Waste Reduction Algorithm Research Articles

Mass-Integration and Environmental Evaluation of Chitosan Microbeads Production Modified with of Thiourea and Magnetite Nanoparticles

Bioadsorbents based on biopolymers modified with magnetic nanoparticles stand out for being non-toxic, effective, and easy to recover. Thus, the objective of the present work was to carry out a computer-aided environmental evaluation of the industrial-scale production of bioadsorbents from chitosan modified with iron nanoparticles and functionalized with thiourea as a chelating agent plus mass integration. The plant simulation was carried out in Aspen Plus, and for the mass integration of the process, a pinch analysis was used to determine the minimum target fresh and residual water amount, assuming two process stages: (1) the synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles, and (2) the production of chitosan-based bioadsorbents. The environmental assessment was performed using the waste reduction algorithm (WAR). The potential environmental impact (PEI) was quantified, taking into account the impact of the products and energy, obtaining a value below zero of −0.78 PEI/kg of the product. The photochemical oxidation potential (PCOP) stood out as the category with the greatest impact, mainly related to the use of ethanol during washing. The categories related to toxicological impacts (HTPI, HTPE, TTP, and ATP) had lower values than those related to atmospheric impacts (GWP, ODP, PCOP, and AP). The mass integration of the process resulted in fewer impacts in the HTPE category, as a consequence of the decrease in NaOH in the residual streams and the release of 0.297 PEI/kg of product in the ATP category caused by the presence of Al(OH)₃. It can be concluded that the mass integration managed to reduce up to 51% of the freshwater used in the processes, and it is a useful tool, as it slightly decreased the total potential impacts.

Environmental Impacts Assessment in Suspension PVC Production Process Using Computer-Aided Process Engineering

The new demands for sustainable operation in the chemical industry due to increasing environmental regulations and agreements have generated the need to adapt existing processes to more intelligent production. The plastics sector is in a complex position due to its contribution to economic development and the climate crisis. Therefore, environmental assessment has become an important tool due to the benefits it provides by quantifying the environmental performance of processes, allowing it to balance operational and environmental needs. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most globally used polymers thanks to its resistance, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. The polymer is synthetized by suspension polymerization, which is characterized by high productivity and controllability. However, it presents problems associated with intensive energy consumption and the emission of toxic substances and greenhouse gases. Therefore, an environmental assessment of the suspension PVC production process was performed using the waste reduction algorithm (WAR). The potential environmental impact (PEI) was quantified using the generation rate and the output velocity for four cases and three different fuels. It was found that the process transforms raw materials with high impacts, such as VCM, into substances with lower PEI, such as PVC. However, the process has a high generation of PEI due to the effects of energy consumption (−2860, −2410, 3020, and 3410 for cases 1–4, respectively). The evaluation of the toxicological impacts shows that the ATP category is the only one that presents a positive generation value (75 PEI/day); the product contributes to the formation and emission of impacts. The atmospheric categories showed that the energy consumption of the process is the most critical aspect with a contribution of 91% of the total impacts emitted. The AP and GWP categories presented the highest values. It was determined that the most suitable fuel is natural gas; it has lower impacts than liquid and solid fuels (coal). Additionally, it can be concluded that the PVC production process by suspension is environmentally acceptable compared to the polyethylene or polypropylene processes, with output impacts 228 and 2561 times lower, respectively.

A Proposed Methodological Considerations for Sustainable Chemical Process Design

Chemical manufacture is a significant value-added industry in both local and global economies. Along with highly relevant issues such as unsustainable process design, energy consumption, and waste generation linked with the sector, societal issues relating to chemical product health and safety are part of the greater sustainability concerns. There is a need to design a sustainable strategy while ensuring economic stability at the corporate level. Hence, this paper presents a methodological proposal of integrated modelling approach for sustainable chemical process design at early design process. The step of achieving this objective is separated into several parts. The first step is to classify parameters from established tools as a benchmark for sustainability metrics. The next step is to transform quantification value of triple bottom line impact (economic, environment and social) to normalized weightage by using Multi Criteria Analysis. The final stage is to develop alternative in terms of technical optimization of process design. The implementation multimodal Multi Criteria Analysis and optimized process design exhibits significant improvements in sustainability impacts according to the waste reduction (WAR) algorithm.

