Life cycle assessment of the Spanish cement industry: implementation of environmental-friendly solutions

García-Gusano, Diego; Herrera, Israel; Garraín, Daniel; Lechón, Yolanda; Cabal, Helena

doi:10.1007/s10098-014-0757-0

Cited by 81 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…When 53% of total FFs are replaced by SRF, GHG emissions from cement production are reduced by 10% compared to SC 1 and SC 2. This result is similar to the study conducted by García-Gusano et al (2015) , where GHG emissions were reduced by 9% by altering 50% FFs with alternative fuels. In this study, it is found that GHG emissions are reduced even further by 22% compared to SC 1 and SC 2, when the SRF share in the fuel energy reached to 80%.…”

Section: Results Analysis and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach

2020

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Cement production is responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A potential option to reduce the cement production emissions is to use alternative fuels which can have also an impact on emissions from the waste management sector. This work investigates the change in global warming potential (GWP) of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production and affected waste management systems when conventional fuels are partially replaced by solid recovered fuel (SRF) made from commercial and industrial waste (C&IW). A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted with a functional unit of 1 metric tonne of OPC production and treatment of 194 kg of C&IW. Data from an existing cement plant have been used, where the share of SRF from total fuel energy demand increased from 0% to 53% between 2007 and 2016. Four scenarios were established with varying waste treatment methods and SRF share in the thermal energy mix of cement production. It was found that GHG emissions decreased by 20% from 1036 kg carbon dioxide (CO2), eq. (functional unit)-1 in Scenario 1 to 832 kg CO2, eq. (functional unit)-1 in Scenario 3. Furthermore, it is possible to reach a reduction of 30% to 725 kg CO2, eq. (functional unit)-1 in Scenario by increasing the share of SRF to 80%. In conclusion, significant GHG emissions reduction can be achieved by utilizing SRF in cement production. Especially in the middle-income and low-income countries where waste is dumped to the open landfills, emissions could be reduced without huge investments to waste incineration plants.

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Section: Results Analysis and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach

2020

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“…Portland cement is the world's most widely used construction material, with an output of around 3.310 bnt in 2010 . That enormous scale of production despite the world economic crisis has been driven by Asian countries', and especially China's, economic and industrial growth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineralogy and Microstructure of Hydrated Phases During the Pozzolanic Reaction in the Sanitary Ware Waste/Ca(OH)₂ System

et al. 2015

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Despite technological improvements in its production process, the sanitary ware industry inevitably generates a certain volume of discards, products whose quality is not up to standard. The present paper is the first to scientifically explore clay‐based sanitary ware waste (SW) with a view to its valorization as an addition in the design of new, more environmentally friendly cements. The focus is on characterization of the waste and its pozzolanicity, as well as the structural and microstructural changes taking place in the pozzolan/Ca(OH)2 system in the first 90 d of reaction. The findings show that pozzolanicity in clay‐based waste is comparable to the activity observed in silica fume (SF) and higher than that found in other clay‐based materials and fly ash (FA). The microstructural study of the clay‐based waste/Ca(OH)2 system, in turn, reveals that the proportion of C–S–H gels rises with hydration time. These gels are characterized by long mean chain lengths (MCL) and low Ca/Si ratios. The intrinsic characteristics of this thermally activated clay‐based waste qualify it as a type Q pozzolans as defined in the European cement standards, making it apt for use in the manufacture of CEM II, IV, and V cements.

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“…Whilst other CO2 abatement technologies are also available, they often require significant investments and gradual implementations that companies are not always willing to perform (Benhelal et al, 2012b, Hasanbeigi et al, 2010, Morrow III et al, 2014. Some authors have compared different strategies for CO2 abatement such as improving thermal and electrical efficiency and fossil fuel substitution (García-Gusano et al, 2015, Feiz et al, 2014a. However, it has been reported that the use of supplementary materials for clinker replacement can reduce CO2 emissions up to 12% compared to the maximum 5% achieved by other strategies when a 10% of SCM is increased in the mix (García-Gusano et al, 2015).…”

