Environmental Management for Sustainable Growth in an Integrated Iron and Steel Plant

The manufacture of steel involves a large number of processing which lead to complex problems of environme-ntal pollution. Coke making and sintering are two of the major areas in so far as pollution is concerned. Slag constitutes the major portion of solid wastes. Waste generation adversely affects productivity and contributes to the high cost of production. It has been shown that improving the efficiency of operation and fuel saving measures help in reducing pollution in steel plants. Utilization of slag, mill scale, sludge and dusts, safe disposal of hazardous wastes and minimization of emissions of CO, C02, 502, NOx, cyanides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), NH3, suspended particulate matters (SPM) etc, are essential steps towards environmental management

Comparative LCA of concrete with recycled aggregates: a circular economy mindset in Europe

[EN] Purpose Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) is the largest waste stream in the European Union (EU) and all over the world. Proper management of C&DW and recycled materials¿including the correct handling of hazardous waste¿can have major benefits in terms of sustainability and the quality of life. The Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC aims to have 70% of C&DW recycled by 2020. However, except for a few EU countries, only about 50% of C&DW is currently being recycled. In the present research, the environmental impact of concrete with recycled aggregates and with geopolymer mixtures is analysed. The aim of the present research is to propose a comparative LCA of concrete with recycled aggregates in the context of European politics. Methods Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is applied using Simapro© software. A cradle to grave analysis is carried out. The results are analysed based on the database Ecoinvent 3.3 and Impact 2002+. Results Results show that the concrete with 25% recycled aggregates is the best solution from an environmental point of view. Furthermore, geopolymer mixtures could be a valid alternative to reduce the phenomenon of ¿global warming¿; however, the production of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide has a great environmental impact. Conclusions A possible future implementation of the present study is certainly to carry out an overall assessment and to determine the most cost-effective option among the different competing alternatives through the life cycle cost analysis.Colangelo, F.; Gómez-Navarro, T.; Farina, I.; Petrillo, A. (2020). Comparative LCA of concrete with recycled aggregates: a circular economy mindset in Europe. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 25(9):1790-1804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01798-6S17901804259Akhtar A, Sarmah (2018) Construction and demolition waste generation and properties of recycled aggregate concrete: a global perspective. 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Feasibility Study on the Production of Sustainable Mortars Packaged with Recycled AAC Aggregates

Building sustainability is one of the current global goals due to the variety and the quantity of the resources consumed in all the construction phases. Mortars – for masonry and plasters applications – are one of the most "produced" and high-impact composite building materials, since they are used both in traditional and modern constructions. Moreover, the production processes of binders and aggregates used to package mortars require the consumption of energy and resources and lead to the management of a huge amount of waste. In order to reduce the environmental weight of the mortars, the scientific world has been focusing, over the last years, on the substitution of natural aggregates with lightweight-recycled ones. Several studies have shown that this substitution improves some performances (thermal insulation and vapour permeability) and decreases other ones (compressive and flexural strength) as a result of the mortars density reduction. Moreover, the variability of recycled-aggregates materials (ceramic, plastic, concrete) and of the composition of mortars allows many different possibilities. However, little is known about the effective convenience of the market placement of these products. The aim of this study is to measure the environmental and economic sustainability of mortars made with natural hydraulic lime and a partial substitution of the natural sand with recycled aggregates from the production waste of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete bricks. These mortars were physically and mechanically characterized in a previous research phase and they were classified according to UNI EN 998-1 and 2. In particular, mortars with 25% by weight of AAC at most were suitable for masonry applications. The present study investigates the synergic possibility of packaging pre-mixes with recycled AAC aggregates in establishments where AAC is produced, moving from the unconventional perspective of the manufacturer. At first, LCA analyses are performed on these scenarios, in order to prove the strong decrease in the environmental impact of both production phases – AAC production, where waste is reduced, and mortar packaging, where the use of natural aggregates is limited – then the research moves to the analysis of the economic sustainability of the implementation of this production line. For this purpose, two cases are considered: an AAC manufacturer who does not produce pre-mixes, and an AAC manufacturer who produces pre-mixes, but does not own machineries to recycle Autoclaved Aerated Concrete bricks. Following a cost analysis related to the introduction of the production line of pre-mixes with recycled AAC in the two cases, hypotheses of market prices for this product are formulated in order to assess its economic sustainability, by performing a market analysis, and verifying the compatibility of the payback periods that derive from the related investments