Technical, Environmental, and Process Safety Assessment of Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol Fermentation of Cassava Residues

The North-Colombian region has enormous potential for producing bioproducts and bioenergy from agricultural residues. Yet, scaling bioproducts and bioenergy to industrial practice requires further investigation, especially for environmental impact minimization and improved process safety. This work assesses two alternatives for valorizing cassava residues via acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) fermentation. Two ABE fermentation routes are assessed. In Route 1, pretreatment and purification involve dilute-acid pretreatment and multi-effect distillation and decantation operations, while Route 2 includes steam explosion and reactive distillation. Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) and Waste Reduction Algorithm (WAR) were applied to assess ABE fermentation. Simulation results indicate butanol yields of 0.10–0.12 kg/kg feedstock and net energy ratio (NER) <1. Route 2 shows the highest total output of Potential Environmental Impacts (PEI) with 5.56 PEI/kg butanol. Both ABE fermentation routes obtained Fire and Explosion Damage Index (FEDI) values above 300 for acetone and ethanol recovery/purification stages. Both routes are classified as “hazardous” considering the flammability of handled substances, and their relative safety performance is remarkably similar. These results pave the way toward deploying both routes for adding value to the cassava residues in North Colombia by applying safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly transformation technologies.

Economic and environmental assessments of a novel integrated process for biomethane production and ammonia recovery from pot ale

The necessity to decarbonise the whiskey distillery industry and minimize environmental pollution has triggered interest in the conversion of co-products such as pot ale into green fuels and chemicals. The disposal of pot ale to the environment creates severe environmental challenges due to its harmful composition. This study assesses the economic and environmental impacts of a novel integrated process for biomethane production and ammonia recovery from pot ale. Two scenarios were comprehensively studied. Scenario 1 includes the alkali pre-treatment, anaerobic digestion (AD) unit and biomethane purification unit. In contrast, scenario 2 introduces an additional gas–liquid stripping unit for efficient ammonia recovery from pot ale. Both scenarios were profitable from an economic standpoint. Scenarios 1 and 2 had a biomethane minimum selling price (MSP) of 142 U.S.$/ MWh and 148.9 U.S.$/MWh respectively. Ammonia produced from scenario 2 is estimated at a minimum selling price of 720 U.S.$/tons. The undiscounted net present value (NPV) of scenario 1 (10.4 million U.S.$) is greater than scenario 2 (6.7 million U.S.$). Also, Scenario 1 had a shorter payback period (PBP) (12.8 years) compared to scenario 2 (14.1 years). A local sensitivity analysis shows that factors such as raw material cost and fixed capital investment influenced the biomethane MSP. The environmental impact assessment of the two scenarios using the waste reduction algorithm confirms the environmental benign nature of the process. The total potential environmental impacts (PEI)/y for scenario 1 with coal as an energy source inside the system is 8494 PEI/y while the use of oil as an energy source produces a lower PEI of 8488 PEI/y.

Intensification of steam reforming process for off-gas upgrading and energy optimization using evolutionary algorithm

H2 production by steam methane reforming (SMR) is an energy-intensive process at high reaction pressure and temperature. The objective of present work is to improve the efficiency of H2 production by optimizing turbine-integrated SMR-coal gasification process (SMRT-CG). The economic analysis of turbine-integrated SMR process (SMRT) was investigated with decision variables, such as flowrate of natural gas, reaction pressure, and turbine discharge pressure. The optimal price of H2 production was competitive after the addition of turbine. Genetic algorithm (GA) together with waste reduction (WAR) algorithm were used to evaluate the environmental impact of optimal SMRT. Optimization by non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) suggested that the total annual profit (TAP) would increase by $1.04 million/y while the effective process exergy loss (ΔExl,eff) would be reduced by 17.4%. Instead of serving as the fuel of SMR furnace, the H2 in tail gas was separated by a pressure-swing adsorption unit. After removing the concentrated CO2, the H2 and CH4 were introduced to a coal gasification plant (CG) to promote the syngas production. Further analysis confirmed that higher H2 formation rate of SMRT-CG process was realized compared to the original CG process due to the chemical looping with the tail gas.

Environmental assessment for production of modified chitosan microbeads with TiO2 and magnetite using waste reduction algorithm (WAR)

En la actualidad, los bioadsorbentes modificados con nanopartículas han tomado relevancia como posible opción en el tratamiento de aguas contaminadas debido a su bajo costo, abundancia natural y alta eficiencia. Se han diseñado procesos a escala industrial para producir microperlas modificadas de quitosano; sin embargo, estos deben ser analizados bajo criterios de sostenibilidad antes de una posible implementación. En este trabajo se evaluó el desempeño ambiental de un proceso a escala industrial usando el algoritmo WAR, que sirva como sustento para posibles proyectos económicos. Se simuló el proceso usando el software Aspen Plus ® para obtener información del proceso como flujos másicos y energéticos. La evaluación se realizó utilizando el software WARGUI. Se cuantificó el Impacto potencial ambiental (PEI) de cuatro casos de estudio mediante cuatro enfoques de impactos. Este análisis arrojó valores negativos en los PEI totales generados y se encontraron valores de tasa hasta 5740 PEI/h para la tasa de PEI de salida. En las categorías toxicológicas no hubo valores apreciables (entre -212 y -1,21 PEI/h) para ningún caso debido a la baja presencia de sustancias tóxicas en el proceso. En las categorías atmosféricas, los PEI se deben mayormente al uso de combustibles. El gas natural tuvo el mejor desempeño ambiental reportando bajos valores para las tasas de PEI de generación y salida (-308, 4970 PEI/h, respectivamente). Debido a lo anterior, es posible afirmar que el proceso tiene un desempeño ambiental aceptable.

An integrated biorefinery approach via material recycle/reuse networks for the extraction of value-added components from shrimp: Computer-aided simulation and environmental assessment

The cleaner production of value-added products from shrimp under biorefinery concept requires the application of mass integration techniques to conserve resources and reduce waste generation. This work aims to develop an integrated approach of shrimp biorefinery using rigorous graphical targeting approach for material recycle/reuse networks. The simulation of the integrated process and the environmental analysis are conducted using Aspen Plus® software and waste reduction (WAR) algorithm to evaluate technical and environmental performance. Targets for minimum fresh resources usage and minimum waste discharge for the network were calculated at 911.18 kg/h and 1546.68 kg/h, respectively. The integrated biorefinery has the capacity to process 469.22 kg/h of fresh shrimp while reducing 56.63% in fresh resources consumption compared with non-integrated approach. The chitin and chitosan production rates were increased up to 3.783 and 3.061 kg/h, respectively, by the material recovery in residual water recycle. The environmental study showed reductions in atmospheric and toxicological categories estimated at 7.8 and 3.48% for potential environmental impacts (PEI) output, while the impacts generated within the process reach values up to 3.51 and 7.97%. The highest impacts were observed for atmospheric categories, being the photochemical oxidation potential the larger contributor. The environmental friendliness of the proposed approach is confirmed by the negative values in PEI generation. The high freshwater savings reveal the potential benefits of incorporating recycle/reuse networks within shrimp valorization strategies for resources conservation.

