By Antonio Zocche and Sara Dallasta

Plastic and organic waste can become an alternative fuel known as RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) that is used in cement factories and helps with the disposal of this waste by converting it into a precious energy resource.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the daily consumption of PPE (personal protective equipment), such as masks, vests, gloves, and shoe covers, to skyrocket — resulting in increased consumption of single-use plastic. It has also highlighted the danger of uncontrolled dumping and open burning, which are the most common waste management practices in some parts of the world, including India, the Middle East and Africa. Unmanaged landfills cause, above all, the release of toxins and CO2 into the environment.

Higher PPE consumption has brought an old theme to the fore: the thermal valorization of plastic.

In some parts of the world, such as India, the Middle East and Africa, if we take an optimistic estimate, 53 percent of waste is openly dumped, only about 10 percent is disposed of in a sanitary landfill and just 1.2 percent of waste ends up in a managed site. However, while these areas currently produce less waste compared to others, waste generation in the MENA region is set to double, while in India — due to less than accurate census data — it is difficult to make a similar calculation.

If governments and industry will think ahead, much of that waste can become a valuable source of fuel. For example, food and green waste, at 40–60 percent, are the most prominent waste streams in the Middle East and Africa and cement producers in the MENA region are already using RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) to reduce fossil fuel dependency and lower CO2 emissions. For instance, the RDF currently produced in Egypt has a CO2 emission factor that is 37 percent lower than that of coal. Unfortunately, the quantity of RDF produced in the MENA region is still limited, as it is produced by inadequate mechanical means.

Modern RDF manufacturing uses natural processes involving pressure aeration and other components to remove moisture from the processed material efficiently and reliably, in a controlled environment, with low energy input. In addition, biological drying helps prevent the transmission of viruses, reaching the sanitizing temperature of 60 °C for a sufficient duration and also protecting the waste from animal vectors.

The inclusion of organic fraction in RDF helps reduce landfill waste, and it also supports the end user in reducing CO2 emissions because the combustion of organic matter has zero global warming impact. Moreover, organic waste dumped in landfills are a prime cause of methane emissions due to human activities — up to 15% of global methane emissions according to the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks.

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, has a global warming potential (GWP) 28–34 times higher than that of carbon dioxide (Allen, 2016). Therefore, if a cement producer replaced tons of fossil fuel — for instance coal — with RDF, it would be extremely beneficial for the environment and local communities, saving soil resources, water resources and providing a major reduction in CO2 emissions.

Last but not least, RDF has an economic impact as well. The cement producer can resort to a local, affordable source of energy that also creates job opportunities from waste, which would otherwise be left in an open dump.

As often happens, opportunities can arise in difficult moments, and the exploitation of RDF can create a precious resource that lowers energy costs for cement production and helps the community solve the problem of waste disposal in countries where incinerators are lacking.

Source: https://artvalley.org/focus/refuse-derived-fuel-benefits-environment-and-economy/

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An article by Antonio Zocche for Art Valley

Everyone on our planet breathes the same air, however every nation has different legislation on or “tolerance” for pollution. In countries of the Middle East, Far East and India, legislation tolerates a higher concentration of pollutants in the air than European countries and the rest of the world. 

To put it another way, the laws of the various countries create “existential” disparities because the air quality will be better in some and worse in others.

If we subtract the air pollution generated by one of these countries, for example in India, in the 12 months from March 2019 to March 2020—therefore even before the slowdown in fossil fuel consumption due to the Covid-19 pandemic—carbon dioxide emissions fell for the first time in 40 years. 

Currently, the excessive health risk from fine particles has decreased by 52% on average across India. The reduction in production activities and the slowdown in transport have cleaned up the air and cleared the skies, allowing people in the northern Indian state of Punjab to enjoy a view of the Himalaya mountain range, which is more than 100 miles away, due to the reduction of air pollution (something that hasn’t happened for over 30 years).

Recently in India the well-known media publishing group “India Today” launched a campaign, the Let India Breathe Initiative, to make the larger public more proactive and part of the fight for air pollution prevention and sustainable environmental practices to eventually promote an environmentally sensitive industrial system.

The campaign intends to take further steps along the lines of a people’s movement and encourages participation by popularizing and promoting daily urban practices that help move towards a clean, green environment. Some of the steps undertaken by the campaign to promote healthier air are: increasing carpooling, the use of public rather than private transport, switching to e‑vehicles, regular vehicular checks for compliance and maintenance, waste segregation into wet and dry, and not burning waste.

It also encourages contractors to put fine mesh screening at construction sites, and promotes the use of low-sulfur diesel in engines and generators. Farmers are also encouraged to adopt inexpensive waste composters.

In addition, the EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) Notification 2020 draft was released in March by the Indian Government Ministry of Environment and Forests. This notification is centered around raising very important concerns of accountability by industries towards environmental balance and preservation of ecosystems. The general public has been given a stipulated time to respond to this draft, engage in a group discussion and understand the legal issues involved and what the industries need to abide by before projects are started. 

