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Sustainable Chemicals, Practices, and Environmental Engineering for Energy, Civil, and Resources Industries

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2024) | Viewed by 6037

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ibukun Oluwoye

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Guest Editor

Curtin Corrosion Centre, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
Interests: pyrolysis; cogeneratio; enenergy;energy engineering; thermal analysis; combustion; combustion chemistry

Dr. Xihong Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia
Interests: advanced engineering materials; dynamic material properties and constitutive modeling; structural protections to hazards (impact, blast and earthquake loads); RC structure, masonry structure, prefabricated structure and steel structure; engineering mechanics

Dr. Anita Parbhakar-Fox

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Guest Editor

W.H.Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Brisbane, QLD 4068, Australia
Interests: geometallurgical and geoenvironmental characterisation; tailings characterisation and reprocessing; acid mine drainage; mine waste characterisation and repurposing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

You will agree that sustainable practices remain the central link to a well-conserved future and economic growth. In recent years, we have witnessed the development of various engineering techniques directed towards transitioning into a sustainable future. These technologies are evolving rapidly; they are versatile and expected to improve different sectors. Therefore, this Special Issue seeks to publish innovative technologies, frameworks, and policies that feature (or support) sustainable chemicals, methods, and environmental engineering techniques in the energy, civil, and resources industries.

The scope covers contributions from the following broad fields:

Chemical technology within the context of pollution remediation, energy recovery, clean energy, and water resources. The topic may include, but is not limited to, catalysis, biomass, biochar, decarbonization of organics wastes, and novel H₂ synthesis routes.
Structural technology dealing with sustainable composite materials and applications in the civil sector. The topic may include, but is not limited to, waste-reinforced geopolymers, sustainable road solutions, and sustainable paints and polymer coatings.
Waste-to-wealth technology, including treatment and upcycling of mining wastes and tailings, e-wastes, and plastics, as well as resource recovery.

Furthermore, submission of perspective reviews and well-balanced mini-reviews are welcome. We also encourage multidisciplinary-focused papers, e.g., those that incorporate the interplay of the three broad technologies highlighted above.

Dr. Ibukun Oluwoye
Dr. Xihong Zhang
Dr. Anita Parbhakar-Fox
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

energy
pollution remediation
waste
mine tailings
biomass and biochar
H₂
plastics
resource recovery
polymer coatings and paints
geopolymer and composite materials

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2267 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Cryogenic Comminution of Subsea Cables and Flowlines: A Pathway for Circular Recycling of End-of-Life Offshore Infrastructure

by Ibukun Oluwoye and Arun Mathew

Sustainability 2023, 15(21), 15651; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su152115651 - 06 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1247

Abstract

Hundreds of thousands of kilometers of communication and power (umbilical) cables and flowlines lie undersea worldwide. Most of these offshore cables and flowlines have reached or will soon be nearing the end of their service life, prompting the need for a viable recycling approach to recover some valuable material, e.g., copper. However, separation into constituent materials has proven very challenging due to the highly robust design of the composite cables (and flowlines) to withstand service conditions and the tough external plastic sheaths that protect against seawater corrosion. This study aims at promoting sustainable practices in the offshore energy sector. Here, we summarize the findings of the cryogenic comminution of subsea cables and flowlines for an effective separation and recovery of component materials. Heat transfer analyses of complex multilayer flowlines and umbilicals were conducted to evaluate the time required for these structures to reach their respective critical brittle-transition temperatures. Subsequently, the time was used as a guide to crush the flowline and umbilical cables under cryogenic conditions. The results show that the flowlines and umbilical cables will reach the brittle-transition temperature after approximately 1000s (i.e., 17 min) of submergence in liquid nitrogen (LN). Comminution of the materials at temperatures near the brittle-transition temperature was proven relatively efficient compared to room-temperature processing. The present evaluation of heat transfer and lab-scale crushing will afford accurate process modelling and design of a pilot cryogenic comminution of decommissioned subsea cables and flowlines, enabling the sustainable recovery of valuable materials that can provide a new stream of waste-to-wealth economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Chemicals, Practices, and Environmental Engineering for Energy, Civil, and Resources Industries)

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23 pages, 2660 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efficiency of Using Heat Pumps in a Hydrogen Production Unit at Steam-Powered Thermal Power Plants

by Milana Treshcheva, Daria Kolbantseva, Irina Anikina, Dmitriy Treshchev, Konstantin Kalmykov and Iaroslav Vladimirov

