Search results
1 – 10 of 853Adrian Chun Hin Lai and Adrian Wing-Keung Law
Incineration has become increasingly important in many large cities around the world because of fast urbanization and population growth. The benefits of energy production and…
Abstract
Purpose
Incineration has become increasingly important in many large cities around the world because of fast urbanization and population growth. The benefits of energy production and large reduction in the waste volume to landfills also contribute to its growing adaptation for solid waste management for these cities. At the same time, the environmental impact of the pollutant gases emitted from the incineration process is a common concern for various stakeholders which must be properly addressed. To minimize the pollutant gas emission levels, as well as maximize the energy efficiency, it is critically important to optimize the combustion performance of an incinerator freeboard which would require the development of reliable approaches based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. A critical task in the CFD modeling of an incinerator furnace requires the specification of waste characteristics along the moving grate as boundary conditions, which is not available in standard CFD packages at present. This study aims to address this gap by developing a numerical incinerator waste bed model.
Design/methodology/approach
A one-dimensional Lagrangian model for the incineration waste bed has been developed, which can be coupled to the furnace CFD model. The changes in bed mass due to drying, pyrolysis, devolatilization and char oxidation are all included in the model. The mass and concentration of gases produced in these processes through reactions are also predicted. The one-dimensional unsteady energy equations of solid and gas phases, which account for the furnace radiation, conduction, convection and heat of reactions, are solved by the control volume method.
Findings
The Lagrangian model is validated by comparing its prediction with the experimental data in the literature. The predicted waste bed height reduction, temperature profile and gas concentration are in reasonable agreement with the observations.
Originality/value
The simplicity and efficiency of the model makes it ideally suitable to be used for coupling with the computational furnace model to be developed in future (so as to optimize incinerator designs).
Details
Keywords
M. Dominic Jayakumar, Aiswarya Ramasundaram and Arokiyadass Vanathayan
Solid, liquid and e-waste pose serious health hazards, environmental pollution and contribute to climate change. To address these issues of solid waste management (SWM), amidst…
Abstract
Purpose
Solid, liquid and e-waste pose serious health hazards, environmental pollution and contribute to climate change. To address these issues of solid waste management (SWM), amidst many policy decisions, the Government of India roped in several institutions, including self-help groups (SHGs), into the Swachh Bharat Movement (Clean India Mission). This study aims to illustrate the significant contributions of SHG’s in tackling SWM, particularly the plastic waste menace in India, while fostering socio-economic values and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Design/methodology/approach
Using a from-the-field approach, qualitative data were collected from 30 members of three SHGs to understand their significant contributions in mitigating plastic waste.
Findings
This research identifies three major themes: economic value creation, social value creation and SDGs via collection and reduction of plastic waste landfills. Furthermore, several related subthemes are identified.
Practical implications
This study offers pragmatic solutions to deal with plastic waste at personal, community, institutional and governmental levels. Moreover, it recommends engaging SHGs to promote sustainable waste management practices such as segregating wastes at source, regulating plastic bag usage, advocating behavioural change towards waste generation and protecting the environment.
Originality/value
The authors consider a proven case of SHG’s contribution to protect the environment and emphasize the need to involve more such groups in waste management practices.
Details
Keywords
Heba Nassar, Marwa Biltagy and Aya Mohamed Safwat
Egypt has set plans to transform into a green economy which requires major reforms in the waste sector as one of the most vital sectors crucial for this transformation. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Egypt has set plans to transform into a green economy which requires major reforms in the waste sector as one of the most vital sectors crucial for this transformation. This study aims at inspecting the current status of the Egyptian waste sector to highlight the major policy reforms needed. Furthermore, it assesses the economic viability of establishing waste-to-energy (WtE) projects under the current regulations that govern the sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed an inductive analytical approach to scrutinize the institutional and regulatory framework of the waste and WtE sectors. Furthermore, a novel techno-economic analysis was conducted to assess the profitability of a WtE plant that employs moving grate incineration technology.
