scholarly journals Environmental Impacts of Cement Production: A Statistical Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 8212
Author(s):  
Claudio Durastanti ◽  
Laura Moretti

The attention to environmental impacts of cement production has grown fast in recent decades. The cement industry is a significant greenhouse gases emitter mainly due to the calcinations of raw materials and the combustions of fuels. This paper investigates on the environmental performances of cement production and on the identification of factors driving emissions. For this purpose, a sample of 193 different recipes of gray cement produced in Italy from 2014 to 2019 according to the European standard EN 197-1. This paper identifies the consumption impact categories (e.g., fossil fuels, renewable and non-renewable secondary fuels) that explain the assessment of the Global Warming Potential, one of the most crucial impacts of cement production. Having regard to the overall examined dataset and each cement type, a set of predictive models is implemented and evaluated. A similar approach has been adopted to produce accurate predictive models for further environmental impact categories that quantify emissions to air. The obtained results provide important information that can support cement producers to develop low-impacting cement recipes.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2898
Author(s):  
Rakhyun Kim ◽  
Myung-Kwan Lim ◽  
Seungjun Roh ◽  
Won-Jun Park

This study analyzed the characteristics of the environmental impacts of apartment buildings, a typical housing type in South Korea, as part of a research project supporting the streamlined life cycle assessment (S-LCA) of buildings within the G-SEED (Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design) framework. Three recently built apartment building complexes were chosen as study objects for the quantitative evaluation of the buildings in terms of their embodied environmental impacts (global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone layer depletion potential, photochemical oxidant creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential), using the LCA approach. Additionally, we analyzed the emission trends according to the cut-off criteria of the six environmental impact categories by performing an S-LCA with cut-off criteria 90–99% of the cumulative weight percentile. Consequently, we were able to present the cut-off criterion best suited for S-LCA and analyze the effect of the cut-off criteria on the environmental impact analysis results. A comprehensive environmental impact analysis of the characteristics of the six environmental impact categories revealed that the error rate was below 5% when the cut-off criterion of 97.5% of the cumulative weight percentile was applied, thus verifying its validity as the optimal cut-off criterion for S-LCA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13120
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Soltanzadeh ◽  
Ali E. Behbahani ◽  
Eduardo N. B. Pereira ◽  
Carlos A. Teixeira

The adverse consequences of producing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) on the environment have introduced cement production as the fourth largest source of anthropogenic carbon emissions after petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Managing and reducing the environmental concerns regarding the impacts of cement production on the environment, namely the depletion of non-renewable fuel resources, consumption of natural raw materials, and releasing huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere should be, therefore, one of the key priorities of the cement industry. Application of locally available minerals and wastes that can be blended with OPC as a substitute could considerably reduce the environmental impact. The present study evaluates the potentiality of waste seashell to be used as an additive in the production of blended cement through a modified life cycle approach integrating environmental and mechanical performances. In this regard, 34 cements consisting of different blends of OPC, seashell powder (within the range of 4–30% by OPC mass), and natural pozzolan (up to 30% by OPC mass) were tested to identify the optimal dosage of OPC substitution. Environmental impacts of the cements were assessed through life-cycle analysis. The possibility of mitigating the carbon dioxide emissions in the production of cements, with similar mechanical performance compared to that of OPC, was evaluated by considering both the mechanical and environmental results. The outcome of this study introduced more environment-friendly and sustainable options for future cements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing An ◽  
Richard S. Middleton ◽  
Yingnan Li

