IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i2p487-d1322064.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Production from Solid Waste Valorization and Wastewater Purification: A Case Study of Meat Processing Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Christos Boukouvalas

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Tryfon Kekes

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Vasiliki Oikonomopoulou

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Magdalini Krokida

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 15780 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

The meat processing industry is a very energy-intensive and water-demanding industry that produces large amounts of solid and aqueous wastes. Therefore, methods for the effective treatment of the produced wastes have been studied in order to treat and reuse water within the industry and valorize the solid wastes for the production of energy and value-added products. The primary aim of this work is to evaluate the overall sustainability of energy produced from solid waste valorization and wastewater treatment in the meat processing industry via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). For this purpose, the total environmental impact of a typical meat industry that utilizes conventional waste management methods (Scenario A) was evaluated and compared with two different industries with appropriate waste treatment/valorization processes. In the first studied valorization scenario (Scenario B), waste management is conducted using anaerobic digestion, composting, membrane bioreactors, and ultraviolet (UV) treatment, whereas in the second studied valorization scenario (Scenario C), aeration treatment, chlorination, and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) are the selected treatment techniques. As expected, it is evident from this LCA study, that both Scenarios B and C exhibited a significantly improved environmental footprint in all studied indicators compared with Scenario A, with the reduction in certain environmental impact categories reaching up to 80%. Between the two studied alternative scenarios, the biggest improvement in the environmental footprint of the meat industry was observed in Scenario C, mainly due to the substantial quantity of the produced thermal energy. According to the results of the present case study, it is evident that the incorporation of appropriate methods in the meat industry can result in the efficient generation of energy and a significant improvement in the environmental footprint contributing to environmental safety and sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Christos Boukouvalas & Tryfon Kekes & Vasiliki Oikonomopoulou & Magdalini Krokida, 2024. "Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Production from Solid Waste Valorization and Wastewater Purification: A Case Study of Meat Processing Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:2:p:487-:d:1322064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/487/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/487/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Unrean, Pornkamol & Lai Fui, Bridgid Chin & Rianawati, Elisabeth & Acda, Menandro, 2018. "Comparative techno-economic assessment and environmental impacts of rice husk-to-fuel conversion technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 581-593.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Jongkeun & Lee, Kwanyong & Sohn, Donghwan & Kim, Young Mo & Park, Ki Young, 2018. "Hydrothermal carbonization of lipid extracted algae for hydrochar production and feasibility of using hydrochar as a solid fuel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 913-920.
    2. Bagnato, Giuseppe & Boulet, Florent & Sanna, Aimaro, 2019. "Effect of Li-LSX zeolite, NiCe/Al2O3 and NiCe/ZrO2 on the production of drop-in bio-fuels by pyrolysis and hydrotreating of Nannochloropsis and isochrysis microalgae," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 199-213.
    3. Akbari, Maryam & Oyedun, Adetoyese Olajire & Kumar, Amit, 2020. "Techno-economic assessment of wet and dry torrefaction of biomass feedstock," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    4. Mostafa, Mohamed E. & Hu, Song & Wang, Yi & Su, Sheng & Hu, Xun & Elsayed, Saad A. & Xiang, Jun, 2019. "The significance of pelletization operating conditions: An analysis of physical and mechanical characteristics as well as energy consumption of biomass pellets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 332-348.
    5. Imtiaz Anando, Ahmed & Ehsan, M Monjurul & Karim, Md Rezwanul & Bhuiyan, Arafat A. & Ahiduzzaman, Md & Karim, Azharul, 2023. "Thermochemical pretreatments to improve the fuel properties of rice husk: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    6. Manfredi Picciotto Maniscalco & Maurizio Volpe & Antonio Messineo, 2020. "Hydrothermal Carbonization as a Valuable Tool for Energy and Environmental Applications: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    7. Liu, Yang & Lyu, Yizheng & Tian, Jinping & Zhao, Jialing & Ye, Ning & Zhang, Yongming & Chen, Lujun, 2021. "Review of waste biorefinery development towards a circular economy: From the perspective of a life cycle assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    8. Martín-Gamboa, Mario & Marques, Pedro & Freire, Fausto & Arroja, Luís & Dias, Ana Cláudia, 2020. "Life cycle assessment of biomass pellets: A review of methodological choices and results," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. López, R. & González-Arias, J. & Pereira, F.J. & Fernández, C. & Cara-Jiménez, J., 2021. "A techno-economic study of HTC processes coupled with power facilities and oxy-combustion systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    10. Castro, J.S. & Ferreira, J. & Magalhães, I.B. & Jesus Junior, M.M. & Marangon, B.B. & Pereira, A.S.A.P. & Lorentz, J.F. & Gama, R.C.N. & Rodrigues, F.A. & Calijuri, M.L., 2023. "Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis for biofuel and biofertilizer recovery as by-products from microalgae," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    11. Akbar Saba & Kyle McGaughy & M. Toufiq Reza, 2019. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Co-Hydrothermal Carbonization of a Coal-Miscanthus Blend," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    12. Bruno Rafael de Almeida Moreira & Ronaldo da Silva Viana & Victor Hugo Cruz & Paulo Renato Matos Lopes & Celso Tadao Miasaki & Anderson Chagas Magalhães & Paulo Alexandre Monteiro de Figueiredo & Luca, 2020. "Anti-Thermal Shock Binding of Liquid-State Food Waste to Non-Wood Pellets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-26, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:2:p:487-:d:1322064. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.