Findings
The analysis of the waste sector revealed its deteriorating state and the dire need for immediate restructuring through more stringent regulations to establish an integrated waste management system (IWMS) that incorporates WtE technologies as well as a number of corrective actions that would help enhance the sector. Additionally, the techno-economic analysis revealed the need to amend the current WtE regulation to comprise a gate fee as an indispensable revenue stream for WtE projects.
Originality/value
This study is one of a few studies that uses a new technique of analysis to explore the potential role that WtE projects can play in Egypt as a part of an IWMS that aims at transforming the waste sector into a resource sector while providing a renewable and sustainable source of energy.
Details
Keywords
Danladi Chiroma Husaini, Vinlee Bernardez, Naim Zetina and David Ditaba Mphuthi
A direct correlation exists between waste disposal, disease spread and public health. This article systematically reviewed healthcare waste and its implication for public health…
Abstract
Purpose
A direct correlation exists between waste disposal, disease spread and public health. This article systematically reviewed healthcare waste and its implication for public health. This review identified and described the associations and impact of waste disposal on public health.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper systematically reviewed the literature on waste disposal and its implications for public health by searching Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA), PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases. Of a total of 1,583 studies, 59 articles were selected and reviewed.
Findings
The review revealed the spread of infectious diseases and environmental degradation as the most typical implications of improper waste disposal to public health. The impact of waste includes infectious diseases such as cholera, Hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, and bacteremia, and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife.
Research limitations/implications
Infectious diseases such as cholera, hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, bacteremia and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife are some of the public impacts of improper waste disposal.
Originality/value
Healthcare industry waste is a significant waste that can harm the environment and public health if not properly collected, stored, treated, managed and disposed of. There is a need for knowledge and skills applicable to proper healthcare waste disposal and management. Policies must be developed to implement appropriate waste management to prevent public health threats.
Details
Keywords
Sara Alonso-Muñoz, Fernando E. García-Muiña, María-Sonia Medina-Salgado and Rocío González-Sánchez
This study aims to offer a research overview of circular food waste management, covering key themes and trends. It analyses state-of-the-art research in this field and proposes an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to offer a research overview of circular food waste management, covering key themes and trends. It analyses state-of-the-art research in this field and proposes an agenda to guide future research.
Design/methodology/approach
This study outlines bibliometric analysis from a sample of 349 articles with VOSviewer and SciMat software to identify research trend topics.
Findings
The findings reveal a substantial amount of interest in this field. The main research topics relate to the recovery processes and valorisation of food waste and its conversion into renewable and cleaner materials or energy sources, towards circularity. However, these processes require consideration of social aspects that facilitate their implementation, which are currently under-researched.
Practical implications
Companies can target their circular food waste management by considering three key aspects. Firstly, the establishment of closer and more sustainable relationships with various stakeholders; Secondly, a regulatory framework and the support of institutions are both required for the correct implementation of circularity. Finally, what is not measured does not exist. It is therefore necessary to establish indicators to measure both the level of development of circularity in waste management and the fulfilment of the established objective.
Originality/value
This bibliometric analysis looks at the application of circularity principles in food waste management from a holistic perspective, considering different areas of knowledge.
Details
Keywords
Junsong Jia, Zhihai Gong, Chundi Chen, Huiyong Jian and Dongming Xie
This paper aims to provide a typical example of accounting for the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in underdeveloped cities, especially for the Poyang Lake area in China. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a typical example of accounting for the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in underdeveloped cities, especially for the Poyang Lake area in China. The accounting can increase public understanding and trust in climate mitigation strategies by showing more detailed data.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the “Global Protocol for Community-scale greenhouse gas emission inventories (GPC)” method, a worldwide comparable framework for calculating urban CO2e emission (CE). The empirical case is an underdeveloped city, Nanchang, in China.
