Financing resource efficiency and cleaner production in Central America

Resource efficiency, including cleaner production and energy efficiency (CP/EE), is an important strategy for developing countries to grow their economies in a sustainable manner. However, informational, technical and economic barriers often limit the implementation of such strategies in the private sector, particularly among smaller enterprises. Since the 1990s, international aid agencies, governments, banks and non-governmental organizations have supplied financial incentives to encourage enterprises to adopt resource efficient practices in Latin America. “Pathways to Cleaner Production in the Americas” (PCPA) was a 3-year multinational project focused on promoting cleaner production practices in micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) through collaboration with academia. In this paper, we examine the availability and utilization of different types of financing instruments for CP/EE in MSMEs in Central America. We survey nineteen programs across five countries to examine how effectively these instruments are utilized, barriers that hinder their adoption, and best practices for increasing their uptake. We also incorporate the experience of 39 MSMEs that participated in PCPA, with respect to their demand for CP/EE and external financing options. We find a mismatch between MSMEs’ demands and expectations with the supply and interest of financing programs, leading to the underutilization of the funds.     

Materials selection for cleaner production: An environmental evaluation approach

This paper demonstrates an integrated approach to the selection of materials for cleaner production, using binary dominance matrix and grey relational analysis to aid decision-making by engineers. The starting point of this study is to determine the environmental evaluation criteria and to assign weights reflecting their relative importance. In order to assist engineers in the application of the grey evaluation process, and to simplify the computational complexity, a calculating tool based on spreadsheet application has been developed. A case example is provided, in which five poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) materials are subjected to environmental evaluation to determine their sustainability for handbag manufacture. The result of the grey relational analysis and the limitations of the approach are discussed, laying a foundation for further work.     

Application of gray correlation analysis for cleaner production

The current methods used to select the schemes for cleaner production in China have some disadvantages. This paper presents research on gray correlation analysis with application to one cement factory in Chongqing, China. The results show that the gray correlation analysis can effectively avoid the subjective bias on the scheme selection for cleaner production. Schemes for cleaner production selected by the gray correlation analysis have better performance than those selected by the traditional method based on economic, environmental and technical indices.     

Methods of improving efficiency of drilling operations for increasing oil and gas production in Ukraine

The paper reports the main outcome of theoretical research, engineering development, and industrial design efforts to elaborate and implement a complex of technological solutions, equipment, and advanced materials for the purpose of improving efficiency of drilling operations. The authors substantiate a rise in oil and gas production by recovering inactive wells, drilling slant and horizontal boreholes, reducting drilling costs.     

基于故障危害度的飞机电源系统可靠性评估

基于故障危害度对飞机电源系统进行可靠性评估,首先建立可靠性评估模型,该模型考虑各故障样本对飞机电源系统供电可靠性危害度影响,将出现的故障按照对电源系统安全、性能、任务及维修等指标的影响程度进行等级分类,从故障的失效机理出发建立相应的分布模型;然后采用分布计算和二次分布等算法进行系统整体可靠性指标评估。应用该模型对飞机电源系统进行了故障统计分析,计算了飞机电源系统的可靠性指标。     

流域清洁生产及其潜力分析方法研究

运用清洁生产的基本原理与方法,在兼具工业生态学理论、循环经济理论、可持续发展理论、系统论等理论基础上,结合我国清洁生产实践要求,将清洁生产的实施层次由企业内部提升为流域层次,探讨了流域清洁生产的理论基础,构建了基于系统动力学的流域清洁生产潜力分析方法。以辽河流域为案例,较系统地分析了该流域的清洁生产潜力,计算了流域清洁生产对于减排的贡献,并基于以上结果提出了辽河流域清洁生产的总体行动路线。     

Integrating strategic environmental assessment into the review process of a development plan in Ireland

Directive 2001/42/EC requires Member States of the European Union to strategically evaluate and address likely significant environmental effects of certain proposed plans and programmes on the environment. The applications of this process in Ireland came into effect with the adoption of SEA regulations in 2004. The experience of integrating SEA into the review of a local area development plan in Ireland is outlined and critically evaluated in this paper. The SEA process is found to have considerable potential in relation to land-use planning, especially insofar as it appears to facilitate and stimulate an enhanced degree of community participation, but the realization of its full benefits is constrained by operational factors, some of which are attributable to a lack of familiarity with this novel process. Failure to provide adequately in the plan review process for the timely consideration of SEA outputs and an apparent reticence on the part of local decision makers to fully engage with SEA appear to be adversely affecting implementation.     

