A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes

Grbeš, Anamarija

doi:10.3390/su8010011

Cited by 32 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…More complex processing methods cause polluting chemical emissions due to the use of fuels and reagents. Environmental impacts are caused by consumption of fossil fuels, electricity, water, and chemicals, with the major contributor shown to be fossil fuel use (Grbeš, 2016). Similar conclusions can be found in Ferreira and Leite (2015), who conducted an LCA of iron ore mining and concluded that fossil fuel consumption accounted for 36% of the total impact.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…Kuzmanić T., Mikoš M.: Quartz Sand Use in Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering -Kremenov pesek v hidrotehniki in komunali Acta hydrotechnica 33/58 (2020), 13-28, Ljubljana Grbeš (2016) conducted an LCA of three types of methods used for quartz sand mineral processing, namely electrostatic separation, flotation, and gravity concentration. Basic processing procedures (washing and sizing) showed the smallest impact, but those are insufficient for high-grade sand.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quartz Sand Use in Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering

Kuzmanić

Mikoš

2020

Acta Hydrotechnica

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An overview of the production and usage of quartz sand as a special sort of sand for civil engineering is presented – from the formation of sand deposits, through mining and processing methods, to its final use, with an emphasis on its use in civil engineering, i.e. in water filtration. Quartz is found in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. During sand formation in the fluvial environment, quartz grains are highly resistant to weathering and mechanical wear, and can be transported a long way without changes to size and form. Therefore, quartz is the main constituent of most natural sands. Quartz and quartz sand are ubiquitous raw materials used in a wide range of products in civil engineering due to their chemical inertia and high temperature resistance. An example of a quartz sand deposit and processing plant in Slovenia is presented as a practical case study on quartz sand application. The described applications using quartz sand are the best available technologies in sanitary and hydraulic engineering to be used for a move towards a circular economy, smart houses, and smart cities.

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Section: Life Cycle Assessmentsupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quartz Sand Use in Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering

Kuzmanić

Mikoš

2020

Acta Hydrotechnica

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“…For example, the recycling of green and amber glass bottles is generally limited to regions with extensive brewing and wine-making industries. Container glass recycling rates in Europe, USA and Australia are reported to be 73%, 34% and 42%, respectively, with significant diversity among the various regions, states and territories (Heriyanto et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The production of container glass is an energy-intensive process with a substantial environmental impact (Mishra, 2015;Grbeš, 2016). Currently, the minimum energy consumption for container glass produced from 50% recycled cullet using the most efficient furnaces is estimated to be 3.85 MJ kg -1 (Conradt, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent initiatives to reutilize and upcycle waste container glass in the production of ceramics, geopolymers, building materials, ion-exchangers, sorbents and catalysts have been reported in the literature (Coleman et al, 2015;Silva et al, 2017;Bobirică et al, 2018;Elmes et al, 2018;Heriyanto et al, 2018;Ayala Valderrama et al, 2019;Giro-Paloma et al, 2019;Taylor et al, 2020). In particular, increasing attention has been given to the synthesis of zeolites from waste container glass as it potentially provides a consistent source of reactive silica, irrespective of color and origin (Espejel-Ayala et al, 2014;Terzano et al, 2015;Elmes et al, 2018;Lin et al, 2019;Majdinasab and Yuan, 2019a;Majdinasab and Yuan, 2019b;Collins et al, 2020;Taylor et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites from green container glass

Maisuria¹,

Elmes²,

Hurt³

et al. 2020

Physicochem. Probl. Miner. Process.

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Landfilling and stockpiling unrecycled colored container glass represents a considerable failure in sustainability with respect to the conservation of energy and mineral resources. In this study, the single-step hydrothermal synthesis of low-silica zeolites from a mixture of waste green container glass and aluminum foil (Al:Si = 1) in 4 M NaOH(aq) at 125 °C was followed at 1, 3, 7 and 14 days. The principal phases, sodalite and cancrinite, appeared within 1 day accompanied by minor quantities of hydrogarnet and tobermorite arising from a stoichiometric excess of calcium ions in the parent glass. Products of 63, 67, 71 and 72% crystallinity were obtained at 1, 3, 7 and 14 days, respectively, with partial successive conversion of sodalite to cancrinite over time. Ion-exchange and catalytic applications of sodalite and cancrinite arise from the high anionic charge of the 1:1 ratio of alternating SiO4 4-and AlO4 5units within their aluminosilicate frameworks. In this respect, the uptake capacity of the 14-day zeolitic product for Cu 2+ and Cd 2+ ions (1.58 meq g-1 and 1.66 meq g-1 , respectively) was within the expected range for zeolites and compared favorably with those reported for other inorganic sorbents derived from industrial and municipal wastes. The 14-day product was also found to be an effective basic heterogeneous catalyst for the Knoevenagel condensation reaction.

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Technology evolution of the photovoltaic industry: Learning from history and recent progress

Chen¹,

Chen²,

Altermatt³

et al. 2022

Progress in Photovoltaics

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This paper reports on the latest advances in crystalline Si cells and modules in the industry and explores the dynamics shaping the silicon PV industry. First, we report on the recent efficiency improvements of passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) and tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells on 210 mm wafers. At Trina Solar, the best batch average cell efficiency (total area) reached 23.61% for PERC and 25.04% for industrial‐TOPCon (i‐TOPCon). As far as we know, these are the highest values achieved on 210 mm wafers. The best champion efficiency for PERC and i‐TOPCon is 24.5% and 25.42%, respectively, as independently confirmed by the National Institute of Metrology of China in Beijing and ISFH CalTech in Hamelin. We have developed modules with power outputs of up to 660 W by using 66 pieces of these 210 mm cells with 12‐busbar technology in mass production. Besides, the aperture efficiency of the best laboratory PERC module fabricated by Trina Solar is 23.03%, which was independently confirmed by TÜV Rheinland. As far as we know, this is the first commercially sized PERC module with an aperture efficiency of 23% and a power output of over 600 W. Second, we have examined the technological development in the PV industry and summarise some empirical results. A look at the historical data shows that an increase in wafer area of at least 50% is required for a wafer size to become a new industry standard that lasts for 10 years. We find that it typically took about 3 years for the average efficiency of a cell in mass production to reach the efficiency of the champion cell produced in the industrial laboratory. We apply the empirical Goetzberger equation to analyse the module efficiency of c‐Si and thin‐film technologies. Based on our previous work, we update the selling price and manufacturing cost of PV modules and their learning curves. If we restrict the module price learning curve to the years starting in 2015, we find a short‐term learning rate (LR) of about 40%, while the overall LR since 1970 is about 24%. A strong LR is driven by collaboration among industrial players and clustering of the industry, as well as standardisation of the technology, the supply chain, and final product design, which lead to fast equipment development and fast increase in capacity of supply chain. We propose an empirical law to describe the recent evolution of equipment LR, which shows that the throughput of tool increases 100% in every 3 years, so that the investment in cell production lines has decreased by 50% every 3 years since 2015. Finally, we quantify the material consumption and carbon footprint of PV plants today and for the expansion of PV to terawatt (TW) levels. Besides replacing silver fingers with copper and aluminium, saving copper cables in utilities and low‐carbon mining of materials are the most effective carbon reduction measures in the PV supply chain.

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A Life Cycle Assessment of Silica Sand: Comparing the Beneficiation Processes

Cited by 32 publications

References 0 publications

Quartz Sand Use in Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering

Quartz Sand Use in Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering

Hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites from green container glass

Technology evolution of the photovoltaic industry: Learning from history and recent progress

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