Waste materials characterization and recognition can be obtained through their surface spectral response. Such a goal can be reached adopting specialized devices that are able to develop acquisition strategies based on the collection of hyperspectral images. The analyses of the detected spectra can give useful information concerning the investigated material surface properties, status and physical-chemical attributes. This last aspect can be utilized to define and implement on-line procedures aimed to recognize different particulate solid waste as they result after specific processing/selection actions. The present study addressed the application of hyperspectral imaging approach for compost products characterization, in order to develop control strategies to be implemented at the plant scale. Reflectance spectra of selected compost samples have been acquired in the visible-near infrared field (VIS-NIR): 400-1000 nm. Correlations have been established between the physical-chemical characteristics of the different compost products and their detected reflectance spectral signature.
Abstract:The leather manufacturing is traditionally responsible for high environmental pollution. Tannery effluent contains, indeed, large amounts of lime sludge, sulfides, acids, toxic metals salts, in particular chromium salts, which are toxic, non-biodegradable and hardly disposable. For this reason, great research efforts are addressed to establish a significantly eco-sustainable and convenient business for companies and to produce high quality leather products. The replacement of current commercial chemical and toxic products with innovative natural/naturalized products and technologies in some crucial phases of the tanning cycle (mainly bating and defatting), can induce an eco-friendly reduction of the needed chromium amount. Leather samples, treated with innovative bating and defatting products and tanned by several different Cr contents, were characterized by SEM-EDS (Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy) and TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis). SEM-EDS was used to observe the surface and cross-section morphology and to provide a semi-quantitative elemental analysis, while TGA to evaluate the thermal stability and decomposition phases. The compatibility of the innovative products was demonstrated and the environmental impact of the process, performed by the effluents characterization, was effectively improved as a result of a 20% Cr lowering. The use of innovative products and the chromium reduction did not affect the thermal stability, leather morphology and not involve significant differences in the composition.
The European directive 2008/98/CE establishes a legal framework for the treatment of waste within the Community. It aims at protecting the environment and human health through the prevention of the harmful effects of waste generation and waste management. In order to better protect the environment, the Member States should adopt measures for the treatment of their waste according to a hierarchy as outlined: prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, energy recovery, disposal. In this context, the European project LIFE12 ENV/IT/000356 "RESAFE" is addressed to produce and utilize a new class of fertilizers characterized by reduced salinity in order to substitute chemical and mineral fertilizers through a technological route based on Urban Organic Waste (UOW), Farm Organic Residues (FOR), Bio-Chars (BC) and Vegetable Active Principles (VAP) processing. Following this approach, it will be possible for farmers and urban waste managers to reduce costs and to obtain environmental and economic incomes. Furthermore, environmental impacts will be also reduced contributing to decrease the greenhouse emissions from landfills and from the production of mineral fertilizers. In this paper, specific innovative sensing architectures, based on Hyper-Spectral Imaging (HSI) devices working in the near infrared (NIR) range, and related detection architectures, is presented and discussed in order to define and apply smart detection engines to follow the transformations of the complex material, resulting from UOW, FOR, BC and VAP based recipes during the different stages of the fertilizer production process. Results show as the fertilizer production process can be monitored adopting the NIR-HSI approach.
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