Alexandra Pehlken

Contribution of Recycling Processes to Sustainable Resource Management

Many raw materials are restricted and far away from being endless available; therefore there is a strong intention of developing raw material- and energy-efficient production processes. Recycling processes provide a substantial contribution to sustainable resource management due to the supply of valuable secondary raw materials for new applications. This paper will demonstrate a metamodel strategy that considers these facts and demonstrates a model architecture based on Material Flow Assessment for recycling processes. The case study represents scrap tire recycling.

A systematic adaptable platform architecture design methodology for early product development

ABSTRACT Adaptable product platforms, which express a platforms modular and scalable combinations, are well suited for representing the complex mechanical composition of series products. Current adaptable platform design methods, however, still have certain limitations, such as an insufficient basis for functional modules classification, unstable classified results due to experience-based thresholds, and limited scope because of a reliance on performance mathematical models. Given the hierarchical model of adaptable platform architecture, a two-stage methodology for adaptable platform design based on quantitative indices and fuzzy arithmetic is proposed in this paper. In the first stage, the variety index and change propagation class are applied to cluster the acquired modules into standardised and flexible ones using visualised fuzzy clustering. In the second stage, common and scalable indices based on product lifecycle factors are developed in order to subdivide the components within flexible modules into common and scalable types. Trapezoidal fuzzy arithmetic is introduced in these two stages to deal with the imprecise, approximate, or qualitative linguistic assessments. The proposed approach is demonstrated using the concrete spaying machine family as an exemplary product. Sensitivity analysis showed that the results were robust for the disturbance of design variables. Comparisons with other studies’ results point to a higher stability, lower requirements for basic data, and a general effectiveness of the proposed method.

Manufacturing with Minimal Energy Consumption: A Product Perspective

The aim of this paper is to highlight energy intensive process steps in compound feed production and their importance for the overall LCA in feed processing. The carbon footprint has become a relevant measure among the animal and feed experts for comparing product or process performances. Our research focuses on the energy intensive process steps in the feed production line. Due to the fact that there is a high pressure on feed and food quality, there are very limited possibilities to change the process since a certain energy input is needed to reach the requested quality. The solution can be provided through an intelligent network process control. The network needs access to automatic sensor control devices that are installed inline to measure varying product parameters like the changing water content in grains for example (due to rainy or dry seasons). The knowledge of certain product parameters will influence the process control like for example steam addition to the process. An intelligent network supports the best energy performance for producing the requested compound feed quality by the customer. The paper summarizes the information along the compound feed production that is necessary for an energy efficient process control and explains how an intelligent network can contribute to the latter.

ASSESSING THE FUTURE POTENTIAL OF WASTE FLOWS - CASE STUDY SCRAP TIRES

Our planet has limited resources, and due to our increasing demands on a variety of products, we rely on the availability of primary and secondary resources. This paper will give an overview on the required information received from processing secondary resources. It is possible to assess the quality of the generated material fl ows with this information. By describing the material characteristics and the material fl ow uncertainties, a forecast of the material’s future potential to replace primary resources may be possible. Future prospects of the quality of secondary resources, including their input and output properties may be helpful to assess their potential to substitute primary resource for example. It is the contribution of the paper to point out the necessity of knowing the whole life cycle of a product to gain the best available end-of-life option. The case study of scrap tire recycling gives an example of assessing the material’s properties. Modeling recycling processes offers the potential of identifying the processing steps with regard to the main material fl ows and emissions to reduce the environmental impact and improve the economics. Material fl ow analysis and life cycle assessment can support the determination of the future potential of waste streams entering the recycling process. Some material fl ows are appropriate to replace primary resources without loss of quality. But other materials are only useful for products with minor quality. Some materials are made to never separate by itself, and therefore pure material fl ows are impossible to achieve. A model that considers different material properties of material fl ows helps to evaluate the global recycling potential. Therefore, material qualities have to be defi ned to make an assessment of sustainable management of secondary resources possible. A concept of developing a model that addresses this issue is presented in this paper. The aim of the model is to predict secondary material fl ows that are of equal quality of primary material fl ows. These material fl ows are then suitable to substitute primary resources which results in global savings in resources, both material and energy.

