Purpose
Alkali-activated materials, also known as geopolymers, are considered promising assets in the sustainable materials industry. Given the excellent properties in terms of thermal stability and ...low thermal conductivity, geopolymer-based matrices can effectively substitute cementitious binders in the preparation of passive fire protection (PFP) systems. The present study aims at evaluating the environmental footprint of a newly proposed geopolymer-based fireproofing material. The results are compared to a reference commercial lightweight cement-based coating with equal PFP performance.
Methods
The boundaries of the system assessed were based on a
cradle-to-grave
life cycle. A preliminary scale-up of the laboratory protocol allowed the evaluation of the industrial production of the geopolymer-based PFP mix. An ancillary life cycle analysis was performed, comparing the environmental footprint of a geopolymer-based concrete block to the relevant literature studies for the same system in order to validate the approach of the present study. The functional unit of the main study was defined, taking into account the material performance in terms of resistance to heat exposure, allowing a functional comparison with lightweight cement-based PFP. The impact assessment phase used the CML-IA methodology as a characterization method.
Results and discussion
The ancillary LCA confirmed the alignment of the assumptions of the current study with previous analyses. The analyzed geopolymer-based fireproofing material exhibited a life cycle impact which is 27% lower than the lightweight concrete reference in terms of the global warming indicator, mainly thanks to the avoided CO
2
emissions from the clinker process in cement manufacturing. Therefore, the greenhouse gas reduction described in previous studies on geopolymer application as a strong environmental advantage of the geopolymer technologies is also confirmed in this case. However, the other considered impact categories, such as resource depletion, acidification, eutrophication, and human toxicity, resulted in indicator values higher than the reference, as a consequence of the energy-intensive production process for the alkali activators (in particular, sodium silicate).
Conclusions
Though the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is confirmed, the overall sustainability of geopolymers for PFP applications is hindered by the relevant environmental footprint of the sodium silicate production process. However, a substantial reduction of the impacts could be achieved by selecting the production process of sodium silicate which takes advantage of renewable energy supplies (e.g., hydrothermal route) or by reducing the amount of sodium silicate in the geopolymer recipe in favor of waste-based alkali activators.
Acid gases as hydrogen halides and sulphur oxides are typical pollutants of combustion processes. Their removal from flue gas can be performed via the injection of dry powdered sorbents, as calcium ...hydroxide. However, the efficiency of dry treatment methods is hindered by the limited final conversion of the solid reactant, due to an abrupt decline of its reactivity during the reaction process. Fundamental gas–solid reaction models such as the shrinking core model and the grain model are able to reproduce this phenomenon only introducing an arbitrary value of the final conversion or an adjustable value of the solid-state diffusivity of the gaseous reactant. In the present study, the conventional grain model approach was integrated with a crystallisation and fracture (CF) submodel, which links the chemical potential of nucleation to the work needed to displace the layer of solid product formed on the reaction interface. The decline in reactivity of the sorbent was accounted by a twofold effect of the product layer growth: (i) the increase of the characteristic length for solid-state diffusion, accounted for in the grain model, and (ii) the increase of the mechanical work required for nucleation as a function of product layer thickness, accounted for in the CF submodel. This approach, validated against literature data on the Ca(OH)2/HCl system, allowed reproducing the conversion of the solid reactant at different operating temperatures.
•A low temperature-dependent final conversion of solid is reported in acid gas dry removal processes.•An improved model was developed for acid gas reactions with dry powdered solid sorbents.•A grain model approach was integrated with a crystallisation and fracture submodel.•The model was validated against literature data on the Ca(OH)2/HCl system.•The model is able to account for the temperature-dependent final conversion of solid reactant.
This perspective article aims to identify key research priorities to make the waste-to-energy sector compatible with the societal goals of circularity and carbon neutrality. These priorities range ...from fundamental research to process engineering innovations and socio-economic challenges. Three focus areas are highlighted: (i) the optimization of flue gas cleaning processes to minimize gaseous emissions and cross-media, (ii) the expansion of process control intelligence to meet targets for both material recovery and energy recovery, and (iii) climate neutrality, with the potential for negative emissions via the removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide across the full cycle of the waste resource. For each area, recent research trends and key aspects that are yet to be addressed are discussed.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to identify direct and indirect environmental burdens associated with products, processes and services. A critical phase of the LCA methodology is the ...collection of representative inventory data for the energy and material streams related to the production process. In the evaluation of new and emerging chemical processes, measured data are known only at laboratory scale and may have limited connection to the environmental footprint of the same process implemented at industrial scale. On the other hand, in the evaluation of processes already established at commercial scale, the availability of process data might be hampered by industrial confidentiality. In both cases, the integration of simple process design techniques in the LCA can contribute to overcome the lack of primary data, allowing a more correct quantification of the life cycle inventory. The present paper shows, through the review of case study examples, how simplified process design, modeling and simulation can support the LCA framework to provide a preliminary estimate of energy and material consumption data suitable for environmental assessment purposes. The discussed case studies illustrate the implementation of process design considerations to tackle availability issues of inventory data in different contexts. By evidencing the case-specific nature of the problem of preliminary conceptual process design, the study calls for a closer collaboration of process design experts and life cycle analysts in the green development of new products and processes.
The recent release of the new European Commission reference document on the Best Available Techniques (BAT) for waste incineration has set ambitious targets for the control of the emission of ...pollutants. However, an improved performance of the existing flue gas treatment systems in waste-to-energy (WtE) facilities is usually associated to an increase of cross-media effects, i.e., additional indirect environmental impacts related to the increased consumption of reactants and to the increased generation of process residues/wastewater in flue gas treatment. The present study introduces an innovative approach to assess cross-media effects deriving from more stringent acid gas emission standards in the WtE sector. By coupling simplified process modelling and life cycle analysis, the proposed methodology links the higher removal efficiency required for flue gas treatment to the impacts related to the reactants supply and waste disposal chain. An application to the Italian WtE sector exemplifies the potential of the method. The results evidence that, in case of HCl emission setpoints lower than 1 mg/Nm3, the reduction of acidifying emissions at the WtE stacks can be offset by the increase of global warming and smog formation impacts in the supply chain of flue gas cleaning reactants. In case of setpoints lower than 0.5 mg/Nm3, even within the acidification category the increase of indirect impacts more than compensates the decrease of WtE emissions. The net environmental benefit is strongly affected by the type of acid gas removal technology adopted, with dry systems typically associated with a larger increase of cross-media burdens when required to perform at higher removal efficiencies.
Display omitted
•An approach to assess cross-media effects of new emission standards is developed.•The proposed methodology is based on the combination of process modelling and LCA.•A case study on acid gas removal from emissions in the Italian WtE sector is presented.•Trade-offs between lower acid gas emissions and higher life cycle impacts are quantified.
•Intensification, retrofitting and revamping strategies for low emissions are compared.•Dry retrofitting is preferred for high SO2, while wet revamping is better for high HCl.•Constraints on ...temperature at stack influence the ranking between alternatives.•Wet revamping is not viable if downstream DeNOx or plume visibility issues are present.•Sensitivity analysis validates the results over ample variations in economic conditions.
Acid gas removal is one of the main drivers of operating costs in the flue gas cleaning lines of waste-to-energy (WtE) plants. In the light of updated technical and normative references, such as the revised Best Available Technology reference document for waste incineration in the EU, plants are required to comply with increasingly lower emission limit values (ELV). In the case of existing WtE plants, this requires selecting the appropriate option among three alternatives: intensification of current operations, installation of additional equipment (retrofitting) or substitution of equipment (revamping). The identification of the most cost-effective solution to meet the new ELVs is thus paramount. In the present study, a comparative techno-economic assessment is performed with reference to the relevant options available to WtE plants equipped with a dry acid gas treatment system, explicitly taking into account the influence of several technical and economic variables by a sensitivity analysis. The results show that retrofitting based on furnace sorbent injection is a competitive option especially in the presence of high acid gas loads in the flue gas. Despite the high investment cost, revamping based on conversion to wet scrubbing can also reduce the overall cost of treatment compared to intensification, but only if no constraints are present on flue gas temperature downstream of the acid gas treatment. If flue gas reheating is needed, e.g., for the compatibility with a downstream DeNOx treatment or to avoid plume visibility at stack, the associated costs make revamping not competitive with retrofitting or intensification. Sensitivity analysis confirms that these findings are robust even in presence of relevant variations in cost entries.
•The life-cycle cost assessment of an urban waste management system (WMS) is modeled.•Real data on waste flows and financial costs/benefits of the regional WMS are used.•External costs and benefits ...of the system are estimated.•The parametric uncertainty analysis investigates contributions to uncertainty.•Scenario analysis shows the capability of the model as decision-support tool.
Effective and efficient urban waste management systems (WMSs) are a cornerstone for a sustainable society. Life cycle costing (LCC) provides a useful framework for the joint analysis of economic and environmental impacts of a WMS, by considering both financial and external costs. The present study applies the methodology of societal LCC to the WMS of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna to provide a case study on how the available information on waste flows and budget costs of a real WMS can be used to obtain an estimate of the total cost of waste management, including externalities.
The results evidence that the main source of negative externality in the analyzed WMS is the transportation of waste, with only a minor role of external burdens due to incinerators and landfills. However, the positive externality resulting from recycling more than compensates those impacts, leading to a net external benefit associated to the WMS.
The contribution of both uncertain unit external costs and environmental benefits imputable to recycled materials to the overall uncertainty of the result is systematically investigated by parametric uncertainty analysis. The most critical parameters in determining the sensitivity of the result are the monetary values attributed to primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions, together with assumptions on energy savings related to recycling.
Eventually, it is shown how the developed LCC model can be used as decision-support tool to preliminarily investigate the implications of alternative management options on the financial and external costs of the WMS.
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