Engineering Commons^™

Life Cycle Assessment Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Traditional Air Pollutants, Water Depletion, And Cumulative Energy Demand From 2-Mw Wind Turbines In Texas, Ali Alsaleh

Civil Engineering Dissertations

¶One renewable energy source that has witnessed a significant growth in the recent years is wind energy, with the installation of new wind farms around the globe as well as the innovations in wind power technology, which have increased the efficiency of this source. Wind power generates electrical energy from the wind’s kinetic energy without causing emissions or pollution from power production; however, environmental effects are caused by the wind turbine manufacturing, transport, and other phases. Therefore, the overall goal of this study was to analyze the environmental effects associated with wind energy technology by taking into consideration the entire …

A Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis Framework For Dealing With Uncertainty Impacts Of Input–Output Life Cycle Assessment Models On Eco-Efficiency Assessment, Gokhan Egilmez, Serkan Gumus, Murat Kucukvar, Omer Tatari

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The uncertainty in the results of input–output-based life cycle assessment models makes the sustainability performance assessment and ranking a challenging task. Therefore, introducing a new approach, fuzzy data envelopment analysis, is critical; since such a method could make it possible to integrate the uncertainty in the results of the life cycle assessment models into the decision-making for sustainability benchmarking and ranking. In this paper, a fuzzy data envelopment analysis model was coupled with an input–output-based life cycle assessment approach to perform the sustainability performance assessment of the 33 food manufacturing sectors in the United States. Seven environmental impact categories were …

Flow Shop Scheduling For Energy Efficient Manufacturing, Hao Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

A large number of new peaking power plants with their associated auxiliary equipment are installed to meet the growing peak demand every year. However, 10% utility capacity is used for only 1%~2% of the hours in a year. Thus, to meet the demand and supply balance through increasing the infrastructure investments only on the supply side is not economical. Alternatively, demand-side management might cut the cost of maintaining this balance via offering consumers incentives to manage their consumption in response to the price signals.

Time-varying electricity rate is a demand-side management scheme. Under the time-varying electricity rate, the electricity price …

Flow Shop Scheduling For Energy Efficient Manufacturing, Hao Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

A large number of new peaking power plants with their associated auxiliary equipment are installed to meet the growing peak demand every year. However, 10% utility capacity is used for only 1%~2% of the hours in a year. Thus, to meet the demand and supply balance through increasing the infrastructure investments only on the supply side is not economical. Alternatively, demand-side management might cut the cost of maintaining this balance via offering consumers incentives to manage their consumption in response to the price signals.

Time-varying electricity rate is a demand-side management scheme. Under the time-varying electricity rate, the electricity price …

Integrated Evaluation Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Traditional Air Pollutants, And Economics Of Three Types Of Landfills, Reza Broun

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Despite the decreasing rate of landfilled waste due to increases in reuse and recycling, landfilling remains an enormous part of the waste industry of the United States due to population and economic growth. In addition, certain wastes are not easily recycled due to their mixed composition (i.e. a cardboard carton with a plastic lining) or their contamination (i.e. diapers). The primary goal of this research is to develop a comprehensive framework that can help landfill designers chose the best type of landfill (conventional, bioreactor, or aerobic) for a given situation based on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, traditional air pollutants and …

Retrofit Design Of Energy Efficient Buildings Using Life Cycle Assessment Case Study On Research Institute Building, Fereshteh Aramoun, Masoomeh Bararzadeh, Akram Avami

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

Energy use in educational buildings constitutes a major proportion of the energy consumption and anthropogenic emissions. Such buildings account for 34% of total energy consumption in the Iran. To find the most beneficial retrofits in the educational buildings to satisfy energy demands increasing in recent years and decreasing the heavy environmental impacts, in this paper the multi-story educational building “Sharif Energy Research Institute” located in Tehran is chosen as a case study to assess its thermal loads in the first step and life cycle assessment in the second step.

