1,720,965 research outputs found
LCA of integrated MSW management systems: Case study of the Bologna District
No full textLCA as a decision-supporting tool in planning integrated municipal solid waste management is not yet widely used in Italy. This paper presents a study concerning the application of the LCA methodology to support the development of the new waste management plan for the Bologna District. The main goal of the study was to show decision-makers at political level the benefits obtainable with the use of LCA, in terms of the identification and quantification of the potential environmental impacts of different waste management strategies. The integrated waste management system of the Bologna District includes waste collection and transport, sorting, recycling, composting, incineration and land-filling. Three scenarios, referring to 2006 and foreshadow the presence of 950,000 inhabitants and the production of ~566,000 tonnes of waste in the District, have been compared. A detailed model has been developed in order to capture effects related to the waste fraction from separated collection and to the different waste treatments. The discussion of the results has focussed in particular on the greenhouse effect and the acidification potential. On the basis of the results obtained, the analysis of an additional scenario characterised by a further increase in separated collection has been put forward
LCA simplified tools for SMEs. Comparison between the software VerdEE and the software eVerdEE through the case study of a brick - works.
No full textCombining Life Cycle Assessment and qualitative Risk Assessment: the case study of alumina nanofluid production.
No full textIn this paper the authors propose a framework for combining life cycle assessment (LCA) and Risk Assessment (RA) to support the sustainability assessment of emerging technologies. This proposal includes four steps of analysis: technological system definition; data collection; risk evaluation and impacts quantification; results interpretation. This scheme has been applied to a case study of nanofluid alumina production in two different pilot lines, “single-stage” and “two-stage”. The study has been developed in the NanoHex project (enhanced nano-fluid heat exchange). Goals of the study were analyzing the hotspots and highlighting possible trade-off between the results of LCA, which identifies the processes having the best environmental performance, and the results of RA, which identifies the scenarios having the highest risk for workers. Indeed, due to lack of data about exposure limits, exposure–dose relationships and toxicity of alumina nanopowders (NPs) and nanofluids (NF), the workplace exposure has been evaluated by means of qualitative risk assessment, using Stoffenmanager Nano. Though having different aims, LCA and RA have a complementary role in the description of impacts of products/substances/technologies. Their combined use can overcome limits of each of them and allows a wider vision of the problems to better support the decision making process
The electrochemical characteristics of a polydithienothiophene electrode in lithium cells
No full textElectrosynthesized polydithieno(3,2-b:2′,3′-d)thiophene (pDTT) is a very attractive polymer electrode for battery applications. In fact this polymer has a very high doping level to which corresponds a specific capacity of 54 Ah kg−1, a high coulombic efficiency and an excellent cyclability. However, these extraordinary properties are somewhat contrasted by a relatively fast self discharge of the doped pDTT electrodes. This effect has been associated to a spontaneous undoping process of the polymer electrod
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Use of incinerator bottom ash for frit production
No full textThis article presents the results of an experimental activityaimed at investigating the technical feasibility and the environmentalperformance of using municipal solid waste incinerationbottom ash to produce glass frit for ceramic glaze (glazefrit). The process includes an industrial pretreatment of bottomash that renders the material suitable for use in glazefrit production and allows recovery of aluminum and iron.The environmental performance of this treatment option isassessed with the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.The goal of the LCA study is to assess and compare the environmentalimpacts of two scenarios of end of life of bottomash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI): landfilldisposal (conventional scenario) and bottom ash recovery forglaze frit production (innovative scenario). The main results ofthe laboratory tests, industrial simulations, and LCA study arepresented and discussed, and the environmental advantages of recycling versus landfill disposal are highlighted
- …
