Formation cause,composition analysis and comprehensive utilization of rare earth solid wastes

Based on practical situation of rare earth industrial chain,production process and rare earth materials that could produce solid wastes on batch were discussed.Formation cause,formation volume,composition analysis and comprehensive utilization of the solid wastes of rare earth hydrometallurgy slag,electrolysis slag,Fe-based rare earth permanent magnetic materials,Co-based rare earth permanent magnetic materials,rare earth hydrogen storage materials,rare earth polishing powders and rare earth catalysts were comprehensively introduced.Besides,some suggestions on treatment and administration on rare earth solid wastes were put forward.

FORMATION MECHANISMS AND CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR DIOXINS IN INCINERATION PROCESS OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES

Dioxins, which are of the most toxic materials on the earth, are principal emitted from waste incineration process. The molecular structures, toxicity parameters, such as toxicity equivalency factor, tolerable daily intake and physic-chemical properties of dioxins are briefly summarized. Three formation mechanisms of dioxins in waste incineration process, namely as de novo synthesis, mechanisms involving small organic molecular as precursors and homogenous gas phase reaction mechanism are alto reviewed. The influencing factors for dioxins formation during waste incineration process are also discussed. Three major methods for reducing dioxins emission from waste incineration process are discussed based upon the formation mechanisms and influencing factors. A new waste incineration process with low dioxins emission and low hydrogen chloride corrosion has been proposed based on multi- stage unit operation principal according to formation mechanisms of dioxins and potential production location in waste incinerators.

High Quality Bio-Oil Obtained from Catalyzed Pyrolysis of Olive Mill Solid Wastes in a Bi-Functional Reactor

Olive Mill Solid Wastes (OMSW) released in nature without any treatment is a major environmental problem in the Mediterranean region. In this work, the catalyzed pyrolysis of OMSW has been investigated. A catalyst based on SBA-15 mesoporous silica doped with chromium ferrite nanoparticles was prepared by the double solvent technique (DS). The prepared catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Wide and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS, SAXS), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and FT-IR spectroscopies. Reverse spinel chromium ferrite nanoparticles were located inside the SBA-15 pores as confirmed by SEM images. The obtained catalyst was tested for pyrolysis reactions of OMSW. Several parameters were studied to optimize the conditions of the pyrolysis reaction in order to increase the bio-oil conversion yield. The GC-MS results demonstrated that the quality of the obtained bio-oil was improved by decreasing the quantity of phenolic and oxygenated components as well as the size of the obtained molecules. The produced bio-oil from pyrolysis of OMSW is identical to that obtained from the pyrolysis of commercial cellulose under the same conditions. A 37% conversion yield of bio-oil was obtained for the best conditions.

Partial Replacement of Cement by Solid Wastes as New Materials for Green Sustainable Construction Applications

The manufacturing of ordinary Portland cement is an energy-intensive process that results in pollution and CO2 emissions,among other issues.There is a need for an environmentally friendly green concrete substitute.Waste products from a variety of sectors can be recycled and used as a green concrete substitute.This decreases the environmental effects of concrete manufacturing as well as energy consumption.The use of solid waste materials for green building is extremely important now and in the future.Green concrete is also in its infancy in terms of manufacturing and application.Academics must intervene by encouraging business implementation.The aim of this review paper is to raise awareness about the importance of repurposing recycled materials and to highlight new technologies for producing green,sustainable concrete.

China's first plasma pyrolysis system for treating solid wastes

A research team from the CAS Institute of Mechanics has been recently successful in developing China’s first plasma pyrolysis system for the treatment of solid chemical wastes.

A review of the synthesis and application of zeolites from coal-based solid wastes

Zeolite derived from coal-based solid wastes(coal gangue and coal fly ash)can overcome the environmental problems caused by coal-based solid wastes and achieve valuable utilization.In this paper,the physicochemical properties of coal gangue and coal fly ash are introduced.The mechanism and application characteristics of the pretreatment processes for zeolite synthesis from coal-based solid wastes are also introduced.The synthesis processes of coal-based solid waste zeolite and their advantages and disadvantages are summarized.Furthermore,the application characteristics of various coal-based solid waste zeolites and their common application fields are illustrated.Finally,we propose an alkaline fusion-assisted supercritical hydrothermal crystallization as an efficient method for synthesizing coal-based solid waste zeolites.In addition,more attention should be given to the recycling of alkaline waste liquid and the application of coal-based solid waste zeolites in the field of volatile organic compound adsorption removal.