Cement manufacturing is one of the most energy and CO2 intensive industries. With the growth of cement production, CO2 emissions are increasing rapidly too. Carbon capture and storage is the most feasible new technology option to reduce CO2 emissions in the cement industry. More research on environmental impacts is required to provide the theoretical basis for the implementation of carbon capture and storage in cement production. In this paper, GaBi software and scenario analysis were employed to quantitatively analyze and compare the environmental impacts of cement production with and without carbon capture and storage technology, from the perspective of a life-cycle assessment; aiming to promote sustainable development of the cement industry. Results of two carbon capture and storage scenarios show decreases in the impacts of global warming potential and some environmental impacts. However, other scenarios show a significant increase in other environmental impacts. In particular, post-combustion carbon capture technology can bring a more pronounced increase in toxicity potential. Therefore, effective measures must be taken into account to reduce the impact of toxicity when carbon capture and storage is employed in cement production. CO2 transport and storage account for only a small proportion of environmental impacts. For post-combustion carbon capture, most of the environmental impacts come from the unit of combined heat and power and carbon capture, with the background production of MonoEthanolAmine contributing significantly. In combined heat and power plants, natural gas is more advantageous than a 10% coal-saving, and thermal efficiency is a key parameter affecting the environmental impacts. Future research should focus on exploring cleaner and effective absorbents or seeking the alternative fuel in combined heat and power plants for post-combustion carbon capture. If the power industry is the first to deploy carbon capture and storage, oxy-combustion carbon capture is an excellent choice for the cement industry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 296 ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
Theodor Staněk

Cement production belongs to the most important branch of industry. It is marked out by processing of great quantity of natural raw materials and of considerable energetic demand. Not only the intensification of the contemporary production processes is the permanent effort of the cement industry, but also the search for new energy less demanding methods. The paper is focused on one of the most important components of the intensification of cement production – on the preparation of raw meal. It mainly deals with the influence of granulometry and microhomogeneity of the input raw materials on the quality and economy of the process of production and on the final product. The study was carried out mainly by methods of optical microscopy and the determination of technological parameters of cements. It has been found that a change in granulometry of raw meal has a significant impact on the formation rate of the clinker phases. Subsequently, the grindability of the clinker and the strength of the cement are influenced, especially in the short-term hydration. Change of granulometry and homogeneity of raw meal can greatly optimize the quality and economy of the cement production process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 768 ◽  
pp. 679-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Xu ◽  
Shao Feng Sun ◽  
Kårehelge Karstensen ◽  
Da Hai Yan ◽  
Zheng Peng

As China develops its economy, hazardous waste generation is expected to increase rapidly. Recovery and recycling, i.e. co-processing of Alternative Fuels and Raw materials (AFRs) and treatment of hazardous waste in energy-and resource-intensive industries such as the cement industry seems to be an supplementary option to conventional technologies which can increase the overall waste management capacity in China significantly. With the largest cement production in the world, the industry can save significant amounts of non-renewable coal and raw materials by substitution with wastes which needs treatment. However, co-processing requires appropriate regulations and policies to support its development and safe and sound implementation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Herliati Rahman ◽  
Akhirudin Salasa

Currently, the use of alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) in the cement industry is very attractive. This is driven by demands for environmental sustainability and the efficiency of fuel and raw material costs. One of the materials that can be used as AFR is sludge oil. However, it needs to be ensured that the chlorine content in the sludge oil does not exceed the threshold so that it does not have a negative impact during the cement production process. It is known that if the chlorine content is more than the threshold, it can cause blocking or clogging of the separator and the kiln. This study aims to determine the performance of the Jena Multi EA 4000 instrument in determining the chlorine content in sludge oil quickly and accurately. Analytic Jena Multi EA 4000 is an Atomic Absorption Spectrometers (AAS) instrument that can be used for analysis of samples in the form of solids or slurries containing chlorine. As validation of the resulting analysis, the wet method is used, which as usual, to determine chlorine levels. From the statistic analysis, namely the F-test and T-test, We found that F-count equal to 0.0080 and F-table equal to 4.2839. it shows that F-count < F-table, indicating the difference in the variance of the two methods H0: s12 = s22 is accepted because there is no difference to the variability of these two tests and the value of T-count = -3.9717 and T-table = 2.1788 so that T-count <T-table is accepted because there is no difference in the average accuracy of the two methods H0: M1 = M2.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIJA HADŽI-NIKOLOVA ◽  
DEJAN MIRAKOVSKI ◽  
NIKOLINKA DONEVA ◽  
NATAŠA BAKRESKA