Eco-Efficient Preplaced Recycled Aggregate Concrete Incorporating Recycled Tire Waste Rubber Granules and Steel Wire Fibre Reinforcement

With increasing world population and urbanization, the depletion of natural resources and generation of waste materials is becoming a considerable challenge. As the number of humans has exceeded 7 billion people, there are about 1.1 billion vehicles on the road, with 1.7 billion new tires produced and over 1 billion waste tires generated each year. In the USA, it was estimated in 2011 that 10% of scrap tires was being recycled into new products, and over 50% is being used for energy recovery, while the rest is being discarded into landfills or disposed. The proportion of tires disposed worldwide into landfills was estimated at 25% of the total number of waste tires, which represents fire hazards and grounds for breeding of disease carrying mosquitoes. Moreover, waste generated during construction and demolition in the United States in 2014 was about 353.6 million tons. This is expected to increase worldwide with ageing civil infrastructure. Recycling tire rubber and demolition concrete as recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) poses technological challenges. Tire rubber tends to float during concrete mixing and placing due to its lower density, while RCA tends to absorb mixing water, causing loss of workability and shrinkage stresses. In the present study, tire rubber and tire steel-wire along with RCA can be preplaced in the formwork, eliminating the problems above. Subsequently, a flowing grout is injected to fill inter-granular voids. This preplaced aggregate concrete (PAC) offers multiple sustainability advantages. It incorporates about 50% more coarse aggregate than normal concrete, thus reducing the demand for cement and the associated greenhouse gas emissions from cement production. The dense granular skeleton of PAC has a unique stress transfer mechanism, which better resists shrinkage and thermal contraction stresses due to the physical contact between granular particles. Moreover, the mixing and pumping energy of concrete and the associated labour are greatly reduced since only the smaller grout fraction is mixed and injected. In this experimental study, 21 eco-efficient preplaced aggregate concrete mixtures were made with recycled concrete aggregate, along with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of scrap tire rubber, and 0%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1.0% of tire steel-wire fibre. The mechanical properties of specimens from each mixture were explored, including compressive, tensile and flexural strengths, elastic modulus, post-crack behaviour, and impact resistance. While tire rubber decreased the mechanical strength and elastic modulus, combined tire rubber and steel-wire fibres provided the preplaced aggregate concrete with superior post-crack behaviour, higher toughness and better impact resistance. The Weibull distribution was found to be an effective tool for predicting the impact resistance of PAC mixtures. It is believed that the proposed sustainable technology of preplaced recycled aggregate concrete incorporating recycled tire rubber and tire steel-wire fibres can offer an eco-efficient construction procedure for pavements, sidewalks, road barriers, and other non-structural concrete. Further refinements, including the use of effective supplementary cementitious materials or geo-polymer grout can further enhance the mechanical strength and overall eco-efficiency of this technology

Sustainability of Concrete as A Civil Engineering Material

With increasing concern about the environment, energy consumption, climate change, and depletion of natural resources, the importance of sustainability has become mainstream among engineering and scientific communities. Concrete infrastructure is superbly durable and comes with a myriad of benefits. Yet, the production of concrete is energy intensive and represents a substantial portion of air pollution. Largely due to cement manufacturing, concrete represents 7% of greenhouse gas emissions globally and 1% in the United States. Focusing on sector-specific emissions in the United States., this paper outlines the environmental concerns of concrete production and discusses the forefront of research in reducing these effects including innovations in cement manufacturing, alternative clinker technologies, and carbon capture use and storage. Also discussed are various approaches and efforts in concrete recycling and incorporation of industrial wastes and supplementary cementitious materials into concrete. Finally, this study reviews the role of civil engineering design at various scales in the sustainability of concrete infrastructure