Generation, Characterization and Management Practices of Household Solid Wastes in Cowfield, Paynesville City, Liberia

The success of any waste management system requires accurate and up-to-date data on quantity, composition of waste. Waste generation data from household are needed to address issues relating to municipal solid wastes such as management method, performance improvement, policy, regional and local planning, administrative, cost accounting, design and operation of landfill facilities and environmental quality. This study was conducted to provide empirical data on generation rates, quantity and composition, management practices, challenges and strategies from urban household. Waste collection, weighing, questionnaires survey and field observation were methods used during the study. Waste was collected and weighed from 60 households using multi-stage sampling technique for seven days. Questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and Excel. A total of 1125.2 kg of waste was recorded. The average household waste generation was 3 kg per day with per capita generation rate of 0.41 kg/cap/day. The compositional analysis showed that Organic (53%), Plastic (11%), Textile (6%), Metal (2%), Glass (1%), Paper and Cardboard 4% and others (22%). Solid waste management practices are very rudimentary. Burning (53.7%) and Open Dumping (30%) were found to be the most commonly used method of disposal with very limited collection service (33.3%) and segregation. The most challenges faced by households were communal disposal area (66.7%) and waste service providers (21.7%) storage bins (11.6%). Waste to energy (48.3%) and compositing (23.3%) were the most considered option for waste management by the respondents.

Agglomeration and bonding mechanism of typical metallurgical solid wastes

The agglomeration of solid wastes is a key factor for subsequent utilization,while the difficulty in agglomeration and high cost have become common problems in the recycling process.The disk pelletizing process was adopted,based on the optimization method by liquid binder addition,and the influence mechanism of the ratio of typical solid wastes as blast furnace dust(BFD)and sludge generated by oxygen converter gas recovery(OGS)was explored.Meanwhile,the effect of binder solution concentration on the quality of green pellets was studied.Derived from the contact angle detection and infrared spectrum analysis,the liquid bridge model was established to study the bonding mechanism.The results showed that OGS had stronger adsorption effect with binder,and the hydrophilicity of BFD was better.When the concentration of binder was higher than 0.2 wt.%,the contact angle between the binder and BFD was bigger than that with OGS,while the capillary force between particles reduced with larger contact angle.The increment in the binder concentration increased the viscous force between particles and the maximum separation distance.The ultimate drop strength and compressive strength were related to the type of viscous force,and the compressive strength reflected the strength of the force between particles intuitively,while the drop strength represented the comprehensive forces of green pellets.Reasonable combination of BFD and OGS was available for pelletizing process,while the ratio of BFD should not exceed 32.0%,and binder C was added in the form of solution with the addition amount of 0.4 wt.%,which can reduce the cost of binder by 20–30¥/t.

The Application of Solid Waste in Thermal Insulation Materials: A Review

As socioeconomic development continues,the issue of building energy consumption has attracted significant attention,and improving the thermal insulation performance of buildings has become a crucial strategic measure.Simultaneously,the application of solid waste in insulation materials has also become a hot topic.This paper reviews the sources and classifications of solid waste,focusing on research progress in its application as insulation materials in the domains of daily life,agriculture,and industry.The research shows that incorporating household solid waste materials,such as waste glass,paper,and clothing scraps into cementitious thermal insulation can significantly reduce the thermal conductivity of the materials,leading to excellent thermal insulation properties.Insulation materials prepared from agricultural solid waste,such as barley straw,corn stalk,chicken feather,and date palm fibers,possess characteristics of lightweight and strong thermal insulation.Industrial solid waste,including waste tires,iron tailings,and coal bottom ash,can also be utilized in the preparation of insulation materials.These innovative applications not only have positive environmental significance by reducing waste emissions and resource consumption,but also provide efficient and sustainable insulation solutions for the construction industry.However,to further optimize the mix design and enhance the durability of insulation materials,continuous research is required to investigate the mechanisms through which solid waste impacts the performance of insulation materials.

