Water is essential for all life on earth, but the availability and quality of water varies considerably in different parts of the world. Even in areas with access to good quality water, there may be situations that upset the lives of the population.

One example is the outbreak in 2010 of the microorganism Cryptosporidium in the drinking water in Östersund, Sweden. Approximately 27,000 people fell ill during the parasite’s ravages, which meant that more than half of the city’s inhabitants became sick with diarrhea. The outbreak is described as one of the largest ever in Europe.

When a large number of people fall ill in a limited geographical area, it is natural to suspect that drinking water is the source of the infection. However, it is relatively rare for the disease-causing organism to be detected in water samples. But in Östersund, the Cryptosporidium parasite was found in both lake water (water that is used for drinking after treatment) and in the outgoing sewage water.

The above case was widely reported in the media. As a result, many wondered if there are adequate water treatment methods to prevent similar outbreaks. Such methods are available and facilities for the treatment of sewage and drinking water have built up a barrier system to purify water from various types of pollution. The barriers are often a combination of mechanical, chemical and biological methods. One such barrier is the treatment of water with ozone gas. Ozone has proven to be effective against Cryptosporidium, but has many other applications for the purification of water.

Primo Zone is one such company that has developed an energy efficient method of generating ozone gas.

Ozone degrades rapidly

Ozone is formed from oxygen zapped at high voltages. The gas is unstable and therefore quickly reverts to oxygen. If ozone is to be used for water treatment it should be produced on site using an ozone generator.

“Traditionally, ozone generators were maintenance intensive and required a lot of energy,” says Anders Schening, CEO of Primo Zone.

“Our ozone generators are efficient. Our solution uses 70 percent less energy and less oxygen compared to conventional generators, which is a significant technological leap. We believe that the use of ozone has environmental advantages over the traditional chlorination of water. Chlorination produces dangerous by-products that pollute.”

Cold plasma method

Ozone can be generated using several industrial methods including corona discharge, cold plasma and UV light. Since ozone is a highly reactive substance, generators must be constructed with resilient materials such as stainless steel, aluminum or glass.

Producing ozone with the corona discharge method is very common in industrial applications and involves channeling air into a pipe with a strong electric field to create plasma. This method generates ozone at concentrations of between six and 12 percent.

Primo Zone’s generators use cold plasma technology. Cold plasma is a gas that is partially ionized and that can be created at room temperature or lower temperatures. The process is based on pure oxygen being ionized between two electrodes separated by an insulating barrier (dielectric barrier). This method consumes less energy than other methods and can produce higher concentrations of ozone, 14 to 20 percent concentrations.

The many uses of ozone

“It is a great advantage that our ozone generators are small, energy efficient and can generate high concentrations of ozone,” says Schening. “The water treatment market is big and there are numerous applications that are of interest to us. In addition to the purification of drinking water there is the purification of process water in manufacturing, and the re-circulating of water in fish farms.”

Some other examples of Primo Zone’s ozone generators include:

Disinfection of drinking water in Finland

Oulun Vesi WTP in Hintta, Finland replaced their old ozone generators with a Primo Zone system, including two low-energy Primo Zone ® GM12 ozone generators. Ozone is used for the disinfection of drinking water and to remove tastes and smells. The system purifies and distributes about 800 cubic meters of water per hour from a nearby river to Hintta residents.

Pilot plant for the control of bacteria in Helsingborg

The Öresundsverket in Helsingborg is one of the largest sewage treatment plants in Sweden that uses biological phosphorus removal. This means that no chemicals are added to purify water from phosphorus.

One problem is that during the late winter and spring a special type of bacteria emerges which causes major problems in water treatment processes. One way to control them is to treat the wastewater with ozone.

In this project, Primo Zone could examine and verify the ozone dose to achieve optimal results. This pilot project is part of a joint study between Lund University, NSVA (Northwest Skåne’s Water and Wastewater AB) and VA-South.

The article was published in January 2012

On the slopes between Riksgränsen, Sweden and Narvik, Norway huge energy savings are possible.

Starting and stopping a train pulling 8,000 tons of iron ore puts a lot of pressure on brake pads, wheels and rails. The potential for environmental and capacity gains are great if one can optimize the train’s movements and drive it in an ‘eco-friendly’ fashion.

Swedish company Transrail has developed the CATO (Computer-Aided Train Operation) system to streamline train movements. CATO improves punctuality, reduces energy consumption, increases line capacity, improves work conditions for the driver, and reduces wear and tear.

The idea of CATO is to exploit time slots when trains wait at signals or pass stations. The system is currently being installed by LKAB on the Malmbanan, in northern Sweden, and by the Arlanda Express, the train service to and from Stockholm’s Arlanda airport.

