Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.6
5.0
Journals
Polymers
Special Issues
Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle
share announcement

Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 January 2022) | Viewed by 21946

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Józef Flizikowski

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Technical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: strategy of the life cycle innovation; polymers; sustainable, smart growth; raw materials, materials, and product quality; efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, reliability, and operability of processes; life cycle assessment; environmental improvement; waste management/recycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Patrycja Bałdowska-Witos

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Technical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: life cycle assessment; environmental improvement; waste management/recycling; raw materials; material and product quality; efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, reliability, and operability of processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Innovation and knowledge are both strategic goals of the European Union’s smart growth. Furthermore, the environmentally-friendly use of resources, materials, and energy carriers is the main element of sustainable development. Eco-innovations of polymer materials’ lifecycle are based on two pillars of EU development, as well as on achievements of contemporary engineering in the field of smart and balanced growth. Environmentally-friendly growth is strongly focused on the urgency to replace fossil fuels with alternative, renewable energy sources, while expecting the limitation or even elimination of the harmful impacts of the exploitation of natural resources. Materials or processing technologies that would not be harmful to the natural environment do not exist. Every stage in the lifecycle of materials—even those which are natural and renewable—involves a more or less intense consumption of resources, dispersion of action potentials, and harmful emissions to the natural environment: air, water, soils, living organisms. Eco-innovative engineering of polymer materials’ lifecycle encompasses valuation, development, design, production, use, operation, support, recycling, and storage phases; this is not only about investments, benefits, effects, and the value of these phases, but it also affects the technological aspects, phenomena, properties, and processes involved. Values in the material lifecycle include the quality of raw material, product, waste; the environmental, energy-related, and economic efficiency of the use, processing, and utilization, and the environmental friendliness of storage, processing, operation, as well as that of products and waste.

The aim of the present Special Issue is to gather creative and research studies that present analyses of original results performed using innovative methods of integrated lifecycle assessment of polymer materials, from the development of a new material, through the phase of implementation and operation, to the withdrawal of machines, equipment and installations from the natural environment.

 The most important aspects within the Special Issue topic include:

  • Environmentally-friendly strategies of polymer material innovation;
  • New techniques (methods, means, and procedures) employed in different phases of the materials lifecycle;
  • Innovative methods, equipment, and instruments used to analyze the quality, processing, and harmfulness of materials;
  • Forecasting and modeling materials processing phenomena and processes;
  • Systems used in the eco-innovative engineering of processing and recycling machinery, equipment, and plants;
  • Analysis, assessment, and development of the materials, equipment, and technology product lifecycle.
Prof. Jozef Flizikowski
Dr. Patrycja Bałdowska-Witos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Strategy of the life cycle innovation
  • Polymers
  • Sustainable, smart growth
  • Raw materials, materials, and product quality
  • Efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, reliability, and operability of processes
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Environmental improvement, waste management/recycling

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 5011 KiB  
Article
Life Cycle Assessment Model of Plastic Products: Comparing Environmental Impacts for Different Scenarios in the Production Stage
by Viktoria Mannheim
Polymers 2021, 13(5), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13050777 - 03 Mar 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5845
Abstract
This paper assesses the environmental loads of polypropylene and PP-PE-PET mixed-plastic products throughout the products’ life cycle in the production stage, with particular focus on the looping method. A life cycle model of homogeneous and mixed-plastic products has been developed from the raw [...] Read more.
This paper assesses the environmental loads of polypropylene and PP-PE-PET mixed-plastic products throughout the products’ life cycle in the production stage, with particular focus on the looping method. A life cycle model of homogeneous and mixed-plastic products has been developed from the raw material extraction and production phase through its transport with the help of the life cycle assessment method. To find the answers to the questions posed, different impacts were analyzed by the GaBi 9.5 software. The analysis lasted from the beginning of the production process to the end. The aim of this research was to determine the energy and material resources used, the emissions produced, and the environmental impact indicators involved. This article examines three scenarios in the production stage, based on the usage of plastic scrap and process water: (1) plastic scrap and wastewater are recirculated with looping method; (2) plastic scrap goes through an incineration process and wastewater is treated in a municipal wastewater treatment plant; (3) plastic scrap is sent to a municipal landfill and wastewater is treated. This article tries to answer three questions: (1) how can we optimize the production stage? (2) Which materials and streams are recyclable in the design of the life cycle assessment? (3) What is the relationship between the environmental impacts of homogeneous and mixed-plastic products? The results of this research can be used to develop injection-molding processes with lower environmental impacts and lower releases of emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

