Ecodesign for Industrial Furnaces and Ovens: A Review of the Current Environmental Legislation

The increasing global demand for energy- and resource-efficient, environmentally friendly products has led the European Union (EU) to develop a sustainable product policy, incorporating ecodesign legislation and energy labeling as effective tools for promoting energy efficiency and sustainability. Recent European energy policies, such as the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the Ecodesign Directive (EDD), have set new objectives for enhancing energy efficiency. This study focuses on the 2012 Lot 4: Industrial and Laboratory Furnaces and Ovens, Tasks 1–7 Final Report, which informed the European Commission’s 2014 working document for the Ecodesign Consultation Forum on industrial and laboratory furnaces and ovens. The working document proposed initial draft measures and requirements for this product group, aiming to achieve specific energy savings and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. The findings of the investigations on energy consumption and GHG emissions are presented in this work, with draft calculations and projections serving as the foundation for discussions on future measures. The BAT (best available technologies) scenario would result in lower environmental impacts. The initial and indicative draft Lot 4 impact assessment predictions for energy savings demonstrate the positive influence of prospective ecodesign measures in reducing energy consumption. These deliberations will ultimately contribute to the formulation of an official mandatory regulation for industrial and laboratory furnaces and ovens, in line with the EU’s sustainable product policy objectives

Air Pollutant Emission Inventory of Waste-to-Energy Plants in China and Prediction by the Artificial Neural Network Approach

The waste-to-energy (WTE) plant has been deployed in 205 cities in China. However, it always faces public resistance to be built because of the great concerns on flue gas pollutants (FGPs). There are limited studies on the socioeconomic heterogeneity analysis and prediction models of WTE capacity/ FGP emission inventories (EIs) based on big data. In this study, the incinerator level emission factors (EFs) in 2020 of PM, SO2, NOx, CO, HCl, dioxins, Hg, Cd + Tl, and Sb + As+ Pb + Cr + Co + Cu + Mn + Ni were calculated based on 322,926 monitoring values of all the 481 WTE plants (1140 processing lines) operating in China, with uncertainties in the range of ±34.70%. The EFs were significantly 45–96% lower than the national standard (GB18485-2014) and had negative relationships with local socioeconomic elements, while WTE capacity and FGP EIs had significantly positive correlations. Gross domestic product, area of built district, and municipal solid waste generation were the main driving forces of WTE capacity. The WTE capacity increased by 150% from 2015 to 2020, while the total emission of PM, SO2, CO, dioxins, Hg, and Sb + As + Pb + Cr + Co + Cu + Mn + Ni decreased by 42.46–88.24%. The artificial neural network models were established to predict WTE capacity and FGP EIs in the city level, with the mean square errors ranging from 0.003 to 0.19 within the model validation limits. This study provides data and model support for the formulation of appropriate WTE plans and a pollutant emission control scheme in different economic regions

The 2016 Thermal Spray Roadmap

Considerable progress has been made over the last decades in thermal spray technologies, practices and applications. However, like other technologies, they have to continuously evolve to meet new problems and market requirements. This article aims to identify the current challenges limiting the evolution of these technologies and to propose research directions and priorities to meet these challenges. It was prepared on the basis of a collection of short articles written by experts in thermal spray who were asked to present a snapshot of the current state of their specific field, give their views on current challenges faced by the field and provide some guidance as to the R&D required to meet these challenges. The article is divided in three sections that deal with the emerging thermal spray processes, coating properties and function, and biomedical, electronic, aerospace and energy generation applications