Section: A N U S C R I P Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some authors have compared different strategies for CO2 abatement such as improving thermal and electrical efficiency and fossil fuel substitution (García-Gusano et al, 2015, Feiz et al, 2014a. However, it has been reported that the use of supplementary materials for clinker replacement can reduce CO2 emissions up to 12% compared to the maximum 5% achieved by other strategies when a 10% of SCM is increased in the mix (García-Gusano et al, 2015). Moreover, García-Gusano et al (2015) reported that in average, other environmental impacts (impact categories) such as human toxicity and acidification are also reduced in 10% when a similar increase in SCM use occurs.…”

Section: A N U S C R I P Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Feiz et al (2014b) describes clinker replacement as a measure to reduce CO2 emissions with medium feasibility but with high technological maturity and high improvement potential. In addition, there are expected improvements in energy use efficiencies and hence less emissions due to fossil fuels consumption, but calcination emissions will remain unchanged (Wang et al, 2013, García-Gusano et al, 2015.…”

Section: Carbon Emission Reduction Benefits From the Use Of Fly Ashmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effective carbon emission reductions from using upgraded fly ash in the cement industry

Vargas

Halog

2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

121

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Utilisation of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) has been found as a suitable alternative to reduce CO2 emissions from cement production. Fly ash (FA) is the most well-known of these materials and has been used for decades in cement applications. Amongst these applications, the most significant is the replacement of clinker in cement blends, which reduces the consumption of resources and energy and at the same time, avoids the environmental burden associated with clinker production. Despite the existence of these opportunities, a large fraction of the FA produced worldwide is still unused and disposed as waste or stored in landfills. This occurs mostly because FA is unable to meet the quality requirements for replacing clinker in cement blends. Upgrading of FA to a suitable material that can effectively replace clinker is possible via upgrading processes (UP). These processes carry their own environmental impacts because in most of the cases, thermal and electric energy are used in them. Due to this fact, the use and implementation of upgraded fly ash involves additional environmental impacts to the life-cycle of the product. The most relevant of these impacts during the upgrading stage, is the generation of additional direct and indirect CO2 emissions from energy consumption. From a life-cycle perspective, the generation of these additional CO2 emissions decreases the net abatement achieved by using fly ash as a SCM. Therefore, it is necessary to account these emissions and calculate the net abatement achieved by replacing clinker and fossil fuel consumption. A system dynamics model is presented by simulating five different cement life-cycle scenarios in order to quantify the net CO2 reductions when using upgrading processes of fly ash. Ultra-fine grinding for the mechanical activation of FA is the UP modelled using published and direct data from the equipment manufacturer. A material flow analysis (MFA) was carried out to describe the scenarios and to simplify the life-cycle approach. It was found that the upgrading process modelled can have maximum value of 3.98 GJ/tonne of fly ash and still be able to produce net reductions. The same model also estimated that an 80% of the total reductions are avoided when ultra-fine grinding consumes 0.75 GJ/tonneFA of energy, compared to emissions from the baseline cement. The model is also complemented by reviewing the current use of FA as a SCM in the cement industry and by presenting a holistic systems thinking analysis. The model can also be further expanded to simulate other life-cycle scenarios which can include multiple upgrading processes and other materials.

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Life cycle assessment of the Spanish cement industry: implementation of environmental-friendly solutions

Cited by 81 publications

References 13 publications

Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach

Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach

Mineralogy and Microstructure of Hydrated Phases During the Pozzolanic Reaction in the Sanitary Ware Waste/Ca(OH)₂ System

Effective carbon emission reductions from using upgraded fly ash in the cement industry

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Life cycle assessment of the Spanish cement industry: implementation of environmental-friendly solutions

Cited by 81 publications

References 13 publications

Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach

Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach

Mineralogy and Microstructure of Hydrated Phases During the Pozzolanic Reaction in the Sanitary Ware Waste/Ca(OH)2 System

Effective carbon emission reductions from using upgraded fly ash in the cement industry

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Mineralogy and Microstructure of Hydrated Phases During the Pozzolanic Reaction in the Sanitary Ware Waste/Ca(OH)₂ System