Economic evaluation of the photo-Fenton process. Mineralization level and reaction time: the keys for increasing plant efficiency

The use of the solar photo-Fenton process is proposed to degrade Paracetamol in water in order to form biodegradable reaction intermediates which can be finally removed with a downstream biological treatment. Firstly, biodegradability enhancement with photo-Fenton treatment time has been evaluated; the minimum mineralization level should be at least 18.6% where Paracetamol has been degraded and biodegradability efficiency is higher than 40%. 20 mg L(-1) of Fe(2+) and 200 mg L(-1) of H(2)O(2) were selected in a lab-scale study looking at Paracetamol's degradation rate and organic carbon mineralization rate. As a result of scaling up the process at a pilot plant, 157.5 mg L(-1) of Paracetamol (～1 mM) was treated in 25 min of photo-Fenton treatment achieving the desired biodegradability. A further economic evaluation shows how the proposed treatment strategy markedly increases plant efficiency, resulting in an 83.33% reduction in reagent cost and a 79.11% reduction in costs associated with reaction time. Total cost is reduced from 3.4502 ?m(3) to 0.7392 ?m(3).     

Biosynthesis of lactic acid in a membrane bioreactor for cleaner technology of polylactide production

A low-waste and high intensive method of lactic acid microbial synthesis for polylactide production has been developed. The biosynthesis proceeds at the semicontinuous cultivation in a membrane bioreactor without removal of the biomass and formation of excess of biomass of the lactic acid producer, with minimization of the consumption of expensive growth factors. At the laboratory experiments during 130 cycles on biosynthesis of lactic acid from glucose in a membrane reactor, the specific productivity of biochemical reactor reached 46 g of LA per liter per hour at the yield of LA from glucose close to 100 % and concentration of LA 100–120 g/L. These results are a good base for development of the cleaner technology for production of chemicals from renewable sources through lactic acid.     

On the possibility of increasing the efficiency of pion therapy for cancer

It is suggested that cancer cells be killed by combining the bombardment of a tumor with pions and the introduction of uranium in the tumor. A minimum concentration of U²³⁸ in the tumor that is necessary for significantly increasing the therapeutic effect of pion bombardment is estimated to be within 3.4 × 10^?2 ? 1.1 × 10^?1 g/cm³.     

Application of cleaner technologies in milk processing industry to improve the environmental efficiency

Changes in production processes and products that result in improvement of environmental, economic and social performance of enterprises are an important element of the overall process towards more sustainable production. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the application of cleaner production and eco-design as sustainable production tools to improve the environmental efficiency of milk processing industry. Milk processing industry is one of the largest and dynamically developing branches of industry in the world. The main impact of milk processing industry on the environment is related to energy and water consumption, and waste and wastewater generation. A number of potential solutions to improve the environmental performance of milk processing industry, to reduce energy and resources consumption are analysed: substitution of cleaning agent in the milk receiving bar for washing of milk tankers with the specialised acidic detergent, integration of the automated CIP washing system in the butter bar, implementation of water recycling system to collect warm (35?°C) water, integration of the membrane technologies for the evaporation process and the use of filtrate received during the condensation for steam generation in the boiler house. Finally, an eco-design solution for cans of milk products is presented. All these proposals have been implemented in the milk processing company.     

Concepts for Integrating Plastic Anisotropy into Metal Forming Simulations

Modern metal forming and crash simulations are usually based on the finite element method. Aims of such simulations are typically the prediction of the material shape, failure, and mechanical properties during deformation. Further goals lie in the computer assisted lay‐out of manufacturing tools used for intricate processing steps. Any such simulation requires that the material under investigation is specified in terms of its respective constitutive behavior. Modern finite element simulations typically use three sets of material input data, covering hardening, forming limits, and anisotropy. The current article is about the latter aspect. It reviews different empirical and physically based concepts for the integration of the elastic‐plastic anisotropy into metal forming finite element simulations. Particular pronunciation is placed on the discussion of the crystallographic anisotropy of polycrystalline material rather than on aspects associated with topological or morphological microstructure anisotropy. The reviewed anisotropy concepts are empirical yield surface approximations, yield surface formulations based on crystallographic homogenization theory, combinations of finite element and homogenization approaches, the crystal plasticity finite element method, and the recently introduced texture component crystal plasticity finite element method. The paper presents the basic physical approaches behind the different methods and discusses engineering aspects such as scalability, flexibility, and texture update in the course of a forming simulation.     

