197 research outputs found
Carbon reduction engineering through value chains intersection, product and process re-design, industrial processes’ scraps de-manufacturing
No full textComposite materials use recently increased, although treatments at their End of Life are inexistent or highly inefficient (from the environmental perspective). Thus, openness to cooperation is needed, supported by methodologies for design for de-manufacturing. The approach proposed in the present work aims at transforming industrial processes' scraps and off-specification pieces in primary materials, through re-design, without the risk of cannibalisation. It is mainly intended for industrial processes of composite materials; its objective is to find alternative applications to their invaluable final disposal and supports the merging of existing supply chains (Industrial Symbiosis). Nevertheless, it can be easily extended to non-composite and/or non-scraps. Re-design enables the establishment of waste-to-treasure composite scraps' life cycles and is evaluated through Life Cycle Assessment. The application of the approach involved four Italian companies and results reveal that industrial symbiosis can reduce emissions (from -45% to more than -90%). Guidelines were outlined: involve End of Life operators to know how waste treatments, share information, favour networking and proximity, apply design for disassembly principles, consider simple shapes and modularity during (re)design. Future works will focus on off-the-shelf components and the economic evaluation of the proposed de-manufacturing actions and supply strategies
De-manufacturing method and tool: the link between design and circular business models
No full textI modelli di business tradizionali sfruttano i giacimenti di minerali, metalli e risorse fossili come se fossero illimitate e reintegrabili, quali queste non sono. Questo atteggiamento è aggravato dalla recente crescita demografica ed economica dei Paesi in via di sviluppo, che ha portato i) all'aumento della domanda di beni industriali e di consumo in tutto il mondo, ii) al deterioramento permanente della qualità delle risorse naturali come acqua, aria e suolo. L'aumento dei consumi e la produzione insostenibile hanno gradualmente aumentato la pressione per modificare i comportamenti di produzione e consumo, soprattutto nel settore delle imprese, rendendo necessario il passaggio a un'economia circolare. Il de-manufacturing è una soluzione fondamentale per sostenere questa metamorfosi. Esso combina le strategie di fine vita di un prodotto introducento nella fase di progettazione considerazioni ad esse relative, accanto ai tradizionali driver di progettazione, quali sono quello economico, tecnico. Partendo dal de-manufacturing, il presente lavoro propone e applica approcci volti a supportare la fase di progettazione nel consentire strategie di fine vita valide e appropriate. Vengono sviluppati quattro strumenti per riscrivere il destino lineare dei prodotti esistenti e disegnare cicli circolari per i nuovi prodotti. Viene sviluppato un approccio trasversale per far creare un connubio tra le soluzioni tecniche e quelle economiche. I risultati dell'implementazione degli approcci e dell'utilizzo degli strumenti sviluppati mostrano effetti promettenti: lo strumento Durabot valuta dinamicamente la sostenibilità dei prodotti durevoli; PReSCoM trova nuove applicazioni per gli scarti dei materiali compositi, riducendo fortemente impatto ambientale di prodotto e di processo. Lo strumento DfD introduce feedback quantitativi per valutare la bontà della progettazione dal punto di vista ambientale. La matrice di correlazione sfrutta le potenzialità nascoste degli strumenti sopra citati e di quelli sviluppati per digitalizzare i processsi manufactturieri e i cicli vita dei prodotti, al fine di individuare come questi possano aprire nuove strade, verso una circolarità di prodotti e processi, che sia anche economicamente sostenibile. I quattro metodi sono distinti in reattivi, che si applicano ai prodotti già presenti nel mercato, e proattivi, che si concentrano sullo sviluppo di prodotti nati in ottica circolare. Talvolta si fa uso della metodologia del Life Cycle Assessment, e molteplici sono gli indicatori proposti nella fase di estrazione e interpretazione dei risultati dell'analisi. Questo mira ad ampliare la visione del mondo aziendale, che è sempre più incentrata unicamente sull'emissione di gas climalteranti: un numero crescente di aziende si impegnano a diventare carbon neutral, net-zero o climate positive, trascurando però le enormi sfide che la Terra e l'umanità stanno affrontando, la scarsità e la contaminazione di risorse in primis. I lavori futuri dovrebbero concentrarsi sull'estensione dell'applicazione degli strumenti a nuovi prodotti, nella loro validazione attraverso una procedura strutturata e sulla definizione di indicatori che valutino quando un'organizzazione è pronta a implementare un nuovo modello di business circolare.The traditional business as usual