No abstract

No abstract

Worldwide, automotive shredder residue (ASR) is considered an increasingly problematic mixture of materials that needs the development of a processing solution.Pyrolysis is a process that has many advantages to offer, but despite many studies and developments in recent years at various levels of commercialisation, it is still generally considered unproven for this purpose. This paper critically considers developmental work published in the field, presents new results, and suggests that a major reason for the lack of development is the complexity of the landscape created by strong, competing, economic, legislative, environmental and commercial drivers, which in turn make it unclear which products and processes are optimal. This is made doubly complex by the natural variation in the material composition of ASR, with contaminants that can critically affect its potential fate to anywhere in the range from hazardous waste, to energy source, to useful raw material for major cement or steel industries.New data on critical factors such as levels of chlorine and metals in raw and pyrolysed ASR are presented, alongside a much-needed summary of previously published values from references that are often difficult to source. The summaries emphasise the variation in the material, but also indicate rough boundaries for values, which are needed for the design of any potentially successful process. 3It is suggested that the heterogeneity seen across ASR types implies that specialised processing of SR on its own is unlikely. It is pointed out that small-scale processes that could be suitable for local requirements should be considered for development as they could be able to optimise a process sufficiently to make it viable, e.g. specialised local waste streams of paper pulp and a particular fraction of SR.

Shredder residue is the residue from the shredding of end-of-life vehicles and white goods, after removal of the main metals. Approximately 850,000 tonnes of shredder waste is produced in the UK each year, and historically sent to landfill. Due to European legislation such as the End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive and the Landfill Directive there is pressure to minimize this waste through recycling and recovery.In this paper primary data is presented showing that 40% of materials are potentially recoverable in the coarser fraction of UK automotive shredder residue (>30mm).Barriers to such recycling are discussed in the context of several recent drivers, including this waste's possible reclassification as hazardous.The lack of full and timely implementation of the ELV Directive in the UK has made it an ineffective driver, and it is now unlikely that its 2006 recycling targets will be met as intended.

No abstract

Indoor air quality has significant impacts on occupational health, workers' comfort and their productivity. The aim of this study was to assess indoor air quality in a rolling steel plant and to identify corrective measures that could help improve indoor air quality. Many air quality indicators, namely: CO, CO2, VOCs, NOx, SO2, O3, PM10 and PM2.5 were assessed as part of the study. The results obtained showed that higher concentrations of CO, VOCs, were found at the furnace area, while the rolling and quenching process area has the higher concentration of SO2 and CO2 respectively. PM10 and PM2.5 exceeded the international standards in most of the measuring points. Potential negative health effects are expected due to the high temperature and VOCs at the furnace area in addition to the high particulate matters level in all points. Hazard indices (HI) were found to be >1 for all sites indicating possible health risk mainly due to the particulate matter. The respiratory system is the most affected organ, followed by cardiovascular system, then the eye irritation. Based on the potential health risks identified, the paper concludes with some recommendations for protecting workers' health. These include setting local standards for indoor air quality, applying job rotation strategy, periodical medical checks, good ventilation and conducting further studies concerning long-term effect of indoor air quality on occupational health.

Steel making industry is one of the major contributors to the global environmental catastrophes including climate change, photochemical smog and depletion of the ozone layer. Emissions from steel making process result in health impacts on workers and the neighboring communities. This study aimed to investigate indoor air quality in a steel making industry in Saudi Arabia. Indicative pollutants, SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, O3, PM10 and PM2.5 were measured at eight locations across the factory. The obtained results indicated that loading, melting, slag pouring and casting stages are the major sources of indoor air pollution. In comparison with the ambient air, indoor concentrations increased up to: 13.50, 9.8, 1.29, 2.7, 15.6, times for SO2, NOx, CO2, VOCs, O3, respectively. Periodical medical check, pollution control, using of uncontaminated scrap, compliance with H&S regulations, are the key factors in reducing indoor emissions and subsequently improve occupational health.

Stringent legislation has begun to be implemented across Europe relating to heavy metal contamination into the environment. This study thus focuses on developing a method for reliably determining the lead content of automotive shredder residue (ASR). The material is first pyrolysed to remove organic fractions. Different analytical methods were then used to investigate the concentrations of heavy metals in the burned char, which varies from chunks of metals in larger sized fractions to fine powders of mostly non-metals. By considering results from ICP-MS, EDXRF, WDXRF and a portable WDXRF, it was found that varying values were obtained but that consistent 'consensus values' could be determined. Such 'consensus' values of lead, copper, iron and zinc are thus reported, and show that properly depolluted ELVs have significantly lower lead levels than normal SR feed -8000ppm versus 16000ppm. The finest fraction, <850 microns, makes up around half of the mass of the SR and has only 2700ppm and 5400ppm lead concentration values for depolluted ELVs and normal SR respectively, making it of interest for further work to develop uses as a feed in other industries.