university of texas at austin an industrial ecology: material flows and engineering design david...
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University of Texas at Austin
An Industrial Ecology: Material Flows and Engineering Design
David Allen
Center for Energy and Environmental Resources and
Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
Industrial Ecology: What Is It?
A metaphor, emphasizing the need to design industrial systems that mimic the mass conservation and material cycling properties of natural ecosystems
A new set of business partnerships and systems that create synergies in supply chains
A set of design tools to identify and optimize synergies and sets of environmental performance measures that can be used to assess performance
The science of sustainability?
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Wastes, emissions
Raw materials, Industrial Material Products
energy Processing
An Industrial Ecology?
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Industrial Ecology Factoids
In most advanced economies, flows of materials are of order of 50 kg/person/day
Most of these materials are used once, then discarded
The value of these energy and material flows are enormous, so firms and individuals with the tools to identify valuable flows of resources will have significant competitive advantages
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What are the tools of Industrial Ecology?
Life Cycle Assessments Material and energy flow analyses at a variety
of spatial scales and focusing on individual processes, industrial sectors and entire economies
Tools for measuring environmental performance
Design tools for improving environmental performance
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Material flows at multiple scales
Total material flows at national scales Flows of specific materials at national
scales Flows of materials in industrial sectors
(chemical process industries) Flows of materials in an integrated
network of facilities (a network for end-of-life electronic products)
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Material flow accounts at national scales
StockAccumulation
SYSTEM BOUNDARY
Emissionsto air
Indirect
Direct
IMPORTS
DOMESTICEXTRACTION
Indirect
DirectEXPORTS
S
Indirect
Direct
Emissions towater and land
recycle/reuse
U.S. National Research Council, “Materials Count”, National Academy Press, 2003
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Examples of entries in a material flow account
Flow of copper into the domestic economy (e.g., from a domestic copper mine) or through imports (e.g., from Chile)
Related hidden or indirect flows (e.g., overburden removed during mining and the waste portion of copper ore) and emissions (e.g., to air, from mine roadways, mill operations, refining)
Stock of products (e.g., autos), without distinguishing the products; and
Flows out of the economy as exports (e.g., in the form of finished products containing copper).
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Hidden flows
Hidden flows as a fraction of total materials usage
0
20
40
60
80
100
Germany Japan Netherlands UnitedStates
met
ric
ton
s p
er c
apit
a
Hidden flows
Direct flows
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Broad-based characterization of
material flows
Fuels
Minerals
Biomass
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Broad-based characterization of
material flows
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What is this stuff?
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Summary of bulk flows of materials at national
scales
StockAccumulation
SYSTEM BOUNDARY
Emissionsto air
Indirect
Direct
IMPORTS
DOMESTICEXTRACTION
Indirect
DirectEXPORTS
S
Indirect
Direct
Emissions towater and land
recycle/reuse
Hidden flows are significant
Small stock accumulation
A one-pass system where most material is discharged to air or water
Some country to country differences
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Wastes, emissions
Raw materials, Industrial Material Products
energy Processing
Why should we care about national material flows? Use wastes as raw
materials?
?
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Should we mine waste streams? Flows of metals in hazardous wastes in the US
12 billion tons (wet basis) of industrial waste is generated annually in the United States
Annual production of the top 50 commodity chemicals in the United States is 0.3 billion tons
Annual output of U.S. refineries is 0.7 billion tons
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Industrial Hazardous Waste
0.25 - 0.75 billion tons/year 75 - 90% from chemical manufacturing Much of the rest from petroleum refining
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Hazardous waste flow mapping
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Should we mine waste streams?Consider the Sherwood diagram: value vs.
dilution
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An economic opportunity?
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Material flows at multiple scales
Total material flows at national scales Flows of specific materials at national
scales Flows of materials in industrial sectors
(chemical process industries) Flows of materials in an integrated
network of facilities (a network for end-of-life electronic products)
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A more detailed look at the structure of material
flows
Metal case studies
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Why metals?
Easy to track Relatively simple chemistry and
processing Significant in both material displaced
and environmental consequences Advanced Recycling structures Interesting interactions
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Mercury
A new opportunity for using material flow analyses?
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Why examine mercury (Hg)?
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Mercury use
Industrial uses of mercury continue to decrease, so any material flow analysis is a snapshot that may change
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Mercury case study
Emissions from coal fired power plants dominate the nation’s total emissions based on reported emission inventories
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Environmental forecasting:Mercury case study
What emissions should be controlled?
Regional case study for the New York Harbor/Hudson River drainage
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Environmental forecasting:Mercury case study
Is the mercury loading in the harbor coming from air, wastewater, or seepage from landfills?
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Environmental forecasting:Mercury case study
What are the major sources?
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Environmental forecasting:Mercury case study
What are the policy implications of this material flow analysis?
Are the findings for the New York Harbor likely to be replicated in other parts of the world?
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Metal case studies
Lead Does lead in solder in electronic products pose a significant
risk?
Cadmium Should cadmium in batteries be phased out?
Arsenic What do we do with accumulating stocks of CCA
(pressure) treated lumber?
Silver Where did the silver in San Francisco Bay come from?
Mercury Will controlling mercury from power plant emissions
significantly lower exposures?
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Material flows at multiple scales
Total material flows at national scales Flows of specific materials at national
scales Flows of materials in industrial sectors
(chemical process industries) Flows of materials in an integrated
network of facilities (a network for end-of-life electronic products)
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Many technology mixes are possible for a fixed set of raw materials and
products
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Input-output structure of the industry
Define how processes are interconnected
Note that multiple pathways exist for getting from inputs to end products
Optimize structure at a systems level
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Formulate as a mathematical programming problem
Each technology has energy and mass input requirements
Each has a different set of environmental performance indices
Consider the performance indices of cost and toxicity of chemicals used (as measured by TLV)
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Select a set of technologies that minimize cost, or a set that minimizes toxicity of
intermediates
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Identify the sources of residual toxicity; these are candidates for alternative
reaction pathways
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Material flows at multiple scales
Total material flows at national scales Flows of specific materials at national
scales Flows of materials in industrial sectors
(chemical process industries) Flows of materials in an integrated
network of facilities (a network for end-of-life electronic products)
University of Texas at Austin
RIPIBM 360
1965 - 1985
End-of-Life Electronics
A cash cow? Or an economic burden?
RIPIBM 360
1965 - 1985
RIPIBM 360
1965 - 1985
RIPIBM 360
1965 - 1985
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Expected Mass Flow
3 to 4 billions pounds per year » Steady state» By 2010
4 to 5 billion pounds per year» Older units coming out of storage» Estimate peak between 2005 and 2008
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Electronics Recycling – 1980s
Typical system being retired had the following characteristics» 10 years old» Large units (50 lbs or more), large pieces» Steel, unpainted, mechanical attachments» Gold or aluminum wire bonds, gold backed chips, high base and
precious metal content on boards» CRTs a small portion by weight and quantity» Peripherals not common
Market for new electronics» Unsaturated in US, virtually non-existent in developing countries
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Electronics Recycling – 1990s
Typical system being retired had the following characteristics» 5 years old» 30-50 lb units, moderately sized pieces» 50% steel, some painted, mixture of mechanical attachments and adhesives» Wire-bonded (Al, some Au) and surface mount (Sn/Pb) chips, moderate base
and precious metal content on boards » CRTs approaching half by weight and quantity» Peripherals somewhat common
Market for new electronics» Partially saturated in US, unsaturated in developing countries» Moderate cost per function
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Electronics Recycling – 2000s
Typical system being retired had the following characteristics» 2-3 years old» 10-30 lb units, numerous small pieces» 10% steel, many painted, significant use of permanent
attachments and adhesives» Surface mount chips, moderate base and precious metal content
on boards » CRTs approaching half by weight and quantity» Peripherals somewhat common
Market for new electronics» Highly saturated in US, developing countries prefer new» Low cost per function
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Based on 2005 mind set
Focus solely on material recovery Optimize for minimal labor and storage
and for maximum purity of material streams
Assume existing product flows and material price structures
Assume existing separation and sort technology
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The Concept
ThermoplasticBase/Precious metals GlassSteel
Aluminum
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EOL Electronics
Product Resale Material Separation and Recovery
Materials from
off-site
Off-site purification
and use
Disposition Center
Landfill CompostOn-site material
purification
Plastics CompounderMaterials
fromoff-site
Off-site plastics compounder
Injection Molder
Off-site injection molder
Molded ETP parts
EIP
Boundaries
Preferred w/in EIP flow
Prescribed cross boundary flow
Optional cross boundary flow
Power from methane
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Material flows at multiple scales
Total material flows at national scales Flows of specific materials at national
scales Flows of materials in industrial sectors
(chemical process industries) Flows of materials in an integrated
network of facilities (a network for end-of-life electronic products)
University of Texas at Austin
Wastes, emissions
Raw materials, Industrial Material Products
energy Processing
An Industrial Ecology?
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin