Michael Oluwatosin Bodunrin

Review: life cycle assessments in Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast

PurposeLife cycle assessments (LCAs) are considered common quantitative environmental techniques to analyze the environmental impact of products and/or services throughout their entire life cycle. A few LCA studies have been conducted in West Africa. This study aimed to discuss the availability of LCA (and similar) studies in Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.MethodsAn online literature review of reports published between 2000 and 2016 was conducted using the following keywords: “life cycle assessment,” “carbon footprinting,” “water footprinting,” “environmental impact,” “Nigeria,” “Ghana” and “Ivory Coast.”Results and discussionA total of 31 LCA and environmental studies in Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast were found; all but one were conducted after 2008. These were mainly academic and most were publicly available. The industries studied included energy sector, waste management, real estate, food sector, and others such as timber and gold. The minimal number of studies on LCAs and environmental impacts in these West African states could be because companies are failing to promote quantitative environmental studies or studies are kept internally for the use of other assessment techniques. Furthermore, it could be that academic research institutions lack cutting-edge research resources for LCA, environmental impact, carbon, and water footprinting studies.ConclusionsFurther quantitative environmental studies should be conducted in Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast to increase the understanding of environmental impacts. In these countries, the existence of LCA studies (and by association the localized life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets) is crucial as more companies request this information to feed into background processes.

The availability of life-cycle assessment, water footprinting, and carbon footprinting studies in Brazil

PurposeThis study aimed to determine the availability of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), water footprinting, and carbon footprinting data in Brazil. In particular, the study is targeted at showing what LCA-related studies are accessible to non-specialists residing in Brazil as well as LCA specialists interested in accessing Brazilian LCA-related studies.MethodsOnline searches for LCA documents were performed using publicly available search engines such as Google and Google Scholar, as well as academic databases containing peer-reviewed journal articles such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Springer. The searches were conducted utilizing the keywords “Life Cycle Assessment,” “carbon footprint,” “water footprint,” and “Brazil.”Results and discussionA total of 73 published documents on LCA studies conducted between 2000 and 2016 could be found. Of these, 59 were only available in restricted access journals requiring some form of paid subscriptions. Most of these documents originated from academic institutions. For the majority of the studies, the exact region in which the study was carried out was not specified. Only twelve carbon and water footprinting studies were found. However, it was known that several other studies were available but were not found in these searches unless more specific years, authors, and/or products were included in the search terms.ConclusionsIt was observed that LCA studies were more established in the energy and agricultural sectors, an expected result given that all LCA studies would rely on energy as a background process, as well as the increasing energy demand due to increasing population and industrial activities in Brazil. Furthermore, it was observed that most LCA studies in the energy sector concentrated on the conversion of biomass, mainly sugarcane and soybean, to biofuels; thereby, establishing a strong link between the energy and agricultural sectors. The results showed that LCA is an emerging quantitative assessment technique in Brazil, especially in the energy and agricultural sectors. While there were over 70 studies found, it is not clear how many of these could be transferable into an LCI database or be used in other studies, due to the exact inputs used.

A discussion on the availability of life-cycle assessment studies in New Zealand

PurposeIn order to understand the environmental impacts of various products, processes, or services, it should be possible to obtain life-cycle assessment (LCA) reports quickly and easily without having to delve into restricted access or hidden databases. The aim of this study is to assess the availability of environmental LCAs, water footprinting, and carbon footprinting studies conducted in New Zealand.MethodsTo review the quantitative availability of life-cycle assessment studies for New Zealand, simple online searches were performed using the Google and Google Scholar search engines. Additionally, ScienceDirect and Scopus were used to determine the availability of other peer-reviewed LCA-related reports.Results and discussionFor the period under review, 20 documents were publicly available. Additionally, other searches conducted via ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar yielded a further 15 restricted documents. The results included data carbon- and water footprinting studies. The number of LCAs and carbon footprinting reports both exceeded those of water footprinting.ConclusionsOver 35 studies were available through Internet searches. This number excludes wool which had six results (Scopus only) and many more through Google. These were not included due to possible repetition and miscounting of results.

Review: life-cycle assessment, water footprinting, and carbon footprinting in Portugal

PurposeA review of readily available quantitative environmental data was conducted in order to determine the state of sustainability reporting and identify possible future research areas in Portugal.MethodsInternet searches of articles written in English and published between 2001 and 2015 were conducted using the keywords “life-cycle assessment,” “LCA,” “water footprint,” “carbon footprint,” and “Portugal.” Additionally, reports from the Global Reporting Initiative (2015 only) were included in the search.Results and discussionIt was found that 79% of reports found were published in the period 2011–2015. Several reports were found for the forestry, paper and pulp, food and beverage, energy and electricity, waste management, and automotive industries, while no reports were found for the textile, footwear and clothing, and base metal and mineral industries. As such, these are industries on which future studies might focus. No reports found were published by governmental organizations, although it is thought that expanding the search to include Portuguese language results would yields more results. The majority (68%) of companies reporting to the GRI adhered to the relevant guidelines.ConclusionsA total of 72 reports were found (41 LCAs, water- or carbon footprints, and 31 GRI reports). It is unclear if there are other reports that may be restricted to “hidden” datasets or company specific archives. The aim of this report was to highlight those that were available to a non-specialist or international audiences trying to gain a greater understanding of the LCA space in Portugal.

Microbial cell immobilization in biohydrogen production: a short overview

Abstract The high dependence on fossil fuels has escalated the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions and energy security. Biohydrogen is projected as a future alternative energy as a result of its non-polluting characteristics, high energy content (122 kJ/g), and economic feasibility. However, its industrial production has been hampered by several constraints such as low process yields and the formation of biohydrogen-competing reactions. This necessitates the search for other novel strategies to overcome this problem. Cell immobilization technology has been in existence for many decades and is widely used in various processes such as wastewater treatment, food technology, and pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, this technology has caught the attention of many researchers within the biohydrogen production field owing to its merits such as enhanced process yields, reduced microbial contamination, and improved homogeneity. In addition, the use of immobilization in biohydrogen production prevents washout of microbes, stabilizes the pH of the medium, and extends microbial activity during continuous processes. In this short review, an insight into the potential of cell immobilization is presented. A few immobilization techniques such as entrapment, adsorption, encapsulation, and synthetic polymers are discussed. In addition, the effects of process conditions on the performance of immobilized microbial cells during biohydrogen production are discussed. Finally, the review concludes with suggestions on improvement of cell immobilization technologies in biohydrogen production.

Review: the availability of life-cycle studies in Sweden

PurposeAn online review was conducted on the availability of life-cycle assessment (LCA), water, and carbon footprinting studies in Sweden. The main purpose was to quantify the number of available studies, which may be of general interest to non-specialists or as background data for LCA practitioners. Additionally, results from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports were also included.MethodsThe study used online searches conducted in Google and Google Scholar to obtain the publically available reports. Additionally, searches in ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Wiley were performed to obtain other peer-reviewed academic papers. Only English language results were included.Results and discussionLCAs and carbon footprinting studies were the most commonly conducted studies (13 LCA and 12 carbon footprinting studies), whereas water footprinting reports, while still largely available, were fewer in number. A number of GRI reports were also available with the majority of studies conducted for the financial services and real estate sectors. Several studies were in the form of university theses, while companies and research organizations conducted the remainder of research projects.ConclusionsWhile several life-cycle assessments, carbon, and water footprinting studies were accessible via Google searches, given the interest in LCA in the country, e.g., the LCM2013 conference in Gothenburg and The Swedish Life Cycle Centre, more studies were expected.

Microstructural analysis and corrosion behavior of Fe, B and Fe-B-modified Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys

Abstract The corrosion behavior of Cu-Zn-Al alloys modified with Fe, B, and Fe-B was investigated. This was motivated by the need to verify the effect of microalloy additions on the corrosion behavior of Cu-Zn-Al alloys, which, as recent study suggests, impacts microstructural changes other than grain refinement. Cu-Zn-Al alloys were produced by casting method with and without the addition of microalloy elements. The alloys were subjected to thermomechanical treatment before machining of test samples for corrosion and microstructural analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and polarization electrochemical technique were used for the study. From the results, increase in grain size and change in grain edge morphology was apparent for the modified Cu-Zn-Al alloys produced. In 3.5 wt.% NaCl and 0.3 m H2SO4 solutions, the corrosion current densities were dependent on the type and concentration of the microalloy addition. Essentially, the corrosion rates for the modified alloys were higher in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution; in 0.3 m H2SO4 solution, the modified Cu-Zn-Al alloy grades were observed to be more resistant to corrosion. The corrosion mechanisms of the alloys in both solutions were not feasibly established from the SEM images, but the extent of corrosion product deposition was apparent.

Assessing the availability of life cycle assessments in Austria

PurposeThis study aims to present the availability of studies that are related to life cycle assessments (LCA) in Austria since 2000. This study also includes a review of available water and carbon footprint studies along with an analysis of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database pertaining to Austria. The review seeks to explore potential research gaps and to identify needs for similar studies in the country while quantifying the number of available studies that are available to the general public or as background information in other LCA studies.MethodsOnline searches using Google, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect were conducted using various keywords to find LCA studies. Keywords included: life cycle assessment, LCA, and Austria, as well as water and carbon footprinting. Results were limited to English language studies.Results and discussionA total of 15 studies that pertain directly to LCAs in Austria were found. In addition, four reports for water footprinting and six reports for carbon footprinting were found, and 77 GRI reports. The majority of the LCA studies were only accessible by way of restricted journals.ConclusionsThe majority of the studies focused on the energy and manufacturing sectors. This was expected, due to exports that make up a large portion of the Austrian economy. Nevertheless, LCA research appeared to be driven by academic sources, rather than industry. Therefore, most of the studies were limited to paid subscriptions and thus were not easily accessible by the general public.

