Substance Flow Analysis Method Research Articles

Mercury flow network and its emission reduction in the steelworks

The steel industry is an important source of anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions. Hg is harmful to human health, causing symptoms such as dizziness, pneumonia, and renal failure. So, how do we reduce Hg emissions from the steelworks? What possibilities exist for Hg emission reduction? Firstly, in this study, the flow paths of Hg in the steelworks were described quantitatively using the substance flow analysis method, and the characteristics of the input and output of Hg-containing subjects were analyzed. Secondly, based on the Hg flow network, the circulation characteristics of Hg and the emission characteristics of Hg-containing pollutants were analyzed in the steelworks. Finally, according to the distribution of Hg in the steelworks, the emission reduction potential was examined at the source and end-of-pipe. The results showed that Hg, which mostly originated from coal, limestone, and iron ore concentrate in the steel production process, was mostly exported with waste gas and wastewater, primarily in the form of waste gas. The input, circulation, and output of Hg were 362.77, 3.25, and 392.55 mg/t crude steel (CS), respectively. Through source reduction and end-of-pipe treatment, the reduction rates of pollutants in the steelworks were 28.74% and 75.37%, respectively.

Research on evaluating the efficiency of recovery nutrients (N, P) in an integrated ecology system for catfish farming

The purpose of this is to evaluate the ability to recover nutrients (N, P) emitted from catfish farming by using an integrated ecological system towards zero emissions. An integrated system has been designed and implemented for a catfish pond with a water surface area of 10,300 m2. Wastewater is treated with water hyacinth, sludge is used for organic fertilizer production, and dead fish carcasses are used as raw material for liquid fertilizer production. The SFA (substance flow analysis) method was applied to evaluate the efficiency of nutrient source recovery in the system. The results show that the nutrient supply to fish ponds is mainly from fish food (about 30,450 kgN/ha/crop and 3,675 kgP/ha/crop). Harvested fish in the adult stage accumulate N and P content in fish biomass of 12,480 kgN ha/crop and 540 kgP/ha/crop respectively. Wastewater from fish ponds sent through aquatic ditches has an amount of 11,509 kgN/ha/crop and 2,978 kgP/ha/crop. The treatment efficiency of the aquatic pond reached 70%, and the amount of nutrients emitted into the environment through wastewater was 3,453 kgN/ha/crop and 893 kgP/ha/crop respectively. The efficiency of retaining nutrients after composting is about 70 - 80%, the product of this process is organic fertilizer containing N and P contents of 0.26% and 0.12% respectively.

Copper and arsenic substance flow analysis of pyrometallurgical process for copper production

The metabolism of copper and arsenic in a copper pyrometallurgy process was studied through substance flow analysis method. The mass balance accountsand substance flow charts of copper and arsenic were established, indicators including direct recovery, waste recycle ratio, and resource efficiency were used to evaluate the metabolism efficiency of the system. The results showed that, the resource efficiency of copper was 97.58%, the direct recovery of copper in smelting, converting, and refining processes was 91.96%, 97.13% and 99.47%, respectively. Meanwhile, for producing 1 t of copper, 10 kg of arsenic was carried into the system, with the generation of 1.07 kg of arsenic in flotation tailing, 8.50 kg of arsenic in arsenic waste residue, and 0.05 kg of arsenic in waste water. The distribution and transformation behaviors of arsenic in the smelting, converting, and refining processes were also analyzed, and some recommendations for improving copper resource efficiency and pollution control were proposed based on substance flow analysis.

Methodological study of evaluating the traceability of neodymium based on the global substance flow analysis and Monte Carlo simulation

Neodymium is a particularly important mineral among rare earth elements (REE) and is used in NdFeB magnets in many motors and electronic devices. In recent years, by the extremely rapid growth in the demand for neodymium, many substance flow analysis (SFA) studies have been conducted to evaluate the global flow and stock of neodymium and to analyze its recycling potential. However, illegal mining, unknown trading and end-of-life (EOL) based recycle of mineral resources such as REE cannot be quantitatively evaluated using only publicly available data. Their actual quantities involved in these activities are greatly affected by politics and production economics in countries such as China, Russia, India, etc Therefore, the lack of knowledge of the quantity of neodymium in existence is an urgent problem for the industrial sector. Accordingly, in recent years, a variety of initiatives centered in Europe have been considered to clarify its traceability.Therefore, this study aims to propose new method of SFA to clarify neodymium’s quantity of illegal mining, unknown trading and EOL based recycle in the world’s supply chain, included in the final application. The results revealed that 16–26% of neodymium used in NdFeB magnets in China contains the quantity whose production region and quantity traded are unknown. This proportion will be larger i.e., 19–28%. in final application demanded in Japan and all other countries.In addition, uncertainty analysis was conducted using Monte Carlo simulation that considered the minimum to maximum ranges of several variables, including the amount of Nd2O3 contained in rare earth deposits. From this analysis, the uncertainty of result for xEVs, conventional car, and electric bike is appeared to be lower comparing with those of other final application. This study provides important knowledge to conduct SFA considering the uncertainty which exist in the public data.

Changes in nitrogen and phosphorus flows and losses in agricultural systems of three megacities of China, 1990–2014

Urban expansion is a crucial process altering nutrient cycles in agro-ecosystems, often accompanied by negative impacts on the environment. Quantitative analysis of nutrient flows in agricultural systems of megacities and their interactions with urbanization is still lacking. This study reports on changing patterns in inputs, outputs, losses and cycling of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in agricultural systems in three of China’s megacities–Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing during 1990–2014, using the substance flow analysis method. Results show that changing patterns of nutrient flows varied among cities. With rising urbanization rate in Chongqing, nutrients were increasingly imported to agricultural systems to sustain food demand, which led to increased nutrient losses. An opposite trend occurred in Beijing and Shanghai with high urbanization levels (over 80%) since the early 2000s, resulting from a decline in cropland and livestock numbers, and stricter enforcement of environmental laws. Mineral fertilizers and livestock husbandry both contributed largely to ammonia emissions from agriculture. Losses of nutrients to water bodies in Beijing were sourced mainly from the livestock sector, while derived from overuse of mineral fertilizers in Chongqing, suggesting that priority management practices need to be designed differently among regions. Increased intensity of nutrient losses from agriculture was significantly correlated with increased mineral fertilizer input, livestock density and feed import and with reduced recycling ratio of manure. Integrated management for better use of nutrients in fertilizers, feed and manure are urgently required at regional scales. Our findings can serve as basis for policy decisions for sustainable agricultural systems in megacities.

城市食物磷足迹研究——以龙岩市为例

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 城市食物磷足迹研究——以龙岩市为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201601010001 作者: 作者单位: 中国科学院城市环境研究所,中国科学院城市环境研究所,中国科学院城市环境研究所,集美大学,中国科学院城市环境研究所 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家科技支撑计划项目（2013BAJ04B01）；中国科学院城市环境研究所青年人才领域前沿项目（IUEMS201402）；国家自然科学基金项目（31500391） Study on phosphorus footprint of urban food: a case study in Longyan City Author: Affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, CAS,Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health,SInstitute of Urban Environment,Chinese Academy of Sciences,,, Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:运用物质流分析法，以龙岩市为例，分析了1985-2010年城市食物磷代谢的变化，估算了食物磷足迹。研究表明，龙岩市总磷输入和总磷输出都有明显的增长（总磷输入从4110 t增加到12102 t，总磷输出从3855 t增加到11315 t）；总磷足迹从6482 t增加到20473 t，直接磷足迹的比例从53%下降到42%；而间接磷足迹的增速明显高于直接磷足迹；龙岩市在城市尺度上是重要的磷汇，在流域尺度上则是重要的磷源。磷足迹的研究有助于全面理解和评估城市磷代谢的特征；将磷足迹与磷流动分析结合，对我国磷资源和区域磷素管理调控具有指导意义。 Abstract:Phosphorus (P) is an irreplaceable and essential nutrient for all living beings and a critical element for food production. However P is not only an essential and irreplaceable non-renewable resource, but also a potential water pollutant which can cause eutrophication. Phosphorus used in fertilizer for food, accounts for approximately 90% of the total phosphorus consumption. China's rapid urbanization calls for a better and comprehensive understanding of P management in urban food systems. In this paper, we firstly present a concept model to map the P metabolism of food production and consumption system. And then we analyzed the change of urban food P metabolism and estimated food P footprint from the year 1985 to 2010 based on the method of substance flow analysis and our definition of P footprint, taking Longyan as an example. The result demonstrated that both input P and output P increased significantly (the input P increased from 4110 t to 12102 t, the output P from 3855 t to 11315 t); the total P footprint grew up from 6482 t to 20473 t and the proportion of the direct P footprint decreased from 53% to 42%; the growth of the indirect P footprint was faster than that of the direct P footprint. The P metabolism analysis reflected that Longyan was an important P sink at the city scale and main P source at the watershed scale. Our results of P footprint analysis indicated that the indirect P footprint constituted an important proportion of the total P footprint and should not be neglected. The analysis of P footprint helped to comprehensively understand and evaluate characters of urban P metabolism. Combining the analysis of P footprint and substance flow had guiding significance for national and regional P management and regulation. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Substance flow analysis of copper in production stage in the U.S. from 1974 to 2012

