Electrical Waste Research Articles

Electrification of Waste Collection Vehicles: Technoeconomic Analysis Based on an Energy Demand Simulation Using Real-Life Operational Data

Waste transport plays an important role in the decarbonization of the transport sector. In this article, diesel-powered collections vehicle (dWCV) and electric waste collections vehicle (eWCV) and their operation are analyzed regarding energy demand and total cost of ownership (TCO) integrating well-to-wheel emission costs. Furthermore, an open-source simulation tool with a route synthetization approach is presented using extensive real-life operational data of five different route types. Determined WCV energy demand varies greatly between vehicle topologies and analyzed route types. eWCV shows a mean distance-specific energy demand of 1.85 kWh ·km <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> , while values for dWCV increase to 5.43 kWh ·km <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> , respectively. The factors route distance and the number of waste containers collected show the highest influence on results. Therefore, battery capacity should be sized according to specific route types. eWCV shows higher TCO than dWCV under current economic constraints, but fuel price level and annual vehicle mileage show a high influence on economic feasibility. Taking the planned emissions price mechanism of the German Government into account, economic scenarios could be identified, which make eWCV advantageous yet in 2021. In technical terms, there is nothing to stop for the electrification of WCV, and with suitable political instruments, eWCV could become profitable in the short term.

In Vitro Removal of Electronic and Electrical Wastes by Fungi Isolated from Soil at Annaba Area in Northeast of Algeria

Electronic and electrical wastes (EEW) have increased exponentially in recent years due to technological progress. The uncontrolled incineration of these wastes causes pollution of air, soil, and water that has dangerous effects on health of human beings and other living organisms. This work isolated fungi that are capable of degrading some of these electronic wastes. In this study, fungi isolated from soil polluted by EEW were grown on potatoes dextrose agar (PDA) medium. The estimation of the biodegradation was achieved by inoculation of both rechargeable batteries and printed circuit boards on a minimum solid and liquid medium with selected fungal strains. During the process of biodegradation on solid medium, microscopic observation was done, and on liquid medium the production of keratinolytic enzymes was evaluated using a colorimetric method after incubation with keratine powder. After 30 days, the obtained results showed that Geotrichum candidum is capable of degrading battery and circuit boards with rates of 23% and 71%, respectively, while Rhizopus stolonifer reduced battery weight by 7% and printed circuit boards by 60%. Microscopic observations showed no morphological modification in Geotrichum candidum, while there was sporocyst formation in Rhizopus stolonifer. The detection of enzymatic production indicated that there is a relation between the biodegradation process of electronic wastes and keratinolytic enzymes in Geotrichum candidum.

Management of a district heating network using model predictive control with and without thermal storage

District heating and cooling networks are a key infrastructure to decarbonise the heating and cooling sector. Besides the design of new networks according to the principles of the 4th and 5th generation, operational aspects may significantly contribute to improve the efficiency of existing networks from both economic and environmental standpoints. This article is the second step of a work that aims to exploit the flexibility of existing networks and improve their economic and environmental performance, using the district heating network of Verona as a case study. In particular, the first part of the research demonstrated through numerical simulations that the thermal inertia of the water contained in the pipes can be used to shift the heat production of the generators over time by acting on the flow rate circulating in the network. This article shifts the focus from the heat distribution side to the heat supply. A model predictive control strategy was formulated as a MILP optimization problem to schedule the heat supply of the cogeneration plants, heat pump and gas boilers as a function of heat load, waste heat production and electricity price forecasts. Computer simulations of considered district heating network were carried out executing the optimization with a rolling-horizon scheme over two typical weeks. Results show that the proposed look-ahead control achieves a reduction in the operational costs of about 12.5% and 5.8%, respectively in a middle season and a winter representative week. Increasing the flexibility of the system with a centralized heat storage tank connected to the CHP and HP units, these percentage rise to respectively 20% and 6.3%. In the warmest periods, when the total installed power of the CHP and HP plants is sufficient to supply the entire heat demand during the peak, and the modulation of these plants has a higher impact, the cost reduction related to the additional thermal energy storage is more relevant.

Pemanfaatan Limbah Aki dan Komponen Elektronik sebagai Sumber Energi Listrik Ramah Lingkungan

UTILIZATION OF ACCU WASTE AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ELECTRICAL ENERGY SOURCE. This community service is a form of community development activity in the utilization of Accu waste and electronic components as an alternative energy source for mini-inverters. The mini-inverter module is made using the Joule Thief method. This method is able to increase low electric power from a 1.5-volt battery source into AC alternating current that can turn on LED lights. The service activity will be carried out in Hajimena Village, Natar District, South Lampung Regency in August 2020. This community service activity was attended by 32 participants. Each service participant has been fostered and guided about the process of making mini-inverter modules from waste batteries and components that are no longer used so that they are ready to use and suitable for use and of economic value. The components used in the manufacture of mini-inverters are all obtained from components from AKI and used electronic components as alternative energy sources. With this activity, it is hoped that the partner community will understand how to utilize waste that is difficult to decompose into ready-to-sell goods.

Public-private partnership versus extended producer responsibility for end-of-life of photovoltaic modules management policy

Photovoltaic technology has afforded a sustainable and ecological solution for electricity production. In the first quarter of 2019, the global installed capacity has reached 480-Gigawatt peak, as reported by International Renewable Energy Agency. An enormous amount of End-of-life photovoltaic modules will emerge to the waste streams in the near future. A review of available legislation, policies, and guidelines revealed that end-of-life of photovoltaic modules’ management has not been addressed clearly in many countries. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in the Europe Union is the only available code that has included the end-of-life of photovoltaic modules. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis was used to evaluate the end-of-life of photovoltaic modules’ waste management in Jordan. A quantitative strategic planning matrix was created to compare between the Europe Union’s Extended Producer Responsibility and Private-Public Partnership policy concepts. The quantitative results favor Private-Public Partnership at 5.7 over Extended Producer Responsibility at 4.9 for Jordan. This study offers policy enhancement recommendations for end-of-life of photovoltaic modules’ waste management; the proposed policy encourages both the government and the private sector share the responsibility to manage the waste resulting from using renewable energy technology.

Investigation of integrated municipal solid waste management strategies for Oman: an assessment of waste diversion, electricity generation and greenhouse-gas emissions

The need of an integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management system to maximize resource recovery and simultaneously reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions is rising in Oman. Therefore, three waste management scenarios are proposed and assessed in this study based on their potential to reduce waste and GHG emissions, and recover energy and recyclables in Oman from 2020 to 2040. The first scenario included recycling, anaerobic digestion (AD), and landfill disposal; while second scenario entailed recycling, incineration, and ash disposal. The third scenario involved incineration and AD plants, and landfilling of residues. The analysis indicated that the disposal of waste in scenario 2 will be the lowest during the entire study period (30–24%), followed by scenario 3 (32–41%) and scenario 1 (94–58%). Moreover, during the assessment period, scenario 3 will generate a total of 47 TWh electricity, higher than scenario 2 (29 TWh) and scenario 1 (4.7 TWh). Disposal of MSW is estimated to produce 309,803 GgCO2e from 2020 to 2040; however, these emissions can be reduced by 53, 94 and 90% by the implementation of scenarios 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Furthermore, the average global warming factors after energy and material recovery further indicate that scenario 2 and scenario 3 result in net GHG emission savings of − 0.4 and – 0.28 GgCO2e/Gg of MSW, except for scenario 1 which will produce 2.37 GgCO2e/Gg of MSW. The analysis showed that in terms of reducing waste disposal and GHG emissions, scenario 2 is the best performing option; however, scenario 3 has the highest energy output.

Evaluation of Carbon Footprint in a Waste Recovery/Recycle Facility

The greatest danger for a healthy world is releasing greenhouse gases into the environment as a result of the industrialization activities in all countries. These released gases play an important role in damaging the health of human beings as well as of destroying nature. In addition to sustainable development practices in order to reduce emissions, it is also necessary to implement clean environment rules. In this study, the carbon footprint of a Waste Recovery/Recycle Facility within the borders of Kayseri Province as results of its operations was evaluated. Correspondingly, the amount of carbon footprint of transportation of waste collection, heating, and electricity usage in the plant site during operations has been examined. Tier 1 and Tier 2 methodologies developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were used to determine the carbon footprint of the facility. As a result, transportation activity due to waste collection contributes to the highest share of carbon footprint with 76.8%. The carbon footprint, which is caused by consumption of natural gas for heating with 23.1%, follows the transportation. Electricity usage has f share of less than 0.1%. The total CO2 emission of the plant was 132711 tons, while the CO2 emission amounts of transportation, heating and electricity use were found to be 102000 tons, 30700 tons and 11 tons, respectively.

