Pressure-driven processes have come a long way since they were introduced. These processes, namely Ultra-Filtration (UF), Nano-Filtration (NF), and Reverse-Osmosis (RO), aim to enhance the efficiency of wastewater treatment, thereby aiming at a cleaner production. Membranes may be polymeric, ceramic, metallic, or organo-mineral, and the filtration techniques differ in pore size from dense to porous membrane. The applied pressure varies according to the method used. These are being utilized in many exciting applications in, for example, the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and wastewater treatment. This paper attempts to comprehensively review the principle behind the different pressure-driven membrane technologies and their use in the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. The transport mechanism has been elaborated, which helps in the predictive modeling of the membrane system. Fouling of the membrane is perhaps the only barrier to the emergence of membrane technology and... [more]

The rapid increasing number of automobile products has brought great convenience to people’s living, but it has also caused serious environmental issues, waste of resources and energy shortage during its whole lifecycle. Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) refers to the company’s responsibility to avoid damage to the natural environment derived from its corporate social responsibility (CSR), and it plays an important role in solving resource and environmental problems. However, due to various internal and external reasons, it is difficult for the automobile manufacturing industry to find the key drivers for the implementation of CER. This research proposes a model framework that uses the fuzzy decision-making test and evaluation laboratory (fuzzy DEMATEL) method to analyze the drivers of CER from the perspective of the triple bottom line (TBL) of economy, environment and society. Firstly, the common drivers of CER are collected using literature review and questionnaire survey... [more]

New observations of non-indigenous species (NIS) in coastal waters, such as the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain) have increased since 1980 and more or less exponentially in the last five years. Ballast water has become the most significant pathway for unintentional introductions of NIS into marine ecosystems. For example, the marine larvae of crustacean decapods that inhabit the water column could be transported in ballast water. Although elevated concentrations of metals are toxic to many marine organisms, some of them have evolved effective detoxification, or avoidance mechanisms making it possible to consider they have a superior ability to withstand exposures to these toxicants. In this text, we try to reinforce the hypothesis that anthropogenic modifications (such as chemical alterations and modified environments) benefit NIS with broad environmental tolerances. Taking these risks into account, a reinforcement of efficient Ballast Water Management Systems to respond to today’s challenging en... [more]

Ponding system or land application techniques are widely used at industrial scale to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME) prior to discharge to the environment. POME is considered as one of the major problems that has generated voluminously from the palm oil industries. The main purpose of this article is to organize the scattered available information on various aspects and a wide range of promising current POME treatments including biological microorganisms, physicochemical methods of coagulation, and membrane and thermochemical process. In addition, the integrated system of anaerobic-aerobic bioreactor (IAAB), which has been touted as highly efficient with easy control at acceptable temperature range and shorter treatment time, has potential to be exploited for POME treatment. The main influencing factors for IAAB POME treatment are highlighted as outstanding characteristics for challenges and future prospects.

Industries have to integrate environmental, social, and economic aspects into their supply chain management to achieve sustainability. Hence, the industry needs to take appropriate actions in choosing the right suppliers. The aim of this study is to develop a framework for selecting sustainable suppliers by integrating quality management tools using the Kano model, Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process, and Decision Matrix Method. To identify the critical sustainability criteria, the Kano model by the clustering the criteria for sustainable selection supplier was used. We then used the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process to determine the weight of each criterion and applied the Decision Matrix Method to select the most sustainable supplier. Afterward, the appropriate proposed framework was implemented in one of the palm oil industries in Indonesia to validate that the framework is applicable and useful. The study shows that the environmental dimension is the most sustainable supplier crite... [more]

In this study, paper-mill wastewater was treated using the Submerged Membrane Bioreactor (SMBR) process. In particular, the ozone oxidation treatment process is applied after SMBR to remove the fluorescent whitening agent, which is a trace pollutant and non-biodegradable. Fluorescent whitening agent concentration was indirectly measured by UV scanning and COD concentration. The concentration of COD before SMBR and ozone oxidation was 449.3 mg/L, and the concentration of treated water was 100.3 mg/ℓ. The COD removal efficiency of paper-mill wastewater through SMBR and the ozone oxidation process was about 77.68%. The optimized amount of ozone was required for the removal of the fluorescent whitening agent after SMBR was 95 mg·O3/ℓ calculated by UV scan results. Additionally, the optimized amount of required ozone to remove COD was calculated to 0.126 mg·COD/mg·O3.

