Effluents and residues from industrial sites for carbon dioxide capture: a review

The adverse effects of climate change calls for the rapid transformation of manufacturing processes to decrease the emissions of carbon dioxide. In particular, a lower carbon footprint can be achieved by capturing carbon dioxide at the site of emission. Here we review the use of industrial effluents, waste and residues to capture carbon dioxide. Waste include steelmaking slag, municipal solid waste incinerator ashes, combustion fly ash, black liquor, paper mill waste, mining waste, cement waste, construction and demolition waste, waste from the organic industry, and flue gas desulfurization gypsum waste. Capture capacities range from 2 to 800 kg of carbon dioxide per ton of waste, depending on processes, waste type and conditions. Cement waste and flue gas desulfurization gypsum waste show the highest capture capacity per ton of waste.

     

A sustainable sulfate process to produce TiO2 pigments

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a widely used white pigment. TiO₂ production in 2006 was about 1,400,000 metric tons in the USA. The two major processes to manufacture TiO₂ are the chloride process and the sulfate process. Currently, the TiO₂ industry finds the waste generated in the chloride process less than the waste generated in the sulfate process in its present design, despite generating large quantities of process-related carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. As a consequence, the sulfate process appears less economical, notably due to the production of green vitriol, FeSO₄·7H₂O, as a major waste. Here, we describe a more sustainable sulfate process based on an earlier study on thermal decomposition of iron(II) sulfates. In the sustainable sulfate process, FeSO₄·7H₂O waste is used for greener production of sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄, used in turn for the digestion of ilmenite. Theoretical and actual yields of waste byproducts per metric ton of TiO₂ produced are used to show the environmental and economic advantages of the sustainable sulfate process.     

Circular economy strategies for combating climate change and other environmental issues

Global industrialization and excessive dependence on nonrenewable energy sources have led to an increase in solid waste and climate change, calling for strategies to implement a circular economy in all sectors to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Here we review circular economy strategies with focus on waste management, climate change, energy, air and water quality, land use, industry, food production, life cycle assessment, and cost-effective routes. We observed that increasing the use of bio-based materials is a challenge in terms of land use and land cover. Carbon removal technologies are actually prohibitively expensive, ranging from 100 to 1200 dollars per ton of carbon dioxide. Politically, only few companies worldwide have set climate change goals. While circular economy strategies can be implemented in various sectors such as industry, waste, energy, buildings, and transportation, life cycle assessment is required to optimize new systems. Overall, we provide a theoretical foundation for a sustainable industrial, agricultural, and commercial future by constructing cost-effective routes to a circular economy.

     

绿色化学研究与生态环境保护

绿色化学是指利用一系列原理来降低或消除在化工产品的设计、生产及应用中有害物质的使用和产生的科学。它致力于从源头上制止污染物的生成。文章从非传统的绿色原材料、溶剂、试剂、催化剂、安全化学品及合成方法方面综述了绿色化学的研究进展。绿色化学从材料和能源的内在性质上面对生态环境问题的挑战，在分子水平上设计结构及其相关的性质，通过减少内在的危害而使生态系统的发展具有可持续性。发展绿色化学是实现生态环境保护的途径。     

Accounting for Cadmium: Tracking Emissions of Cadmium From the Global Economy

This paper examines the flow of cadmium through the global economy, with the aim of quantifying emissions of cadmium into the environment as a result of anthropogenic activities. First, a materials balance methodology is presented as the most appropriate means of assessing cadmium emissions from a wide range of anthropogenic sources. This is then applied to the best available data, from a variety of sources, to arrive at estimated flows of cadmium. Results are presented for 10 geo-political world regions and for a range of economic activities including non-ferrous metals production, iron and steel production, combustion of fossil fuels, fertilizer manufacture and use, cement production and the manufacture, use and disposal of cadmium containing products. Initially, this analysis partitions the total flow of cadmium into three major categories: atmospheric emissions, water-borne effluents and solid or bulked waste arisings. the paper then suggests a probable further partition of the initial emissions into different environmental media.     

Accounting for Cadmium: Tracking Emissions of Cadmium From the Global Economy

This paper examines the flow of cadmium through the global economy, with the aim of quantifying emissions of cadmium into the environment as a result of anthropogenic activities. First, a materials balance methodology is presented as the most appropriate means of assessing cadmium emissions from a wide range of anthropogenic sources. This is then applied to the best available data, from a variety of sources, to arrive at estimated flows of cadmium. Results are presented for 10 geo-political world regions and for a range of economic activities including non-ferrous metals production, iron and steel production, combustion of fossil fuels, fertilizer manufacture and use, cement production and the manufacture, use and disposal of cadmium containing products. Initially, this analysis partitions the total flow of cadmium into three major categories: atmospheric emissions, water-borne effluents and solid or bulked waste arisings. the paper then suggests a probable further partition of the initial emissions into different environmental media.     

Conversion of plant materials into hydroxymethylfurfural using ionic liquids

The use of fossil fuels now induces two major issues. First, fossil fuel burning is increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations and, in turn, global warming. Second, fossil fuel resources are limited and will thus decrease in the long run. As a potential solution, there is a need for ecological manufacturing processes that convert raw plant materials into chemical products. For instance, raw plants can be directly converted into hydroxymethylfurfural, which is a versatile intermediate for the synthesis of valuable biofuels such as dimethylfuran and 5-ethoxymethyl-2-furfural. This technology has two benefits for chemical sustainability. First, the pretreatment step is eliminated, thus contributing to reduction of CO₂ emissions. Second, plants are sustainable resources versus fossil fuels, which are limited. Here, we review current sustainable technologies for the production of biobased products and hydroxymethylfurfural from plants, using in particular ionic liquids. Plant sources include poplar, switchgrass, miscanthus, weed plants, and agave species.     

利用废弃物煅烧水泥时重金属Pb、Cd的逸放污染

利用废弃物作为代替原料煅烧水泥已广泛应用于水泥生产,但其带来的环境污染问题不容忽视。以利用废弃物生产水泥的厂家为研究对象,采用原子吸收分光光度法检测所采集样品中重金属Pb、Cd的含量,对水泥生产过程中重金属Pb、Cd的逸放及其对周围土壤的污染进行研究。研究结果表明：利用废弃物煅烧水泥的过程中,重金属Pb、Cd的逸放率很高,其中立窑的Pb、Cd逸放率高达84％～90％。湿法回转窑的Pb、Cd逸放率达到63％～74％;在水泥厂上下风向500m、1000m和2000m处采集土壤样品,工厂周围的土壤均已受到不同程度的重金属污染,位于工厂下风向的土壤受到的污染更为严重,距离工厂500m处土壤中重金属Pb、Cd的含量均超过了国家标准的最大限量;对几家工厂员工的头发进行随机取样,头发样品中Pb含量均超过正常限量：     

钢铁工业固废应用于水泥生产的降耗与减排

运用物质流分析法定量比较原生水泥与再生水泥生产过程中的物能代谢和环境负荷,并采用生命周期分析进行环境影响评价。结果表明：生产1 t原生水泥需要的直接物质投入是1.637 t;消耗原煤0.086 t/标准煤,消耗电力0.067 t/标准煤。利用钢铁工业固废生产功能单位再生水泥,可减少资源投入0.16 t;减少能源消耗0.036 t;环境排放SO2减排0.000 2 t;粉尘减排0.001 t;烟尘减排0.000 12 t;NOx减排0.000 34 t;CO2减排0.231 t。水泥生产潜在的各类环境影响中以废气排放引起的温室效应最大;其次依次是酸化效应和不可再生资源消耗;光化学烟雾和人体健康损害在水泥生产过程中的影响都相对较小。与原生水泥相比,再生水泥各环境负荷均呈下降趋势,两者总体环境负荷差值为6.93E-15。研究结果充分说明钢铁工业固废资源化可以明显的降低水泥生产的总体环境负荷,是促进水泥行业循环经济发展的有效手段。     

Air pollution protection by waste amorphous SiO2 utilization in Portland cement production

This papers deals with waste amorphous silica obtained from AlF₃ production. This is a waste material that could be used as additive in cement production. Results are encouraging although there are no large quantities of this material available (about 4000 t/yr). Experiments were performed with the addition of 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10.0% mass of amorphous silica obtained from AlF₃ production. Flexural and compressive strengths of the prepared mortar samples with w/c = 0.50 and with the constant flow were determined. Experiments show that optimal quantity for the amorphous silica addition is 5% of the cement mass.     

The ecological footprint from a systems perspective of sustainability

Summary

The Ecological Footprint (EF) is a method for estimating the biologically productive area necessary to support current consumption patterns, given prevailing technical and economic processes. By comparing human impact with the planet's limited bioproductive area. this method tests a basic ecological condition for sustainability. The ecological footprint has gained popularity for its pedagogical strength as it expresses the results of its analysis in spatial units that can easily be communicated. Many EF estimates have been performed on a global, national and sulrnationallevel. In this paper. we review the method and critically assess it from a sustainability perspective based on first order principles. We examine: ? Which aspects of sustainability are already covered by existing EF assessments;

? Which further aspects ofsustainability could be made accountable through the EF (such as areas needed to assimilate waste streams that are not yet accounted for in present assessments); and

? Those aspects ofsustainability that cannot be accountable through the EF. Thereby needing complimentary auditing tools.

Since the EF is a measure of renewable biocapacity, we argue that some dimensions of ecological sustainability should not be included in the EF. These include human activities that should be phased out to obtain sustainability, such as emissions of persistent compounds foreign to nature and qualitative aspects that represent secondary uses of ecological areas and do not, therefore, occupy a clearly identifiable additional ecological space. We also conclude that the EF is useful for documenting the overall human use or abuse of the potentially renewable functions and services of nature. Particularly, by aggregating in a consistentway a varity of human impacts, it can effectively identify the scale of the human economy by companson with the size of the biosphere.     

Catalytic TiO2 oxidation of ethanethiol for environmentally begnin air pollution control of sulphur compounds

Volatile organic compounds containing reduced sulphur such as thiols and thioethers are released mostly from biological activities and a number of manufacturing processes, such as papermaking and petroleum refining. Environmentally benign and cost-effective air pollution control technology for reduced sulphur compounds is still a topic of research, e.g., in pulp and paper industry. Due to its advantages, photocatalytic oxidation over titanium dioxide presents a potential alternative for the air treatment strategies. The temperature influence on the reaction pathway and kinetics of gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation and thermal catalytic decomposition of ethanethiol over Degussa P25 TiO₂ was established by a continuous flow method in a simple tubular reactor at temperatures from 373 to 453 K. Kinetic parameters for ethanethiol were: adsorption enthalpy −45 kJ mol⁻¹ and activation energy 42 kJ mol⁻¹. Sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, acetic acid and water were identified as by-products.     

Thermochemical conversion of municipal solid waste into energy and hydrogen: a review

The rising global population is inducing a fast increase in the amount of municipal waste and, in turn, issues of rising cost and environmental pollution. Therefore, alternative treatments such as waste-to-energy should be developed in the context of the circular economy. Here, we review the conversion of municipal solid waste into energy using thermochemical methods such as gasification, combustion, pyrolysis and torrefaction. Energy yield depends on operating conditions and feedstock composition. For instance, torrefaction of municipal waste at 200 °C generates a heating value of 33.01 MJ/kg, while the co-pyrolysis of cereals and peanut waste yields a heating value of 31.44 MJ/kg at 540 °C. Gasification at 800 °C shows higher carbon conversion for plastics, of 94.48%, than for waste wood and grass pellets, of 70–75%. Integrating two or more thermochemical treatments is actually gaining high momentum due to higher energy yield. We also review reforming catalysts to enhance dihydrogen production, such as nickel on support materials such as CaTiO₃, SrTiO₃, BaTiO₃, Al₂O₃, TiO₃, MgO, ZrO₂. Techno-economic analysis, sensitivity analysis and life cycle assessment are discussed.