Findings
The results show the total CE of Nanchang, containing the electricity CE of Scope 2, grew rapidly from 12.49 Mt in 1994 to 55.00 Mt in 2014, with the only recession caused by the global financial crisis in 2008. The biggest three contributors were industrial energy consumption, transportation and industrial processes, which contributed 44.71-72.06, 4.10-25.07 and 9.07-22.28 per cent, respectively, to the total CE. Almost always, more than 74.41 per cent of Nanchang’s CE was related to coal. When considering only the CEs from coal, oil and gas, these CEs per unit area of Nanchang were always greater than those of China and the world. Similarly, these CEs per gross domestic product of Nanchang were always bigger than those of the world. Thus, based on these conclusions, some specific countermeasures were recommended.
Originality/value
This paper argues that the CO2e accounting of underdeveloped cities by using the GPC framework should be promoted when designing climate mitigation policies. They can provide more scientific data to justify related countermeasures.
Details
Keywords
Polina Ermolaeva, Yulia Ermolaeva, Olga Basheva, Irina Kuznetsova and Valerya Korunova
Basuki Basuki and Riasty Dewi Irwanda
The purpose of this paper is to simulate the environmental cost reports preparation used to measure environmental performance in realizing eco-efficiency.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to simulate the environmental cost reports preparation used to measure environmental performance in realizing eco-efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a descriptive case study by using environmental cost detail data from 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The research object is PT Industri Kereta Api (Persero) located in Madiun, East Java.
Findings
The result of the research shows that PT INKA (Persero) has not specifically made environmental cost report. It is found that the percentage of total environmental cost to operational cost tends to increase; the cost which gives the biggest distribution of total environmental cost is the prevention cost. By 2014, the effect of environmental costs on operating costs tended to decrease and during 2012–2014 PT INKA successfully maintained the blue star PROPER and the absence of environmental pollution reports.
Originality/value
PT INKA’s environmental performance is still well controlled and since its inception in 2014 PT INKA has succeeded in realizing the concept of eco-efficiency.
Details
Keywords
Adewale Allen Sokan-Adeaga, Godson R.E.E. Ana, Abel Olajide Olorunnisola, Micheal Ayodeji Sokan-Adeaga, Hridoy Roy, Md Sumon Reza and Md. Shahinoor Islam
This study aims to assess the effect of water variation on bioethanol production from cassava peels (CP) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast as the ethanologenic agent.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the effect of water variation on bioethanol production from cassava peels (CP) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast as the ethanologenic agent.
Design/methodology/approach
The milled CP was divided into three treatment groups in a small-scale flask experiment where each 20 g CP was subjected to two-stage hydrolysis. Different amount of water was added to the fermentation process of CP. The fermented samples were collected every 24 h for various analyses.
Findings
The results of the fermentation revealed that the highest ethanol productivity and fermentation efficiency was obtained at 17.38 ± 0.30% and 0.139 ± 0.003 gL−1 h−1. The study affirmed that ethanol production was increased for the addition of water up to 35% for the CP hydrolysate process.
Practical implications
The finding of this study demonstrates that S. cerevisiae is the key player in industrial ethanol production among a variety of yeasts that produce ethanol through sugar fermentation. In order to design truly sustainable processes, it should be expanded to include a thorough analysis and the gradual scaling-up of this process to an industrial level.
Originality/value
This paper is an original research work dealing with bioethanol production from CP using S. cerevisiae microbe.
Highlights
Hydrolysis of cassava peels using 13.1 M H2SO4 at 100 oC for 110 min gave high Glucose productivity
Highest ethanol production was obtained at 72 h of fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Optimal bioethanol concentration and yield were obtained at a hydration level of 35% agitation
Highest ethanol productivity and fermentation efficiency were 17.3%, 0.139 g.L−1.h−1
Hydrolysis of cassava peels using 13.1 M H2SO4 at 100 oC for 110 min gave high Glucose productivity
Highest ethanol production was obtained at 72 h of fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Optimal bioethanol concentration and yield were obtained at a hydration level of 35% agitation
Highest ethanol productivity and fermentation efficiency were 17.3%, 0.139 g.L−1.h−1
Details