This study describes the influence of orchard cultural practices during the productive process of cherries on the environmental impact in terms of energy, air, soil and water through a “farm to market” Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results were used to identify the orchard cultural practices that contribute significantly to the environmental impact and to find solutions to reduce those impacts, serving as best practices guide to improving the environmental performance and as benchmarks for other national and international cherry and fruit growers. Primary data for production, harvest and post-harvest periods were gathered experimentally. The openLCA 1.10.2 software and the ecoinvent 3.5 database were used for modelling. Test case scenarios are modelled to identify the influence of cultural practices in low and high cherry production campaigns depending on climatic conditions and consequently diseases and plagues. Moreover, results are compared with other studies, not only covering c... [more]

Diffusion dialysis (DD) employing anion exchange membranes (AEMs) presents an attractive opportunity for acid recovery from acidic wastewater. However, challenges exist to make highly acid permeable AEMs due to their low acid dialysis coefficient (Uacid). Here, a series of porous and highly acid permeable AEMs fabricated based on chloromethyl polyethersulfone (CMPES) porous membrane substrate with crosslinking and quaternization treatments is reported. Such porous AEMs show high Uacid because of the large free volume as well as the significantly reduced ion transport resistance relative to the dense AEMs. Compared with the commercial dense DF-120 AEM, our optimal porous AEM show simultaneous 466.7% higher Uacid and 75.7% higher acid/salt separation factor (Sacid/salt) when applied to acid recovery at the same condition. Further, considering the simple and efficient fabrication process as well as the low cost, our membranes show great prospects for practical acid recovery from industria... [more]

This study explores the collaboration between upstream manufacturer brands and first-line retailers in Taiwan’s 3C product market, which is influenced by several factors. Both parties are motivated by profit and thus, strive for mutual cooperation in the business environment. Whether influencing factors exist between the retailer and manufacturer is a crucial issue. This study investigates 308 customer electronics retailers in Taiwan. Focusing on relationship quality, relational trust, and retailer satisfaction with the brand, we explore the possibility of future collaboration between retailers and manufacturer brands. The study results indicate the relationship quality between retailers and manufacturers has a significant impact on the relationship of trust. Both the relationship quality between retailers and manufacturers and the relational trust between the retailers and manufacturers have significant impacts on the retailer’s satisfaction with the manufacturer. Retailer satisfactio... [more]

This study examined the relationship among carbon dioxide emissions and linkage effects using Input−Output (IO) data of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry between South Korea and the USA. As we wanted to find out if the ICT industry, which the world is passionate about, is a sustainable industry. The linkage effects are analyzed to determine the impact of ICT industry on the national economy, and CO2 emissions of the industry are analyzed to determine how much influence it has on air pollution. In addition, we classify ICT industry by ICT service and manufacturing industries as the key industries in Korea and the US. Data were collected from OECD ranging from 2006 to 2015 in order to quantitatively estimate backward linkage, forward linkage effect, and carbon dioxide emissions. The results indicated that ICT manufacturing industry in Korea has high backward and forward linkage effects. CO2 emissions from ICT service is more than from ICT manufacturing in both... [more]

The objective of this trial was to assess the application of UVA-LED technology as an alternative source of irradiation for photo-Fenton processes, aiming to reduce treatment costs and provide a feasible treatment for landfill leachate. An optimized combination of coagulation with ferric chloride followed by photo-Fenton treatment of landfill leachate was optimized. Three different radiation sources were tested, namely, two conventional high-pressure mercury-vapor immersion lamps (100 W and 450 W) and a custom-designed 8 W 365 nm UVA-LED lamp. The proposed treatment combination resulted in very efficient degradation of landfill leachate (COD removal = 90%). The coagulation pre-treatment removed about 70% of the COD and provided the necessary amount of iron for the subsequent photo-Fenton treatment, and it further favored this process by acidifying the solution to an optimum initial pH of 2.8. The 90% removal of color improved the penetration of radiation into the medium and by extensio... [more]

Numerous pathways and narratives have been developed to shed light on how society could transform its production systems in line with the aspirational targets of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals [...]

Micropollutants and emerging substances pose a serious problem to environmental sustainability and remediation, due to their widespread use and applications in everyday life. This group of chemicals is diverse but with common toxic and harmful properties. Their concentration in the environment is often very low; however, due to their recalcitrant nature, they are persistent in air, water, and soil. From an engineering point of view, the challenge is not straightforward. It is difficult to remove these contaminants from complex mixtures of substances by conventional methods used in wastewater and drinking water treatment. Ozonation and ozone-based AOPs are accepted processes of degradation of resistant substances or at least enhancement of their biodegradability. The aim of this review paper is to present research trends aimed at solving problems in the research and application of ozone-based processes in the removal of micropollutants from wastewater, thus preventing leakage of harmful... [more]