Simultaneous Recovery of Precious and Heavy Metal Ions from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Using Polymer Films Containing Cyphos IL 101.

In this article, the application of a polymer film containing the ionic liquid Cyphos IL 101 for the simultaneous recovery of precious and heavy metal ions ((Ni(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Sn(II), Pb(II), Ag(I), Pd(II), and Au(III)) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is described. The experiments were performed for solutions containing metal ions released from computer e-waste due to leaching carried out with concentrated nitric(V) acid and aqua regia. It was found that the applied polymer film allows for the efficient recovery of precious metals (98.9% of gold, 79.3% of silver, and 63.6% of palladium). The recovery of non-ferrous metals (Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb) was less efficient (25–40%). Moreover, the results of the performed sorption/desorption processes show that the polymer film with Cyphos IL 101 can be successfully used after regeneration to recover metals ions several times.

Degradation of Styrenic Plastics during Recycling: Accommodation of PP within ABS after WEEE Plastics Imperfect Sorting.

With the development of dark polymers for industrial sorting technologies, economically profitable recycling of plastics from Waste Electrical and Electronical Equipment (WEEE) can be envisaged even in the presence of residual impurities. In ABS extracted from WEEE, PP is expected to be the more detrimental because of its important lack of compatibility. Hence, PP was incorporated to ABS at different rates (2 to 8 wt%) with a twin-screw extruder. PP was shown to exhibit a nodular morphology with an average diameter around 1–2 µm. Tensile properties were importantly diminished beyond 4 wt% but impact resistance was decreased even at 2 wt%. Both properties were strongly reduced as function of the contamination rate. Various potential compatibilizers for the ABS + 4 wt% PP system were evaluated: PPH-g-MA, PPC-g-MA, ABS-g-MA, TPE-g-MA, SEBS and PP-g-SAN. SEBS was found the most promising, leading to diminution of nodule sizes and also acting as an impact modifier. Finally, a Design Of Experiments using the Response Surface Methodology (DOE-RSM) was applied to visualize the impacts and interactions of extrusion temperature and screw speed on impact resistance of compatibilized and uncompatibilized ABS + 4 wt% PP systems. Resilience improvements were obtained for the uncompatibilized system and interactions between extrusion parameters and compatibilizers were noticed.

The effect of adding viscocrete - 1003 on compressive strength of concrete using electric pole waste as a partial replacement of coarse aggregate

The use of aggregate from electric pole waste material is expected to produce concrete with economic value. The study was conducted by an experimental method in the laboratory, utilizing waste electricity poles broken down to the size of coarse aggregates. The use of waste in the concrete mixture is 20% of the weight of the coarse aggregate and to increase the quality of the concrete, the viscocrete-1003 admixture is used in the mixture. The variation of the admixture used was 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% by weight of cement. Mixed planning using the SNI-03-2847-2002 method. The specimen for compressive strength is cylindrical with a diameter of 150 mm and a height of 300 mm. Compressive strength testing is done on 28 days. The results of the study for normal concrete compressive strength on 28 days were 397.71 kg/cm2. Concrete compressive strength using 20% waste aggregate and the addition of viscocrete-1003 of 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% is 427.25 kg/cm2, 469.30 kg/cm2, 506.79 kg/cm2. In general, the higher the percentage of viscocrete-1003, the higher the compressive strength of concrete with a mixture of waste. The admixture of viscocrete-1003 can improve workability, make concrete more flow, and accelerate hardening.

The Energy-Saving Scheduling of Campus Classrooms: A Simulation Model

The energy consumption of buildings is a significant responsibility, although the percentage of building energy usage varies in different countries. It is necessary to improve the energy efficiency of massive instructional buildings in universities. However, no existing attempts have been made to reduce electricity waste as well as consider student occupants' satisfaction during their study time there in the evenings. This article aims to do so due to the low utilization rate of campus classrooms for evening study. We combine students? time habits and seat selection preferences with the modified social force model to conduct simulations for occupant traffic. An improved cuckoo search (ICS) algorithm is adopted to find the threshold conditions of powering on/off classrooms, by which the schedules for classrooms can be found.

Patterns of Resource Use for Tourism Development in Mountainous Communities in Ukraine

The purpose of this article is to identify the problems associated with the tourism resource utilization in mountainous communities of Ukraine. Developing tourism at local level is a priority in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk, especially in the context of decentralization process in Ukraine. A survey was conducted involving the managers of hospitality establishments during the "active" tourist season from July to August 2019. Main parameters selected for this inquiry included the water consumption (in the form of drainage), solid waste disposal, and the quantum of electricity consumed. Data of water consumption (drainage), consumed electricity, and solid waste disposal in the surveyed hospitality establishments reflects proportional growth of the tourism manifesting accommodated tourists, capacity, and category of the hospitality establishments. On priority, identified problems of resource utilization encompass waste management, water supply, sewerage, energy supply and incom ing tourist flows. Quantitative forecasting of environmental load to be exerted by tourism development is necessary when planning resource utilization and livelihood systems of mountainous communities.

Feasibility Study on the implementation of room control automation to realize smart green buildings

Currently, the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is at the highest level. One of the causes is the waste of electricity used. One of the most significant contributors to electrical energy consumption is in the High Rise Building (HRB) sector. This paper proposed an automation system in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, lightings systems, and electronic systems, especially in the guest room area, where electrical energy consumption very much depends on the guest’s behavior. The purpose of the proposed system is to save energy and to realize smart green buildings. The result shows that the proposed system provided an average energy saving of 294.882 kWh per month. This system could save the cost of electricity bills by 21,38% each month. Those results confirmed that the implementation of a room control automation system is feasible to realize smart green buildings.

Airtightness of High-Rises in the North

For the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), effective thermal insulation of buildings is imperative for human comfort and for reducing the leakage of heat through the envelope. To design such insulation, one needs to duly consider the microclimatic specifics in the context of an extreme continental climate. Climate-induced leakage of heat through the envelope results in heat and electricity waste; such leakage is non-acceptable by modern standards. Demand for energy-efficient housing is rising. Thus, improving the thermal insulation of structures is a relevant issue.

Smart Home Light Based Service Oriented Architecture and IoT

The development of technology is very rapid in everyday life, so that it provides benefits for each. One of the advantages is that with technology, users can control electronic equipment which can be done with the smart home application (Smart Home) and from anywhere. This smart home application can help users control household electronic equipment such as lights, air conditioners, TVs, dispensers and others so as to reduce the waste of electricity when users forget to turn off household electronic equipment when traveling outside the house or anywhere. users are located. This research applies the concept of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Internet of Things (IoT) on smart home light by integrating Ras-berry Pi with Python programming, web server (database) with PHP and An-droid programming with Java programming, and in experimental research that will be controlled. is the house light. The results of this research are in the form of a prototype of a home light controller using the IoT concept, web service and the Android SOA Smart home application with 7 buttons to control / monitor lights and this system is integrated with the concept of Service Oriented Architecture which is equipped with a token as system security. Tests have been carried out by controlling house lights remotely using a smartphone via the internet net-work and the results can be controlled properly.

RECOVERY OF COPPER AND SILVER OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS FROM OBSOLETE COMPUTERS BY ONE-STEP ACID LEACHING

Over the years, the generation of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment has been significantly increased, which leads to environmental and economic concerns. Thus, it is fundamental to develop treatment methods for these residues. Printed Circuit Boards are essential components of electronic equipments. In this sense, printed circuit boards are composed of remarkable metals, in particular, copper and silver at high and low concentrations, respectively. These metals can be recovered by the hydrometallurgical process followed by a chemical purification step. Therefore, the aim of this study was to leach silver and copper from two different printed circuit boards (memory board and motherboard) from obsolete computers by hydrometallurgical route based on only one-stage leaching in oxidant media. When compared to the motherboard, a higher recovery rate of Ag was obtained from memory boards 83% and 33%, respectively. Whereas, similar recovery rates of copper were observed for memory board and motherboard, 48% and 46%, respectively.