During the lockdown, a team of Indian researchers examined data from air quality monitoring stations across India, focusing on the urban region of Delhi, home to more than 20 million people. Urban emissions revealed that, during the lockdown, PM 2.5 levels in Delhi plummeted to 20 micrograms per cubic meter.

These PM 2.5 particles come mainly from combustion processes: fires, cars, and power plants, cement factories, glassworks, and steel production plants.

So do we need a global lockdown to improve the air quality of our planet, air that every one of us breathes? The answer is simple: NO.

There are valid technologies on the market developed to combat pollution from industrial processes (which allow a very thorough filtration of polluting gases, such as dust, halogen acids, dioxins, nitrogen oxides, etc.), making it possible to achieve very good air quality. 

We can mention sleeve filters, made with filtering fabrics that allow a reduction of dust up to 1 mg/Nmc, desulfurizers that can achieve a 99% reduction and sulfur oxides, denitrification systems for the reduction of nitrogen oxides, or systems for the absorption of micro-pollutants such as dioxins, furans or heavy metals.

What is lacking is serious investment planning, technicians who choose the best filtration and pollution control processes technologically available, and serious, effective maintenance and management of existing air treatment systems.

In order to achieve the highest possible level of environmental protection against polluting agents, it is hoped that the operators of the production process plants will find and adopt suitable solutions to control and reduce emissions with the Best Available Technology or BAT, which means those plant engineering, control and management technologies that guarantee low levels of pollutant emissions, optimization of raw materials consumption, products, water and energy, and adequate accident prevention.

The time has come to change industrial strategy: this will serve to stimulate further economic growth, especially for countries like India, but also to protect everyone’s health, which has a lot to do with the air we breathe. 

We conclude with a slogan that industrial plant managers should consider when they’re about to make an investment: purified air has a cost, but badly purified air costs much more.

Source: https://artvalley.org/focus/clear-skies-ahead

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An article by Antonio Zocche for Art Valley

In dealing with the impact of industrial revolutions around the globe—which has led to an ever-increasing drive towards productivity—humankind has put mechanisms in place to improve production processes, lower dust pollution levels, and utilize ever more sophisticated technologies, such as bag filters. Putting that in today’s terms: a bag filter is like a filter mask, crucial for protecting the environment from industrial production processes.

A fabric that filters gasses, more or less noble, retains the dust before it can be released into the atmosphere. It works the same way as the filter masks being used during the pandemic in order to avoid contagion.

Surgical filter masks were employed for the first time to avoid mutual contamination in 1897 when French surgeon Paul Berger recorded the use of this technique during an operation he performed.

There are many technologies available to combat environmental pollution. Among them is the technology that involves the use of what are known in the industry as “bag filters”, to reduce industrial dust emissions.

To explain what a bag filter is, we can say that it is very much like a filter mask positioned between industrial production processes—in which dust emissions are generated—and the environment. The goal is the same: to avoid contamination.

Bag filters are mainly used in industries and processes such as cement plants, steel mills, waste-to-energy plants, glassworks, energy production, petrochemical and pharmaceutical plants, among others. 

There are reports of the first rudimentary bag filters being installed in the last century, around the 1950s, to replace old technologies such as cyclones and electrostatic filters, with the aim of lowering dust emissions, which the old technologies could no longer guarantee.

A physical barrier, the bag filter—which is a fabric like that which surgical masks may be made of—retains the dust inside the filtering chamber and then emits the purified air into the atmosphere through a fan and a chimney.  The bag filter must be frequently cleaned with the injection of a high-pressure blast of compressed air so that it will not become clogged and can therefore be used longer.

The filter bag can be made from a variety of fabrics, which material is chosen depends on the temperature of the gases to be filtered. Polyester, polypropylene, Nomex, P84, meta aramid, acrylic, fabric and fiberglass felts are the most commonly used materials. 

Lunar missions, and manned space exploration in general, has given a major boost to research focused on new fabrics in the filtration industry. These missions have driven the use of increasingly high-tech fabrics, used by astronauts, which are able to withstand temperatures and atmospheric conditions different from those on earth.

The maximum temperature at which a filter bag can be used is 250 °C—with peaks up to 280 °C—so this filtering technology is able to cover a wide range of production processes. The filtering action of a high-tech bag filter is very important for the environment, especially for the reduction of what’s known as PM10.

Currently, perhaps the best and most advanced technology being used to improve the performance of bag filters (through more complete cleaning) is sonic wave technology. When combined with the best choice of filter fabric, atmospheric emissions of lower than 1 mg/Nmc can be achieved!

Source: https://artvalley.org/focus/focus-on-filters

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How is Ekoplant different from other companies?

We have our expertise and, for example, our low-pressure bag filters. Inside of a casing there are filtering elements made of textile or fabric felt with the correct pitch for having the correct ascension velocity. Air flows through the bags, the dust contained in the air stays on the outside, and the clean air then flows through the inside. Since the dust remains on the outside of this filter, the system will then inject compressed air, at low or high pressure, back through in the opposite direction from that of the untreated gas to regenerate the bags by forcing the dust to detach from the filter and fall down into the hoppers.
We clean them with compressed air but at low pressure (2.5 bar). Not every company can do that and so it’s something that sets us apart from the competition. Why do we use low pressure? Because the filters are put under less stress and therefore, we can guarantee a longer lifetime. For example, 5 years full time in the cement industry or 3–4 years in the steel industry.

