Browsing by Department "Fraunhofer-Einrichtung für Wertstoffkreisläufe und Ressourcenstrategie IWKS in Alzenau"
Results Per Page
Sort Options
-
PublicationA Framework for Self-Evaluation and Increase of Resource-Efficient Production through Digitalization( 2018)
;Haag, S. ;Bauerdick, C. ;Campitelli, A. ;Anderl, R. ;Abele, E.Modern sensor technology and decreasing hardware costs enable the collection of a wide range of data. Nonetheless, the collection of data itself does not generate value. The collected data must be processed and analysed. Many small and medium-sized enterprises already collect a number of data. However, there is no definite strategy, which data needs to be collected in order to acquire relevant insights into processes. The enormous potential of data analysis and the current lack of its implementation caused the development of this framework. It will assist enterprises to evaluate their own level of digitalization to assess resource use. -
PublicationAn Ex-ante LCA Study of Rare Earth Extraction from NdFeB Magnet Scrap Using Molten Salt Electrolysis( 2018)
;Schulze, R. ;Abbasalizadeh, A. ;Bulach, W.Buchert, M.A new recycling process for the extraction of rare earths from neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet scrap is being developed, based on the direct extraction of rare earths from end-of-life magnet material in a molten fluoride electrolysis bath. Rare earths are required in their metallic form for the production of new NdFeB magnets, and the suggested process achieves this through a single step. The process is being developed on a laboratory scale and has been proven to work in principle. It is expected to be environmentally beneficial when compared to longer processing routes. Conducting life cycle assessment at R&D stage can provide valuable information to help steer process development into an environmentally favorable direction. We conducted a life cycle assessment study to provide a quantitative estimate of the impacts associated with the process being developed and to compare the prospective impacts against those of the current state-of-the-art technology. The comparison of this recycling route with primary production shows that the recycling process has the potential for much lower process-specific impacts when compared against the current rare earth primary production route. The study also highlights that perfluorocarbon emissions, which occur during primary rare earth production, warrant further investigation. -
PublicationAnorganische Rohstoffe - Sicherung der Rohstoffbasis von morgen(DECHEMA, 2015)
;Bokelmann, Katrin ;Fries, Karina ;Gauß, Roland ;Groth, Nora ;Woidasky, Jörg ;Hirth, Thomas ;Karos, Alexander ;Nispel, Jörg ;Sanz Mirabal, Adriana ;Stauber, Rudolf ;Steverding, Philipp ;Vaak, Franceset al. -
-
PublicationBiodiversity and socio-economic implications of the use of abandoned Agriculture land for future biomass production in central and Eastern Europe (CEE)( 2016)
;Miyake, S. ;Mizgajski, J.T. ;Bargiel, D. ;Wowra, K.Land use change (LUC) effects from biomass production have emerged as an important area of global bioeconomy policy and research. The use of 'underutilised agricultural land', including 'abandoned agricultural land' is one of the most important solutions to minimise the LUC effects resulting from biomass production, such as indirect land use change (iLUC). Agricultural land abandonment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is largely associated with dysfunctional agricultural and land reforms, and political and institutional issues following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The agricultural reactivation on these lands for biomass production can create economic opportunities for rural regions in CEE. However, the environmental implications, especially for biodiversity, are highly controversial. The goal of this research is to evaluate the trade-offs between the socio-economic and biodiversity effects of land use change scenarios that include biomass production on these lands. Prior to the evaluation, (i) a literature review was undertaken to better understand the biodiversity implications of land abonnement in the CEE context, (ii) a land-cover map was generated from the latest Sentinel-2A satellite images, and (iii) four land use change scenarios were developed for a rural region in northeast Poland. -
PublicationBioleaching of valuable and hazardous metals from dry discharged incineration slag. An approach for metal recycling and pollutant elimination( 2019)
;Ratering, Stefan ;Bokelmann, Katrin ;Baumann, RenateSchnell, SylviaRecycling of process wastes will be in future an essential step to meet the demands for valuable metals of a growing market. Depending on their particle sizes incineration slags are already used to recover metals but particle size fractions below 4 mm are still difficult to recycle. Therefore, different particle size fractions (mesh size 2 and 4 mm, high energy grinded) of dry discharged slags were used for bioleaching with and without the pure cultures Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans or Leptospirillum ferrooxidans or a mixture of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in batch cultures. Regarding Al, Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn and the rare earth elements Ce, La and Er, bioleaching was significantly more successful with iron oxidizing bacteria compared to abiotic controls. Metal mobilization for Al, Cu, Mn, Cr and Er with bacteria was between 70 and 100% and for Ce, Ni and La around 50% almost after 7 days, making an industrial application for the high concentrated metals like Al and Cu feasible. In addition to the recovery of valuable metals, a reduction in cost of landfilling was identified. After treatment of the slag with the microorganisms, concentrations of harmful substances in the residues could be reduced and thus a classification in lower safety levels regarding the LAGA or EU regulations was calculated. -
PublicationBioleaching zum Recycling von Sekundärrohstoffen( 2018)
;Bokelmann, Katrin ;Stauber, Rudolf ;Schnell, Sylvia ;Ratering, Stefan ;Werner, Arite ;Haseneder, Roland ;Vostal, RadekRohstoffe werden derzeit überwiegend aus Primärquellen mit Hilfe aufwendiger hydrometallurgischer Verfahren gewonnen. Eine deutlich umweltfreundlichere und kostengünstigere Methode stellt das Bioleaching dar. Mit Hilfe von Mikroorganismen können die Wertmetalle aus Primär- und auch aus Sekundärquellen gelöst werden. Eine nachgeschaltete effiziente Aufreinigung und Separation der Wertstoffe kann durch gezielt designte Solventextraktionen oder Membrantechniken erfolgen. -
PublicationComparing carbon performances of mobility services and private vehicles from a life cycle perspective( 2019)
;Neef, M. ;Dettmer, T.Mobility services are predicted to replace private passenger vehicles to sizeable shares in the short- and middle-term. Although the carbon saving potential of mobility services compared to private vehicles is widely acknowledged, empirical studies are lacking and research designs remain unreplicated. In order to determine common characteristics of studies comparing life cycle carbon emissions of mobility services and passenger vehicles, we conducted a standardized literature review. We showed that current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based approaches in the research field mostly apply two methodological characteristics: (1) person-km (p-km) are used as reference unit to compare carbon performances across transport modes and (2) scenario-analyses are used to deal with the poor data basis and disruptive character of mobility services. Most studies focus on comparing conventionally-powered car sharing vehicles to passenger cars within a one year timeframe in urban areas. Mobility services like ride hailing and pooling as well as alternative power trains remain largely neglected. Policy-makers and customers were found to be the main addressees of case studies. The private sector is least addressed thus showing the need for future research on a mix of mobility services and private vehicles with different power trains on fleet level. -
PublicationComparison of electrochemical degradation for spray dried and pulse gas dried LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4( 2019)
;Kugaraj, Muthuraman ;Wolter, Mareike ;Jähnert, ThomasTo commercialize next-generation cathode materials a lot of different synthesis methods need to be researched and evaluated regarding the attainable electrochemical properties of the materials on one hand, and the scalability of the process on the other. For the high voltage LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material especially the degradation of the material during cycling needs to be investigated for different scales and techniques. LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) was synthesized using two different methods in different scales: lab-scaled spray drying and pilot-scaled gas pulse drying. The materials were analysed by XRD, FESEM, particle size distribution and BET to achieve an extensive overview of the particles. The electrochemical properties were examined by galvanostatic charging and discharging at different C-rates as well as EIS at different SOCs using LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4/Li coins cells. To improve the electrochemical properties additional grinding and temperature treatments were used. Their influence on the electrochemical properties was investigated by analysing the capacity slippage as well as the electrolyte-, surface film- and the charge transfer resistance. These results will show that the same electrochemical properties can be achieved for the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material when changing and upscaling the synthesis methods. -