Sustainability 2023, 15(21), 15204; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su152115204 - 24 Oct 2023

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Abstract

The need to increase the level of beneficial recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW) and the focus on low-carbon energy are increasing interest in the production of hydrogen from MSW. The presence of free space and excess capacity makes thermal power plants (TPPs) the most rational objects for the integration of units that produce hydrogen from MSW. The use of heat pumps (HP) will make it possible to use waste heat, increase heat output, and optimize the TPPs’ operating modes. The purpose of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of using HPs in the scheme for producing hydrogen from MSW at TPPs. The integration of a hydrogen-generating unit into the thermal circuit of a TPP will provide the necessary amount of vapor for the production of hydrogen but will lead to a decrease in the thermal efficiency of the plant. The use of HP will partially compensate for this decrease. For plants with a turbine of type T-100/120-130, when using HPs to heat network water, the reduction in electricity generation will be 1.9–32.0%, and the increase in heat supply will be 1.7–14.2%. The reduction in specific fuel consumption for an electricity supply will be 0–1.2%, an increase in marginal profit of 0.1–6.4%, with the MSW disposal of 10–90 t/h, and the hydrogen generation of 0.8–18.9 t/h. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Chemicals, Practices, and Environmental Engineering for Energy, Civil, and Resources Industries)

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17 pages, 11937 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Penetration Behavior of the Footing of Jack-Up Vessel of OWTs in Thin Stiff over NC Clay

by Shen Xie, Xinggang Wang, Mi Zhou, Deyong Wang and Weiping Peng

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8618; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148618 - 14 Jul 2022

Viewed by 2494

Abstract

This study investigated the behavior of the spudcan foundation of jack-up vessels of offshore wind turbines during the undrained vertical penetration into thin stiff-over-normally consolidated clay. Large deformation finite element (LDFE) analyses were used to simulate the continuous spudcan penetration into the seabed surface. Detailed parametric analysis was performed to explore a range of normalized soil properties and layer geometry and roughness of the soil–spudcan interface. The results were validated against previously reported data. The LDFE results were consistent with those of centrifuge tests. The evolving soil-failure patterns revealed soil backflow and the trapping of stronger top-layer material beneath the spudcan. The plug shape was influenced by the top layer thickness, the strength gradient of the bottom layer, and the relative strength ratio, which also affected the penetration resistance of soils. In this study, an expression was derived to quantify the plug shape with the aim of providing a theoretical basis for the design of spudcan footings with penetration resistance suitable for thin stiff-over-soft clay. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Chemicals, Practices, and Environmental Engineering for Energy, Civil, and Resources Industries)

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Review

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33 pages, 1560 KiB

Open AccessReview

Use of Waste from the Food Industry and Applications of the Fermentation Process to Create Sustainable Cosmetic Products: A Review

by Monika Krzyżostan, Agata Wawrzyńczak and Izabela Nowak

Sustainability 2024, 16(7), 2757; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su16072757 - 27 Mar 2024

Viewed by 720

Abstract

In recent years, the sustainability of cosmetic products has received growing interest from the cosmetic industry and consumers due to the recommendation of the implementation of the circular economy and the European Green Deal. The sustainable development strategy takes into account the reduction of waste and energy consumption, and covers all processes of producing and using cosmetics, starting from the method of obtaining raw materials, through to the process of producing cosmetics bulk, to the selection of packaging. Particularly, the selection of raw materials has a large impact on sustainability of cosmetic emulsion. One way of resource recovery is the use of agro-food by-products and discarded waste to produce cosmetic raw materials, because most of them possess value-added bioactive compounds, such as enzymes and nutrients with high functionality. Their recovery may be performed by more sustainable extraction processes, leading to natural oils, extracts, polymers, phytosterols, vitamins, minerals, and unsaturated fatty acids. A relatively new and innovative form of designing sustainable and bioavailable cosmetic raw materials is fermentation, where bioferments are obtained from plant-based and food waste raw materials. In addition, optimization of the emulsification process by applying low-energy methods is a crucial step in obtaining sustainable cosmetics. This allows not only a reduction in the carbon footprint, but also the preservation of the valuable properties of the used raw materials. The following paper discusses methods of creating sustainable cosmetic emulsions with energy-saving procedures and by using raw materials from food waste and the fermentation process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Chemicals, Practices, and Environmental Engineering for Energy, Civil, and Resources Industries)

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