Search results for "Industrial ecology"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
Influence of Material-Related Aspectsof Additive and Subtractive Ti-6Al-4VManufacturing on Energy Demandand Carbon Dioxide Emissions
2017
The additive manufacturing of metal parts represents a promising process that could beused alongside traditional manufacturing methods. The research scenario in this field isstill largely unexplored, as far as the technological solutions adopted to integrate differentprocesses are concerned and in terms of environmental and economic impact assessment.In this article, an electron beam melting (EBM) process and a machining process have beenanalyzed and compared using a cradle-to-grave life cycle–based approach. The productionof components made of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy has been assumed as a case study. Theproposed methodology is able to account for all of the main factors of influence on energydem…
Optimal design of flax fiber reinforced polymer composite as a lightweight component for automobiles from a life cycle assessment perspective
2019
The present study combines the generalized rule-of-mixture (ROM) model and the Ashby material selection method for the life cycle assessment (LCA) of flax fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) and glass FRPs (GFRPs). The ROM model allows life cycle environmental impact predictions according to specific parameters of flax FRPs such as fiber format, volume fraction, manufacturing technique, and load-bearing capacity. The comparisons applied in this study are constructed on two common composite structures: mat panels and injection molded struts with equal stiffness and strength as the design criteria. On the one hand, the parametric LCA predicts that the equal strength design criterion for flax FRP…
Completing the industrial ecology cascade chain in the case of a paper industry - SME potential in industrial ecology
2000
The concept of industrial ecology (IE) adopts the ecosystem principle of roundput in human industrial systems as the emphasis is on the utilization of wastes between different industrial actors. IE faces new challenges, as the emission and waste structures of the industrial world are continuously changing and the importance of the latter steps of the industrial material flows, i.e. the ‘consumption emissions’, is increasing. There is also a lack of waste processors and handlers in these latter steps. This paper considers the IE thesis by focusing on the cascade chain of the paper industry. It is suggested here that SMEs can serve as potential participants in industrial ecosystems, for examp…
Ciencia de la sostenibilidad: un nuevo campo de conocimientos al que la química y la educación química están contribuyendo
2013
Los dominios de conocimiento más diversos contribuyen actualmente al tratamiento de problemas socioambientales. Se han publicado muchos artículos y libros en los campos de Química Verde, Ecología Industrial, Ingeniería Ambiental, Economía Verde (baja en carbono), Educación Ambiental, etc. Pero hace poco se entendió que estas contribuciones son insuficientes y que necesitamos una Ciencia de Sostenibilidad que los integra a todos. Este documento estudia el surgimiento de este nuevo campo de conocimiento e investigación, cuyo objetivo explícito es contribuir a la transición a una sociedad sostenible. The most diverse knowledge domains are currently contributing to the treatment of socio-enviro…
Environmental management of granite slab production from an industrial ecology standpoint
2014
Abstract The granite production chain is high energy and water intensive with low resource efficiency. This paper focus on characterizing the potential for environmental improvement of the granite production chain by promoting the optimization of sawing technology, the implementation of rainwater harvesting (RWH) and the material recovery of wasted granite (sludge). The environmental performance of multi-blade gangsaw (MBGS) and diamond multi-wire saw (DMWS) technologies is compared by mean of life cycle assessment. Results demonstrate that DMWS technology contribute 30% of water savings, 40% of energy savings and 80% of material savings per square meter of polished granite tiles (60 x 40 x…
Industrial ecology of the paper industry
1999
Industrial ecology (IE) is a biological concept applied to industrial structures. The basic concepts of IE include regional, intra-firm and product-based waste recycling systems as well as the principle of upward and downward cascading. In best current examples of regional systems, several parties are in an industrial waste re-use symbiosis. Paper industry has learned to arrange the recovery and re-use of its products on distant markets, even up to a level where indications of exceeding optimal recovery and re-use rates already exist through deteriorated fibre and product quality. Such occurrences will take place in certain legislative-economic situations. Paper industry has many cascade le…
Multidiscipline LCA application to an experience of industrial symbiosis in South of Italy
2007
The paper presents an application of the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) to the planning and environmental management of an “eco-industrial cluster.” A feasibility study of industrial symbiosis in southern Italy is carried out, where interlinked companies share subproducts and scraps, services, structures, and plants to reduce the related environmental impact. In particular, the research focuses on new recycling solutions to create open recycling loops in which plastic subproducts and scraps are transferred to external production systems. The main environmental benefits are the reduction of resource depletion, air emissions, and landfilled wastes. The proposed strategies are also economically v…
Economic Allocation in Life Cycle Assessment The State of the Art and Discussion of Examples
2012
Summary This article examines methods for analyzing allocation in life cycle assessment (LCA); it focuses on comparisons of economic allocation with other feasible alternatives. The International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) guideline 14044 indicates that economic allocation should only be used as a last resort, when other methods are not suitable. However, the LCA literature reports several examples of the use of economic allocation. This is due partly to its simplicity and partly to its ability to illustrate the properties of complex systems. Sometimes a price summarizes complex attributes of product or service quality that cannot be easily measured by physical criteria. On th…
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT-DRIVEN SELECTION OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY STRATEGIES
2010
The paper presents an application of the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) to the planning and environmental management of an ‘‘eco-industrial cluster.’’ A feasibility study of industrial symbiosis in southern Italy is carried out, where interlinked companies share subproducts and scraps, services, structures, and plants to reduce the related environmental impact. In particular, the research focuses on new recycling solutions to create open recycling loops in which plastic subproducts and scraps are transferred to external production systems. The main environmental benefits are the reduction of resource depletion, air emissions, and landfilled wastes. The proposed strategies are also economically…
Industrial ecology and sustainable change: inertia and transformation in Mexican agro-industrial sugarcane clusters
2021
This article explores the capacity of industrial ecology to generate sustainable development in Latin America’s agro-industrial clusters. An evolutionary analytical approach is outlined, which is u...