Circular Economy (CE) aims at improving the resource efficiency of our society and decoupling economic growth from resource use. However, entropy and residues are still generated in CE, and resources such as energy, raw materials and water are used throughout the CE processes. The methodology developed in this thesis aims at evaluating and communicating the resource efficiency and environmental impacts of CE systems. Firstly, a digital twin of the system is created using process simulation to obtain detailed mass and energy balances. Then, a set of indicators is obtained for the evaluation of the material recoveries, residues and emissions generated, resource use and environmental impacts (LCA). Exergy indicators such as exergy dissipation and cost are also obtained from the simulation using a dedicated tool developed and implemented within this thesis. This methodology has been applied in three case studies within metallurgy and CE to evaluate, optimize and communicate their resource efficiency and environmental impacts. These case studies are the evaluation of the copper value chain, the comparison between different zinc production routes and the industrial symbiosis between the copper, zinc and cement value chains.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:77942 |
| Date | 28 February 2022 |
| Creators | Abadias Llamas, Alejandro |
| Contributors | Stelter, Michael, Reuter, Markus, Charitos, Alexandros, Valero Delgado, Alicia, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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