The main environmental issues associated with cement production are the consumption of raw materials, energy use and emissions in the air. Noise emissions occur throughout the whole cement manufacturing process - from preparing and processing raw materials, from the clinker burning and cement production process, from material storage as well as from the dispatch and shipping of the final products. The heavy machinery and large fans used in the cement manufacturing process can give rise to noise emissions. Cement Plants are required to comply with standards for reduction in line with national legislation, and to conduct measurements and perform noise surveys. Having this in mind, A TITAN Group Usje Cement Plant in Skopje, following their strong commitment to high environmental performance and Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Policy in 2013-2014 have engaged an AMBICON Lab (Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences) from Stip, to conduct a Noise Control Study in order to identify noise sources within cement plant and marl quarry, determine their impacts on nearby residents and develop noise control/protection strategies. During the past three years, the Usje Cement plant has implemented most of the noise control measures proposed in this Study. Also, a follow-up study during 2016-2017 was conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of measures taken. This paper presents the outcomes of noise reduction measures taken. Keywords: noise, cement industry, process management, measures, environment


2021 ◽  
Vol 897 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Luiza Silva ◽  
Elisabete Silva ◽  
Isabel Brás ◽  
Idalina Domingos ◽  
Dulcineia Wessel ◽  
...  

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most important analytical tools available to provide the scientific basis of engineering solutions for sustainability. The focus of this study was a LCA (cradle to gate) of a product intended to be used in countertops. The functional unit chosen was 1 m2 of finished panel (countertop) and the boundary system involved the study of raw materials and product packaging and the panel’s production process. The chosen method for impact assessment was EPD (2018) available in SimaPro PhD software and Acidification, Eutrophication, Global Warming, Photochemical Oxidation, Abiotic Depletion (elements), Abiotic Depletion (fossil fuels), Water Scarcity and Ozone Layer Depletion were the impact categories considered. Results showed that the panel’s manufacturing is the process that presented the highest influence in all categories analyzed ranging from 88% on Abiotic Depletion to approximately 101% on Water Scarcity. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is the greatest contributors to all impact categories except to Photochemical Oxidation that is the Polyester.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Halbiniak ◽  
Jacek Katzer ◽  
Maciej Major ◽  
Izabela Major

Many byproducts and waste materials with pozzolanic properties can substitute natural raw materials in cement production. Some of these waste materials like fly ash and blast furnace slag are commonly harnessed by cement industry. Others are of seldom use due to limitations of the very centralized cement production systems currently in use. In the authors opinion, it is necessary to change this system to enable efficient utilization of various waste materials that are available locally (e.g., white and red ceramics). In this study, a new partially centralized system of cement production is proposed. The adoption of a new system would significantly reduce the volume of long-distance transportation and enable utilization of numerous locally available waste materials that are currently dismissed. The last stage of production of the ready-to-use cement would take place in situ. The cement would be produced on demand and be immediately used for concrete production on-site. The research program was conducted considering the importance of the quality of cements obtained in the new way, substituting up to 12% of its mass by white ceramics. The research program was proof of concept of the proposed cement production system. It was shown that the quality of “in situ cement” does not differ from standard cements.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nickolaos Chatziaras ◽  
Constantinos S. Psomopoulos ◽  
Nickolas J. Themelis

Purpose – Cement production has advanced greatly in the last few decades. The traditional fuels used in traditional kilns include coal, oil, petroleum coke, and natural gas. Energy costs and environmental concerns have encouraged cement companies worldwide to evaluate to what extent conventional fuels can be replaced by waste materials, such as waste oils, mixtures of non-recycled plastics and paper, used tires, biomass wastes, and even wastewater sludge. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The work is based on literature review. Findings – The clinker firing process is well suited for various alternative fuels (AF); the goal is to optimize process control and alternative fuel consumption while maintaining clinker product quality. The potential is enormous since the global cement industry produces about 3.5 billion tons that consume nearly 350 million tons of coal-equivalent fossil and AF. This study has shown that several cement plants have replaced part of the fossil fuel used by AF, such waste recovered fuels. Many years of industrial experience have shown that the use of wastes as AF by cement plants is both ecologically and economically justified. Originality/value – The substitution of fossil fuels by AF in the production of cement clinker is of great importance both for cement producers and for society because it conserves fossil fuel reserves and, in the case of biogenic wastes, reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the use of AF can help to reduce the costs of cement production.


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