A critical review on the techno-economic analysis of membrane gas absorption for CO2 capture

High CO2 permeation using a new Ce0.85Gd0.15O2-δ-LaNiO3 composite ceramic-carbonate dual-phase membrane

This work shows the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of dense-ceramic membranes made of Ce0.85Gd0.15O2-δ-LaNiO3 (CG-LN) composites, where the fluorite-perovskite ratio (CG:LN) was varied as follows: 75:25, 80:20 and 85:15 wt.%. Supports were initially characterized by XRD, SEM and electrical conductivity (using vacuum and oxygen atmospheres), to determine the composition, microstructural and ionic-electronic conductivity properties. Later, supports were infiltrated with an eutectic carbonates mixture, producing the corresponding dense dual-phase membranes, in which CO2 permeation tests were conducted. Here, CO2 permeation experiments were performed from 900 to 700°C, in the presence and absence of oxygen (flowed in the sweep membrane side). Results showed that these composites possess high CO2 permeation properties, where the O2 addition significantly improves the ionic conduction on the sweep membrane side. Specifically, the GC80-LN20 composition presented the best results due to the following physicochemical characteristics: high electronic and ionic conductivity, appropriate porosity, interconnected porous channels, as well as thermal and chemical stabilities between the composite support and carbonate phases.

Industry 4.0 real-world testing of dynamic organizational life cycle assessment (O-LCA) of a ceramic tile manufacturer

In manufacturing, Industry 4.0 operating models enable greener technologies. Thanks to digital technologies, environmental sustainability and organizational competitiveness are mutually reinforcing. The challenge for manufacturing organizations is to understand and quantify the magnitude of this synergistic action, and the holistic perspective of life cycle assessment tools may be a solution to the problem. Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA) unlike Product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is still an under-researched methodology with few applications in manufacturing contexts. This paper aims to fill this gap by implementing and validating O-LCA in the case of an Italian ceramic tile manufacturer. Following the O-LCA guidelines and exploiting Industry 4.0 technologies to perform the inventory analysis, the environmental assessment was conducted in three different plants, comparing the sum of the partial impact results with the overall results scaled to the whole organization. The experimental results demonstrated the validity of the organizational approach as an appropriate methodological option to obtain relevant information on environmental performance that, being based on empirical evidence, better support decision-making processes. Furthermore, the study provides empirical evidence of how Industry 4.0 is an enabler not only for the adoption of greener technologies, but especially for facilitating the organizational environmental impact assessment that is the necessary condition in order to set up and maintain greener manufacturing contexts.