PublicationCritical raw materials - Advanced recycling technologies and processes: Recycling of rare earth metals out of end of life magnets by bioleaching with various bacteria as an example of an intelligent recycling strategy( 2019)
;Bokelmann, Katrin ;Stauber, Rudolf ;Schnell, SylviaRatering, StefanThe current ongoing transition in the energy and mobility sector is partially based on elements which can be classified as critical, like rare earths and cobalt. For these elements recycling can be one option to lower the demand on primary raw materials. Nevertheless the complexity of devices is high making recycling for technology metals complicated. Therefore the generation of concentrated fractions is an important step in the process chain of treating secondary raw materials. In addition to the established classification and sorting processes based on physical principles there is an increasing demand for intelligent solutions to meet the growing complexity and heterogeneity of material flows. Conventional recycling strategies based on pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical processes can quickly become costly due to a high energy requirement and usage of chemicals. Bioleaching offers a green recycling strategy, where leaching of waste material is performed by microorganisms. In this study the recycling potential of end-of life magnets was investigated by means of bioleaching with various bacteria. The experiments were done in shaking batches, whereby in parallel the chemical leaching represented by abiotic controls was followed. As sample material magnets with different alloy composition and particle sizes were examined. The experiments were quantified using ICP-OES, µ-XRF, XRD and SEM with EDX. All samples could be successfully bioleached. The highest leaching efficiencies were determined in approaches with Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans. Leaching efficiencies up to 100% (Dy, Pr) were achieved. According to leaching efficiencies of the abiotic controls were in the same range as in biotic batches a chemical leaching by acids was detected as dominant. However, batches with an iron addition showed higher leaching due to the catalytic effect of Fe3+ ions. On the other hand bioleaching was exposed as more efficient due to lower costs, a less use of chemicals and lower pollution due to emissions and contaminated residues. An up-scaling of the investigated process was done in a bioreactor, wherein no loss in efficiency was recorded. The obtained solution was further purified by processes to extract the rare earth elements. The precipitation with oxalic acid and a two-step extraction was identified as the most efficient methods. Extraction rates of the REE up to 100% with a purity of 98% were achieved. -
PublicationDeveloping a Life Cycle Inventory for Rare Earth Oxides from Ion-Adsorption Deposits: Key Impacts and Further Research Needs( 2017)
;Schulze, R. ;Lartigue-Peyrou, F. ;Ding, J.Buchert, M.Rare earth production from ion-adsorption deposits constitutes an important rare earth production route, and the most important production route for heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium. The demand for dysprosium has experienced substantial growth in recent years, mainly due to its use in neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets, the demand for which is increasing largely due to their use in efficient motor applications. Hence, the analysis of environmental impacts associated with rare earth mining and processing is gaining importance. In this study, a life cycle inventory for rare earth production from ion-adsorption deposits was compiled through a detailed analysis of the literature and with help from industry experts. A detailed review of the literature on environmental impacts associated with the mining process was also conducted, and impacts not covered by the current impact assessment methods are discussed. Despite the detailed study, data uncertainties remain. Therefore, recommendations for further research are given, including further investigations into the fate of emissions from in situ leaching of rare earths in the proximity of the mining site, and development of the methods used to assess resource extraction. -
PublicationEco-Factors for International Company Environmental Management Systems( 2021)