exploits the supply of minerals, metals and fossil resources as if they were unlimited and replenishable, but they are not. This attitude is exacerbated by the recent population and economic growth of developing countries that gives rise to i) increasing demand for industrial and consumer goods worldwide, ii) permanently damaged quality of natural resources such as water, air and soil. This heightened consumption and unsustainable production have gradually increased the pressure to change production and consumption behavior, especially in the business sector, making it necessary to shift toward a circular economy. De-manufacturing is a critical solution for supporting this metamorphosis. It enables the implementation of environmentally sustainable End of Life strategies e.g. reuse of components, especially when it is introduced in the design stage, next to the traditional drivers. Starting from the de-manufacturing principles, the present work proposes and applies approaches intended to support the design phase in enabling valuable and creditable EoL strategies. Four tools are developed to overwrite existing goods' linear destiny and sketch circular loops for new products. A cross-sectioning approach is developed to have technical solutions taking off in the economic one. Results show promising effects from implementing the approaches and using the developed tools: the Durabot tool dynamically assesses the sustainability of durable products; PReSCoM finds new applications for composite materials' scraps, heavily lowering their environmental burden. The DfD tool introduces quantitative feedback to evaluate the goodness of design from the environmental perspective. The correlation matrix exploits hidden potentialities of the above-cited and digitalization tools for the sake of economically sustainable circularity. All the approaches, both reactive and proactive, are meant to subsume all the challenges of the present economy. When the Life Cycle Assessment methodology is involved, multiple indicators are available for analysis. This effort contrasts the more and more companies that pledge to become carbon neutral, net-zero or climate positive, overlooking the huge challenges the Earth and humankind are facing (resources scarcity and contamination above all). Future works should focus on extending the application of the tools to new products, validate them through a structured validation procedure, and define the indicators that would evaluate when an organization is ready to implement a new CMBs
Correction to: Biodegradation of naphthenic acids: identification of Rhodococcus opacus R7 genes as molecular markers for environmental monitoring and their application in slurry microcosms
No full textThe published online version contains mistake in the author list for the author “M. Cappelletti” was incorrectly presented
Le chiavi del Paradiso. Primato petrino e devozione mariana di Sisto IV tra Cappella Sistina e S. Maria della Pace
No full textIl volume è strutturato in due parti distinte con una postfazione, un indice dei nomi e n. 55 Tavole a colori fuori testo, valide per entrambe le parti del volume. I. PARTE (di Lorenzo Cappelletti) A partire dalla esplicita indicazione che l’ignoto architetto, collocato sul fianco destro dell’affresco sistino della Consegna delle chiavi di Perugino, fa dell’edificio a pianta centrale che campeggia sullo sfondo, viene operata una completa rilettura iconografica e iconologica dell’intero affresco. Tenendo conto di tutta la migliore bibliografia sul tema e grazie anche alla considerazione di fonti inedite o mai considerate in relazione a tale affresco –– vengono riletti in particolare i due episodi evangelici sullo sfondo, la teoria dei dodici apostoli e dei personaggi dell’attualità di fine Quattrocento e soprattutto il gesto della consegna delle chiavi a Simon Pietro da parte di Gesù.
La rilettura si allarga necessariamente anche alla Punizione di Core, Datan e Abiram, l’affresco di Botticelli posto in chiave tipologica dirimpetto alla Consegna delle chiavi, e alla serie dei 30/32 papi affrescati nel cleristorio.
Lo studio non manca di offrire inoltre spunti per una comprensione più adeguata anche degli altri affreschi quattrocenteschi della sistina. II PARTE (di Simona Benedetti) Nell’ambito della revisione di lettura iconologica e iconografica dell’affresco della Consegna delle chiavi di Perugino nella Cappella Sistina, svolta da Lorenzo Cappelletti, si torna a riflettere anche sul significato dell’architettura dell’edificio rappresentato al centro dell’affresco. In questo senso nel contributo di Simona Benedetti, in primo luogo, si ripercorrono i riferimenti alla trattatistica quattrocentesca in materia di edifici sacri, che possono aver influito nella determinazione dell’edificio ottagonale.
In seconda istanza, si considerano le principali fabbriche a pianta ottagonale costruite precedentemente all’edificio dipinto, che possono aver costituito un fondato riferimento per il Perugino nella Consegna delle chiavi.
In particolare tra le architetture, che possono avere avuto un’influenza determinante nella definizione iconografica della fabbrica ottagonale presente nell'affresco, la chiesa di S. Maria della Pace è quella su cui si concentra il presente studio. L'opera si realizzò nel cuore pulsante della Roma rinascimentale proprio contemporaneamente all’affresco in esame, con esso trova degli innegabili punti di tangenza e corrispondenze, sia storiche che figurative. A questo riguardo interessantissima risulta la connessione tra il motivo dell’edificazione della fabbrica e i fatti storici, i personaggi, gli eventi prodigiosi e le pratiche devozionali, che condizionarono lo svolgersi del cantiere del Templum Pacis negli ultimi anni del pontificato di Sisto IV. La storicità del gesto della consegna delle chiavi a Pietro - avvenimento che si protrae nel tempo ad ogni elezione pontificia nello spazio fisico della Cappella Sistina - costituisce la centralità del messaggio iconografico dell'affresco del Perugino in cui, anche l’architettura, insieme ai personaggi rappresentati, strutturano una narrazione reale, estranea alle simbologie decontestualizzate dall’epoca propriamente sistina. Segue una postfazione di Francesco Andreani dal titolo Enigma del Quattrocento, saggio nel quale si sviluppano considerazioni sulle personalità degli architetti e maestranze attive nella Roma del tardo Quattrocento e negli anni di inizio della fabbrica di S. Maria della Pace. Il volume si conclude con l'indice dei nomi (a cura di Gemma Fusciello)I (of Lorenzo Cappelletti) Starting from the unknown architect’s forefinger pointed to the central plan building found in the background of the Sistine Perugino’s fresco The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, the author offers a new interpretation of the entire fresco at both an iconographical and iconological level.
Having considered the most important studies about this fresco and taking into account a number of unpublished and unconsidered sources, the author rereads in particular the meaning of the central plan building, as well as the two Gospel episodes in the background; and he rereads also the grouping of the Twelve, along with the fifteenth century historical personages painted among them, in the foreground.
The author’s vision necessarily broodens also to comprehend Botticelli’s fresco named The Punishment of Corah, Dathan and Abiram which is placed on the opposite wall as a typological prefiguration of The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and it broodens moreover to reconsider the series of 30/32 popes frescoed in the upper register of the Sistine Chapel.
The essay also offers hints for a more complete comprehension of the other fifteenth century frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
II. (of Simona Benedetti) As part of the review of iconological and iconographic reading about the fresco of the “Delivery of the keys” by Perugino in the Sistine Chapel, conducted by Lorenzo Cappelletti, you go back and think about the significance of the building architecture depicted in the center of the fresco. In this sense, the contribution of Simona Benedetti, first, retraces the references to the fifteenth-century treatises concerning sacred buildings, which may have affected the determination of the octagonal building. Secondly, we consider the main factories octagonal building constructed previously painted, that may have been an established reference for the Perugino in the “Delivery of the keys”. Especially between architectures, which may have had a decisive influence in defining the iconographic factory octagonal present in the fresco, the church of St. Mary of Peace is the one on which this study focuses. The work was realized in the heart of Renaissance Rome just simultaneously fresco concerned, although it is undeniable points of contact and correspondence, both historical and figurative. In this regard are interesting connections between the reason of building the factory, the historical facts, the characters and the miraculous events and devotional, which has conditioned the unfolding of the construction site of the Templum Pacis in the last years of the pontificate of Sixtus IV. The historicity of the act of handing over the keys to Peter, that continues over time in the physical space of the Sistine Chapel, is the centrality of the iconographic message of the fresco by Perugino; so even the architecture, along with the characters represented, the real narrative structure, far from to the symbolism belonging to the Sistine period properly
How de-manufacturing supports circular economy linking design and EoL - a literature review
No full textDe-manufacturing is at the basis of the Industry of the Future that competitively and sustainably will manage natural resources. This review retrieved 106 papers investigating the main obstacles that prevent Circular Economy from being a reality and the possible actions to overcome them. The analysis of the literature outlined a great discussion regarding the key topics of CE, de-manufacturing, disassembly and re-manufacturing. The CREDIT analysis proposed by the authors clusters all the risen barriers in 6 factors (Culture, Resources, Economy, Design, Information, Technology) and 18 sub-factors. The CREDIT analysis highlights among the two most critical barriers, the costs of the activities that occur at the EoL stage and the urgency to train designers to approach design thinking to the whole Product Lifecycle; here an innovative focus of research can be more incisive to overcome the actual barriers. Future research needs to focus the attention on the potentialities hidden behind a strong cooperation between academies and enterprises in order to find a balance among the several existing DfX or unveil and tackle their single limitations. Cooperation (industrial symbiosis, academy, etc) and innovative technological solutions of industry 4.0 can help tackle the obstacle
A machine learning based method for parametric environmental impact model for electric vehicles
No full textEnvironmental managers attempt to increasingly incorporate precautionary principles into decision making. The literature lacks Machine Learning -based approaches for forewarning lifecycle environmental impacts. This paper proposes a method to support electric vehicle design. The main innovation of the work lays in merging Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Machine Learning foundations to provide support and awareness to designers. The present approach overcomes the present literature because it provides a method for the design phase, is based on a well-established methodology (LCA) and provides quantitative results from little inputs. The approach exploits machine Learning Methods to develop models with the design features of a generic electric vehicle (such as vehicle mass and distance traveled) in six phases (Problem definition; Data collection; Data Preparation; Modeling; Model evaluation; Model interpretation). Differently from existing environmental analyses, all stages of the product life cycle have been considered in building the database; moreover, the model provides quantitative results. Regression models and supervised algorithms were used. The obtained model can be used by product engineers, as well as those not experts on LCA. Moreover, the model guarantees the database and hypothesis's uniqueness, ensuring the results coherence and comparability. The level of accuracy obtained in the case study (error or 17%) is comparable with studies handling full environmental analysis (that should be more accurate), and outstanding, as the present case is for the design phase. Future works will focus on additional significative indicators, similar electric vehicle design and integration with prospective LCA approache
Design for X Tool to Introduce Sustainability in the Design Process
No full textIn the present market, Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing represent considerable tools to achieve better design and optimize the manufacturing phases. To customize and tailor these tools to the company’s needs, knowledge-based engineering solutions have been developed. The present paper proposes a method to support designers in the optimization of environmental sustainability aspects of their products, through a Knowledge Based Engineering approach. It allows the identification of design criticalities under the environmental issue, and on a life cycle perspective, supporting designers in their activity and favoring the knowledge use and re-use. The approach proposed was applied to develop a prototype version of a tool. It was then applied in a case study of an Italian manufacturer of professional espresso coffee machines to analyze and improve the product recyclability and disassembly level
Comparison between LCA results and consumers-perceived environmental sustainability of three swimming products
No full textSustainable production and consumption consist of using goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. Over the last decades, this has become a topic of increasing importance for companies and consumers. Consequently, from one side methods and tools to assess and quantitatively measure the environmental burden of products and processes arose; from the other side, more and more consumers have raised their sensitivity concerning sustainability. However, consumer perceptions and objective data need to be aligned. The present paper addresses the topic of the discrepancy between the environmental sustainability of product lifecycles as perceived by consumers and actual results obtained with well-known and accepted methods and tools. The paper quantifies through Life Cycle Assessment the environmental burdens of three products for the textiles/apparel sector, particularly swimming sport: a pair of goggles, a pair of swimming pool slippers and a swimsuit. Those were subsequently compared with 102 responses to a questionnaire about environmental sustainability. The comparison was made between the qualitative expectation of the customers and the results of the Life Cycle Assessment for the Climate Change impact category, due to the higher awareness and sensitivity of the customers for this indicator, than others. Respondents belong to three distinguished groups: scholars, employees and students. According to the analysis of obtained results and discrepancies, three main recommendations are outlined by the authors to improve the environmental sustainability of apparel products: the need to promote the development of software tools and databases to support the integration of sustainability into products design; training on products sustainability in the academic world must be encouraged in order to provide future designers/product managers with the tools needed to cope with actual challenges; and consumers should be adequately informed. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
De-manufacturing: identification of the best strategies through the environmental and economic evaluation
No full textIt can be hard for enterprises to make the first move towards circular business models; technologies, information and design need to be linked and dynamic. The present paper proposes a methodology that guides enterprises in integrating environmental and economic aspects during the optimization of products’ end-of-life. It overcomes the current literature limits because it focuses on multiple lifecycle stages and is not limited to end-of-life strategies; secondly, it encompasses both the economic and environmental sustainability perspectives. It expects its implementation to be supported by commercial solutions thatenable the quantification of environmental and economic indices, such as degradation index, target price and target cost. The methodology was applied to an industrial case study (an electrospindle) enabling its validation and a deep reflection on the potential consequences of the analyzed scenario throughout the value chain and business departments. The results of the case study show that not all the scenarios are convenient; only the cases that expect components of the pneumatic cylinder group and shaft kit to be re-manufactured are environmentally and economically convenient. The first scenario, which is aboutdisassembling the product to optimize the recycling flow, is currently not feasible from the economic perspective; however, the acquisition of a higher number of used electrospindles could increase its economic convenience, as the disassembly phase may be optimized. De-manufacturing strategies could extend the useful lifecycle of products and introduce additional revenue streams, with intangible effects: information about the use phase, marketing leverage, end-of-life treatment, policies forecasting and strengthened customer relationships. However, it may bring high risks as well, such as cannibalization andinvestments. For a more aware prioritization of to-be scenarios, future works may exploit more in detail the disassembly time quantification; additionally, the analysis of the main failure modes and events may stand aside from the economic and environmental as-is analysis
Sustainable strategies: a continuously improving methodology
No full textThe paper presents a methodology partially inspired by Japanese Kaizen concept; its implementation starts when different circumstances arise, e.g. an analysis is carried out and some criticalities emerge. The proposed methodology aims at continuously improving processes under the environmental and economic perspectives. It is made up of eleven steps that leads the group from the issue identification to a new status, improved than the previous one, and improvable than the following. The case study describes an implementation of the methodology in an Italian medium company acting in the clothing sector, demonstrating its validity and efficacy. It was launched in the firm after energetic and environmental analyses outlined material, energy wastes and environmental impacts; they were tackled, and results show the methodology to be successful both from environmental and economic point of view
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