Pilot VOC emissions mitigation by catalytic oxidation over commercial noble metal catalysts for cleaner production

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a widely used method for VOC emissions mitigation essential for the long-term...     

A numerical study on pressure drop and separation efficiency of a new swirl tube cleaner

In this paper, a new design of Swirl Tube Cleaner (STC) was introduced. The performance of an STC in terms of the separation efficiency and pressure drop was numerically investigated for different vane angles, vane lengths, and inlet velocities. The Reynolds stress turbulence model was used to detect the main flow structures of the highly swirling flow inside the STC. The discrete phase model that employs the Lagrangian frame of reference was utilized for particle tracking. The results are in good agreement with experimental data available in the literature. For all cases under investigation, the main flow characteristics of the STC consist of a hub vortex flow downstream of the back cone and tip vortices in the wake flow of the vanes. Around the initiation point of the vortex flow, the centrifugal accelerations are one order of magnitude higher than that of the upstream flow around vanes. The results show that the overall separation efficiency with the specified particle size distribution can reach 88% at a pressure drop lower than 250 [Pa] for the highest flow rate. Compared to traditional STCs, the new STC decreases the pressure drop by about 50% while enhancing overall separation efficiency by approximately 2%, considering the numerical accuracy.     

Application of sequential quadratic programming based on active set method in cleaner production

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - On the platform of general chemical process simulation software (it was named Optimization Engineer, OPEN), a general optimization algorithm for...     

一种制冷机组能效定量评价方法

在冷水机组比选过程中,通常会优先选择能效高、变工况性能好的产品,但冷水机组的性能对价格的影响,难以定量评价.通过对逐时负荷和气象参数的研究和变工况条件下COP值的计算,得出不同品牌机组年运行费用差异,并折算成价格因素,将机组性能量化,用此方法,可方便不同品牌的冷水机组间进行比选.     

Barriers towards cleaner production for optimizing energy use and pollution control for foundry sector in Howrah,India

The most pressing environmental problems of casting production in small-scale foundry sector are gaseous emission and utilization of energy. Promotion of clean technology towards cleaner production has achieved significant improvement. But that technology was not widely accepted due to different barriers. However, incremental innovation with the existing technology got preference. For realization of the scenario, operational performances of cupola and pollution control system were evaluated in 12 units and 15 units, respectively. The study revealed that foundry sector, as a whole, could not ensure proper utilization of the energy and the control of emission. The parameters governing the efficiency of these technologies varied remarkably, which questions its consistency and reliability. This study focused the major barriers towards cleaner production with an aim to define the strategies to overcome the eco-friendly casting production.     

On the possibility of increasing the efficiency of sealed-off nitrogen lasers

A sealed-off nitrogen laser operating in a periodic-pulse regime at a repetition rate of 40 Hz has been experimentally studied and it is demonstrated that the laser efficiency can be increased by quasi-stationary energy pumping into the active medium (pure nitrogen or its mixtures with helium or neon). The presence of a buffer gas (helium or neon) allows the energy parameters of radiation to be increased and the laser efficiency to be controlled. A small-sized sealed-off nitrogen laser is developed, which operates at a peak output power of 160 kW and a pulse energy of 0.8 mJ with an efficiency of 0.27%.     

Quantitative evaluation of cleaner production and environmental policy toward the co-benefit of greenhouse gas and odor reduction: case study of Tapioca starch industry

Chemical components of airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from a wastewater treatment system of the tapioca industry were identified. Quantitative analysis of the concentrations and the emissions of each chemical were evaluated taking into consideration the difference in atmospheric turbulence over the surface of the wastewater during the day and the nighttime periods. The chamber experiments were performed on-site in order to reflect actual environmental characteristics of the study area. Chemical concentrations were analyzed following the U.S. EPA TO-15 Standard Method. Emissions of each compound were calculated using the box model scheme. It was found that acetaldehyde and acetone were two major compounds of released airborne VOCs from the wastewater treatment system of the tapioca industry. Due to its high organic content, the wastewater treatment facilities of this type of factory generally caused the odor problem to its surrounding communities. These data were then used to evaluate the success of implementing the Clean Development Mechanisms project in this industry. Reduction in the affected area from odor by improving the wastewater treatment system from opened lagoons which is the type of common practice in most of the tapioca factories in the developing countries to the modified covered lagoons was evaluated. These results supported the theory of the co-benefit of managing both local environmental problems and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the implementation of cleaner technology in the agro-industry. This methodology can be applied to reveal and quantify the success of other green efforts particularly in the agro-industry businesses.

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