mining explosive industries. Conventional ammonia production technologies have a high environmental impact owing to its high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study evaluates the prospects of blue ammonia through integration of different available technologies within conventional ammonia plants: the Kellogg Braun & Root (KBR) Purifier process, Topsoe and the Linde Ammonia process. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and Gas Switching Reforming (GSR) technology are attractive pathways toward blue ammonia due to cost effectiveness and ease of implementation. Blue ammonia technology development has its own challenges to overcome while it has massive advantages and opportunities like blue ammonia utilization as an alternative fuel, availability of pre-existing infrastructure available for storage, enhanced oil production through CO2 pressurization. Given the increasing demand and international ammonia trade, advanced blue ammonia production from different available technologies like CCS & GSR offers an alluring way for natural gas exporting regions to contribute to global decarbonization.

Hierarchical Bamboo/Silver Nanoparticle Composites for Sustainable Water Purification.

Water reclamation is the most effective way to continuously provide clean water to combat catastrophic global water scarcity. However, current technology for water purification is not conducive to sustainability due to the high energy consumption and negative environmental impact. Here, we introduce an innovative method by utilizing the hierarchical microstructure of bamboo for water purification. Natural bamboo was delignified followed by freeze-drying to obtain a bamboo aerogel with a porosity of 72.0%; then, the bamboo aerogel was coated with silver nanoparticles to form a hierarchical bamboo/silver nanoparticle composite. The scanning electron microscopy images and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results indicated that the silver nanoparticles were uniformly attached to the parenchyma cell surface. By physical adsorption and catalytic reduction, the bamboo/silver nanoparticle composite was able to degrade methylene blue by more than 96.7%, which is mainly attributed to the large specific surface area of the bamboo providing more space for the purification reaction. This composite can be potentially used for board applications with its high porosity, mechanical reliability, and sustainability.

A novel electric spark precipitation and electrospinning strategy to prepare cerium hydroxide nanocomposite for phosphate uptake from aqueous solutions

Phosphorus is a main cause of eutrophication in water bodies, the use of adsorbents to reduce phosphate concentration in water is considered an effective way to combat eutrophication. Herein, a new and effective strategy for phosphorus removal with a PAN based cerium hydroxide nanocomposite (CHP) is shown, we combined electrospinning and spark ablation techniques, where an electrospun fiber membrane polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was used as a carrier, spark ablation produced clean nano-cerium aerosol embedded in it as the active ingredient, and a combined hydrothermal method to develop PAN based cerium hydroxide nanocomposite (CHP), the crystal size of ceria nanoparticles was 120–210 nm. CHP can capture phosphate selectively with a maximum adsorption capacity of 86.7 mg·P/g, which is higher than that for most cerium-based adsorbents and is easily separated from the liquid with high efficiency and economy. The adsorption mechanism showed that CeO2 plays an important role in phosphorus adsorption through oxidation, reduction, and ligand exchange. Compared to mesoporous structures, fibrous structures are more favorable for reducing the aggregation of nanoparticles (NPs) and adsorption of large phosphate species. The spark ablation method immobilized active cerium dioxide NPs very stably on the fiber with high efficiency and limited environmental impact. In conclusion, our results have promising applications for lake eutrophication treatment.

A preliminary investigation of dry gravity separation with low specific gravity ores using a laboratory Knelson Concentrator

It has become an active research area for treating low specific gravity (SG) deposits by centrifugal separation due to its high efficiency, low cost and minor environmental impact. Laboratory Knelson Concentrator has shown its potential for processing high density ores on a dry basis. This study investigated the feasibility and the optimum operating conditions when processing a dry low SG feed with a modified Knelson Concentrator. A synthetic mixture of magnetite and quartz with a grade of 1% magnetite was used to mimic a low-density ratio ore. Bowl speed (G), air fluidizing pressure (psi) and solids feed rate (g/min) were chosen as the operating variables. Box-Behnken design was used to design the experiments and response surface method was used for optimization. The effects of each individual factors and their interactions on concentrate grade and magnetite recovery were evaluated. The dry process achieved up to 60 % magnetite recovery with an upgrade ratio of 5. The optimized values for the concentration with the highest recovery and grade of bowl speed, solids feed rate and air fluidizing pressure are 27 G, 200 g/min and 12 psi, respectively.

Seminal cadmium affects human sperm motility through stable binding to the cell membrane.

Environmental pollutants are claimed to be major factors involved in the progressive decline of the fertility rate worldwide. Exposure to the heavy metal Cadmium (Cd) has been associated with reproductive toxicity due to its ionic mimicry. However, the possible direct accumulation of Cd in human sperm cells has been poorly investigated. In this study, we aimed to clarify the possible direct effect of Cd exposure on sperm function through the analysis of its cell accumulation. Semen samples from 30 male subjects residing in high environmental impact areas and adhering to the "Exposoma e Plurifocalità nella Prevenzione Oncologica" campaign for testis cancer prevention were compared with semen samples from 15 males residing in low exposure areas. Semen levels and cell Cd content were quantified by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy. Cell Cd distribution was assessed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The impact of Cd on sperm function was evaluated by the in vitro exposure to the heavy metal, whilst possible scavenging approaches/agents were assessed. In addition to higher values of semen Cd, exposed subjects showed a reduction in total motile sperm fraction compared to not-exposed controls (59.6% ± 13.6% vs. 66.3% ± 7.3%, p = 0.037). Semen Cd levels were also significantly correlated with SEM-EDS signals of Cd detected on the head and neck of sperm (respectively p = 0.738, p < 0.001 and ρ = 0.465, p < 0.001). A total of 2h of in vitro exposure to 0.5μM Cd was associated with a significant reduction of sperm progressive motility. Scavenging approaches with either hypo-osmotic swelling or 10μM reduced glutathione were ineffective in blunting cell Cd and restoring motility. The reduction of exposure levels appears to be the main approach to reducing the reproductive issues associated with Cd.