Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal (8 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Management of material and product circularity potential as an approach to operationalise circular economy  
  by Tetiana Shevchenko, Jakub Kronenberg 
  Abstract: To make the general action plan more specific, a circular economy must introduce obligations for producers to use recycled materials. The present study suggests not only to restrict manufacturers access to use primary resources for certain products, but also to establish the only possible access to the material of a particular turnover, thereby creating demand for these or other outputs and maximising the number of uses of the same material. This article focuses on the development of a new approach for the operationalisation of a circular economy based on the management of material and product circularity potential by the following phases: 1) allocation of the explicit available potential; 2) fullest use of materials; 3) building-up of new circularity potential for specific material and product in combination. In particular, the allocation of the explicit available potential reflects the aspect of restricting access to primary resources for manufacturers of certain products. The findings presented and discussed in this article provide a theoretical basis for the development of new metrics for measuring progress towards zero-waste and circular economy.
  Keywords: circular economy; operationalisation; circularity potential; measuring circularity; material cycle; resource cycle; closing loop; slowing loop; electrical and electronic products.
  DOI: 10.1504/PIE.2020.10025059
   
  
• Modeling a decision-making network for sustainable manufacturing strategy  
  by Lanndon Ocampo, Eppie Clark, Anthony Shun Fung Chiu, Raymond Tan 
  Abstract: This paper develops an approach that explores the impact of stakeholders' interests in developing a sustainable manufacturing strategy. Manufacturing firms are faced with the challenge of integrating sustainability with the classical function of manufacturing. To integrate these two objectives is to take into consideration different stakeholders' interests as significant drivers toward sustainability. This work explores the significance of these interests in developing a manufacturing strategy using the proposed probabilistic fuzzy analytic network process. The method handles the complexity of the decision framework and judgment elicitation in pairwise comparisons is described using linguistic variables with equivalent triangular fuzzy numbers. Probability theory is then used to merge the judgments of multiple decision-makers. The method is useful for handling complexity and uncertainty in group decision-making. Results show the content of the sustainable manufacturing strategy. Insights and future works are also discussed.
  Keywords: analytic network process; fuzzy set theory; probabilistic; manufacturing strategy; sustainability.
  
  

Special Issue on: TMREES 2018 Advanced Material and Energy Flow Impact on Sustainability

• 3D Image Reconstruction from its 2D Projection A Simulation Study  
  by Hawraa Al-waelly, Hameed Abduljabbar 
  Abstract: A simulation study of using 2D tomography to reconstruction a 3D object is presented. The 2D Radon transform is used to create a 2D projection for each slice of the 3D object at different heights. The 2D Back-Projection and the Fourier Slice Theorem methods are used to reconstruction each 2D projection slice of the 3D object. The results showed the ability of the Fourier Slice Theorem method to reconstruct the general shape of the body with its internal structure, unlike the 2D Radon method, which was able to reconstruct the general shape of the body only because of the blurring artifact, Beside that the Fourier Slice Theorem could not remove all blurring artifact, therefore, this research, suggested the threshold technique to eliminate the excessive points due to the blurring artifact.
  Keywords: Tomography; 2D Projections; 3D Reconstruction; Fourier Slice Theorem; Radon Transform.
  
  
• Preparation and study of a superconducting composite based on superconducting ceramic system  
  by Abdul Hameed Al –Sarraf 
  Abstract: Heat pollution could be through decreasing the electrical resistance of wire conductors. The main approach of this research is to modify the superconducting ceramic Y-Ba-Ca-Cu-(Hg, Ag)-O system.The composite samples consisting of YBa2Ca2Cu2.8(Ag,Hg)0.2 O7-δ superconductor ceramic and epoxy have been prepared. The stander four probe techniques and contactless induction based on Meissner effect were used to study the superconducting properties of sintered ceramic Y-Ba-Ca-Cu-(Hg,Ag)-O system and composite samples. The results showed that in all composite samples which were prepared by the addition of the ceramic superconducting powder as filler to the epoxy polymer ,there was no decrease in the Tc of ceramic superconductor YBa2Ca2Cu2.8Ag, Hg)0.2O7-δ precursor filler; a very slight change was observed. The superconductive nature is very sensitive to microstructure, represented by the porosity, density, grain size and consequently the granular specific surface area. The partial replacement of Cu ion by either Ag and Hg ions was found to modify the superconductive nature. And, the ability of mercury ion to play an important role as an oxygen donor is due to its high free energy of oxide formation compared to that of copper ion. Also, the advantage of using composite material is providing a high efficiency and low loss, which have not impeded the development of its applications.
  Keywords: High temperature superconductor; Magnetization; Tc; porosity; density; Grain size Epoxy polymeric composites.
  