Development of a biorefinery approach for shrimp processing in North-Colombia: Process simulation and sustainability assessment

Abstract The valorization of wastes based on the circular economy approach is key to cleaner and more efficient production in the shrimp industry. This work introduces a scaled-up technology for the integrated valorization of fresh shrimp under biorefinery concept. To date, no contributions are available in the literature regarding the process simulation and sustainability assessment of a shrimp biorefinery topology. The proposed topology was simulated using Aspen Plus ® software to process 469.22 kg/h of fresh shrimp according to the local production in North Colombia. The desired products were shrimp meat, chitin, chitosan and astaxanthin. The environmental performance of this biorefinery was analyzed using the Waste Reduction Algorithm (WAR), while the process economy was determined through net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI) indicators. The effects of expanding the design capacity on socio-environmental and economic aspects were assessed via the sustainability-extended ROI metric The global production yield was estimated at 600.89 g products/kg fresh shrimp and technical efficiencies per process section up to 92.89%. It was quantified low potential environmental impacts (PEIs) emitted to the media through residual streams as well as negative values of PEIs generation in most toxicological and atmospheric categories. The project was profitable reaching a positive value for NPV and ROI at 13.53%. This shrimp biorefinery topology showed attractive findings from a technical, economic and environmental point of view at design capacities ≥ 275.79 kg meat/h.

Environmental and Exergetic Analysis of Large-Scale Production of Citric Acid-Coated Magnetite Nanoparticles via Computer-Aided Process Engineering Tools.

Considering that functional magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles with exceptional physicochemical properties can be highly applicable in different fields, scaling-up strategies are becoming important for their large-scale production. This study reports simulations of scaled-up production of citric acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4-cit), aiming to evaluate the potential environmental impacts (PEIs) and the exergetic efficiency. The simulations were performed using the waste reduction algorithm and the Aspen Plus software. PEI and energy/exergy performance are calculated and quantified. The inlet and outlet streams are estimated by expanding the mass and energy flow, setting operating parameters of processing units, and defining a thermodynamic model for properties estimation. The high environmental performance of the production process is attributed to the low outlet rate of PEI compared to the inlet rate. The product streams generate low PEI contribution (−3.2 × 103 PEI/y) because of the generation of environmentally friendlier substances. The highest results in human toxicity potential (3.2 × 103 PEI/y), terrestrial toxicity potential (3.2 × 103 PEI/y), and photochemical oxidation potential (2.6 × 104 PEI/y) are attributed to the ethanol within the waste streams. The energy source contribution is considerably low with 27 PEI/y in the acidification potential ascribed to the elevated levels of hydrogen ions into the atmosphere. The global exergy of 1.38% is attributed to the high irreversibilities (1.7 × 105 MJ/h) in the separation stage, especially, to the centrifuge CF-2 (5.07%). The sensitivity analysis establishes that the global exergy efficiency increases when the performance of the centrifuge CF-2 is improved, suggesting to address enhancements toward low disposal of ethanol in the wastewater.

Analysis of environmental impacts and energy derivation potential of biomass pyrolysis via Piper diagram

Biomass is an important renewable resource commonly used to derive energy for various applications. This study analyses the environmental impacts of biomass utilisation and conversion including pyrolysis and bio-oil hydrotreatment. The analysis was performed on 70 biomass samples using process simulation software and Waste Reduction (WAR) algorithm. Results showed that energy content, yield, product distribution and the environmental impacts are highly influenced by the lignocellulosic (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin) and elemental (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen) compositions of biomass. Lignin-dominant biomass is found to produce char-dominant products whilst severely affecting two of the environmental impact categories, and cellulose-dominant biomass contributes mostly to six other impact categories whilst producing oil-dominant products. Hemicellulose-dominant samples produce gas-rich products with mild environmental impacts. Moreover, carbon- and hydrogen-rich samples exhibit positive relationship with higher heating value whilst oxygen-rich biomass have lower heating values. Such correlations were systematically presented on a Piper diagram in order to distinguish the potential and impacts of each biomass sample in pyrolysis. Albeit green, not all biomass samples are environmentally friendly during pyrolysis. The developed Piper diagram provides a straightforward, yet comprehensive, understanding, characterisation and illustration of the potential of biomass in achieving specific engineering, economics and environmental objectives based on fundamental characteristics of biomass.