Plastics are used for various applications, including in the food and beverage industry, for the manufacturing of plastic utensils and straws. The higher utilization of plastic straws has indirectly resulted in the significant disposal of plastic waste, which has become a serious environmental issue. Alternatively, bio-plastic and paper straws have been introduced to reduce plastic waste. However, limited studies are available on the environmental assessment of drinking straws. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies for bio-plastic and paper straws have not been comprehensively performed previously. Therefore, the impact of both bio-plastic and paper straws on the environment are quantified and compared in this study. Parameters, such as the global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP) and eutrophication potential (EP), were evaluated. The input−output data of the bio-plastic and paper straws processes from a gate-to-grave analysis were obtained from the literature and gen... [more]

The chemical activation of a carbon precursor with KOH generally results in an activated carbon (AC) with a high specific surface area. However, this process generates a large volume of wastewater that includes dissolved alkali metals, existing mainly as K2CO3. Thus, wastewaters with a high concentration of dissolved K2CO3 can potentially be used in place of KOH as a chemical agent. In the present study, to reduce the thermal stability of K2CO3, which decomposes at temperatures greater than 891 °C, K2CO3 was chemically impregnated into carbon precursors prior to activation of the precursors. The thermochemical properties and activation efficiency of the carbon precursors treated with K2CO3 were compared with those of carbon precursors treated with KOH. Analysis by XPS indicated that C−O−K complexes formed on the surface of the carbon precursors; in addition, their peak intensities were approximately the same irrespective of the chemical agent used. However, the specific surface area of... [more]

Currently, the use of fossil fuels is very high and existing nature reserves are rapidly depleted. Therefore, researchers are turning their attention to find renewable fuels that have a low impact on the environment, to replace these fossil fuels. Biogas is a low-cost alternative, sustainable, renewable fuel existing worldwide. It can be produced by decomposition of vegetation or waste products of human and animal biological activity. This process is performed by microorganisms (such as methanogens and sulfate-reducing bacteria) by anaerobic digestion. Biogas can serve as a basis for heat and electricity production used for domestic heating and cooking. It can be also used to feed internal combustion engines, gas turbines, fuel cells, or cogeneration systems. In this paper, a comprehensive literature study regarding the laminar burning velocity of biogas-containing mixtures is presented. This study aims to characterize the use of biogas as IC (internal combustion) engine fuel, and to d... [more]

The flammable propane−air mixtures raise specific safety and environmental issues in the industry, storage, handling and transportation; therefore dilution of such mixtures has gained significant importance from the viewpoint of fire safety, but also due to nitrogen oxide’s emission control through flameless/mild combustion. In this paper, the propagation of the flame in C3H8-air-diluent stoichiometric gaseous mixtures using Ar, N2 and CO2 as diluents was investigated. Data were collected from dynamic pressure-time records in spherical propagating explosions, centrally ignited. The experiments were done on stoichiometric C3H8-air + 10% diluent mixtures, at initial pressures within 0.5−2.0 bar and initial temperatures within 300−423 K. The flame velocity was determined from laminar burning velocities obtained using the pressure increase in the incipient stage of flame propagation (when the pressure increase is lower than the initial pressure). The experimental propagation velocities wer... [more]

With the increase of public environmental awareness and the growth of e-commerce, sustainable development promotes the manufacturer to increasingly participate in green innovation and make full use of the online sales channel to enhance competitiveness. Despite decentralized encroachment being widely adopted in business reality, the current literature has commonly paid more attention to centralized encroachment. To complement related research, a dual-channel green supply chain composed of a manufacturer (its retail subsidiary) and a retailer is investigated. We focus on what encroachment strategy (centralization vs. decentralization) drives the green innovation and analyze the impact of consumer green awareness and product substitutability on the manufacturer’s encroachment strategy, green innovation efforts and supply chain performance. Under each encroachment strategy, we build a Stackelberg game model and derive the equilibrium outcome. Then, we theoretically analyze the effects of... [more]

The mining industry plays a significant role in economic growth and development. Coal is a viable renewable energy source with 185.175 billion deposits in Thar, which has not been deeply explored. Although coal is an energy source and contributes to economic development, it puts pressure on environmental sustainability. The current study investigates Sindh Engro coal mining’s impact on environmental sustainability and human needs and interest. The Folchi and Phillips Environmental Sustainability Mathematics models are employed to measure environmental sustainability. The research findings demonstrated that Sindh Engro coal mining is potentially unsustainable for the environment. The toxic gases (methane, carbon dioxide, sulfur, etc.) are released during operational activities. The four significant environment spheres (atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere) are negatively influenced by Thar coal mining. The second part of the analysis results shows that human needs and int... [more]