;Schebek, Liselotte ;Nunweiler, Elisabeth ;Wellge, SteffenWerthen, MoritzEnvironmental management systems (EMS) require the assessment of environmental aspectsto ensure that organizations recognize their most relevant impacts on the environment. Theecological scarcity method (ESM) provides weighting factors for environmental flows (pollutantsand resources), called eco-factors (EF), applicable in the assessment of environmental aspects. EFare based on a distance-to-target approach, displaying the ratio of the current state to the respectivepolicy targets for environmental flows. The ESM has been developed for Switzerland; however, forsite-specific application beyond Switzerland, national EF are desirable. This publication presentsa systematic procedure for the derivation of EF in an international framework, based on the investigationof eight countries wo rldwide and comprehensive data research. As a novel feature, thegrouping of EF into sets is introduced, according to the character of the underlying policy target:legally based, intended policy, or expert recommendation. Overall, 134 EF for six environmentalissues were calculated and applied in a case study from Volkswagen AG. An in-depth analysisidentifies the differences between national EF and between sets of EF and discusses the implicationsfor EMS. From the findings, general conclusions for future development and the application of EF inan international context of company management are derived. -
PublicationEffect of the Content and Ordering of the sp2 Free Carbon Phase on the Charge Carrier Transport in Polymer-Derived Silicon Oxycarbides( 2020)
;Rosenburg, Felix ;Nicoloso, Norbert ;Riedel, RalfThe present work elaborates on the correlation between the amount and ordering of the free carbon phase in silicon oxycarbides and their charge carrier transport behavior. Thus, silicon oxycarbides possessing free carbon contents from 0 to ca. 58 vol.% (SiOC/C) were synthesized and exposed to temperatures from 1100 to 1800 °C. The prepared samples were extensively analyzed concerning the thermal evolution of the sp2 carbon phase by means of Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, electrical conductivity and Hall measurements were performed and correlated with the structural information obtained from the Raman spectroscopic investigation. It is shown that the percolation threshold in SiOC/C samples depends on the temperature of their thermal treatment, varying from ca. 20 vol.% in the samples prepared at 1100 °C to ca. 6 vol.% for the samples annealed at 1600 °C. Moreover, three different conduction regimes are identified in SiOC/C, depending on its sp2 carbon content: (i) at low carbon contents (i.e., <1 vol.%), the silicon oxycarbide glassy matrix dominates the charge carrier transport, which exhibits an activation energy of ca. 1 eV and occurs within localized states, presumably dangling bonds; (ii) near the percolation threshold, tunneling or hopping of charge carriers between spatially separated sp2 carbon precipitates appear to be responsible for the electrical conductivity; (iii) whereas above the percolation threshold, the charge carrier transport is only weakly activated (Ea = 0.03 eV) and is realized through the (continuous) carbon phase. Hall measurements on SiOC/C samples above the percolation threshold indicate p-type carriers mainly contributing to conduction. Their density is shown to vary with the sp2 carbon content in the range from 1014 to 1019 cm−3; whereas their mobility (ca. 3 cm2/V) seems to not depend on the sp2 carbon content. -
PublicationElektrohydraulische Zerkleinerung: Innovative Methode zum Recycling galvanisierter Kunststoffe( 2016)
;Hartfeil, Thorsten ;Bokelmann, Katrin ;Herdegen, JensStauber, Rudolf -
PublicationEnergetic potential and environmental assessment of solid wastes as alternative fuel for cement plants( 2019)
;Hannoun, G. ;Jaouad, A. ;Belkziz, J.Ouazzani, N.The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the energetic potential and the environmental impacts of different kinds of wastes derived from different sources, namely olive Kernels (OK), sewage sludge (SS), chicken residues (CR), animal meal (AM) and fluffy RDF (F-RDF) and to figure out their feasibility as alternative fuels for cement plants. Decisive parameters promoting the use of wastes as secondary fuels such as: Calorific value, moisture, volatile matter, ash, chlorine, sulfur contents and trace elements were determined. A brief comparison of these fuels has been summarized. A model of fossil fuel savings is estimated using different scenarios with several substitution rates. The results show that chicken residues, fluffy RDF and olive kernels have the highest caloric values, which are 25.02 MJ/kg, 24.79 MJ/kg and 21.68 MJ/kg respectively. Moreover, fluffy RDF can help mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to its lower carbon content than coal, and its similar caloric power. In addition to their favorable calorific values, chicken residues and olive kernels allow for a significant reduction of fossil-derived CO2 due to their biogenic origin. Generally nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions decrease while Co-firing waste with coal. -
