The steelmaking processes are considered extremely energy-intensive and carbon-dependent processes. In 2018, it was estimated that the emissions from global steel production represented 7–9% of ...direct emissions generated by fossil fuels. It was estimated that a specific emissions value of 1.8 tCO2 per ton of steel was produced due to the carbon-dependent nature of the traditional blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route. Therefore, it is necessary to find an alternative solution to the BF-BOF route for steel production to counteract this negative trend, resulting in being sustainable from an environmental and economic point of view. To this concern, the objective of this work consists of developing a total cost function to assess the economic convenience of steelmaking processes considering the variability of specific market conditions (i.e., iron ore price, scraps price, energy cost, etc.). To this purpose, a direct reduction (DR) process fueled with natural gas (NG) to feed an electric arc furnace (EAF) using recycled steel scrap was considered. The approach introduced is totally new; it enables practitioners, managers, and experts to conduct a preliminary economic assessment of innovative steelmaking solutions under market uncertainty. A numerical simulation has been conducted to evaluate the profitability of the investment considering the economic and environmental costs. It emerged that the investment is profitable in any case from an economic perspective. On the contrary, considering the environmental costs, the profitability of the investment is not guaranteed under certain circumstances.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
ABSTRACTThe link between digital evolution and environmental sustainability is reshaping how companies enhance their processes, contributing to address circular manufacturing (CM). The extant ...literature does not explain how to improve the tire production process to limit environmental negative impacts, which are its most critical phases, which Industry 4.0 technologies could be exploited and how they could intervene in the process to facilitate effective data management. This research proposes a framework indicating how digital technologies could support tire producers in reducing the ecological footprint of their operations. The proposed framework addresses ISO 14,046 and 14,067 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications. Digital twin (DT) was chosen as the most suitable technology. The related framework was further detailed according to data-driven CM principles, providing the set of sensors to be embedded on the production process and defining the data and information to be gathered through them to address the requested ISO certifications.
In the last decays, manufacturing systems evolved to meet the high product variety required by the market. Different products can be manufactured in the mixed‐model assembly lines, with an increase ...in the process complexity. In these production systems, the required flexibility is mainly provided by operators in the final assembly stages. Here, human errors could lead to high economic losses. A lack is observed in available research concerning a formal quantification of manufacturing complexity considering the joint effect of shape complexity and similarity in the mix variety. This paper focuses on operator decision‐making in 2D object recognition tasks, since this is the most critical task performed in mixed model assembly systems. A novel model to quantify the information content in 2D object recognition task is proposed. The model is based on the Shannon's Entropy theory and considers both shape complexity and object similarities. Numerical experiments are provided, and results obtained show the effectiveness of the model in capturing the joint effect of shape complexity and similarities on the task information content. The proposed model can be adopted in a production environment for re‐allocating tasks/sub‐tasks to avoid the high amount of information to be processed affecting operators' performance.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the best Material Handling Equipment (MHE) to minimize the carbon footprint of inbound logistic activities, based on the type of the warehouse (layout, ...facilities and order-picking strategy) as well as the weight of the loads to be handled.
Design/methodology/approach: A model to select the best environmental MHE for inbound logistic activities has been developed. Environmental performance of the MHE has been evaluated in terms of carbon Footprint (CF). The model is tested with a tool adopting a VBA macro as well as a simulation software allowing the evaluation of energy and time required by the forklift in each phase of the material handling cycle: picking, sorting and storing of the items.
Findings: Nowadays, it is not possible to identify ‘a priori’ a particular engine equipped forklift performing better than others under an environmental perspective. Consistently, the application of the developed model allows to identify the best MHE tailored to each case analyzed.
Originality/value: This work gives a contribution to the disagreement between environmental performances of forklifts equipped with different engines. The developed model can be considered a valid support for decision makers to identify the best MHE minimizing the carbon footprint of inbound logistic activities.
Buildings are the largest urban energy consumers, but their impact can be largely cut back by improving efficiency. Policy-making plays a crucial role in harmonizing national and local incentive ...schemes. The authors analyse variables related to energy consumption, then propose a simulation model based on System Dynamics applied to a medium-sized Italian city. The model allows the testing of “what-if” scenarios and analysis of the results of implementing energy efficiency policies. Results stress the importance of a holistic view of urban energy processes. Simulation trends provide essential information for the city's future energy and carbon emission profiles, helping policymakers to achieve their goal.
This book introduces new inventory models to support decision-making when cost of externalities are jointly considered along with costs of logistics. Internalization of cost of externalities gives ...rise to new logistics costs estimates and functions which managers, researchers, lecturers and students should refer in facing with logistics issues. This book focuses on freight transports of industrial production systems. Logistics play a key role for industries since it reveals a critical function designed and managed to pursue economic goals. A large amount of literature is available providing models, which can be used to minimize logistic costs. However, these models usually neglect externalities.New Models for Sustainable Logistics: Internalization of External Costs in Inventory Management is comprised of three chapters. Chapter 1 provides a taxonomy of external costs figures as well as data set enabling the reader to perform reliable estimates of freight transport external costs. To this purpose, a full scale case study is developed. Chapter 2 describes a new sustainable inventory management model whose cost functions include externalities. The classical 'Economic Order Quantity' model is re-formulated and the new concept of Sustainable Order Quantity (SOQ) is defined. Finally, in Chapter 3 the SOQ model is formulated for different inventory management applications referred to both deterministic and stochastic production environments. Numerical examples are also provided.