Computer-Aided Environmental Assessment Applied for Estimation of Ecological Impacts Derived from Topological Pathways Based on Lignocellulosic Biomass Transformation

The growing awareness to include sustainability goals in the chemical process design has been making palpable since many governments and research institutions have made many efforts precisely to progress new ways to transform available resources into valuable chemicals. In this sense, this work is presenting a computer-aided evaluation based on environmental impact assessment and comparison of technical parameters for estimating the potential effects of two biorefinery designs. The first process involved a multiproduct production of acetone, butanol, and ethanol from cassava waste, while the second biorefinery comprised of succinic acid and bioethanol production from a mixture of cassava waste and banana rachis. These residues are highly available in the North Colombia region due to the agroindustrial activities of that zone. The developed environmental analysis employed the waste reduction algorithm (WAR) for estimating impact generation and output rates considering atmospheric and toxicological categories. Otherwise, process simulation of biorefineries showed production of 546.3 kg/h of acetone, 280.0 kg/h of ethanol, and 1305 kg/h of butanol for topology 1, while topology 2 delivered a synthesis of 13,865.7 kg/h of acetic acid and 2277.9 kg/h of ethanol. Data generated from process simulation allowed performing a technical comparison between evaluated biorefineries, showing a higher performance of evaluated indicators for topology 2. These evaluated variables included resource energy efficiency, and production yield, among others. The environmental analysis provided relevant information, indicating that topology 2 is a better alternative from an ecological viewpoint since this design would emit substances with lower effects than topology 1.

Process Analysis of Hydrogen Production via Biomass Gasification under Computer-Aided Safety and Environmental Assessments.

The growing awareness to advance new ways to transform renewable materials for producing clean fuels, under technical and sustainable viability, is evident. In this regard, hydrogen arises as one of the cleanest and energetic biofuels in the market. This work addresses the modeling and evaluation of a biomass gasification topology employing process simulation along with an environmental and inherent safety analysis. The presented pathway considered two renewable raw materials (cassava and rice waste) based on their vast availability in north Colombia regions. We employed Aspen Plus process simulation software to model the process, setting biomasses (and ash content) as nonconventional solids in the software and inclusion of FORTRAN subroutines for handling solid properties. Otherwise, the environmental evaluation was performed applying the waste reduction algorithm (WAR). At the same time, safety assessment involves a comprehensive approach based on the inherent safety index (ISI) and the process route index (PRI) methods. Data generated from the implementation of rigorous process simulation of biomass gasification allowed us to determine the needed aspect for performing process analysis methodologies. Results revealed that this topology generates a total flow of 3944.51 kg/h with more than 97% vol of H2, from the sustainable use of 19,243 kg/h of cassava waste and 15,000 kg/h of rice straw. From the environmental viewpoint, the process showed moderately to a high overall rate of potential environmental impacts (PEIs), with a higher contribution from process sources than energy sources. It indicates that most of the generated impacts would come from self-operation than from the energy supply generation. In the case of process safety, the topology obtained an ISI score of 35, which represents that modeled gasification would operate below 50% of the expected neutral standard for a physical–chemical process. Complementing the safety evaluation, the obtained PRI suggests that compared to other processes, the analyzed topology shows relatively adequate performance considering the nature of this type of process.

Pre-feasibility analysis of the production of mucic acid from orange peel waste under the biorefinery concept

The orange peel waste is essentially an important residue in many countries, representing more a problem than one opportunity. Most of this residue processing is related to low added value products and it includes the generation of other residues. Among new alternatives to valorize this residue during last years a high added value product is the mucic acid. This work addresses the pre-feasibility analysis of the mucic acid production using galacturonic acid from pectin using Orange Peel Waste (OPW) as feedstock through the biorefinery concept. The proposed biorefinery comprises the pectin extraction using citric acid, mucic acid production from the liquid fraction of the pectin hydrolysis, and biogas production using the remaining solid. The experiments for pectin extraction and biogas production were carried out to determine the yields to be used in the process simulation. The material and energy balances of the biorefinery were obtained through the Aspen Plus V9.0 tool. These results were used in the energy, economic, and environmental evaluation. A preliminary environmental evaluation for the process was done with Waste Reduction Algorithm (WAR) software. The experimental pectin hydrolysis and biogas production yields were 0.15 ± 0.77 g/g of OPW, and 0.256 Nm3/kg of OPW, respectively. The technical assessment of the biorefinery shows a good performance. Besides, the economic analysis of the proposed biorefinery exhibited feasibility at a processing scale of 140 kg/h. An economic sensitivity analysis was done varying the raw materials costs. From this, the low influence of the raw materials costs in the economic feasibility of the process was elucidated at different scales. Finally, the environmental analysis exposed that the environmental impact of the exit streams is lower than the impact of feeding streams.

Design, Simulation, and Environmental Assessment of an Adsorption-Based Treatment Process for the Removal of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from Seawater and Sediments in North Colombia

The presence of marine pollution in Cartagena Bay (Colombia) is an alarming environmental issue because of the ecotoxicological properties of contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that may affect the biodiversity of coastal ecosystems. In this sense, there is a need to propose alternatives to remediate the environmental pollution of such bodies of water. The aim of this work was to design an adsorption-based treatment process for the removal of PAHs from seawater and sediments. Two design cases were considered: (i) a base process without a PAH desorption unit and (ii) an alternative process including a PAH desorption unit. Both designs were simulated using Aspen Plus to obtain mass and energy balances. A parametric sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine optimum operating conditions for solvent recovery and treatment efficiency. The pressure and temperature of evaporators were selected as key parameters, as well as PAH loads in the influent. The environmental performance of base and alternative designs was also evaluated via waste reduction algorithm (WAR) methodology. A maximum recovered solvent flow rate was found when the evaporator operates at 56 °C and 0.81–0.83 atm. In addition, the total generation rate of potential environmental impacts (PEI) reported negative values for cases 1, 3, and 4 (−9.80 × 10–1, −9.25 × 10+1, −1.19 × 10+1, and 1.04 × 10+1 PEI/h). The major concern derived from this analysis is the high environmental impacts reached by the photochemical oxidation potential (PCOP) category associated with the use of hexane and acetone as solvents during PAH removal from sediments. In general, both designs of seawater and sediment treatment seem to be an environmentally friendly alternative for marine pollution remediation.

Evaluación ambiental de la producción a larga escala de microperlas de quitosano modificadas con tiourea como alternativa de valorización de residuos en el sector camaronicultor

La generación de residuos durante el procesamiento del camarón es un alarmante problema de salud pública y medioambiental, lo que ha motivado a la búsqueda de alternativas de valorización de estos residuos tal como la producción de quitosano. Debido a sus múltiples propiedades, este biopolímero ha sido utilizado en diferentes sectores como el farmacéutico, tratamiento de aguas y biomedicina. En esta investigación, se realizó la simulación y evaluación ambiental de un proceso químico enfocado en la conversión de quitosano a partir del exoesqueleto de camarón hacia microperlas de quitosano modificadas con tiourea. Para ello, se utilizó el software de simulación Aspen Plus® y el algoritmo de reducción de residuos (WAR). Cuatro casos fueron considerados referentes a las contribuciones de energía y productos. El rendimiento de producción de las microperlas (MPs) fue de 2 kg MPs-Tiourea/kg quitosano. La evaluación ambiental mostró que el caso 3 alcanzó el valor más alto para impactos totales de salida (1.23×10+3 PEI/h), seguido por el caso 2, caso 1 y caso base. Se concluyó que la contribución de energía es menor a la del flujo de productos y que el proceso es amigable con el medio ambiente para las categorías de impactos atmosféricos y toxicológicos.