Computers analyze and control train speed

“Optimal operation of traffic on an entire line with individual trains can not be achieved with conventional signaling systems,” says Per Leander, President of Transrail Sweden AB. “The driver needs to know when the train will arrive at the next station or signal, and how the train should be run in order to arrive at the right time. The timing and speed are affected by many factors and to choose the optimal speed profile requires feeding continuous information to the driver. That is what CATO does.”

CATO consists of a computer and a display that is installed in the train’s pilothouse. It is connected to the Transport Administration’s train control systems and monitors current traffic situations like delays, speeds of each train and locations taking into account meetings with other trains and timetables.

The central computer calculates the train travel times in order to be able to run without stopping or unnecessary braking and arrive on time. The current timetable is transmitted to trains via GSM-R digital radio.

This information is then calculated into a velocity profile displayed onboard that allows trains to meet the traffic management plan, and to drive as energy efficiently as possible.

“We are convinced that computer-aided control of the train will become increasingly common in the future, even though the system may seem complex today,” says Leander. “CATO contributes to optimal train running and reduces driver stress. The goal of our project was not to develop a finished product but that is what it has become.”

The eco-driving of ore trains

Mining company LKAB is particularly interested in CATO. LKAB has purchased a CATO-license and installation in all IORE locomotives is underway.

The ambition is to achieve maximum utilization of the ore line between Riksgränsen and Luleå and to become 20 percent more energy efficient.

Ore train locomotives (IORE) are already equipped with technology for energy recovery: when the train engine brakes, the motors turn into generators. This is particularly valuable on the slopes between Riksgränsen, Sweden and Narvik, Norway.

The energy gains between Malmberget and Luleå are also big. With CATO, ore trains run smoother, energy use is minimized, while the wear on the brakes, wheels and rails is reduced.

The system also increases punctuality thereby improving capacity on the ore line.

High-speed trains with eco-driving

The Arlanda Express bought CATO as part of the company’s environmental and punctuality efforts.

“CATO orders from LKAB and Arlanda Express mean that this new technology is here to stay. We have discussions with other railway companies,” says Leander. “CATO provides the opportunity for substantial improvements in rail service.”

The article was published in January 2012

A dress made of soy fiber

Trade in textiles is highly international. Many different industries are involved in the cultivation of natural fibers – or the production of man-made fibers. Cotton farming, sheep farming, forestry, petrochemical and transportation are all industries that affect the textile trade.

Environmental impacts occur throughout the production chain and most attention is paid to water consumption, chemical use, and waste and greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, consumers and various NGOs have expressed interest in the social conditions of textile production.

In many manufacturing processes chemicals are involved and are often added to the product in order to achieve different functions. For example: antibacterial treatment of sports apparel, flame treatment of upholstery fabrics, the impregnation of all-weather clothes, and the addition of biocides to prevent mold and insects are added for transport and storage.

The textile industry has taken several initiatives to reduce its environmental impact and improve social conditions. One such example is the Better Cotton Initiative, which H & M, IKEA, GAP, Adidas and several other companies have joined forces with to transform conventional cotton production. And then there are lists of hazardous chemical substances to be avoided at all stages in the textile industry.

Finally, there are several different eco-labels for textiles such as Oeko-Tex, Nordic Ecolabelling, the Swan, the EU Ecolabel and Swedish Society Good Environmental Choice.

Several Swedish textile designers and researchers have tackled the question of sustainability from the point of view of starting with smart and environmentally friendly textiles. New fibers and smart textiles provide both environmental benefits and materials with new functions.

Eco-materials development

Textiles often consist of several types of materials, in different combinations. Natural fibers consist of cotton, flax, hemp, wool, coir, or silk and synthetic fibers may comprise polyester, polyamide, polyurethane and cellulose. The textile industry is working to green-ify both fiber types.

“Environmentally friendly fashion does not necessarily mean a return to traditional natural materials, such as linen, cotton and hemp,” says designer and manager Camilla Norrback at Camilla Norrback AB.

“In my role as a designer, I have explored new materials and garments made of bamboo, recycled PET bottles and soy fibers. Work on eco-friendly collections began ten years ago and in 2005 I created the term “Ecoluxuary.” Our ambition is to combine high quality, design and artistic freedom with sustainable development.”

“We recently began using soy fiber, a soft and comfortable textile material with good heat preservation capabilities. Soy fiber is referred to as a vegetable cashmere and is a byproduct from the production of tofu and soy milk.”