The Sharif Energy Research Institute building’s base load is calculated based …

Life Cycle Assessment And Comparison Of Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared By Aqueous And Microwave Synthesis Methods, Jesse Cartland

Materials Engineering

Abstract: Magnesium oxide nanoparticles are being used increasingly as catalysts for organic synthesis, fuel oil additives, and CO₂ adsorbents. There are many ways to produce magnesium oxide nanoparticles, but there is little information available regarding the environmental costs of production. As demand for environmentally friendly materials increases, it is important to understand environmental impact differences between various production methods. This study will compare the differences in embodied energy and global warming potential (GWP) between two synthesis methods: microwave combustion synthesis (microwave synthesis) and oxidation of magnesium hydroxide (aqueous synthesis). The resulting nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Paper Versus Electronic Assignment Submission In Cal Poly's Materials Engineering, Patrick Mcdonnal

Materials Engineering

Both hard and soft copy submission of assignments make an impact on the environment to produce the final product in terms of energy consumption and carbon emissions; an investigation was conducted as to which method is less environmentally impactful. Student disposition towards each assignment submission method was also investigated because it is associated with learning efficacy. A survey was conducted in Cal Poly’s Materials Engineering Department to determine the contributing components to the environmental impact of paper and electronic assignments, as well as the students’ disposition towards each of them. Contributing components are man-made products used by a student to …

Sustainability Assessment Of Recycled Asphalt Mixtures In Texas, Reza Saeedzadeh

Civil Engineering Dissertations

The pavement practitioners use more recycled materials in asphalt mixtures in order to compensate for the high price of petroleum products and save the limited resources of virgin materials. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Recycled Asphalt Shingles (RAS) have been in wide use in asphalt mixtures for several decades. Public perception on the utilization of recycled materials is that the mixtures become more cost effective and more environmental friendly. This is true when the initial stage of construction of pavements is assessed. However, a mixture that costs less and/or burdens the environment less at the beginning may require more frequent …

A Life Cycle Assessment Of A Diesel Generator Set, Kelly Benton

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Today, nearly every industry needs a continuous power supply, as data loss can be more expensive than the capital expenditure for the backup power equipment. The demand for emergency standby power (ESP) generator sets is on the rise because of increasing industrialization. With increased industrialization comes a societal concern about the issue of natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. In response, manufacturing companies are providing more sustainable solutions in their products and processes. In this work, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been applied to quantify the energy demands of each life cycle stage of an ESP generator set …

Sustainable P2 Design For Batch-Based Specialty Chemical Manufacture, Brigitte Pastore

Theses and Dissertations

A case study has been conducted on the reduction of n-methyl-2-pyrrilodone (NMP) solvent waste in the manufacture of polyimide and polybenzoxazole precursors. The evaluation includes the environmental and economic assessment of solvent recovery and substitution strategies. A two-step distillation process proved effective in recovering 95% of the NMP at a purity of 99.97% from the aqueous solvent waste stream. Yearly operating costs were reduced by 83% and total life cycle emissions were reduced by 44%, due to reduction in virgin NMP use and hazardous waste disposal. With capital acquisition, the recovery option would still result in a net present value …

Life Cycle Assessment And Optimization-Based Decision Analysis Of Construction Waste Recycling For A Leed-Certified University Building, Murat Kucukvar, Gokhan Egilmez, Omer Tatari

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The current waste management literature lacks a comprehensive LCA of the recycling of construction materials that considers both process and supply chain-related impacts as a whole. Furthermore, an optimization-based decision support framework has not been also addressed in any work, which provides a quantifiable understanding about the potential savings and implications associated with recycling of construction materials from a life cycle perspective. The aim of this research is to present a multi-criteria optimization model, which is developed to propose economically-sound and environmentally-benign construction waste management strategies for a LEED-certified university building. First, an economic input-output-based hybrid life cycle assessment model …