Modelling Solid Waste Recycling Processes Under the Consideration of Data Defects

Secondary resources are not derived from mining or chemical processes compared to primary resources. They are resources that had been already in use and are processed afterwards. Some secondary resources may be waste material in their original application but they might be useful in other applications. The goal of each recycling process should be to generate material streams with a quality that ensures further usage in any way. Since it is not possible to achieve this goal for all life cycles the goal has to be to maintain specific material properties as long as possible. It is desirable to forecast specific material properties for choosing processes with the best performance. A rough prediction on material flows, costs and environmental impacts can be assessed through combining the methods Material Flow Assessment (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). But these methods lack of the description of material properties and their variations and uncertainties respectively. Uncertainties are related to data defects. The presented chapter will demonstrate a strategy for developing a recycling model that is able to handle data defects. Future prospects of the quality of secondary resources, including their input and output properties may be helpful to assess their potential to substitute primary resource for example.

Data Defects in Material Flow Networks

Eco-balance is the basis for the assessing production impact on the environment. Eco-balancing is divided into four phases: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, interpretation. However, during the creation and evaluation of material flow networks some defects appear which inhibit or make it more difficult to establish realistic statements towards the environmental impact. In order to make a reliable statement about the environmental impact with the help of eco-balance it is necessary to consider all material and energy flows. This chapter gives an overview of the classification of defects in material flow networks. After the classification of data defects the causes of these defects are discussed. In order to resolve the causes of defects some solutions will be presented using the advantages of Petri nets and the application of Fuzzy sets and Rough sets to the Petri nets.

Assessment of Reusability of Used Car Part Components with Support of Decision Tool RAUPE

Owners of a car usually have to maintain their car including their car parts regularly, which results in exchanging car parts from time to time. Normally, products made by original equipment manufacturers are used by professional garages because of the guarantee they have to provide. The newly developed decision tool RAUPE is based on data mining methods applied to a data base provided by a car dismantling network that includes around one million spare parts’ data. The results of this data mining is included in RAUPE giving information on the reusability chances of the spare parts and the life cycle performance related to its CO2 emissions. The decision tool is in its beta version and is to be evaluated by the end of 2018. The paper describes the concept of RAUPE and the role of its stakeholders.

Assessment of the Demand for Critical Raw Materials for the Implementation of Fuel Cells for Stationary and Mobile Applications

Because of their low emissions and possible contribution to sustainable development, both mobile and stationary fuel cells show promising tendencies to play an important role in the future. However, the polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) contains significant amounts of platinum, a material considered critical within the European Union. Using material flow analysis, this paper seeks to examine how the implementation of mobile and stationary fuel cells will affect demand for critical raw materials and to what degree recycling presents a viable option for reducing the pressure on primary production. Based on a number of developed scenarios, it is demonstrated that the platinum requirements arising from a more widespread adoption of neither fuel cell vehicles nor household heating systems is likely to cause a depletion of platinum deposits in the near future. However, both technologies may increase the pressure on the already constricted platinum market.

A Data Context and Architecture for Automotive Recycling

Automotive environmental and financial perspectives form important part pillars of the sustainability of the automotive sector. Coupled with increased pressure on automotive recycling quotas in various countries and constrained limits on various critical metals due to availability, sourcing and recyclability, a clear need for data-driven decision support arises. This paper investigates such a data-driven architecture in the context of European automotive recycling. The presented architecture is grounded in the context of reporting requirements, stakeholder interests and the legal landscape in the European Union. Various key data aspects are presented in terms of resource, market, environmental and assembly data sources. The availability of such publicly available data is a pervasive problem in this research domain with strategies for sourcing of such data throughout the production, use and recycling lifespan of the automobile presented. Key partners, such as recyclers and dismantlers, are included in the development of the architecture to ensure appropriate data sources are included and mappings between different data granularities are suitably accounted for in a data schema. Implementation and adoption strategies are briefly outlined together with recommendations for governmental support to encourage OEM participation and responsibility.

Support for Improved Scrap Tire Re-use and Recycling Decisions

This paper explores the challenges of decisions which must be made in waste management regarding their complexity in terms of factors influencing them from different domains. These include the economic, ecological, legal and social domains. The objective of this paper is to develop improved decision-making about the treatment of end-of-life of tires (scrap tires) by taking into account a multi-dimensional perspective instead of one single focus, e.g. only environmental indicators. It is argued that such decisions are too complex to be fully understood by a single decision maker since no-one knows all the facts. The paper proposes to develop a new software tool to support a decision making process, which will lower transaction costs and find a better balance between economic and ecological drivers for decisions to be made about waste management in general and for scrap tires in particular. This paper contributes to the debate on Life Cycle Assessment and on market drivers. The focus of this paper is the cascade use of scrap tires and their conversion into new products.