Substance flow analysis (SFA) provides a systematic framework for tracking the sources, pathway, intermediate and final sinks of copper in the United States. The stocks and flows (STAF) method compensates for the deficiency in statistics. This paper combines SFA and STAF method to reflect the realistic copper stocks and flows within production boundary from 1974 to 2012. The goal of this paper is to discern the evolution of the copper production industry in the U.S. when conditions require that industry operates with a lower-grade ore and more sustainable development concerns are considered. The emergence of the new solvent-extraction electrowinning (SX–EW) technology, which is used in conjunction with conventional extractive metallurgy, altered the structure of domestic refined copper production. Refined copper production declined after peaking at 2486Gg/year in 1998. In 2012, primary production was only 45.02% of the primary production in 1998, and secondary production was only 10.69% of secondary production in 1998. The decrease is due to the decline in the primary and secondary copper sources for domestic use and closure of secondary smelting and refining facilities. A portion of the lower grade ore was exported through trade after 1998. More scrap was not delivered to produce refined copper. Closure of secondary smelting and refining facilities decreased the refinery scrap in a poor economic environment. Imported refined copper offset the gap due to the decrease in domestic refined copper production. The ratio of net imported refined copper to domestic refined copper increased from 9.97% in 1974 to 47.03% in 2012. The U.S. is more dependent on import of refined copper, except during the period in which a tight global copper market disrupted the leading copper-producing country.

食物源CNP的城市代谢特征分析：以厦门市为例

基于元素流分析原理,将食物源碳氮磷3种元素在城市系统中的代谢特征进行耦合分析,追踪以"食物消费"、"废物处置"、"人体代谢"为主要环节的食物碳氮磷代谢过程,发掘其中共同的代谢环节,明晰3种元素代谢路径、代谢通量及其影响因素的差异,并对厦门市 1991-2010 年食物源碳氮磷城市代谢进行案例分析. 结果表明,食物源碳氮磷城市代谢中通量最大的代谢路径是"食物-食物摄入-人体粪尿-未还田粪尿-污水处理-污泥-污泥填埋-土壤";食物源碳氮磷城市代谢主要引起土壤和水体的环境负荷加重;厨余垃圾中碳氮磷占食物源的比例分别为13.7%、32.2%、70.3%,在整个代谢过程中具有最大的减量管理潜力.提出优化代谢过程、减少碳氮磷环境负荷的若干对策建议,包括增大食物的有效食用比例、资源化利用污泥和厨余垃圾等.;Under the background of rapid urbanization process, cities need more and more substance and energy to maintain. The direction of material flow changes along with the urban development. Urban metabolism studies the material and energy flows arising from urban socioeconomic activities as well as regional and global biogeochemical processes. Food consumption takes an assignable part of substantial input and continues to grow with rapid urbanization process. The unutilized part of CNP (Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorous) in food may cause environment problems. The imbalance of urban metabolism is the root of environment problems. It is urgent to investigate the process of food-sourced CNP and to find out the ways to reduce environmental load.<br>Substance flow analysis (SFA) method focuses on the flow of a certain chemical element and considers all related transformation and transition of this element. Based on SFA method, food-sourced CNP metabolism processes in urban system were characterized systematically in this paper. We focused on three main metabolic processes (food consumption, waste disposal and human metabolism) to analyze the similarity and difference among the urban metabolism of food-sourced CNP substance. We found that CNP share many links in metabolic path but have its unique characteristic independently. After considering about these, we built up the framework of food-sourced CNP metabolism process and make it possible to study these three elements simultaneously and systematically.<br>We took Xiamen as a case city to trace the urban metabolism of food-sourced CNP from 1991 to 2010. We calculated the flux of food-sourced CNP metabolism in Xiamen, which starts from food consumption and ends in human body or emission to the environment.<br>The results showed that: 1) The most increasing environmental load of food-sourced CNP are carbon in air (from 74859 t/a to 149763 t/a), nitrogen in soil (from 3897 t/a to 9323 t/a) and phosphorous in soil (from 406 t/a to 1049 t/a); 2) The path with maximum flux is food-food eating-human fecaluria-wastewater treatment-sludge-sludge landfill-soil; 3) The urban metabolism of food-sourced CNP mainly resulted in the increasing of loading in soil and water body; 4) The part of food-sourced CNP that stored in human body is extremely low with the proportions of 0.3%, 0.5% and 1.6% in 2010; 5) The proportions of CNP in kitchen waste to that in food source were 13.7%, 32.2% and 70.3% respectively, which had great potential of reduction management.<br>Some advices to reduce CNP environment loading and optimize the metabolism process systematically were provided. The advices are: 1) increasing the edible rate of food and encouraging consume food in economy way; 2) utilizing sludge from wastewater treatment to produce bricks; 3) producing fertilizer with urban kitchen waste for rural use.

Substance Flow Analysis of Lead for Sustainable Resource Management and Pollution Control

As the biggest producer and the second largest consumer of lead in the world, China is facing serious conflict between rapid economic development and environmental deterioration caused by lead pollution. Our analysis results show that lead poisoning accidents increased sharply since 2005, and there is growing concern that children remain at risk from lead exposure. Accordingly, sustainable resource management and pollution control of lead is of great significance. As the first step, substance flow analysis (abbreviated as SFA) models of lead flows in both economic subsystem and environmental subsystem are established by using top-down approach in this study. Then the situation of production, consumption and emission of lead resources can be revealed. This study provides the most detailed depiction of lead flows within a regional level, and it is essentially important for the future analysis and management of lead resource. Furthermore, environmental simulation models, risk assessment models, Crystalball software and GIS tool are proposed to be integrated on the same platform to recognize the pollution situation, corresponding population risk and major exposure pathways in the study region. This new perspective extends the traditional method of substance flow analysis of lead, not only important for the improvement of lead resource efficiency, but also supporting the pollution prevention policy making.

Substance flow analysis of copper in China

The method of substance flow analysis (abbreviated as SFA) provides a helpful tool for the study of the industrial metabolism of a certain metal within a regional level. In this work the flow of copper in China, 2004, was traced within the STAF model, and the situation of production, consumption and recycling of copper resources in China were introduced. The SFA is performed on copper flows during its 1-year life cycle in detail, and the resource efficiency of China was compared with that of China, 1994 and Europe, 2002. The result reveals that China is becoming a big importer in the international copper market, and the resource efficiency of copper is much lower than that of the developed countries. As the biggest producer and consumer of copper in the world, China is facing a severe depletion of copper resources. How to increase the resource efficiency is a significant issue for copper industry of China. Based on the result, several advices were proposed in the paper, aiming to contribute important reference information for the industrial metabolism and resource management and recycling of copper industry in China.