     

Radon Exhalation Rate of Some Building Materials Used in Egypt

Indoor radon has been recognized as one of the health hazards for mankind. Common building materials used for construction of houses, which are considered as one of the major sources of this gas in indoor environment, have been studied for exhalation rate of radon. Non-nuclear industries, such as coal fired power plants or fertilizer production facilities, generate large amounts of waste gypsum as by-products. Compared to other building materials waste gypsum from fertilizer production facilities (phosphogypsum) shows increased rates of radon exhalation. In the present, investigation solid state alpha track detectors, CR-39 plastic detectors, were used to measure the indoor radon concentration and the radon exhalation rates from some building materials used in Egypt. The indoor radon concentration and the radon exhalation rate ranges were found to be 24–55 Bq m⁻³ and 11–223 mBq m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively. The effective dose equivalent range for the indoor was found 0.6–1.4 mSv y⁻¹. The equilibrium factor between radon and its daughters increased with the increase of relative humidity.     

Evaluation of acid production potential of mining waste materials

The formation of acidic effluents from mining waste materials is discussed and the chemisry involved explained. The bacteriumThiobacillus ferrooxidans plays an important role in acid production due to its ability to rapidly oxidize reduced forms of iron and sulphur which can result in the generation of H₂SO₄. The sulphide mineral pyrite (FeS₂), often present in waste materials, is generally recognized as the chief source of acid mine drainage.A small-scale test procedure has been developed which rapidly evaluates a waste material's capability to produce an acidic effluent. If the material is assessed as a potential acid producer, then scale-up testing procedures are available which can be used to simulate the characteristics of the effluents produced from a commercial-size waste dump.During periods of little rainfall, localized biological activity may occur in wet areas of a waste dump, resulting in possible accumulation of soluble pollutants. The length of these dry periods greatly affects effluent characteristics during subsequent rainfalls.     

Carbon dioxide capture under ambient conditions using 2-chloroethylamine

This is the first case applying 2-haloethylamine to CO₂ capture. The prospect of global warming and the urgent need to reduce atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has prompted actions at many levels. The conventional capture of carbon dioxide is predominantly based on chemical absorption using ethanolamine. Recent developments of carbon dioxide capture focus on new materials, such as ionic liquids, zeolites, membranes, carbonaceous absorbents, and metal–organic frameworks. However, no unique solution exists currently to solve the problem of carbon dioxide capture. In order to examine the efficiency of 2-chloroethylamine as an absorbent of CO₂, we treated an aqueous solution of 2-chloroethylamine hydrochloride with CO₂ in the presence of an alkali, e.g., NaOH, under ambient conditions. The absorption was complete within 30 min, seemingly following first-order reaction kinetics. Furthermore, we succeeded in capturing CO₂ from ambient air using 2-chloroethanolamine. The efficiency of 2-chloroethylamine as an absorbent of CO₂ could be attributed to the production of stable 2-oxazolidinone, therefore, this reaction is favored thermodynamically. Compared with previously reported absorbents, this novel system is capable of capturing CO₂ with an extremely high efficiency of 1 mol per mol absorbent under ambient conditions, even from the atmosphere. This potential method could be used to capture CO₂ particularly from small, mobile, or low-concentration emission sources.     

利用废弃物煅烧水泥时重金属Pb、Cd的逸放污染

利用废弃物作为代替原料煅烧水泥已广泛应用于水泥生产,但其带来的环境污染问题不容忽视。以利用废弃物生产水泥的厂家为研究对象,采用原子吸收分光光度法检测所采集样品中重金属Pb、Cd的含量,对水泥生产过程中重金属Pb、Cd的逸放及其对周围土壤的污染进行研究。研究结果表明:利用废弃物煅烧水泥的过程中,重金属Pb、Cd的逸放率很高,其中立窑的Pb、Cd逸放率高达84%～90%,湿法回转窑的Pb、Cd逸放率达到63%～74%;在水泥厂上下风向500m、1000m和2000m处采集土壤样品,工厂周围的土壤均已受到不同程度的重金属污染,位于工厂下风向的土壤受到的污染更为严重,距离工厂500m处土壤中重金属Pb、Cd的含量均超过了国家标准的最大限量;对几家工厂员工的头发进行随机取样,头发样品中Pb含量均超过正常限量。     

Algal biomass valorization for biofuel production and carbon sequestration: a review

The world is experiencing an energy crisis and environmental issues due to the depletion of fossil fuels and the continuous increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. Microalgal biofuels are produced using sunlight, water, and simple salt minerals. Their high growth rate, photosynthesis, and carbon dioxide sequestration capacity make them one of the most important biorefinery platforms. Furthermore, microalgae's ability to alter their metabolism in response to environmental stresses to produce relatively high levels of high-value compounds makes them a promising alternative to fossil fuels. As a result, microalgae can significantly contribute to long-term solutions to critical global issues such as the energy crisis and climate change. The environmental benefits of algal biofuel have been demonstrated by significant reductions in carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur oxide emissions. Microalgae-derived biomass has the potential to generate a wide range of commercially important high-value compounds, novel materials, and feedstock for a variety of industries, including cosmetics, food, and feed. This review evaluates the potential of using microalgal biomass to produce a variety of bioenergy carriers, including biodiesel from stored lipids, alcohols from reserved carbohydrate fermentation, and hydrogen, syngas, methane, biochar and bio-oils via anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and gasification. Furthermore, the potential use of microalgal biomass in carbon sequestration routes as an atmospheric carbon removal approach is being evaluated. The cost of algal biofuel production is primarily determined by culturing (77%), harvesting (12%), and lipid extraction (7.9%). As a result, the choice of microalgal species and cultivation mode (autotrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic) are important factors in controlling biomass and bioenergy production, as well as fuel properties. The simultaneous production of microalgal biomass in agricultural, municipal, or industrial wastewater is a low-cost option that could significantly reduce economic and environmental costs while also providing a valuable remediation service. Microalgae have also been proposed as a viable candidate for carbon dioxide capture from the atmosphere or an industrial point source. Microalgae can sequester 1.3 kg of carbon dioxide to produce 1 kg of biomass. Using potent microalgal strains in efficient design bioreactors for carbon dioxide sequestration is thus a challenge. Microalgae can theoretically use up to 9% of light energy to capture and convert 513 tons of carbon dioxide into 280 tons of dry biomass per hectare per year in open and closed cultures. Using an integrated microalgal bio-refinery to recover high-value-added products could reduce waste and create efficient biomass processing into bioenergy. To design an efficient atmospheric carbon removal system, algal biomass cultivation should be coupled with thermochemical technologies, such as pyrolysis.

     

Kriterien für eine ökologisch nachhaltige Stoff-und Gentechnikpolitik

Based on the precautionary principles and the functional model of the environment, the meaning of the criterion of sustainability is explained and applied on organic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It is shown that the criterion permits the sustainability of an operationalization of the precautionary principle as interpreted strictly and the ecological component records the sustainability for the respective areas of environmental problems. Using examples from the field of chemistry, it has been demonstrated that problems have arisen through the substituted substances which are recognized as being ecologically harmful, since the sustainability was not applied as the central criterion for the environmental evaluation of organic materials. The conventions on ‘Persistent Organic Pollutants’ (POPs) which have been agreed upon provide a chance to revive the research on the sustainability of organic chemicals. Similar findings are seen for the GMOs, whose ecosystemic risks should not merely be defined based upon their human toxicological and already recognized ecological aspects.