Production planning of a closed-loop hybrid system on primary/secondary market under WEEE Directive and 2-way substitution

Manufacturers are increasingly interested in the design of hybrid manufacturing/remanufacturing systems in terms of environmental protection and the desire to enhance profits. Furthermore, they have realised the role of the quality characteristics of end-of-life items on the cost of the remanufacturing process. This paper introduces a production planning optimisation model for a hybrid system, which consists of both manufacturing and remanufacturing processes, under a 2-way substitution strategy and stochastic quality characteristics of returned items. A stochastic model, which allows the customers to switch from new to remanufactured products and vice versa, is conducted based on the size of demand in primary/secondary markets. A numerical example is provided to compare the optimal strategies with and without considering the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. Finally, a global sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the impacts of characteristic parameters on the optimal solution. The findings indicate that the high quality of returns can encourage more customers to purchase remanufactured items even without decreasing the expected profit made by the manufacturer. Furthermore, with a high recycling rate, the manufacturer is enabled to extract more reusable components and hence make more profit.

Technoeconomic Assessment of Organic Halide Based Gold Recovery from Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment

Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide, with significant economic value due to the precious metals contained within. Currently, only a small share of the total globally produced quantity produced is treated effectively and a large amount of valuable non-renewable resources are being wasted. Moreover, the methods currently applied in industry on a large scale are not always environmentally friendly. Thus, an economically viable and environmentally friendly method that would achieve high recovery of certain elements is sought. The objective of this paper is to assess four different organic halides as leaching agents for gold recovery from WEEE. Two of them have been previously tested (namely N-bromosuccinimide, NBS, and N-chlorosuccinimide, NCS) and have shown promising results, whereas the other two are novel and were selected due to their lower toxicity levels (trichloroisocyanuric acid, TCICA, and tribromoisocyanuric acid, TBICA). Both commercially supplied pure gold powder and WEEE dust from a recycling company were used as the gold source. Results show that from a technical standpoint, the NBS is a superior solution with both substrates, reaching 61% and 99% extraction efficiency from WEEE dust and pure gold, respectively. The other three methods recorded lower recovery efficiency (with the highest value reaching 36% for NCS, 53% for TCICA and 29% for TBICA). However, taking into account the price of gold and the expenses of the extraction process, only three of the lixiviants tested (NBS, NCS and TCICA) could be potentially profitable and viable on a larger scale.

A Bilevel Programming Location Approach to Regional Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Collection Centers: A Study in China

As one of the largest markets of electronic and electric equipment, China has not completely established the formal recycling system of WEEE compared with the developed countries. As a result, China is facing the huge challenge of resource waste and water/soil environmental pollution. In this paper, according to the current regulations on WEEE recycling and disposal issued by Chinese government, the business model of the Chinese WEEE recycling system was designed, and a bilevel programming-based model was proposed to help the disposal factories to establish the regional efficient and economical WEEE recycling network. This model addressed the optimization of bilateral benefits of disposal factories and the third-party recycling agencies/stations. An experiment based on a regional WEEE recycling business data was solved by the NSGA algorithm to validate the proposed model. With the result, the proposed model was compared with the related studies on Chinese WEEE recycling network planning. With the comparison and the analysis on the experiment result, it was found that the proposed model had considerably stable convergence and optimization performance, which proved that this model can be regarded as a useful tool to the planning of the Chinese regional WEEE recycling network. In the last part, the future improvement of the proposed model was also discussed.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approaches Applied to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): A Comprehensive Literature Review.

The global demand for electrical and electronic equipment has undergone continuous growth in recent years due to the effect of industrialization and technological development. This indicates substantial quantities of e-waste that need to be managed properly to reduce their environmental impact and to avoid inappropriate forms of disposal. The purpose of this paper is to review the most popular multi-criteria decision-making approaches applied to the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment, analyzing how they are used to contribute to the improvement of management strategies along the entire supply chain. For this purpose, a methodological protocol for the collection, selection, and analysis of the scientific literature was applied, identifying 44 papers on which to conduct this study. The results showed that numerous authors have developed multi-criteria approaches, with particular attention to recycling phase. The analytic hierarchy process is the most widespread multi-criteria approach, often coupled with VIKOR, DELPHI, and TOPSIS methods. The numerous decision making criteria adopted cover different reference dimensions: environmental, economic, social, technical, and legal. Considering environmental aspects also in decision making processes means enhancing the relevance of this dimension, as well as encouraging practices that reduce the impact of toxic substances on the environment and living organisms.