The Internet of Things (IoT) provides new opportunities to improve manufacturing lines' performance and in-plant logistic processes. The digital milk-run system represents the new frontier to ...optimize material handling strategies but is still not fully exploited to address material distribution depending on the time slots required by the manufacturing lines. Therefore, to fill this gap, this paper investigates the actual integration of the milk-run system with an IoT system. An analytical model for planning a dynamic routing strategy for tugger trains to deliver the materials to different workstations of a production line has been developed. The proposed model provides a materials distribution consistent with the time slot required by the manufacturing line, ensuring the minimisation of the total distance of the routes. An algorithm developed in Python is proposed to solve the NP-hard problem (nondeterministic polynomial time problem). The model has been applied to a real case of a worldwide automotive company to validate and prove its efficacy and efficiency. Indeed, compared to the current in-plant logistic strategy, (i) the inventory stock of each workstation was ensured, (ii) the average utilization rate of the tugger trains' fleet was improved, and (iii) the daily path was minimized.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
In the present context of global decarbonization, the steelmaking sector plays a key role. It is indeed one of the so-called hard-to-abate sectors. The high emissions from steelmaking depend on the ...use of the Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) route, which generates 1.8 tCO2eq per ton of Liquid Steel (LS). The production of direct reduced iron (DRI) to power an electric arc furnace is currently the most adopted solution to achieve the decarbonization goals. This alternative, based on the use of natural gas, offers a decarbonization potential of about 34% compared to the BF-BOF route. The most promising alternative, however, consists of using electrolysis-based hydrogen (H2) to produce DRI. This solution would drastically reduce direct and indirect process emissions but requires a radical energy transition. In the current transition phase, waste-based H2 production routes could be attractive, but their potential need to be evaluated with respect to the steelmaking process. To this concern, the objective of the present work is to assess the decarbonization potential of three waste-based H2 production routes (i.e., gasification, incineration and anaerobic digestion-based) with respect to the electrolysis-based steelmaking route. An environmental analytical model was therefore developed to evaluate the total (i.e., direct, indirect, and avoided) greenhouse gases emissions associated with the production of 1 ton of LS by employing the different routes. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to understand the benefit provided by each waste-based H2 alternative in the current energy transition phase. The results obtained confirmed the need for radical emission reductions from electricity generation to make electrolysis-based H2 production environmentally favorable and revealed a high decarbonization potential for waste-based routes in the current energy transition phase.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
During the last years, due to the strict regulations on waste landfilling, anaerobic digestion (AD) of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is increasingly considered a sustainable ...alternative for waste stabilization and energy recovery. AD can reduce the volume of OFMSW going to landfill and produce, at the same time, biogas and compost, all at a profit. The uncertainty about the collected quantity of organic fraction, however, may undermine the economic-financial sustainability of such plants. While the flexibility characterizing some AD technologies may prove very valuable in uncertain contexts since it allows adapting plant capacity to changing environments, the investment required for building flexible systems is generally higher than the investment for dedicated equipment. Hence, an adequate justification of investments in these flexible systems is needed. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at investigating how different technologies may perform from technical, economic and financial standpoints, in presence of an uncertain organic fraction quantity to be treated. Focusing on two AD treatment plant configurations characterized by a technological process with different degree of flexibility, a real options-based model is developed and then applied to the case of the urban waste management system of the Metropolitan Area of Bari (Italy). Results show the importance of pricing the flexibility of treatment plants, which becomes a critical factor in presence of an uncertain organic fraction. Hence, it has to be taken into consideration in the design phase of these plants.
Energy production from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste is widely recognized as a social and environmental opportunity, since it allows reducing waste disposal and making waste management ...economically profitable. However, profitability of these plants is strongly affected by the quantity and the quality of wastes, as well as by the availability of local subsidies. The key role of incentive policies in the economic success of investments in biomass to energy plants is highly recognised and has led European Union (EU) governments to promote the deployment of these plants. Incentive policies adopted in EU countries differ significantly. In this paper, an evaluation model based on cost-benefit analysis is developed in order to identify the production-based incentive rates making investments in anaerobic digestion plant economically feasible without reducing social and environmental positive impacts. The model has been applied to the case of energy production plants from anaerobic digestion of cattle manure. In order to investigate the influence of the plant size on the investment profitability, different waste collection areas have been considered. Environmental performances of the plants have been evaluated by adopting a life cycle assessment approach. Results obtained confirm the environmental benefits achievable through the energy production from the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure. However, the current production-based incentive rates provided in most EU Countries revealed an inadequate balance between private and public interest, since they make profitable the investments only in case of small plants.
•Sustainability of biomass to energy (electrical, thermal) projects is investigated.•Projects differ in collection area extent and plant size.•Projects are not sustainable in absence of public incentive policies.•EU incentive rates are inadequate in case of biomass transport distance exceeds 30 km.•Environmental benefits increase with collection area extent and plant size.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