Another example of new materials and production methods in the fashion industry is Tencel, a soft and lightweight fabric with many uses. Tencel, which is the most common brand of the Lyocell fiber, is made from cellulose. Production takes place, however, in a closed system in which chemicals can be reused many times. The result is lower chemical consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emissions compared to other cellulose materials. Tencelt fibers are also biodegradable.

Smart Textiles

At the School of Textiles in Borås, Linda Worbin conducts research on smart textiles. Smart textiles are materials that can sense and react to their surroundings. Smart textiles include clothes that remain cool when it is hot; or clothes that can actively control the sound absorption in a room; or curtains that light up at night.

“Initially I investigate materials from an aesthetic and functional perspective, but I see great potential in contributing to sustainable development,” says Worbin.

“If the fabrics can change their pattern, shape or structure, we get a variety of expressions from the same material. From an environmental perspective, this is of great importance as most of us feel the need to replace and change clothes and other textiles often. Smart textiles can have multiple lives, which is advantageous in view of resource use and waste issues.”

Mistra Future Fashion

Mistra, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, is investing SEK 40 million over four years in a research program called Mistra Future Fashion.

“Let fashion lead society towards a more sustainable future,” says Britt-Inger Andersson, responsible for idea development at Mistra. “We want to lift up the fashion industry and show its different dimensions. Fashion is a business that is facing major global and environmental challenges. But there is a lot of creativity and innovation in the field.”

The Mistra research program includes the following focus areas:

• Changing markets and business models
• Design Processes and innovative materials
• Sustainable consumption and consumer behavior
• Policy instruments

“Part of Future Fashion is all about new fibers, and there is a lot happening in this area in terms of both traditional fibers and new materials,” says Andersson.

“As consumers, we will surely want to use cotton in the future, but it must be produced in a more sustainable way. The water waste and use of chemicals in cotton cultivation is currently unacceptable. We should ensure the better use of resources and recycle the fibers.”

“Today’s new technologies, innovative materials and international initiatives are promising. Furthermore, young people’s interest in fashion can create high potential for change. The fashion industry is global, and new approaches can quickly make an impact,” says Andersson.

The article was published in January 2012

Storing energy in ponds is nothing new, but renewable energy sources demand more regulating power.

Wind power and other renewable energy sources will replace current European coal-fired plants. The new energy sources may be green, but they also contribute to a more volatile energy production. Wind and solar power are not as easy to regulate as coal and nuclear power plants. This means that effective regulation systems are becoming increasingly important.

As demand for electricity does not correlate with production – people want their lamps lit even when there is no wind or when it is cloudy – producing an energy surplus is the name of the game when the conditions are good. This excess must then be stored and used when production possibilities are diminished.

Pump power is part of the solution

Pump power is a technique used to store energy, where the energy surplus is used to pump water from a low-lying reservoir to one at a higher altitude. This excess energy is thus converted into potential energy. When production cannot keep up with demand, when the wind dies down for example, the water can be directed to turbines that generate power in a classic hydroelectric setup.

In addition to regulating production from renewable energy sources, pump power allows nuclear power plants to continue producing electricity at their most efficient level.

Vattenfall’s German pump power plants

Many companies operate pump power plants. Vattenfall has, eight in Germany, all of which are controlled centrally by a plant in Goldisthal.

The upper dam in Goldisthal has a circumference of about three and a half kilometers, and holds twelve million cubic meters of water. That’s enough to produce electricity at maximum capacity for eight hours. The water flows from the upper to the lower pond through two tubes that are 800 meters long and has a vertical drop of 302 meters, passing through turbines that can generate 1,060 megawatts (MW).

In total, the eight sites that are controlled by Goldisthal generate 2810 MW, with an efficiency of up to 80 percent. The high efficiency combined with the fact that the operating mode of the turbines can be changed between 100 and 200 times a day allows the plants to store energy in the most efficient way.

The world’s largest pumped storage power plant is in Virginia, USA. The Bath Country Pumped Storage Station has a capacity of over 3000 MW. The soil and rock mass that was moved to build the plant would create a mountain over 300 meters high. And the concrete that was used could make a 320 kilometer-long highway. The height difference between the two large dams is 385 meters, and the water can flow at a rate of 852 cubic meters per second. This allows the water level in the upper pond to vary by as much as 32 meters.

Future developments

There are proposals to build pump power facilities completely run on renewable energy. In this way, the plant generates the energy needed to pump the water between the dams. Such plants therefore run totally on renewable energy stocks.

There are other proposals to for example generate electricity with ocean tides by allowing water to flow into a pond when it is high tide, and out at low tide thereby generating electricity.

Is there a future for energy-guzzling plants?

Despite continuous technological development, a pump power plant is a net consumer of energy. Because of friction and energy losses more energy is used to pump the water uphill than can be extracted when discharged down through the turbines. In an environment where energy efficiency is the height of fashion, it may seem odd that the interest in pumping power remains high.

Pump power’s advantage however, is that it represents a much needed, balancing complement to the volatile renewable energy production that is steadily increasing. The need for regulating power will continue to increase at the same rate as the renewable energy sources are being rolled out. Therefore, the interest in the easy-regulated pump power system will continue to increase.

The article was published in January 2012

Dellencat, a modern catamaran

Sweden is a major innovator when it comes to developing technology to find new uses for wood. Recent research and development focuses for example on construction products, bio fuels, food, chemicals, products for surface treatment, bio-composites, clothing, nanotechnology and much more.

The competence Center EcoBuild (see box below), at the SP Technical Research Institute, has as a mandate to develop bio- and forest-based raw materials into innovative, eco-efficient and durable wood-based products.

EcoBuild’s ambition is to cooperate with industry and universities, and at the moment is cooperating with more than 30 large and small companies.

One of the smallest is boat builder Dellencat.

To build wooden boats is hardly new, but Dellencat stands for innovation and environmental compatibility in the design of wooden catamarans.

Modified wood as construction material

A key component to Dellencat’s success has been the use of ‘modified wood.’

“Wood impregnated with conventional wood preservatives has never been popular among boat builders,” says Jan-Åke Malmqvist, one of the founders of Dellencat.

“But modified wood can be the starting point for a new approach in the boat building industry. Our goal is to build environmentally friendly boats in terms of material selection, surface protection (coating), and propulsion. One example is that solar cells on the sails supplement electric motors for propulsion.”

Weight, strength and stability are of utmost importance in construction materials for boats. Additionally, the materials must be flexible and resistant to degradation by rot, shipworms and UV light.

“With modified timber, we see no obstacles to meeting those requirements,” says Malmqvist. “In the catamaran, we use modified wood in a laminate with fiberglass and epoxy resins. In development, we also have marine optimized fittings made of recycled PET plastics that yield an even higher weight to power ratio.”

The choice of materials was made together with EcoBuild. The following methods for the modification of wood is recommended:

• Heat treatment (thermal modification). Heat-treated wood is heated to high temperatures (180-240 ° C) in an oxygen-free environment. The result is a dimensionally stable material with high resistance to rot.
• Furfurylation. In this case, treated wood with an aqueous solution of Furfury alcohol and catalysts is cured in a subsequent drying step. As an example, this process gives Swedish maple the appearance and characteristics of tropical woods like teak and mahogany. This process provides dimensional stability, strength, hardness, and resistance to rot and insect pests.
• Acetylation. With this process, the wood is modified through pressure treatment with acetic anhydride, which react with the wood at elevated temperatures and residual chemicals (mainly acetic acid) is driven off by drying processes. The method gives results similar to furfurylation but does not affect the wood’s color.

Different companies working with EcoBuild manufacture this modified wood for the catamaran. The competence center also provides the opportunity to test material properties. The center has a unique pilot plant for wood modification, which among other processes, includes innovative microwave technology, to streamline the acetylation process to make it cheaper and better.

The catamaran’s eco profile

Dellencat’s first catamaran under construction is 11 meters long, 6 meters wide, weighs 3.5 tons and has a sail area of 55 square meters. Despite its large dimensions, its draft is only 0.9 meters.

The catamaran has four staterooms, a lounge, a kitchen, one bathroom, a large sun deck and can accommodate up to 12 people.

Hull platting consists of a 12 mm-thick strip of knot-free pine from Hälsingland, not a modified wood material.

In this case, it is first and foremost about learning the special hull construction techniques with strip-plank. The plan is to implement and supplement the concept of modified wood as the structural hull material. All the wood is sealed with epoxy and then reinforced construction with epoxy-impregnated fiberglass. This wood material yields hull strength, insulation and buoyancy, and the epoxy is a very dense and strong material.

Boat builder Richard Woods designed the Flic 37 boat model. It has already been built in about 25 copies at other shipyards in the world, but with the new catamaran from Dellencat it has the thoughtful environmental profile. Another feature is that the boat hull is continuously monitored using 16 measurement points with moisture sensors that are placed in the hull below the waterline. The sensors alert to moisture or water entering the hull.

What are the advantages of a catamaran compared to a traditional single-hulled boat? A catamaran’s advantage with buoyancy on two hulls puts the superstructure between them. The large distance between the hulls in relation to the length makes the construction very stable. One simply has more square meters of usable space at a lower cost than the equivalent single-hulled boat. A catamaran also has a very shallow draft and can navigate shallow bays. A catamaran is usually faster and easier to sail than a single-hulled boat with the same sail area and weight.

EcoBuild Showcase

“Dellencat is a showcase for EcoBuild. When completed, this will be the first boat built with modified wood and become a symbol for many of the projects aimed towards eco-efficient use of forest resources, “says Jan-Åke Malmqvist.

“We are part of Project 9 within EcoBuild and the vision is to develop and build catamarans with hulls made of thin planks of modified wood, bio-based acrylic-based binders and strong cellulose fabrics. One possibility is to include panels and moldings from modified wood fibers and bio-based resins. Another possibility is to use fiber reinforced thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) reinforced with nano-cellulose, “says Malmqvist.

The article was published in January 2012

Field of dreams - Meat may soon be produced in the laboratory

Swedish meat production emits significantly less greenhouse gases than their international counterparts. But meat production is and will remain a part of the climate challenge. Meat grown in the laboratory can reduce emissions.

‘Meating’ the climate challenge

At 18 percent, meat production accounts for more global greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s cars and airplanes combined. The majority of these emissions come from deforestation but the animals also produce a large amount of methane, a greenhouse gas that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide.

In Sweden, the situation is different. There, agriculture as a whole accounts for about 13-16 percent of emissions. This figure includes all agricultural production, not just meat.

In Sweden, meat consumption is not as big a part of the climate challenge as it is elsewhere. But as more and more people are eating more, meat innovations may be required to make meat production more sustainable.

Laboratory-grown meat: a solution

The simplest and most intuitive solution to the problem of emissions from meat production is to eat less meat, but this is difficult. As people get richer, they also tend to want to eat more meat. There is a strong global trend indicating that the demand for meat will continue to increase.

Researchers hope that meat in the future will be grown in laboratories instead of coming from the slaughterhouse.

Potential reduction in emissions

The great benefit of growing meat in labs is that you avoid the emission of methane that the animals create. In addition, forests do not have to be felled to make room for grazing animals. Lab grown meat can be produced on a land area equal to one (1) percent of the area required for conventional meat production. In addition, water use is reduced by 96 percent and energy consumption by 45 percent.

Reduced methane emissions, avoidance of deforestation and significantly reduced energy and water consumption adds up to a carbon neutral meat production, given that renewable energy is used in the process.

Lab-grown meat – soon in a meat counter near you
Growing muscle cells is not difficult. The challenge is to get them to create something that looks like the meat we are accustomed to. To produce specific cuts isn’t going to happen soon, but to create ground meat is certainly possible.

So lab-grown hot dogs and hamburgers will likely be first. Researchers at Maastricht University expect to produce hot dogs and hamburgers from lab grown meat already in 2012. But it will take some time before it becomes cost effective.

Preliminary calculations indicate that lab-grown meat will become competitive as the technology develops and production becomes cheaper.

Additional benefits

There is nothing that says that artificially grown meat must be manipulated. It is perfectly possible to grow meat cells exactly similar to the cells that would occur if they grew naturally in an animal. But the possibility of further improving the quality of meat exists. For example, the fat content could be regulated and omega 3 could be added to the meat.

But to convince consumers that lab-grown meat is just as high quality as conventional meat can be a challenge. The alluring idea that grazing land could be reforested, or used more productively, means we probably will get used to the idea that meat will be grown by technicians and not by farmers in the near future.

The article was published in January 2012

Solving congestion and environmental wear with carpooling

“Our view is that many companies spend too much money on travel and that the opportunities for coordination should be better utilized. Our mission is to streamline business travel and to facilitate transport to and from work. Our service is a server side application for the smart phone. We see significant opportunities to reduce business costs and a company’s carbon footprint.”

Better trip control

Omniflit was founded based on the travel needs of businesses and individuals alike.

“We provide companies with complete control of their business travel by collecting information and statistics that can help them make smart travel choices in the future,” says Fütö. “The service includes improved planning of business and private travel.”

Marcus Fütö highlights the following advantages in Omniflits mission:

• Streamlining and automating administrative tasks associated with driving logs.
• Clearer monitoring of all expenses related to travel.
• Matching travelers together who are heading to the same place. This reduces the number of taxi and car trips. Calculations indicate that carbon dioxide emissions from such journeys can be reduced by 30 percent.
• We can help employees contact each other to organize trips to and from work. The benefits of carpooling include cost reduction, lower carbon emissions, and a diminished need for staff parking spaces.
• The service can also be used for planning leisure trips.

Mobile app is the heart of it

The service consists of a server tied to a mobile application.

The customer receives administrative user accounts on Omniflits website and user accounts for employees. The mobile application can either be downloaded or sent directly to employees’ phones. After logging on, the user can book a business trip.

The application proposes other employees who are going in the same direction or to the same place. What makes this application unique is that it is possible to calculate different people’s itineraries and match them with each other to suggest opportunities for carpooling. The service proposes carpooling only when it does not cause a major detour.

Omniflit can be linked to the company email system and integrated with various types of business and payroll systems. Omniflit will initially be available for mobile platforms iOS and Android.

Protected privacy

There is no danger that the system violates employees’ privacy. Should a boss really keep track of every step an employee takes? There is no continuous log of the employee’s position. And data collection about work-related travel is only available for the company.

Individual employees can analyze private trips to lessen environmental impact, for example. It is also easy to share information on social media. “Omniflit saves you time and money while you get to meet interesting new people. It also protects the environment,” concludes Marcus Fütö.

How the app works

The user can use the application in such a way that he / she will not need to write in the driver log. The information stored on Omniflits servers is presented in an orderly manner for administrators.

Examples of useful information include: Overview of how employees are driving and traveling for the company; statistics about service trips, length, time, cost, environmental impact and other data. The information is collected in a database and can be presented in several different ways, both overall and detailed.

Search and filtering travel patterns by designated unit of the company is also possible. Each user gets a personal profile that can be tailored to individual needs. The application uses GPS technology to identify suitable partners for carpooling. By analyzing travel patterns, the application can produce useful graphs and statistics.

Here is a practical example of how Omniflit’s system works: You have a smart phone with Omniflit’s app. You are in Lund, but in the afternoon you have a meeting in Malmö. Click the app to see if there is a suitable person to carpool with. The app can also find people who regularly commute to the same place. Omniflit also enables you to communicate with the driver and passengers.

The app shows the route and figures out an appropriate price for the trip. You can also transfer money to the driver and pay for your share of the trip via the app.

Omniflit is also fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook for planning meetings. When booking a meeting, the app proposes an appropriate itinerary as well as other people in attendance.

So you have landed in Copenhagen. This means a train journey and several time consuming trips with city buses. By checking your smart phone, you can see if there are other people in the arrivals hall going in the same direction. It turns out that a person from the same company has recently landed and is on the way home. He has parked his car on the Swedish side of Öresund Bridge and after 10 minutes by train, you can jointly go to the office. You save time and money and avoid lugging your bags on the buses.

The article was published in January 2012

Cable-X is developing techniques to extract metals from old pipes

Telephone companies and utilities install new communication and power cables everyday, and in many cases, the old wires remain. They are simply too expensive and technically difficult to dig up.

High metal prices and increasingly demanding environmental legislation means that interest is increasing to recover these abandoned metals.

That’s why more and more people are asking whether we should use the land under our feet as a future mine.

To do this, one has to chart the discoveries, develop cost-effective methods for extraction of the metals, and analyze the technical, economic and legal conditions.

“Cities like mines,” a research project at Linköping University, is trying to identify the amount of metal embedded in Swedish urban infrastructure. The emphasis here is on those parts of the systems that are not used. The project also includes developing systems for the extraction of metals and to evaluate technologies from an economic and environmental perspective. “Cities like mines,” is being financed by Vinnova and includes the participation of scientists, the recycling industry and several municipalities.

Urban mining complements mining

“The increasing competition for natural resources means that we want to access the untapped reservoir of material hidden in buildings, in the ground and in landfills,” says Joakim Krook, a lecturer in Environmental Technology at Linköping University and project manager for the “Cities like mines” project.

“We feel that many decision makers in society and the business community are concerned that there will be a shortage of key materials, particularly certain metals. The shortage is caused by a combination of external changes such as increased population, economic and technological growth in developing countries, and the fact that we have already extracted a significant proportion of the metals contained in known deposits,” says Krook.

“A sign of what is happening is the increasing prices for strategic metals. We know that large stores of these substances are hidden in urban infrastructure and buildings. The amount of copper in our buildings and cities around the world is comparable to what remains in the world’s known deposits,” continues Krook.

“So there is a potential to replace traditional mining with “urban mining” – locating metal volumes that are not being used, that are hibernating, so to speak. There are buildings that are not used, electronics and furniture, and buried cables, gas and other metal tubes that are no longer part of our infrastructure,” says Krook.

Precious metals in old industrial parks

As part of the project “Cities like mines,” researchers at Linköping University examined the town of Norrköping. The ground under buildings and roads consist of many different materials that are interesting from a recycling point of view. They include for example:

• District heating pipes of steel.
• Water and sewage pipes of copper, iron and steel.
• Lighting cables containing copper and aluminum.
• Copper and aluminum in cables for high and low voltage.
• Telephone cables containing copper.
• Buried abandoned pipelines made of steel and copper.

The study in Norrköping lasted for a year and was based on a very large amount of data. It included mapping the disconnected wires, tubes, and pipelines; studying digitized maps; analyzing GIS data and other information from the owners of the wires; and historical statistics from the municipality on the technical systems.

The survey showed that for Norrkoping has about 5,000 tons of metal in its disconnected infrastructure systems. “To be specific, we found 4,455 tons of iron in the fully disconnected city gas/heating network, 560 tons of copper in the fully disengaged DC network and the disconnected parts of the AC network, and 27 tons of aluminum in disconnected cables,” says Björn Berglund, researcher at the Environmental Technology department at Linköping University.

A sub-project was to study an old industrial area in the city center. The idea is that Norrköping will modernize the area and convert it into a residential and commercial area. The plans include demolishing all the buildings, remediating the contaminated soil, and recycling the infrastructure that is currently hidden under the surface. Altogether, there are 100 km of buried materials in the area weighing an estimated 300 tons with an economic value close to SEK 5 million.

Should one go out with pick and shovel and start digging? No, it’s not that simple of course, as both the technology and metal prices play a crucial role.

In the case of cleaning up an entire industrial area, traditional technology with exhumation could apply and may be cost effective. How do you recover metals in the cables under buildings and streets? Here it is more difficult and expensive to dig or drill, but there are interesting technologies that open up new possibilities. With the price of copper at SEK 50/kilo, and excavation costs of around SEK 1,000/meter, the development of new recycling methods is in full swing.

New recycling practices

Researchers at Linköping University’s Environmental Technology department have received SEK 3 million from Formas to evaluate different techniques to extract metals from the disconnected infrastructure systems that are buried under cities.

The project, “Economic and environmental evaluation of metal extraction from unplugged network of cities,” is a cooperation between researchers at the Linköping’s Tekniska Verken, Observation Networks AB, Stena Metall AB and Cable-X.

Within the framework of the project, a cheap method to recover the metal core of copper cables is being tested in Linköping.

Here is how it works: An organic and biodegradable solvent is pumped into the copper cable that reduces the friction between the cable and the casing. The copper core can then be pulled out with a winch. The technique was developed by Austrian company Cable X and is being applied in Sweden.

“We see great potential in the possibility of recycling cable cores of copper in an environmentally sound way,” says Rolf Neuendorff, Swedish representative for Cable-X and participant in the research project.

“Old copper pipes are being replaced by high-performance fiber optic cables and the combination of the recovery of copper and the exploitation of the resulting cavity in the cord is very interesting from an economic standpoint. With this technology we can use cables that are up to 300 m long, but it is most common with lengths of around 125 m. The time for extraction of the cable core including preparation depends on the type of cable and takes anywhere from 1.5 to 5 hours.”

The article was published in December 2011

Many of these problems occur because fossil-based hydrocarbons are used as a raw material. Crude oil and other non-renewable fossil materials emit the climate changing gas carbon dioxide when they are processed.

The pursuit of renewable raw materials is in full swing in chemistry laboratories around the world.

Let’s examine one interesting initiative from the packaging industry, where ‘green polyethylene’ helps to reduce the climate impact of plastic products.

Renewable raw materials with green polyethylene

“A trend reversal is in sight when the classic polyethylene can now be produced from renewable resources,” says Susanne Thygesson.

“A trend reversal is in sight when the classic polyethylene can now be produced from renewable resources,” says Susanne Thygesson, project manager at Triogreen™, about the new product Trioplast.

“A few years ago, Anders Spetz, a Trioplast representative, participated in development work on renewable polymers at the Chalmers University of Technology. He quickly saw the commercial potential of Trioplast as a ‘green polyethylene.’ Many of our customers are looking for more environmentally friendly packaging.”

“The intention is for our green polyethylene products to have exactly the same technical characteristics as traditional packaging materials. There is nothing in the green polyethylene’s chemical composition that has changed. It is the same ethylene molecule to form polyethylene, but as the raw material is renewable, the carbon footprint is much smaller. The researchers at Chalmers helped us discover this,” continues Thygesson.

Polyethylene from sugarcane

The chemical process is based on polymerized ethylene, CH2 = CH2, for polyethylene, (-CH2-CH2-) n. Ethylene is thus the common denominator between the green and fossil-based polyethylene. From a chemical standpoint, the resulting polyethylene product is identical to conventional polyethylene and new properties such as biodegradability do not arise. The material can of course be recycled in the same way as fossil polyethylene. What is new is that ethylene is produced from ethanol, in a sugarcane juice distillation process.

A new factory in Brazil, under construction, will manufacture ethylene and polyethylene from ethanol in this way. It will be the world’s largest facility of its kind, but the production capacity of 200,000 tons per year, is, in a global context, still very small. Trioplast could be an interesting alternative for this Brazilian factory. Tetra Pak is another Swedish packaging company that uses green polyethylene.

Other commodities in the future

One needs different additives in a polyethylene film such as pigments, abrasives, antistatic agents and printing inks. It is therefore not currently possible to produce a polyethylene film consisting only of renewable raw materials.

“Our ambition is to offer the highest content of green polyethylene in the product as is technically possible. A major advantage is that we can use existing production equipment and production methods as we convert green polyethylene into finished products,” says Thygesson.

“One interesting aspect of this is that it is possible to see whether the polyethylene originates from old fossil raw materials or from newer biological materials. With the Carbon-14 dating method, it is possible to see where the carbon atoms come from. With each batch of green polyethylene that we buy, we get a certificate that declares the content of renewable raw material. In the future, we hope that polyethylene may also be prepared from other raw materials, perhaps from pine cellulose or starch from cereals and algae.”

The importance of the supply chain

For the Brazilian producer of green polyethylene the goal is that all ethanol must come from mechanically harvested sugarcane crops. This method has many advantages from an operational, safety, hazard and environmental perspective compared to manual harvesting. It is also important for Trioplast to ensure compliance throughout the supply chain – from Brazil to Sweden – with laws, regulations and codes of conduct for all the companies involved.

Chemistry is a borderless science offering opportunities to create products that deliver prosperity and simplify the lives of many people. The development of green polyethylene gives consumers opportunities to make environmentally friendly choices everyday. There are indications that green polyethylene will lead the way to other plastics based on renewable raw materials and manufactured using biotechnology. One example is the Brazilian plant currently under construction.

The article was published in September 2011

International shipping is a major source of sulfur, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Replacing conventional shipping fuel with liquefied natural gas, LNG, makes it possible to greatly reduce the environmental impact of shipping.

The international shipping industry now accounts for about 4 percent of annual global emissions of sulfur, 7 percent of emissions of nitrogen oxide and less than 3 percent of carbon emissions. Environmental innovation in the maritime sector plays an important role in the efforts to tackle global climate change. In addition, the shipping industry emits other particles that have been proven to be harmful to humans.

There are also tougher regulations on sulfur content in crude oil-based marine fuels on the horizon. The International Maritime Organization, IMO, has set upper limits for sulfur content. The Swedish shipping industry will impose even stricter requirements than many of its European counterparts. It is becoming a commercial necessity to find alternative solutions to ensure a competitive and environmentally friendly shipping industry.

Liquefied natural gas

LNG is a potential solution to the shipping challenges, and there is already a commercially viable option for smaller vessels. In Norway, some ferries run on LNG with more to come. LNG offers the ability to reduce sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions significantly. Potentially, carbon emissions could be cut by 20 percent.

Today, the sulfur content in marine fuel must be at most one percent. By 2015, marine fuels should contain at most 0.1 percent sulfur. Perhaps using LNG can help attain this goal.

Ports

In May 2011, AGA opened the Baltic Sea’s first LNG terminal where the gas is transported in liquid form. During transport, the fuel is cooled to minus 162 degrees, shrinking the volume by a factor of 600. This makes transport more efficient as more fuel can be transported at a lower cost and with less emissions. Other Baltic terminals are planned.

Good but not perfect

The benefits of LNG are fairly obvious. It offers significantly lower emissions of sulfur, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter compared to conventional shipping fuels. Carbon dioxide emissions are also lower.

The infrastructure for processing LNG, however, is still inadequate. It will take time and require significant investments to increase the percentage of ports that can provide vessels with LNG.

It is therefore likely that boats (passenger ships, ferries) that traffic the same harbors will be the first to use LNG.

Construction lead times in the shipping industry are also long. This means that it will take time for a significant portion of the world’s fleet to change its fuel.

In addition, it costs a lot of money to convert motor systems to use LNG. At the same time, outfitting a ship to run on LNG means that it no longer needs cleaning equipment that is required for other fuel. The working environment on board is also improved.

Conclusion

The proportion of vessels using LNG as a fuel is low, but increasing. It is by no means a perfect fuel from an environmental perspective. Some emissions still occur. But compared to conventional shipping fuels there are many advantages. LNG is a fuel that can be used in an economically sustainable way with existing technology.

It is therefore likely that LNG will in future play an increasingly important role in the shipping industry’s efforts to reduce their environmental impact.

The article was published in November 2011