Search results for "Recycling"

Towards the implementation of circular economy in the water softening industry: A technical, economic and environmental analysis

2020

Abstract To reduce the environmental impact of the industrial sectors, circular strategies should be implemented to purify the effluents and recover raw materials. In this context, a novel integrated methodological approach is proposed to identify the most suitable strategy to improve the sustainability of the water softening industry via the treatment and recycling of the produced wastewater. Different concentration technologies and energy supply systems are compared to find economically feasible and environmentally friendly treatment systems. The investigated chains present the same pre-treatment step (nanofiltration and crystallization) and different concentration technologies: Multi-Eff…

Techno-economic assessment of multi-effect distillation process for the treatment and recycling of ion exchange resin spent brines

2019

Abstract A treatment chain including nanofiltration, crystallization and multi-effect distillation (MED) is for the first time proposed for the treatment of an effluent produced during the regeneration of Ion Exchange resins employed for water softening. The goal is to recover the minerals and to restore the regenerant solution to be reused in the next regeneration cycle. MED is the most crucial unit of the treatment chain from an economic point of view. A techno-economic analysis on the MED unit was performed and a novel performance indicator, named Levelized Brine Cost, was introduced as a measure of the economic feasibility of the process. Different scenarios were analysed, assuming diff…

Nano- to Global-Scale Uncertainties in Terrestrial Enhanced Weathering.

2022

Enhanced weathering (EW) is one of the most promising negative emissions technologies urgently needed to limit global warming to at least below 2 °C, a goal recently reaffirmed at the UN Global Climate Change conference (i.e., COP26). EW relies on the accelerated dissolution of crushed silicate rocks applied to soils and is considered a sustainable solution requiring limited technology. While EW has a high theoretical potential of sequestering CO2, research is still needed to provide accurate estimates of carbon (C) sequestration when applying different silicate materials across distinct climates and major soil types in combination with a variety of plants. Here we elaborate on fundamental …

Lightweight Alloys Recycling and Processing through Innovative Friction Based Direct Technologies

In the last decades, the use of lightweight alloys has been spreading in almost any industrial field thanks to the relevant weight reduction allowed by the use of such materials. On the other hand, aluminium alloys are characterized by high-energy demands primary production cycles that are responsible for a relevant share of the global CO2 emissions. In order to limit and reverse such phenomenon, putting in place strategies to keep the material in the circle over multiple life cycles is mandatory and the concepts of circular economy, closed loop society and industrial symbiosis are progressively gathering more and more pace. Nevertheless, metal scraps are often mainly composed of chips resu…

Progresses in multi-materials billet manufacturing out of metal scraps through friction stir consolidation

2023

Abstract. The evolution of Friction Stir Consolidation (FSC) from recycling towards upcycling technique proved to be one of the excellent solid-state methods for manufacturing functionally graded billets. Multi-material Functional Graded Materials (FGMs) represent a novel class of materials characterized by a gradual change in properties and functions which can be tailored to enhance components performance. Manufacturing techniques play a critical role in achieving the designed compositional and microstructural distribution. Specifically, FSC allows the manufacturing of FGM billets out of metallic chips; the mixing of different metallic chips offers mutually exclusive mechanical properties …

A statistical design of experiments for optimizing the MALDI-TOF-MS sample preparation of polymers. An application in the assessment of the thermo-me…

2011

[EN] The sample preparation procedure for MALDI-TOF MS of polymers is addressed in this study by the application of a statistical Design of Experiments (DoE). Industrial poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was chosen as model polymer. Different experimental settings (levels) for matrixes, analyte/matrix proportions and concentrations of cationization agent were considered. The quality parameters used for the analysis were signal-to-noise ratio and resolution. A closer inspection of the statistical results provided the study not only with the best combination of factors for the MALDI sample preparation, but also with a better understanding of the influence of the different factors, individua…

Assessing the MALDI-TOF MS sample preparation procedure to analyze the influence of thermo-oxidative ageing and thermo-mechanical degradation on poly…

2011

[EN] Multiple processing by means of successive injection cycles was used to simulate the thermo-mechanical degradation effects on the oligomeric distribution of PLA under mechanical recycling. Likewise, an accelerated thermal ageing over PLA glass transition was performed in order to simulate its service life. MALDI-TOF MS was used for the analysis and the sample preparation procedure was assessed by means of a statistical Design of Experiments (DoE). The quality effects in use for the analysis were signal-to-noise ratio and Resolution. Different matrixes, analyte/matrix proportions and the use of NaTFA as cationization agent were considered. A deep inspection of the statistical results pr…

Prolidase in the Marine Sponge Suberites domuncula: Enzyme Activity, Molecular Cloning, and Phylogenetic Relationship

1999

: The enzyme prolidase hydrolyzes the peptide bond that involves the imino nitrogen of proline or hydroxyproline; hence, it catalyzes the final step in collagen degradation. From mammals it is known that this enzyme plays a major role in the recycling of proline for collagen synthesis and can be considered to be essential for the control of cell growth. The dominant organic exoskeleton in sponges, especially in Demospongiae, is collagen and the collagen-related spongin. Here we demonstrate that crude extracts of the demosponge Suberites domuncula contain prolidase or prolidase-like activity. The complementary DNA encoding the putative prolidase was cloned from a library of the same animal. …

Integrated Methods for Establishing the Sustainability of Urban Policies: Applying Ecological Footprint to the Municipal Solid Waste Management

2018

The Ecological Footprint (EF) method is applied here to assess alternative policies regarding the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management. This approach arises from two considerations. First, the MSW management certainly requires a great attention by politicians and technicians, due to its importance for effectively administrating and environmentally controlling urban contexts. On the other hand, the EF method, thanks to its holistic structure of analysis, supposedly provides a synthetic and effective measure of the sustainability of waste management systems, so allowing public administrations to prioritizing policies aimed at implementing environmental actions. Here the EF method is used fo…

Contemporaneità Responsabile in ambiente storico: strumenti e ricerche tecnologiche

2020

Riteniamo che ci sia una pratica del fare in tema di Architettura che non possa più prescindere dalle ricadute che in senso globale abbia nei confronti dell’ambiente del tuo territorio. Il buon Architetto non dovrebbe essere del tutto convinto che le migliori pratiche vengano solamente dalla ‘innovazione’ Tecnologia in nome del progresso; oggi abbiamo il dovere di voltarci indietro ed osservare le Tecnologie già in uso e porle nuovamente in azione con ‘rinnovata’ attenzione. In futuro saranno proprio queste pratiche ‘adattive’ capaci di rigenerare l’Architettura; quindi innovazione associata a ‘rinnovamento’ tecnologico proporranno beneficio per nuove azioni del fare provenienti dal nostro …