Environmental pollution caused by excessive Sb(III) in the water environment is a global issue. We investigated the effect of processing parameters, their interaction and mechanistic details for the removal of Sb(III) using an iron salt-modified biosorbent (Fe(III)-modified Proteus cibarius (FMPAs)). Our study evaluated the optimisation of the adsorption time, adsorbent dose, pH, temperature and the initial concentration of Sb(III). We use response surface methodology to optimize this process, determining optimal processing conditions and the adsorption mechanism evaluated based on isotherm model and adsorption kinetics. The results showed that—(1) the optimal conditions for the adsorption of Sb(III) by FMPAs were an adsorption time of 2.2 h, adsorbent dose of 3430 mg/L, at pH 6.0 and temperature 44.0 °C. For the optimum initial concentration of Sb(III) 27.70 mg/L, the removal efficiency of Sb(III) reached 97.60%. (2) The adsorption process for Sb(III) removal by FMPAs conforms to the... [more]

There is an increasing demand for automatic, reliable and sensitive analytical methods for determining trace levels of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in environmental samples. While on line coupled liquid chromatography-gas chromatography (LC-GC) has been proof to be a powerful tool for trace-level analyses in complex matrices, the present work presents a new totally automated on line LC-GC method, using the Through Oven Transfer Adsorption Desorption (TOTAD) interface, for the analysis of four of the main phthalates, dibuthyl phthalate (DBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), in a matrix as complex as leachate. The sample is directly injected into the LC injector valve with no sample pretreatment other than simple filtration. The LC step separates the target analytes from matrix interference. Two different LC fractions are collected in a purposely designed fraction collector and then transferred to the TOTAD interface, which concentrates... [more]

Line structured light systems have been widely applied in the measurement of various fields. Calibration has been a hot research topic as a vitally important process of the line structured light system. The accurate calibration directly affects the measurement result of the line structured light system. However, the external environment factors, such as uneven illumination and uncertain light stripe width, can easily lead to an inaccurate extraction of light stripe center, which will affect the accuracy of the calibration. An image analysis-based framework in the calibration process was proposed for the line structure light system in this paper. A three-dimensional (3D) vision model of line structure light system was constructed. An image filtering model was established to equalize the uneven illumination of light stripe image. After segmenting the stripe image, an adaptive window was developed, and the width of the light stripe was estimated by sliding the window over the light stripe... [more]

Sources of contamination in a subsurface environment are petrol, diesel fuel, gasoline at oil refineries, underground storage tanks, transmission pipelines, and different industries. The permeable reactive barrier (PRB) is a promising technology to remediate groundwater in-situ. In this study, synthetic groundwater samples containing toluene are treated in three reactor columns by biological processes. PRB-1 consisted of sand and gravel as reactor media, microbial inoculum (bioaugmentation—BA), and nutrients (biostimulation—BS); PRB-2 consisted of sand and gravel as reactor media, microbial inoculum, nutrients, and 12 layers of nonwoven geotextile fabrics; and PRB-3 consisted of only sand and gravel as reactor media (natural attenuation—NA). This study was conducted to assess the impact of geotextile fabric filter, bioaugmentation, and biostimulation on toluene degradation efficiency. After 167 days of treatment, toluene biodegradation efficiencies varied between 88.2% and 93.8% for PR... [more]

Efficient conversion of renewable biomass into value-added chemicals and biofuels is regarded as an alternative route to reduce our high dependence on fossil resources and the associated environmental issues. In this context, biomass-based furfural and levulinic acid (LA) platform chemicals are frequently utilized to synthesize various valuable chemicals and biofuels. In this review, the reaction mechanism and catalytic system developed for the generation of furfural and levulinic acid are summarized and compared. Special efforts are focused on the different catalytic systems for the synthesis of furfural and levulinic acid. The corresponding challenges and outlooks are also observed.

Biomass is recognised as one of the most attractive feedstocks among the alternative resources, having a high potential for the sustainable production of valuable chemicals and biofuels. Due to its abundance, convenience, carbon neutrality and eco-friendliness, biomass is believed to positively impact the current environmental crisis caused by the extensive use of petroleum resources. For this reason, the search for processes that can convert this feedstock, resolving some inherent drawbacks, is needed. Biomass liquefaction using ionic liquids (ILs) as catalysts has received appreciable attention in renewable fuels and chemicals production. With the potential for a substantial number of anion and cation pairings, ILs can be an attractive medium towards reusability and sustainability for these processes due to the unique and tunable combinations of their functional groups-and, therefore, their properties. In this review, several studies using ILs in biomass liquefaction are compared and... [more]