Hot-deformation behaviour of α+β Ti-Al-V-Fe experimental alloys

To reduce the cost of metallic alloys the first approach considered is to substitute expensive alloying elements with inexpensive elements that fulfil similar functions. The second approach is to optimise the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys by adjusting processing conditions. Iron, a cheap β-stabilising element in titanium alloys, was added to partially substitute vanadium in experimental Ti-6Al-xV-yFe alloys (where x = 1-4, y = 0-3 and x+y = 4). Unlike other studies where vanadium was totally replaced by iron, in this work partial substitution of V by 1-3 wt % Fe was made to limit the possibility of forming intermetallic phases in the alloys. The experimental alloys were produced by vacuum arc melting and the small ingots were machined to produce plane strain compression samples for hot isothermal testing on a Gleeble 3500. The tests were done at a temperature of 900°C, strain rate of 1s−1 and total strains of 0.6 and 1.2, under plane strain conditions. The microstructures of the as-cast and deformed samples were analysed using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to assess the deformation mechanisms. The flow stress curves showed that the as-cast Ti-6Al-4V had a higher resistance to deformation than the iron-added experimental alloys. The amount of total strain had a significant effect on the flow behaviour of the alloys. Microscopy showed that deformation bands were more prominent in the deformed Ti-6Al-4V alloy than in the deformed Ti-Al-V-Fe alloys. SEM images revealed rotation and bending of α-laths in the deformed experimental Ti-Al-V-Fe alloys. The low resistance to deformation observed in the experimental alloys at 900°C was sensitive to the higher ratio of iron to vanadium.To reduce the cost of metallic alloys the first approach considered is to substitute expensive alloying elements with inexpensive elements that fulfil similar functions. The second approach is to optimise the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys by adjusting processing conditions. Iron, a cheap β-stabilising element in titanium alloys, was added to partially substitute vanadium in experimental Ti-6Al-xV-yFe alloys (where x = 1-4, y = 0-3 and x+y = 4). Unlike other studies where vanadium was totally replaced by iron, in this work partial substitution of V by 1-3 wt % Fe was made to limit the possibility of forming intermetallic phases in the alloys. The experimental alloys were produced by vacuum arc melting and the small ingots were machined to produce plane strain compression samples for hot isothermal testing on a Gleeble 3500. The tests were done at a temperature of 900°C, strain rate of 1s−1 and total strains of 0.6 and 1.2, under plane strain conditions. The microstructures of the a...

Corrosion behaviour of Al-Fe-Ti-V medium entropy alloy

Alloys containing up to four multi-principal elements in equiatomic ratios are referred to as medium entropy alloys (MEA). These alloys have attracted the interest of many researchers due to the superior mechanical properties it offers over the traditional alloys. The design approach of MEA often results to simple solid solution with either body centered cubic; face centered cubic structures or both. As the consideration for introducing the alloys into several engineering application increases, there have been efforts to study the corrosion behaviour of these alloys. Previous reports have shown that some of these alloys are more susceptible to corrosion when compared with traditional alloys due to lack of protective passive film. In this research, we have developed AlFeTiV medium entropy alloys containing two elements (Ti and Al) that readily passivate when exposed to corrosive solutions. The alloys were produced in vacuum arc furnace purged with high purity argon. Open circuit potential and potentiodynamic polarisation tests were used to evaluate the corrosion behaviour of the as-cast AlFeTiV alloy in 3.5 wt% NaCl and 1 M H2SO4. The corrosion performance of the alloy was compared with Ti-6Al-4V alloy tested under similar conditions. The results show that unlike in Ti-6Al-4V alloy, the open circuit potential of the AlFeTiV alloy move towards the negative values in both 3.5 wt% NaCl and 1 M H2SO4 solutions indicating that self-activation occurred rapidly on immersion. Anodic polarisation of the alloys showed that AlFeTiV alloy exhibited a narrow range of passivity in both solutions. In addition, the alloys exhibited lower Ecorr and higher Icorr when compared with traditional Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The traditional Ti-6Al-4V alloy showed superior corrosion resistant to the AlFeTiV alloy in both 3.5 wt.% NaCl and 1 M H2SO4 solutions.