Techno-economic and life-cycle assessment of integrated Fischer-Tropsch process in ethanol industry for bio-diesel and bio-gasoline production

The Fischer-Tropsch process is less complex and more environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based fuels. With growing interest in biomass-to-fuel conversion like the production of bioethanol, there is a steady supply of unfermentable biomass from bioethanol industries, which can be gasified and converted to Fischer-Tropsch syncrude. In this work, the economic and ecological feasibility of integrating a Fischer-Tropsch process using syngas obtained from the gasification of dry distillers’ grain is explored. Data from a lab-scale experiment using pelletized promoted iron supported on Carbon Nano Tubes (Fe/CNT) is used to simulate a plant for the production of 1000 kg of syncrude/h. The techno-economic feasibility of setting up a Fischer-Tropsch process is explored based on chemical engineering plant cost index of 628.2. An internal rate of return of 107.9% was obtained with a net annual profit of 5.2 MUSD/year which is higher than those reported for other Fischer-Tropsch plants due to the readily availability of the feedstock without any associated transportation costs. The potential environmental impact of the Fischer-Tropsch fuels was evaluated by the WAste Reduction (WAR) algorithm and suggested that the integration of the Fischer-Tropsch process into the bio-ethanol production plant is environmentally benign.

Environmental sustainability analysis of chitosan microbeads production for pharmaceutical applications via computer-aided simulation, WAR and TRACI assessments

In recent decades, pharmaceutical uses of chitosan microbeads have been identified owing to their low toxicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, many contributions have limited such microbeads preparation to lab-scale and there are no works reported in the literature about the scaling-up of chitosan microbeads production. To fill the knowledge gap, this research attempts to simulate and evaluate the environmental performance of large-scale production of chitosan microbeads under sustainability concept using computer-aided process engineering (CAPE). The extended energy and mass balances were provided by process simulation using the commercial software Aspen Plus ®. The environmental assessment was performed through two computer-aided tools: waste reduction (WAR) algorithm and Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other Environmental Impacts (TRACI). Results reported negatives values for total generation rate of Potential Environmental Impacts (PEI) (−1.16 × 10+2, −9.25 × 10+1, −1.00 × 10+2 and −7.66 × 10+1 PEI/hr) and highest total output rate of PEI for cases 4 and 3 (considering energy flows contributions). For TRACI tool, potential environmental impacts were low, however, the freshwater ecotoxicity potential for freshwater emissions was higher (6.03E+02 CTUeco/hr) than for natural soil emissions (1.55E+02 CTUeco/hr). These results showed good environmental performance of the process and can be used as a benchmark in the production of more environmental-friendly chitosan microbeads at large-scale.

Exploring the effectiveness of value stream mapping: a case study in Malaysian small sized industry

Little is known about the effectiveness of value stream mapping (VSM) in the Malaysian small sized industries and how this tool be exploited as process planning for enterprises. To bridge this gap, this paper critically deliberates relevant issues that face industries; and focuses on awareness level, which affects the successful implementation of VSM. To better understand these issues a case study was conducted focusing on the manufacturing sector. Hence, the methodology adopted in this paper originates from the studies based on previous related theories and researches as well as through gathering information and case study approach. Both the current and future state VSM are investigated. Findings show that industries are well aware of VSM implementation and the contribution of these towards increasing the productivity and performance of the department and the company as a whole. Additionally, the result from the case study conducted shows that it is potential for the company to reduce the process time of the product up to 28% when they implement the future-state VSM and most of them are by waste reduction algorithm.

Exploring the Effectiveness of Value Stream Mapping: A case study in Malaysian small sized industry

Little is known about the effectiveness of value stream mapping (VSM) in the Malaysian small sized industries and how this tool be exploited as process planning for enterprises. To bridge this gap, this paper critically deliberates relevant issues that face industries; and focuses on awareness level, which affects the successful implementation of VSM. To better understand these issues a case study was conducted focusing on the manufacturing sector. Hence, the methodology adopted in this paper originates from the studies based on previous related theories and researches as well as through gathering information and case study approach. Both the current and future state VSM are investigated. Findings show that industries are well aware of VSM implementation and the contribution of these towards increasing the productivity and performance of the department and the company as a whole. Additionally, the result from the case study conducted shows that it is potential for the company to reduce the process time of the product up to 28% when they implement the future-state VSM and most of them are by waste reduction algorithm.