Mass Balance as Green Economic and Sustainable Management in WEEE Sector

Abstract This study investigates the treatment procedures of the Large House Hold Appliance to describe the production of secondary raw material within the Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) sector in step with the Circular Economy model. Drawing on the modern accounting system, the project developed a perspective, which highlights accounting technologies (i.e. Environmental Accounting, sustainable performance indicators, Mass Balance) as new adaptive management tools for sustainable firms. The theoretical arguments shown by a longitudinal case study proposes a conceptual framework of the e-waste manage within treatment plants in the Sicilian context. The results demonstrate a percentage analysis by waste fraction of all materials recovered which can be re-use. Then, the recognition of critical raw materials identifies the end of west in implementing a competitive advantage for business growth

ground source heat pump systems in historical buildings two italian case studies

Abstract Reducing the energy demand of buildings has become one of the key points of the European Union. The issue related to the air conditioning of old and historical buildings is nowadays one of the most important field of operation for the primary energy saving and, at the same time, for the reduction of the CO 2 emission. The recent development of heat pump able to rise the supply of high temperature at the condenser side makes this technology suitable for the application also in historical buildings that are characterized by low thermal insulation and high thermal capacitance. In this context, the ground source heat pump systems can be used for both heating and cooling. The aim of this work is to analyze the thermal behavior of two historical buildings located in Italy, in Venice and Florence respectively. Detailed computer simulations of the buildings have been carried out by means of a transient calculation tool TRNSYS. Energy simulations of GSHP systems have been performed and a comparison with a common plant system using a gas boiler for heating and air-to-water chiller for cooling has been carried out

EU project "Cheap-GSHPs": the geoexchange field laboratory

Abstract The Molinella test site is the open-air laboratory of the EU project entitled "Cheap-GSHPs: Cheap and Efficient Application of Reliable Ground Source Heat Exchangers and Pumps". Here, innovative helical heat baskets and steel coaxial probes are installed next to the traditional double-U. The tests involve the probes design as well as materials and drilling techniques and machines, therefore the newly developed GSHEs can be directly compared with the traditional ones with respect to technical issues and energetic performances. The Molinella test site therefore represents a very extraordinary possibility to improve the knowledge of heat transfer processes in shallow geo-exchange systems

Post-operative acute urinary retention after greenlight laser. Analysis of risk factors from a multicentric database

Purpose: Greenlight laser is a mini-invasive technique used to treat Benign Prostatic Obstruction (BPO). Some of the advantages of GreenLight photoselective vaporization (PVP) are shorter catheterization time and hospital stay compared to TURP. Post-operative acute urinary retention (pAUR) leads to patients' discomfort, prolonged hospital stay and increased health care costs. We analyzed risk factors for urinary retention after GreenLight laser PVP. Materials and methods: In a multicenter experience, we retrospectively analyzed the onset of early and late post-operative acute urinary retention in patients undergoing standard or anatomical PVP. The pre-, intra- and post-operative characteristics were compared betweene patients who started to void and the patients who developed post-operative urinary retention. Results: The study included 434 patients suitable for the study. Post-operative acute urinary retention occurred in 39 (9%). Patients with a lower prostate volume (P < .001), an adenoma volume lower than 40 mL (P < .001), and lower lasing time (P = .013) had a higher probability to develop pAUR at the univariate analysis. The multivariate logistic regression confirmed that lower lasing time (95% CI: 0.86-0.99, OR = 0.93, P = .046) and adenoma volume (95% CI: 0.89-0.98, OR = 0.94, P = .006) are correlated to pAUR. Furthermore IPSS ≥ 19 (95% CI: 1.19- 10.75, OR = 2.27, P = .023) and treatment with 5-ARI (95% CI: 1.05-15.03, OR = 3.98, P = .042) are risk factors for pAUR. Conclusion: In our series, post-operative acute urinary retention was related to low adenoma volume and lasing time, pre-operative IPSS ≥ 19 and 5-ARI intake. These data should be considered in deciding the best timing for urethral catheters removal

A data base for European climatic data for energy potentials and mapping

Climatic data may be very important for determining the use of heating and cooling of buildings. At the same time, they are the basic for determining the ground temperature in the different locations, as well as for determining the potential of using geothermal energy. For promoting the diffusion of GSHP (Ground Source Heat Pumps), a tool for sizing these systems will be carried out in the H2020 research project named \u201cCheap- GSHPs\u201d. The paper presents the set up of a consistent data base of weather conditions for the tool which will be used by both expert technicians and also non expert users. The sets of data have been collected by the TRY data base of Energyplus files (EPW) as well as some weather files of Meteonorm. The different locations have been labelled in terms of DD for heating and cooling as well as by the K\uf6ppen -Geiger scale. The work presents a classification of weather conditions in Europe, in order to help the user in selecting the weather conditions which are closest to the location of interest. The data base will be used in the selection tool which will be developed in the second step of the H2020 project

Definition of standardized energy profiles for heating and cooling of buildings

For promoting the diffusion of GSHP (Ground Source Heat Pumps) a tool for sizing these systems will be carried out in the H2020 research project named \u201cCheap GSHPs\u201d. The paper presents the set up of a database with energy profile of a certain amount of buildings representative of the typology (single family houses, block of flats, office buildings) with different insulation levels and in different climatic conditions. Based on the weather analysis among European climatic files, twenty locations have been considered. For each location the overall energy and the mean hourly monthly energy profiles for heating and cooling (sensible and latent) have been calculated. Based on the results, the correlations with Degree Days (DD) for heating and cooling have been found in order to generalize the results to have pre-calculated profiles for sizing GSHP