14 pages, 3518 KiB  
Article
The Influence of the Use of Polymer Lining within the Roller Press Gravity Feeder on Briquette Quality
by Michał Bembenek
Polymers 2020, 12(11), 2489; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12112489 - 27 Oct 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1901
Abstract
When considering the operation of roller presses for the consolidation of fine-grained materials, the main problems are disturbances in the proper flow of the material and its bridging in gravity feeders. This is especially true for small and medium capacity presses, where the [...] Read more.
When considering the operation of roller presses for the consolidation of fine-grained materials, the main problems are disturbances in the proper flow of the material and its bridging in gravity feeders. This is especially true for small and medium capacity presses, where the hoppers for dosing the material are narrow. This article presents innovative laboratory tests of the impact of using a polymer plate lining in the gravity feeder of a roller press. Polymer materials Polyacetal C (POM C) and Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE) were used for the tests. The influence of the use of plates on the material flow and quality of briquettes was investigated in comparison with the case where such plates were not used. The research showed an improvement in the flow of fine-grained materials in the feeder and an increase of the briquette strength indexes, as compared to those cases when polymer linings were not used in the feeder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18 pages, 3069 KiB  
Article
Total Life Cycle of Polypropylene Products: Reducing Environmental Impacts in the Manufacturing Phase
by Viktoria Mannheim and Zoltan Simenfalvi
Polymers 2020, 12(9), 1901; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12091901 - 24 Aug 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 7779
Abstract
This paper assesses the environmental burdens of a polypropylene product throughout the product’s life cycle, especially focusing on the injection-moulding stage. The complete life cycle model of the polypropylene product has been developed from the raw material extraction and production phase through its [...] Read more.
This paper assesses the environmental burdens of a polypropylene product throughout the product’s life cycle, especially focusing on the injection-moulding stage. The complete life cycle model of the polypropylene product has been developed from the raw material extraction and production phase through its usage to the end-of-life stage with the help of the life cycle assessment method. To find the answers to the posed problems, different impacts were analysed by GaBi 8.0 software. The analysis lasted from the cradle to the grave, expanding the analysis of the looping method. The aim of the research was to determine the energy and material resources, emissions, and environmental impact indicators. Basically, the article tried to answer three questions: (1) How can we optimize the production phase for the looping method? (2) Which materials and streams are recyclable in the design of the production process? (3) What is the relationship between life cycle stages and total life cycle of the product? As we inspect the life cycle of the product, the load on the environment was distributed as follows: 91% in the production phase, 3% in the use phase, and 6% in the end-of-life phase. The results of the research can be used to develop technologies, especially the injection-moulding process, with a lower environmental impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

31 pages, 3857 KiB  
Article
Control the System and Environment of Post-Production Wind Turbine Blade Waste Using Life Cycle Models. Part 1. Environmental Transformation Models
by Izabela Piasecka, Patrycja Bałdowska-Witos, Józef Flizikowski, Katarzyna Piotrowska and Andrzej Tomporowski
Polymers 2020, 12(8), 1828; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12081828 - 14 Aug 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3192
Abstract
Controlling the system—the environment of power plants is called such a transformation—their material, energy and information inputs in time, which will ensure that the purpose of the operation of this system or the state of the environment, is achieved. The transformations of systems [...] Read more.
Controlling the system—the environment of power plants is called such a transformation—their material, energy and information inputs in time, which will ensure that the purpose of the operation of this system or the state of the environment, is achieved. The transformations of systems and environmental inputs and their goals describe the different models, e.g., LCA model groups and methods. When converting wind kinetic energy into electricity, wind power plants emit literally no harmful substances into the environment. However, the production and postuse management stages of their components require large amounts of energy and materials. The biggest controlling problem during postuse management is wind power plant blades, followed by waste generated during their production. Therefore, this publication is aimed at carrying out an ecological, technical and energetical transformation analysis of selected postproduction waste of wind power plant blades based on the LCA models and methods. The research object of control was eight different types of postproduction waste (fiberglass mat, roving fabric, resin discs, distribution hoses, spiral hoses with resin, vacuum bag film, infusion materials residues, surplus mater), mainly made of polymer materials, making it difficult for postuse management and dangerous for the environment. Three groups of models and methods were used: Eco-indicator 99, IPCC and CED. The impact of analysis objects on human health, ecosystem quality and resources was controlled and assessed. Of all the tested waste, the life cycle of resin discs made of epoxy resin was characterized by the highest level of harmful technology impact on the environment and the highest energy consumption. Postuse control and management in the form of recycling would reduce the negative impact on the environment of the tested waste (in the perspective of their entire life cycle). Based on the results obtained, guidelines and models for the proecological postuse control of postproduction polymer waste of wind power plants blades were proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

16 pages, 1853 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Method for the Recycling of Waste Carbohydrate-Based Flours
by Carola Esposito Corcione, Raffaella Striani, Francesca Ferrari, Paolo Visconti, Daniela Rizzo and Antonio Greco
Polymers 2020, 12(6), 1414; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12061414 - 24 Jun 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2328
Abstract
This work represents an innovative study that, for the first time, explores the possibility to use waste flours to produce thermoplastic polymeric bio-films. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that waste flours, derived from bakeries, pizzerias or pasta [...] Read more.
This work represents an innovative study that, for the first time, explores the possibility to use waste flours to produce thermoplastic polymeric bio-films. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that waste flours, derived from bakeries, pizzerias or pasta factories, have been proposed for the production of bio-polymers, as a replacement of neat starch. To this aim, durum waste flour derived from a pasta factory, soft waste flour derived from pizzerias and neat maize starch used as control material were firstly analyzed from dimensional, morphological and chemical points of view. Afterwards, waste flour films were produced by the addition of a nature-based plasticizer, glycerol. Mechanical characterization of the plasticized thermoplastic films, produced by compression molding, evidenced low performances, even in the case of the neat maize starch. In order to improve the mechanical properties, the possibility to include polylactic acid and cardanol-based plasticizer was also investigated. Mass transport properties of all the produced bio-films were investigated by measuring their water vapor permeability and hygroscopic absorption. The durability properties of the bio-films were assessed by accelerated ageing tests, while the bio-degradability of the waste-based films was evaluated by measuring the solubility and the degradation in water. The physicochemical analyses of the novel bio-films evidenced good mechanical properties; specifically, the waste-based films showed a lower hygroscopic absorption and water solubility than those of the blends containing neat starch. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Innovative Engineering of the Polymer Material’s Life Cycle)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop