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Environmental and Workplace Sustainability of the Industrial Processes
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Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via Dunant, 3, 21100 Varese, Italy
Department of Science and High Technology, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Vico, 46, 21100 Varese, Italy
Dr. Barozzi Marco
Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 9, 22100 Como, Italy
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Environmental and Workplace Sustainability of the Industrial Processes

Abstract submission deadline
31 October 2024
Manuscript submission deadline
31 December 2024
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3701

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water, soil and air pollution are among the most critical aspects that are negatively impacting the environment, and our health consequently. While the technological evolution of industrial productions has definitely improved the quality of human life, the development and the effective application of sustainable processes did not come out on a parallel line, leaving to us both the duty and the opportunity to study and propose new models, ideas and inventions. This framework covers an extremely wide area of research: energy production, food technologies, Oil & Gas, pharmaceutics, fine chemistry and waste management and treatment, including both regular process design, new technologies, improved logistics and theoretical methos. Studies may involve specific topics for these fields, but common themes are also interesting, such as reducing energy harvesting.

Therefore, authors are invited to present original research articles, review papers, or communications focused on the proposal of sustainable processes or tools. Works including the improvement of safety and quality of workplaces should be also included, due to their not ignorable impact on sustainability.  

Dr. Elisabetta Sieni
Dr. Sabrina Copelli
Dr. Barozzi Marco
Topic Editors

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • green technologies
  • environment
  • waste treatment
  • optimization
  • carbon footprint

Participating Journals

Journal Name Impact Factor CiteScore Launched Year First Decision (median) APC
Designs
designs 		- 3.2 2017 16.4 Days CHF 1600 Submit
Energies
energies 		3.2 5.5 2008 16.1 Days CHF 2600 Submit
Processes
processes 		3.5 4.7 2013 13.7 Days CHF 2400 Submit
Safety
safety 		1.9 3.3 2015 29.6 Days CHF 1800 Submit
Sustainability
sustainability 		3.9 5.8 2009 18.8 Days CHF 2400 Submit

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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21 pages, 1742 KiB  
Review
Interaction between a Human and an AGV System in a Shared Workspace—A Literature Review Identifying Research Areas
by Agnieszka A. Tubis, Honorata Poturaj and Anna Smok
Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16030974 - 23 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1363
Abstract
Background: This article presents the results of a literature review from 2018 to 2023, which focused on research related to human and AGV system cooperation in a shared workspace. This study defines AGV systems as systems using Automated Guided Vehicles or Autonomous Guided [...] Read more.
Background: This article presents the results of a literature review from 2018 to 2023, which focused on research related to human and AGV system cooperation in a shared workspace. This study defines AGV systems as systems using Automated Guided Vehicles or Autonomous Guided Vehicles. An Automated Guided Vehicle is a cart that follows a guided path, while an Autonomous Guided Vehicle is an Automated Guided Vehicle that is autonomously controlled. The analyses conducted answered two research questions: (RQ1) In what aspects are the human factor examined in publications on the implementation and operation of AGV systems? (RQ2) Has the human-AGV collaboration aspect been analyzed in the context of a sustainable work environment? Methods: The literature review was conducted following the systematic literature review method, using the PRISMA approach. Results: Based on the search of two journal databases, according to the indicated keywords, 1219 documents pertaining to the analyzed issues were identified. The selection and elimination of documents that did not meet the defined criteria made it possible to limit the number of publications to 117 articles and proceedings papers. On this basis, the authors defined a classification framework comprising five basic research categories and nine subcategories. The analyzed documents were classified, and each distinguished group was characterized by describing the results. Conclusions: The development of a two-level classification framework for research from the analyzed area according to the assumptions of the concept map and the identification of research gaps in the area of human-AGV interaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Environmental and Workplace Sustainability of the Industrial Processes)
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22 pages, 8901 KiB  
Article
Comparison between Physics-Based Approaches and Neural Networks for the Energy Consumption Optimization of an Automotive Production Industrial Process
by Francesco Pelella, Luca Viscito, Federico Magnea, Alessandro Zanella, Stanislao Patalano, Alfonso William Mauro and Nicola Bianco
Energies 2023, 16(19), 6916; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16196916 - 30 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1080
Abstract
The automotive production sector plays a significant role in the energy consumption of all the industrial sphere, which currently represents approximately 38% of the total global energy use. Especially in production sites with several manufacturing lines working in parallel, the occurrence of failures [...] Read more.
The automotive production sector plays a significant role in the energy consumption of all the industrial sphere, which currently represents approximately 38% of the total global energy use. Especially in production sites with several manufacturing lines working in parallel, the occurrence of failures and anomalies or sudden changes in the production volume may require a re-scheduling of the entire production process. In this regard, a digital twin of each phase of the process would give several indications about the new re-scheduled manufacture in terms of energy consumption and the control strategy to adopt. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to propose different modeling approaches to a degreasing tank process, which is a preliminary phase at automotive production sites before the application of paint to car bodies. In detail, two different approaches have been developed: the first is a physics-based thermodynamic approach, which relies on the mass and energy balances of the system analyzed, and the second is machine learning-based, with the calibration of several artificial neural networks (ANNs). All the investigated approaches were assessed and compared, and it was determined that, for this application and with the data at our disposal, the thermodynamic approach has better prediction accuracy, with an overall mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.30 °C. Moreover, the model can be used to optimize the heat source policy of the tank, for which it has demonstrated, with historical data, an energy saving potentiality of up to 30%, and to simulate future scenarios in which, due to company constraints, a re-scheduling of the production of more work shifts is required. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Environmental and Workplace Sustainability of the Industrial Processes)
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12 pages, 2627 KiB  
Article
The Limiting Content of Combustibles to Prevent Minestone from the Spreading of Fire
by Boleslav Taraba, Petr Gřunděl and Gabriela Zelenková
Energies 2023, 16(13), 5054; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16135054 - 29 Jun 2023
Viewed by 574
Abstract
The limiting content of combustibles to spread/suppress the fire in the minestone of the coal tailing dump (gangue) was studied. This knowledge appears crucial mainly when deciding on the possible usage of minestone as fireproof material for engineering purposes. Theoretical analysis, laboratory experiments [...] Read more.
The limiting content of combustibles to spread/suppress the fire in the minestone of the coal tailing dump (gangue) was studied. This knowledge appears crucial mainly when deciding on the possible usage of minestone as fireproof material for engineering purposes. Theoretical analysis, laboratory experiments as well as scale (in situ) considerations were performed. In the laboratory, a model series of coal–mineral matter mixtures and six representative minestone samples of coal tailing dump (gangue) were investigated. The thermoanalytical (TG/DSC) method was used to evaluate the content of combustibles with their energetic equivalent, EEC (%). The EEC has been suggested as a proper way to quantify the content of combustibles in the samples. Based on the original combustion calorimetric test, an EEC value of 7–9% was found to be a limit between fireproof and fire spreading minestone in a laboratory, while only 2% of combustibles resulted as the limit from the theoretical analysis. On the other hand, respecting real conditions of thermally active dump (Heřmanice tailing coal dump), the laboratory limit of 7–9% of EEC was then assessed to shift to the value of about 10 ± 1% for practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Environmental and Workplace Sustainability of the Industrial Processes)
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