  
• Preparation of Nanocompounds Materials by Combustion Method using Urea as Fuel  
  by Aliaa A. Razzak, Abdulnasser M. Al-Gebori, Mohammad Haider 
  Abstract: LiNiCoO2 (LCNO) has been prepared using Combustion method with urea as the igniter and glycerol as the binding material due to its high activity. Urea, used as fertilizer, can be produced by way of sequence chemical approaches by means of the usage of H2, N2 and CO2.It is good performance hydrogen and carbon dioxide as storage medium due to high energy density (16.9 M*J *L−1, 10.1 weight percent of H2) for direct urea fuel cell (DUFC). Nitrates of Li+,Co+2 and Ni+2 had been combined together to shape a homogenous medium . Re- quired quantities of urea and glycerol have been brought to combination and made good a paste. This paste are heated to 400◦C for 2 h. The as-synthesized fabric used to be subjected to thermo- gravimetric (TGA) analysis to decide the top of the line varies of annealing temperatures. This mixtures were headed at (800, and 900) ˚C for 2 h in an air and various in the structural, morphological properties were studied. The structural of (LCNO) as powder had been studied with the aid of potential of X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. From the structure analysis suggests that all the powders are crystallized in the layered shape (R - 3m). The product bought was once subjected to infrared bands of solids are normally assigned to vibration of ions in the crystal lattice FTIR of LCNO pure section was once recorded vary of (3500-500) cm*-1. The particle size of the nano particles was estimated with results during post annealing and the average sizes of the LiNiCoO2 structure is found to be (62-75) nm from SEM measurement. LiNiCoO2 is used as nano-batteries (storage energy) to prevent smoke from cars and vehicles that have a negative impact on the sustainability of the environment.
  Keywords: Nanoparticle; LiCoNiO2; DUFC; FTIR;X-ray diffraction; characterization.
  
  

Special Issue on: ICPAT-19 Trends in Automotive Green Technologies

• A Comparative study of performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine using various non-edible extracts  
  by Rajkumar R, Gopi Kannan K, Mohanraj M 
  Abstract: In this study, the performance and exhaust emission characteristics of a diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel such as cottonseed oil, castor oil, Calophyllum inophyllum oil and mustard oil by transesterification are investigated. All biodiesels are mixed together on a mass basis and allowed to transesterification is named as Totally Mixed Esterified (TMEx). Separately transesterified and mixed together on a mass basis becomes Separately Esterified Mixer (SEMx). The biodiesel test samples are prepared by a volume proportions such as 10% (SEMx10, TMEx10) and 20% (SEMx20, TMEx 20). The experiment is conducted on a single-cylinder, water-cooled, direct injection diesel engine loaded by eddy current dynamometer at different loads. The result shows that the brake thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption of TMEx blends are closer to diesel when compared to SEMx blends. In addition, the emission characteristics of TMEx20 is observed as less in comparison with other blends and it is suggested as a promising replacement for diesel without any engine modification.
  Keywords: biodiesel; methyl ester; diesel engine; exhaust emission.
  
  
• Automotive Air-Conditioning System Technology: A Review  
  by Shaik Sharmas Vali, Shaik Saboor, Prithivi Rajan S, T.P. Ashok Babu 
  Abstract: Air conditioning in the automobile has become an important area of research. The performance of an air conditioning system in an automobile depends upon three basic important factors such as compressor speed, evaporator load, and condensing temperature. How these factors when varied affects the COP of the system have been detailed in this review paper. Refrigerants are one of the important factors that determine the efficiency of the air conditioning system in automobile and as a result, many experiments and researches were carried out. The properties of refrigerants which were in use and the ones which are still in use, their pros and cons, their optimum operating conditions and how these got replaced with much more efficient alternatives have been presented. Common refrigerants used in the automotive industry like R12, R134a, R22, and their alternatives like R1234yf, CO2, and R152a are being discussed their properties, working optimum conditions, impact on the environment, etc. Several performance studies on various refrigerants (R134a, R152a, CO2 and R1234yf) used in the automotive air conditioning system operating with various conditions revealed the better COP for R152a in comparison with R134a, whereas COP of R1234yf and CO2 was observed to be slightly lower than R134a. However, safety measures must be followed while using R152a due to its slightly flammable nature (ASHRAE A2 group). In this work, various alternative air conditioning systems used for automobiles have been presented in detail.
  Keywords: Alternative refrigerants; GWP; ODP; Automotive air-conditioning.
  
  
• Assessment of Performance, Emission, and Combustion Characteristics of Dual-fuel Engine with Exhaust Gas Recirculation  
  by Radha Krishna Gopidesi, Anjaneyulu Kancharla, Nagarjuna Kumma, Bhaskara Rao Pathakokila 
  Abstract: The present investigations were carried out on the common rail diesel injection (CRDI) engine in dual-fuel mode with exhaust gas recirculation. Biogas is one of the best alternatives for conventional fuel which has several benefits with limitations. In dual-fuel mode, biogas was injected from the inlet manifold at flow rates of 4 and 5 liters per minute (lpm) as a secondary fuel and diesel was used as the primary fuel. The biogas at 5 lpm consumption gave a 6.78 % brake thermal efficiency higher than that of diesel fuel. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was used in dual-fuel mode at a flow rate of 5 lpm of biogas. The use of NOX resulted in a drastic reduction of about 50% for the 5 lpm with 5% EGR when compared with other samples. However, it led to an increase in HC emissions due to lower heat release rate. In dual-fuel mode, the flow rate of 5 lpm produced the highest in-cylinder pressure of 71.1 bars at a crank angle of 366
  Keywords: biogas; dual-fuel; performance; emission; combustion.