So what’s the story behind the development of this product?

It’s kind of a long story. It started when Mr Gramigna, the father, was the CEO of a foreign-owned company located near Milan that produced air pollution control plants for industry, including bag filters. At the time many companies were developing new filtering technologies. While the father retired, his son, Marco Gramigna, implemented this new technology at Ekoplant with the name of EKO E3.

And you’ve installed facilities for ILVA?

Yes for ILVA we’ve manufactured perhaps one of the largest low-pressure pulse jet type bag filters installed in Italy. They were operational in 2014 with capacity of 3,250,000 m³/h. Recently we’ve also been working with Paul Wurth, Midrex, Tenaris, Arcelor Mittal, etc.

Do you have some statistics relative to the environmental benefits of your products?

Certainly, but above all our plants are built to meet the environmental regulations in force in any given country. We work around the world and we’re able to build facilities in places from India to Italy to the U.S.A. that are guaranteed to meet the legal air quality requirements of the country where they are installed. Here in Italy the standard is 5mg/m3, of dust, and we meet that standard. When we’ve worked in India, they’ve requested 10mg/m3 and our technology will is certainly able to achieve a result of less than 5.

How long have these requirements been in place in Italy?

Well, in Italy we don’t have a national standard; every region has its own environmental protection agency (ARPA) that establishes specific emission standards. For example, here in Lombardy they are very demanding while in Taranto, where there is a great deal of industry, they request 5mg/m3. We’ve even been able to meet standards that went as low as 2mg/m3.

Have you built any plants in Lombardy?

We can say that Ekoplant is global company that works around the world. Europe is too small of a market for our technology. You have to understand that Ekoplant is a young company, we started up in 2009 but, collectively, our staff has more than 300 years of experience in the installation of air pollution control plants. We’ve been working in the industry for just 10 years now. All the same, our background is extremely solid. As for myself I have 35 years of experience and I’ve manufactured urban waste incinerator plants from the ground up. That involved dealing with all kinds of waste, industrial, biomass from agriculture, or industrial wood incinerators, sludge waste and coal reactivation de-dusting systems.

So here you’re talking about the waste-to-energy cycle.

Yes, waste-to-energy is a process that involves combustion process, which creates heat, which can then be used to produce energy. Meanwhile, the combustion process creates particulate matter and toxic gasses that must be managed with filters.

Once a plant is installed, what happens next? What is your relationship with the client?

It’s a bit like when you buy a car. We give you a maintenance manual that needs to be read and followed by the person in charge of managing the plant. There are procedures to be followed; every ‘x’ years the bag filters need to be changed. When necessary we’re happy to offer after-sales service. The important thing is what we’re working on now, which is very innovative, is virtual engineering. We’re able to do the engineering in 3‑D in such a way that you can ‘go inside’ the plant in real time and check on what the issues are with that plant. Then we can help the client remotely to figure out what the problem is and to find a solution.

Is this an additional service?

It’s an additional service, a part of Industry 4.0; but this is just to highlight how advanced our technology has become.

Source: https://artvalley.org/focus/fighting-pollution-building-waste-energy-plants

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KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – To tap into the rapidly growing Indian ferrous and non-ferrous metals processing industry and stricter air quality monitoring norms, Milan-headquartered SME Ekoplant has set up shop in the country, floating a 100% wholly-owned subsidiary Eko Air Filtration India Private Limited (EAFIPL).

“For Indian industries using combustible processes and gaseous emissions, finding the right technology that enables them to meet legally stipulated air pollution norms within acceptable limits has been a headache for long,” SME Ekoplant sales director Antonio Zocche tells Mining Weekly Online.

“Since the Indian economy is growing very fast there is a rising concern to minimise the gap in research and development (R&D) and we will try to enhance technical, engineering and advanced R&D to offer industrial dust and gas treatment solutions to Indian ferrous and non-ferrous manufacturing processes through our new Indian subsidiary,” Zocche says.

He adds that EAFIPL will offer Indian industries expertise in lower pressure bag filters with casings of filtering elements made of textile or fabric felt with the correct pitch for the exact ascension velocity.

The innovative products of the company’s proprietary technology ensure that dust remains outside the filters, and that compressed air is injected at low or high pressure in opposite directions forcing the dust to fall into hoppers, eliminating all risks to ambient air quality, so critical in meeting environmental regulations across processing industries.

The low pressure, 2.5 bar, air injection technology developed by SME Ekoplant to clean the dust bags ensures higher longevity of the system and hence lower costs over the lifetime of the product, Zocche says.

The company has already bagged initial orders for supplies of equipment to iron-ore miner and integrated steel producer, JSW Limited’s operations at Dolvi in Maharashtra in the west and Vijayanagar in southern India. 

Source: https://www.miningweekly.com/article/italys-sme-ekoplant-floats-indian-subsidiary-2019-03-22/rep_id:3650

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