Life cycle assessment of the use of sewage sludge as Portland cement replacement

Life cycle assessment of sewage sludge treatment and disposal based on nutrient and energy recovery: A review

With the acceleration of urbanization, the production of urban sludge is increasing rapidly. To minimize resource input and waste output, it is crucial to execute analyses of environmental impact and assessments of sustainability on different technical strategies involving sludge disposal based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is a great potential mean of environmental management adopted internationally in the 21st century. This review aims to compare the environmental sustainability of existing sludge management schemes with a purpose of nutrient recovery and energy saving, respectively, and also to include the substitution benefits of alternative sludge products. Simultaneously, LCA research regarding the emerging sludge management technologies and sludge recycling (cement, adsorbent, bricks) is analyzed. Additionally, the key aspects of the LCA process are worth noting in the context of the current limitations reviewed here. It is worth emphasizing that no technical remediation method can reduce all environmental damage simultaneously, and these schemes are typically more applicable to the assumed local conditions. Future LCA research should pay more attention to the toxic effects of different sludge treatment methods, evaluate the technical ways of adding pretreatment technology to the 'front end' of the sludge treatment process, and further explore how to markedly reduce environmental damage in order to maximize energy and nutrient recovery from the LCA perspective.

Wettability of Asphalt Concrete with Natural and Recycled Aggregates from Sanitary Ceramics

In line with the current trend of seeking alternative methods for modification of the existing building composites, such as mineral–asphalt mixtures (MAMs), the materials from concrete and ceramics recycling are being used in increasingly wider applications. When added to MAMs as an aggregate, ceramic building material, which has different properties than the raw material (clay), may significantly influence the aggregate properties, including the wettability, porosity, asphalt adhesion, and consequently the mixture durability. The material’s microstructure was found using SEM. The wetting properties of mineral–asphalt mixtures were determined by measuring the contact angles (CA) of their surfaces, using water as the measuring liquid. The total surface free energy (SFE) values were determined using the Neumann method. When analyzing the research results, it can be noticed that the chemical composition of the ceramic aggregate has a significant influence on the adhesion of asphalt to its surface due to the chemical affinity. Waste ceramic aggregate, despite its acidic pH value being connected with its elevated silica content, exhibits good adhesive properties.