The nitrogen balance for Catalan agriculture soils and livestock sectors

A comprehensive assessment of nitrogen metabolism in Catalonia (NE region of Spain) has been performed by the method of Substance Flow Analysis (SFA). Being agriculture soils and livestock sectors where the human food production stands, this paper is focused in the analysis of nitrogen dynamics in these sectors. Groundwater contamination, nitrogen accumulation in transition reservoirs (landfills, forest) and significant exports to the Mediterranean Sea, have been identified as the main associated environmental impacts. The study gives proof that Catalonia is a net receiver of nitrogen without a strategic evaluation behind the management of the N microsystem in Catalonia. This study is a good backup for the planning of such a management plan.

Incorporating phosphorus management considerations into wastewater management practice

Abstract Aspects of phosphorus management and its connection with wastewater management at a city level are explored here with the method of substance flow analysis (SFA) used to develop a phosphorus balance in Sydney, Australia, for the year 2000. The SFA results reveal that around 80% of the total phosphorus inputs into the system boundary are contained in food and detergent products. Only 50% of the total phosphorus imports leave the area, and around 90% of that amount is exported via treated wastewater discharge to the ocean. Wastewater treatment including water recycling is identified as a major activity influencing the movement of phosphorus; as such, attempts are made to link the phosphorus management options to the practice of wastewater management. The SFA method is used to evaluate different policy scenarios for the improvement of phosphorus management through static modeling with particular attention given to alternative decentralised options such as urine separation, composting toilet, and greywater recycling. Depending on the particular issue(s) of concern, different combinations of policy options are found to be most effective for the Sydney region based on the year 2000 data. Particularly effective options include, for example, phosphorus separation at source enabling beneficial reuse for agricultural purposes and changing consumers’ behaviour to minimise the use of phosphorus (hence limiting the need to mine phosphate rock).

What can we learn from local substance flow analyses? The review of cadmium flows in Swedish municipalities

Local authorities are important actors in the transition towards sustainable development. They can play important roles for the promotion of industrial ecology systems oriented management of resources and pollutants on the local and regional level. In this context, the method of substance flow analysis (SFA) has been argued to be supportive to municipal environmental management, although, performing an SFA is often time consuming and demands a great deal of work. It may be a task hard to fulfil on a regular basis for many local authorities. A crucial issue is, then, to what extent it is possible to learn from other SFA studies? Aiming to contribute to this understanding, this paper analyses comparative results of SFA case studies of the cadmium metabolism in three structurally different municipalities in Sweden. The analyses illustrate that in addition to specific knowledge gained from a single case study, there is also general knowledge that may constitute important information for environmental decision-making in other local authorities.

日本における塩素のフロー解析

Chlorine flow in Japan in 1995 was surveyed from the viewpoint of industrial metabolism using a substance flow analysis method. About 3,543 kt / year of chlorine mainly manufactured by electrodialysis of imported salt is converted to various chlorinated substances and consumed. Finally they are emitted as chlorinated organics, salt, ionic solution or polymers into the environment. The industrial metabolism structure of chlorine shows dendritic flow representing mainly raw-product chain relation in chemical reaction. Recycling flows in the metabolism structure can be found in hydrochloric acid , solvent , flon and PVC. Especially the PVC flow diagram has been analized through the usage of PVC. It has been concluded 1,000 kt / year of PVC is accumulated in Japan.

Evaluation of risks of metal flows and accumulation in economy and environment

The contrast between, on the one hand, decreasing emissions of the metals cadmium, copper, lead and zinc and, on the other, their continuously increasing input into the economy is analysed for three case studies: The Netherlands as a whole, the Dutch housing sector and the Dutch agricultural sector. Flows of these metals through and their accumulation within the economy and the environment have been quantified for 1990 and for a constructed steady-state situation. To this end, the substance flow analysis method has been applied. The case studies show that there is a strong increase to be expected in the emissions from the 1990 to the steady-state situation. This increase is mainly due to the shift from landfill accumulation to emission to non-agricultural soil. At the same time, however, there is also an increase in the emissions to other media: air, water and agricultural soil. Emissions along these critical routes with respect to human and ecotoxicity show an approximately 30% increase for cadmium, lead and zinc and more than a doubling for copper. It is shown that this increase may lead to the surpassing of critical levels for human toxicity and terrestrial and aquatic ecotoxicity. Some possible measures are suggested to prevent critical levels being exceeded.