Current Situation Analysis and Suggestions for Solid Waste Management Practices among Households in Freetown

Freetown which is the capital city of Sierra Leone is facing challenges with population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, leading to an increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation. The study aims to evaluate MSW generation, composition, and disposal methods, as well as the impact of collection fees, policy implementation, and women’s participation in municipal solid waste management (MSWM). The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. The study administered 393 structured questionnaires in three selected sections to collect data on variables such as family size, education, level of knowledge, etc. The study used door-to-door data collection to determine the rate of solid waste generation, composition, and disposal in 66 households from two of the selected sections and 34 households from the other section to evaluate the current situation of MSWM practices among households in Freetown. The study used a descriptive statistic to analyze the data collected using Origin-Pro9 and MS Excel software. The findings showed that with a 4.2% urban growth rate, Freetown had a population of 1,467,543 in 2023, generating 851 tons of MSW per day, with organic waste accounting for 78% of the total MSW generated. Plastic waste generation also increased from 7.6% in 2020 to 13% in 2023. The study emphasizes the need to sustain the MSWM system by prioritizing solid waste collection fees, policy enforcement, and women’s participation in the MSWM sector. It further suggests and provides recommendations for developing an efficient and sustainable MSWM system in Sierra Leone, including knowledge transfer from countries like China and the US.

Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Farmgate Area of Dhaka North City Corporation

This investigation is focused on conducting a thorough analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). MSWM encompasses a range of interdisciplinary measures that govern the various stages involved in managing unwanted or non-utilizable solid materials, commonly known as rubbish, trash, junk, refuse, and garbage. These stages include generation, storage, collection, recycling, transportation, handling, disposal, and monitoring. The waste materials mentioned in this context exhibit a wide range of items, such as organic waste from food and vegetables, paper, plastic, polyethylene, iron, tin cans, deceased animals, byproducts from demolition activities, manure, and various other discarded materials. This study aims to provide insights into the possibilities of enhancing solid waste management in the Farmgate area of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). To accomplish this objective, the research examines the conventional waste management methods employed in this area. It conducts extensive field surveys, collecting valuable data through interviews with local residents and key individuals involved in waste management, such as waste collectors, dealers, intermediate dealers, recyclers, and shopkeepers. The results indicate that significant amounts of distinct waste categories are produced daily. These include food and vegetable waste, which amount to 52.1 tons/day;polythene and plastic, which total 4.5 tons/day;metal and tin-can waste, which amounts to 1.4 tons/day;and paper waste, which totals 5.9 tons/day. This study highlights the significance of promoting environmental consciousness to effectively shape the attitudes of urban residents toward waste disposal and management. It emphasizes the need for collaboration between authorities and researchers to improve the current waste management system.

Recycling combustibles from aged municipal solid wastes(MSW)to improve fresh MSW incineration in Shanghai:Investigation of necessity and feasibility

Aged municipal solid wastes(MSW)excavated from landfills and dumpsites were characterized to analyze their fraction composition,moisture content,and lower heat value(LHV).The necessity and feasibility of recycling combustibles from aged MSW to improve the incineration of fresh MSW were investigated.The results showed that combustibles in aged MSW were easily separated from other components and than LHV of the separated combustibles are higher than 11000 kJ/kg.The fresh MSW are of high moisture contents with average LHV below 6500 kJ/kg,making their stable combustion difficult to maintain in MSW incinerators.For both fresh MSW and aged MSW,plastics are the main contributor to their LHV.To improve incineration of fresh MSW that are characterized with low LHV,combustibles separated from aged MSW were made into refuse derived fuel(RDF)pellets and were then added to fresh MSW by 2%wt.–5%wt.LHV variation and air supply resistance change of the MSW layer on the incinerator grate caused by the addition of RDF was checked,and no significant changes were found.No obvious difference was observed for the‘burn-out time’between RDF pellets and fresh MSW either.RDF made from aged MSW combustibles is found to be a promising auxiliary fuel to improve the incineration of fresh MSW,and aged MSW from old landfill cells and dumpsites can be finally disposed of jointly with fresh MSW by recycling combustible from the former to be coincinerated with the latter in the incineration plants.

Energy recovery in China from solid wastes by the moving grate and circulating fluidized bed technologies

In recent years,the Chinese waste-to-energy(WTE)industry is growing at the rate of about thirty new plants each year.The municipal solid waste(MSW)fuel has a low heating value of 4-7 MJ/kg,in comparison to about 11 MJ/kg in U.S.and 8-11 MJ/kg in EU.Combustion of the low heating value fuel on a moving grate(MG),the dominant combustion technology worldwide,is difficult to control and measures have to be taken to remove some moisture prior to combustion.For this and other reasons,an alternative technology,the circulating fluid bed(CFB)has been implemented in China.This paper is a comparative study of the two technologies and was carried out by Columbia University and two senior engineers,representing the MG and CFB technologies of China.Data were derived from industrial operating plants and from the literature.The fuel to MG furnaces is as-received MSW,while the MSW to CFB reactors is pre-shredded using high-torque low-speed shredders.The availability of MG plants,over a 1-year period,is 90%+,while that of CFB facilities is 80%+.Also,the in-plant electricity consumption of MG plants is slightly lower than the consumption of CFB plants.The MG furnace is less compact,than that of a CFB combustion chamber,with a heat flux range from 0.5 to 0.6 MW/m^(2) of grate surface area,while that of CFB furnace was about 1.7 MW/m^(2) of furnace cross-section.The bottom ash in a MG process is typically wet-discharged and the recovery of metals is less efficient.A drawback of the CFB process is that the fly ash generated is 5-10%of the weight of MSW combusted,as compared to 1-3%for moving grate plants in China.

Forecasting the Municipal Solid Waste Using GSO-XGBoost Model

Waste production rises in tandem with population growth and increased utilization.The indecorous disposal of waste paves the way for huge disaster named as climate change.The National Environment Agency(NEA)of Singapore oversees the sustainable management of waste across the country.The three main contributors to the solid waste of Singapore are paper and cardboard(P&C),plastic,and food scraps.Besides,they have a negligible rate of recycling.In this study,Machine Learning techniques were utilized to forecast the amount of garbage also known as waste audits.The waste audit would aid the authorities to plan their waste infrastructure.The applied models were k-nearest neighbors,Support Vector Regressor,ExtraTrees,CatBoost,and XGBoost.The XGBoost model with its default parameters performed better with a lower Mean Absolute Percentage Error(MAPE)of 8.3093(P&C waste),8.3217(plastic waste),and 6.9495(food waste).However,Grid Search Optimization(GSO)was used to enhance the parameters of the XGBoost model,increasing its effectiveness.Therefore,the optimized XGBoost algorithm performs the best for P&C,plastics,and food waste with MAPE of 4.9349,6.7967,and 5.9626,respectively.The proposed GSO-XGBoost model yields better results than the other employed models in predicting municipal solid waste.

Method for C/N ratio estimation using Mask R-CNN and a depth camera for organic fraction of municipal solid wastes

Fast assessment of the initial carbon to nitrogen ratio(C/N)of organic fraction of municipal solid waste(OFMSW)is an important prerequisite for automatic composting control to improve efficiency and stability of the bioconversion process.In this study,a novel approach was proposed to estimate the C/N of OFMSW,where an instance segmentation model was applied to predict the masks for the waste images.Then,by combining the instance segmentation model with the depth-camera-based volume calculation algorithm,the volumes occupied by each type of waste were obtained,therefore the C/N could be estimated based on the properties of each type of waste.First,an instance segmentation dataset including three common classes of OFMSW was built to train mask region-based convolutional neural networks(Mask R-CNN)model.Second,a volume measurement algorithm was proposed,where the measurement result of the object was derived by accumulating the volumes of small rectangular cuboids whose bottom area was calculated with the projection property.Then the calculated volume was corrected with linear regression models.The results showed that the trained instance segmentation model performed well with average precision scores AP_(50)=82.9,AP_(75)=72.5,and mask intersection over unit(Mask IoU)=45.1.A high correlation was found between the estimated C/N and the ground truth with a coefficient of determination R2=0.97 and root mean square error RMSE=0.10.The relative average error was 0.42%and the maximum error was only 1.71%,which indicated this approach has potential for practical applications.

Comprehensive utilization of solid waste resources: Development of wet shotcrete for mines

The development of solid waste resources as constituent materials for wet shotcrete has significant economic and environmental advantages. In this study, the concept of using tailings as aggregate and fly ash and slag powder as auxiliary cementitious material is proposed and experiments are carried out by response surface methodology(RSM). Multivariate nonlinear response models are constructed to investigate the effect of factors on the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS) of tailings wet shotcrete(TWSC). The UCS of TWSC is predicted and optimized by constructing Gaussian process regression(GPR) and genetic algorithm(GA). The UCS of TWSC is gradually enhanced with the increase of slag powder dosage and fineness modulus, and it is enhanced first and then decreased with the increase of fly ash dosage. The microstructure of TWSC has the highest gray value and the highest UCS when the fly ash dosage is about 120 kg·m^(-3). The GPR–GA model constructed in this study achieves high accuracy prediction and optimization of the UCS of TWSC under multi-factor conditions.