PublicationEngineering of oxygen pathways for better oxygen permeability in Cr-substituted Ba2In2O5 membranes( 2020)
;Widenmeyer, Marc ;Wiegers, Katharina-Sophia ;Yoon, Songhak ;Feldhoff, ArminBa2In2O5 is a mixed ionic-electronic conducting (MIEC) ceramic-based material offering a large number of oxygen vacancies to become an alternative material for oxygen separation membranes from gas mixtures or even a CO2 plasma. This material was selected as model system to deeper analyze the structure-property relations, while making use of a promising structure stability. In this study, partial substitution of In3+ by Cr3+ yielded single-phase Ba2In2-xCrxO5-d (x = 0, 0.2, 0.25). This forced an altered arrangement of the oxygen vacancies and a structural change from orthorhombic (Ibm2) to tetragonal (I4cm). The highest oxygen permeability of P(O2) = 1.4 ± 0.1 mL min−1·cm−2·mm at 1223 K among all tested samples was obtained for x = 0.2. A precise adjustment of the degree of oxygen vacancy ordering and the unit cell volume in this material reduced the activation energy EA and enhanced the self-diffusion coefficient D0 of the oxygen ions boosting the oxygen permeability as demonstrated by the superior oxygen permeability at lower temperatures (~1000 K), still reaching an oxygen permeability of P(O2) = 0.72 ± 0.04 mL min−1·cm−2·mm at 773 K. This concept seems plausible for an adaption to other structurally related membrane materials. -
PublicationEnvironmental and economic assessment of borehole thermal energy storage in district heating systems( 2018)
;Welsch, B. ;Göllner-Völker, L. ;Schulte, D.O. ;Bär, K. ;Sass, I.District heating will play an important role for heat provision in temperate and cold climate zones in the future. However, in the context of decarbonizing the heating sector, conventional heat sources have to be replaced by renewable energies. This replacement correlates to the necessity to integrate the fluctuating energy source of solar radiation and thus requires seasonal thermal energy storage. More recently, borehole thermal energy storage systems have been integrated into such district heating concepts. Yet, the potential greenhouse gas emission reduction and the financial benefits of these innovative district heating concepts have not been assessed with respect to the environmental burden and the associated investment cost of the modernization. This study presents a comprehensive environmental and economic life cycle assessment of a fictional district heating system with varying shares of shallow to medium deep borehole thermal energy storage and alternative heat sources replacing conventional capacity. In an exemplary district heating system covering 25 GW h of annual heat demand, borehole thermal energy storage can decrease the greenhouse gas emissions of combined heat and power plants and solar thermal collectors by over 40%. Boundary conditions assumed for the development of the energy market and the existence of subsidies have a significant impact on the emission savings and the levelized cost of heat. Considering a probable increase of energy costs and a growing share of renewables in the electricity mix, a combination of solar thermal collectors and borehole thermal energy storage with a small heat and power plant is the best solution, which is economical even without subsidies. The results of the study promote the construction of medium deep borehole thermal energy storage systems that can help to increase the share of renewable energy in the heating sector at reasonable cost. -
PublicationEnvironmental performance of emerging photovoltaic technologies: Assessment of the status quo and future prospects based on a meta-analysis of life-cycle assessment studies( 2019)