Molecular Detection of Pathogenic Leptospira and Microbial Source Tracking of Fecal Pollution in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic Leptospira, is endemic to tropical regions. Leptospira is released into the environment through the secretion of urine from animals, making it easily transmissible through water sources. The estuarian environment surrounding the area of San Juan, Puerto Rico and its high density of urban development creates ideal conditions for transmission of Leptospirosis. The goal of this study was to determine the presence of Leptospira in these surface waters and use Microbial Source Tracking (MST) to identify the possible source of pathogenic Leptospira. Eighty-seven water samples were collected during the dry (44) and wet (43) seasons. Phosphorus and nitrogen levels were determined using standard USEPA methods. The level of Leptospira interrogans was determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) targeting the Lipl32 gene. Human (HF183), dog (BacCan-UCD), and horse (HoF597) MST assays were performed to determine the likely sources of fecal contamination at each site. Total phosphorous and total nitrogen exceeded USEPA safety guidelines in multiple locations. Leptospira interrogans was detected in 32% of samples collected in the dry season and was not detected in the wet season. There was a positive correlation (r =0.89) between the presence of L. interrogans and human fecal bacterial MST marker (HF183). The MST also indicated a positive correlation between horse fecal contamination and total phosphorus and total nitrogen. The correlation between L. interrogans gene copies and MST makers warrants further examination of the water quality in the estuaries of San Juan, Puerto Rico due to the possible public health implications

Conversion of industrial wastes into marginal construction materials

The circular economy concept (CE) makes a salient contribution towards resource efficiency through product-life extension, redistribution/reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling as well as re-engineering of organizational processes. The construction industry is renowned for its influence on the attainment of society’s sustainable development (SD) aspirations. As such, there is a need for the industry to embrace CE principles. Yet, the uptake of these principles has not been widely reported in the context of developing economies where greenfield construction activities are burgeoning. This observation gives rise to this study. This article reports on the findings of an investigation into the utility of industrial wastes in the production of marginal construction material. To achieve this objective, a thorough geotechnical evaluation of a selection of readily available industrial wastes such as dolomitic waste (DW), silica fume (SF), and river sand (RS) deployed in different ratios according to the mass percentage of the fly ash (FA) waste to produce FA bricks was conducted. Findings suggest that the utilization of these industrial wastes in the production of FA bricks did not only portray some outstanding characteristics but also showed potential to make salient contributions to society’s sustainable aspirations

The use of municipal solid waste incineration ash in various building materials : a Belgian point of view

Huge amounts of waste are being generated, and even though the incineration process reduces the mass and volume of waste to a large extent, massive amounts of residues still remain. On average, out of 1.3 billion tons of municipal solid wastes generated per year, around 130 and 2.1 million tons are incinerated in the world and in Belgium, respectively. Around 400 kT of bottom ash residues are generated in Flanders, out of which only 102 kT are utilized here, and the rest is exported or landfilled due to non-conformity to environmental regulations. Landfilling makes the valuable resources in the residues unavailable and results in more primary raw materials being used, increasing mining and related hazards. Identifying and employing the right pre-treatment technique for the highest value application is the key to attaining a circular economy. We reviewed the present pre-treatment and utilization scenarios in Belgium, and the advancements in research around the world for realization of maximum utilization are reported in this paper. Uses of the material in the cement industry as a binder and cement raw meal replacement are identified as possible effective utilization options for large quantities of bottom ash. Pre-treatment techniques that could facilitate this use are also discussed. With all the research evidence available, there is now a need for combined efforts from incineration and the cement industry for technical and economic optimization of the process flow