Prediction of NO_(x)concentration using modular long short-term memory neural network for municipal solid waste incineration

Air pollution control poses a major problem in the implementation of municipal solid waste incineration(MSWI).Accurate prediction of nitrogen oxides(NO_(x))concentration plays an important role in efficient NO_(x)emission controlling.In this study,a modular long short-term memory(M-LSTM)network is developed to design an efficient prediction model for NO_(x)concentration.First,the fuzzy C means(FCM)algorithm is utilized to divide the task into several sub-tasks,aiming to realize the divide-and-conquer ability for complex task.Second,long short-term memory(LSTM)neural networks are applied to tackle corresponding sub-tasks,which can improve the prediction accuracy of the sub-networks.Third,a cooperative decision strategy is designed to guarantee the generalization performance during the testing or application stage.Finally,after being evaluated by a benchmark simulation,the proposed method is applied to a real MSWI process.And the experimental results demonstrate the considerable prediction ability of the M-LSTM network.

Development of Wet Shotcrete with Solid Waste as Aggregate:Strength Optimization and Mix Proportion Design

The super-fine particle size of tailings is its drawback as a recycled resource,which is reflected in the low strength of the new construction and industrial materials formed when it is mixed with cement and other cementitious materials.Therefore,it is crucial to study the effect of tailings particle size and cementitious material on the strength of tailings wet shotcrete(TWSC)and to investigate the optimal mix proportion.In this paper,a multivariate nonlinear response model was constructed by conducting central composite experiments to investigate the effect of different factors on the strength of TWSC.The strength prediction and mix proportion optimization of TWSC are carried out by machine learning techniques.The results show that the response model has R^(2)>0.94 and P<0.01,which indicates that the model has high reliability.Moreover,the strength of TWSC increases with the increase of tailings fineness modulus and decrease of water-binder ratio,while it also increases and then decreases with the increase of replacement rate of slag powder to cement(SRC rate).The extreme learning machine(ELM)constructed in this paper predicts the strength of TWSC with an accuracy of more than 98%and achieves rapid prediction under multi-factor conditions.It is worth mentioning that the ELM combined with the genetic algorithm(ELM-GA)collaboratively solved to obtain the mix proportion for C15 and C20 strength grades of TWSC and the maximum error is verified by experiments to be less than 2%.

Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Heat Transfer of Methanation in Fluidized Bed for Pyrolysis and Gasification Syngas of Organic Solid Waste

Methanation is an effective way to efficiently utilize product gas generated from the pyrolysis and gasification of organic solid wastes.To deeply study the heat transfer and mass transfer mechanisms in the reactor,a successful three-dimensional comprehensive model has been established.Multiphase flow behavior and heat transfer mechanisms were investigated under reference working conditions.Temperature is determined by the heat release of the reaction and the heat transfer of the gas-solid flow.The maximum temperature can reach 951 K where the catalyst gathers.In the simulation,changes in the gas inlet velocity and catalyst flow rate were made to explore their effects on CO conversion rate and temperature for optimization purposes.As the inlet gas velocity increases from 2.78 to 4.79 m/s,the CO conversion rate decreases from 81.6%to 72.4%.However,more heat is removed from the reactor,and the temperature rise increases from 78.03 to 113.49 K.When the catalyst flow rate is increased from 7.18 to 17.96 kg/(m^(2)·s),the mass of the catalyst in the reactor is increased from 0.0019 to 0.0042 kg,and the CO conversion rate is increased from 66.8%to 81.5%.However,this increases the maximum temperature in the reactor from 940.0 to 966.4 K.

Study on Rural Solid Waste Collection and Transportation Mode and Route Optimization Strategy in the Cold Regions of Northern China

Rural vitalization is a major strategy for reform and development of agriculture and rural areas in China,the key task of which is improving rural living environment.Imperfect rural solid waste(RSW)collection and transportation system exacerbates the pollution of RSW to rural living environment,while it has not been established and improved in the cold region of Northern China due to climate and economy.Through the analysis of the current situation of RSW source separation,collection,transportation and disposal in China,an RSW collection and transportation system suitable for the northern cold region was developed.Considering the low winter temperature in the northern cold region,different requirements for RSW collection,transportation and terminal disposal,scattered source points and single terminal disposal nodes in rural areas,the study focused on determining the number and location of transfer stations,established a model for transfer stations selection and RSW collection and transportation routes optimization for RSW collection and transportation system,and proposed the elite retention particle swarm optimization–genetic algorithm(ERPSO–GA).The rural area of Baiquan County was taken as a representative case,the collection and transportation scheme of which was given,and the feasibility of the scheme was clarified by simulation experiment.