;Weyand, S. ;Wittich, C.Emerging photovoltaic technologies are expected to have lower environmental impacts during their life cycle due to their extremely thin-film technology and resulting material savings. The environmental impacts of four emerging photovoltaics were investigated based on a meta-analysis of life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies, comprising a systematic review and harmonization approach of five key indicators to describe the environmental status quo and future prospects. The status quo was analyzed based on a material-related functional unit of 1 watt-peak of the photovoltaic cell. For future prospects, the functional unit of 1 kWh of generated electricity was used, including assumptions on the use phase, notably on the lifetime. The results of the status quo show that organic photovoltaic technology is the most mature emerging photovoltaic technology with a competitive environmental performance, while perovskites have a low performance, attributed to the early stage of development and inefficient manufacturing on the laboratory scale. The results of future prospects identified improvements of efficiency, lifetime, and manufacturing with regard to environmental performance based on sensitivity and scenario analyses. The developed harmonization approach supports the use of LCA in the early stages of technology development in a structured way to reduce uncertainty and extract significant information during development. -
PublicationEstimation of mining and landfilling activities with associated overburden through satellite data: Germany 2000-2010( 2019)
;Yoshida, K. ;Okuoka, K. ;Miatto, A.Tanikawa, H.Despite ever-increasing material extraction on the global scale, very few studies have focused on the relationship between mining activities, overburden, and landfilling. This is mainly due to the lack of statistical data. Yet, large mining activities cause environmental strain to the natural environment, and are often cause of irreversible alterations to the natural landscape. To circumvent this problem, we develop a methodology that employs the digital elevation model and land cover to detect and analyze mining and landfilling site over time. We test our methodology with the case of Germany for the years 2000-2010. We then confront our results with statistically available data, to verify whether this methodology can be applied to other countries. Results from the analysis of satellite data give 15.3 Pg of extracted materials and 7.8 Pg of landfilled materials, while statistics report 29.4 Pg and 1.8 Pg, respectively. This large difference was likely due to the different frequency of recording, where satellite data was updated after 10 years, while statistics were reported yearly. The analysis of the anthropogenic disturbance with spatial information can effectively contribute to observe, analyze, and quantify mining activities, overburden, and landfills, and can thus provide policy makers with useful and practical information regarding resource usage and waste management. -
PublicationEvaluation of co-firing as a cost-effective short-term sustainable CO2 mitigation strategy in Germany( 2019)
;Knapp, S. ;Güldemund, A. ;Weyand, S.Background In order to achieve the German greenhouse gas reduction targets, in particular, CO2 emissions of coal-fired power plants must be reduced. The co-incineration of biomass-based substitutes, here referred to as co-firing, is regarded as a highly cost-effective and short-term method of reducing CO2 emissions in the electricity sector. Another advantage of co-firing is its ability to meet base load demands and offer controllability. In this paper, we, therefore, evaluate the effectiveness of co-firing as a CO2 mitigation strategy in the German electricity sector by 2020. Methods We consider the co-firing of three different substitutes: wood chips, industry pellets and torrefied biomass. Likewise, a comparison with three alternative mitigation strategies is part of the evaluation. We use seven sustainability indicators covering social, ecological and economic aspects as the basis for the evaluation. These sustainability indicators are determined by means of a merit order model, which enables us to simulate the electricity market in 2020 on an hourly basis and adjust it based on the assumption of widespread implementation of co-firing or one of the alternative mitigation strategies. Results Our results show that all mitigation strategies have a significant potential to reduce the CO2 emissions of the electricity sector. Compared with the alternative mitigation strategies, co-firing is characterised on the one hand by rather low mitigation potentials and on the other hand by low CO2 mitigation costs. The co-firing of industry pellets appears to have the most advantageous combination of mitigation potential and mitigation costs. Conclusions The widespread implementation of co-firing with industry pellets until 2020 would have led to 21% reduction in CO2 emissions on average. Nevertheless, it cannot be implemented immediately because time is needed for political decisions to be taken and, afterwards, for the technical retrofitting of power plants. Co-firing will, therefore, not be available to contribute to the achievement of the greenhouse gas reduction targets for the year 2020. However, our approach can be used to assess the contribution of the various CO2 mitigation strategies to the ambitious mitigation targets for the year 2030.