Elena C R I S T I N A Rada | University of Trento (original) (raw)

Papers by Elena C R I S T I N A Rada

Energies, Dec 5, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Foods

In an increasingly resource-constrained era, using waste and by-products from grain processing ha... more In an increasingly resource-constrained era, using waste and by-products from grain processing has a wide appeal. This is due to the nutritive value and economic aspects of this process and due to its compatibility with the trend towards more sustainable food systems. Following the fundamentals of circular economy, a current need is the effective utilization of grain waste and by-products for conversion into value-added products in the food industry. The aim of this study is twofold: (1) using bibliometrics and the literature found in various databases, we aim to understand the progress of valorizing grain waste and by-products in human nutrition. The literature within various databases, namely, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Elsevier Scopus, has been evaluated for its merits and values. (2) We aim to explore knowledge-based strategies by reviewing the literature concerning the possible use of grain waste and by-products for the food processing industry, reducing the burden on ...

Energy Reports, Sep 1, 2023

Ecology and the Environment, Sep 13, 2022

Although circular economy (CE) principles set material circularity, resource efficiency and waste... more Although circular economy (CE) principles set material circularity, resource efficiency and waste recycling as priority targets to guarantee the sustainable development of future generations, the thermochemical valorisation of municipal solid waste (MSW) still plays a fundamental role in the transition towards the final CE targets. As a matter of fact, the waste-to-energy (WtE) sector allows recovering energy from waste, reducing the pressure on MSW landfills and their related potential environmental impacts; however, recovering material for further uses is not excluded in WtE options. Significant improvements have been achieved in the air pollution control of exhaust gases from direct and indirect MSW combustion during the last decades. The efforts focussed on reducing dioxin emissions especially, and this has let other substances emerge as priority pollutants (e.g., heavy metals). In addition, the location of WtE facilities in certain geographical contexts is still potentially critical from the point of view of human exposure and the related health risk; moreover, the public acceptance of WtE plants is still limited, in spite of their recent role in fighting SARS-CoV-2 risks from waste management. The purpose of the present paper is to underline the importance of implementing correct and complete health risk assessment procedures tailored to the exposed population living in the area of influence of a WtE plant. The paper will present two case studies regarding the projects of two WtE plants in a mountainous region, highlighting the critical issues that arose during the environmental impact assessment procedures. The paper will finally suggest possible options to improve the health risk assessment procedure and alternative measures to reduce the expected impacts of the WtE sector on the environment and human exposure.

Environmental Technology, Oct 23, 2015

Biofiltration has been widely applied to remove odours and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from... more Biofiltration has been widely applied to remove odours and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from industrial off-gas and mechanical-biological waste treatments. However, conventional open biofilters cannot guarantee an efficient dispersion of air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. The aim of this paper is to compare conventional open biofilters with biotrickling filters (BTFs) in terms of VOC dispersion in the atmosphere and air quality in the vicinity of a hypothetical municipal solid waste bio-drying plant. Simulations of dispersion were carried out regarding two VOCs of interest due to their impact in terms of odours and cancer risk: dimethyl disulphide and benzene, respectively. The use of BTFs, instead of conventional biofilters, led to significant improvements in the odour impact and the cancer risk: when adopting BTFs instead of an open biofilter, the area with an odour concentration &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; 1 OU m(-3) and a cancer risk &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; 10(-6) was reduced by 91.6% and 95.2%, respectively. When replacing the biofilter with BTFs, the annual mean concentrations of odorants and benzene decreased by more than 90% in the vicinity of the plant. These improvements are achieved above all because of the higher release height of BTFs and the higher velocity of the outgoing air flow.

Ecology and the Environment, Sep 10, 2018

Different hand-drying methods entail different costs and impacts on humans and the environment. T... more Different hand-drying methods entail different costs and impacts on humans and the environment. This paper presents a methodology to facilitate the decision on the convenience of installing electrical hand driers in place of the conventional toilet paper towels in the restrooms of public places. Specifically, a procedure including both economic and environmental aspects is proposed and the Monte Carlo method is employed to account for the several uncertainties of all the variables involved. From the economic point of view, the number of daily usages of restrooms results as the key variable determining if one option is preferable to the other. From the environmental point of view, the carbon footprint was calculated for four scenarios considering two options for the electric energy grid mix and two options for waste treatment. The comparison between the four scenarios revealed that hand driers may be preferable to paper towels when the waste treatment alternative is landfilling. The results are more uncertain when the waste treatment option is incineration. The integration of economic and environmental aspects reveals as a useful strategy to fully assess the convenience of choosing one option rather than another, without limiting the decision to only one aspect. Additional information on processes and logistics are anyway necessary to reduce the uncertainties of the results.

Ecology and the Environment, Sep 20, 2017

Biomethane is an emerging sector in Europe as evolution of the conventional approach of co-genera... more Biomethane is an emerging sector in Europe as evolution of the conventional approach of co-generation of biogas based on an engine. The countries in Europe are facing this option according to different temporal dynamics. From the technical point of view, a common need is to have available tools and calculations suitable to analyse the environmental advantages of this approach. The present article compares the emissions from three options for biogas valorisation: combined heat and power generation for electric energy supply to an electricity distribution network, biomethane production through pressurised water scrubbing and biomethane production through chemical absorption. In the last two cases, biomethane is considered for usage by public natural-gas buses. Data and parameters used for the balances are taken from international databases. Results demonstrate the advantages of biomethane.

Ecology and the Environment, Jun 19, 2013

Few studies on domestic indoor air pollution have given quantitative information on the variation... more Few studies on domestic indoor air pollution have given quantitative information on the variation of the characteristics of the indoor source of particulate matter (PM). This paper is intended to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon referring to beefsteak cooking by means of natural gas, which is expected to be a cleaner source of PM, especially compared with biomass. The origin of this paper is based on the variability of the power of the cooker in order to study the sustainability of natural gas from the point of view of the induced indoor human exposure to PM. Measurements were made by a GRIMM analyzer, able to measure 16 granulometric classes from 0.3 to 20 µm. Using the biggest cooker, the PM 10 production gave results 3 times higher than the case with the smaller one, even if the appearance of the cooked steaks was the same. In particular, this increase is higher for the finest fractions of PM. It is clear that good ventilation is compulsory to reduce human exposure to this kind of source.

Ecology and the Environment, Sep 23, 2014

This article describes a theoretical application aimed at the potential recovery of organic pollu... more This article describes a theoretical application aimed at the potential recovery of organic pollutants poorly soluble in water and with a molecular weight higher than that of water. The organic pollutants must be present in the gas stream to be treated only in low concentrations. A case study was considered in which chlorobenzene was taken as the organic pollutant of reference. The application can be interesting when applied to industrial off-gases, especially if generated in the proximity of urban areas. Indeed, often in most industrialized regions of northern Italy, urban/industrial planning has not adequately separated the residential and productive areas: the presence of a number of small polluting activities can create critical conditions of human exposure even in the absence of large emitters. The system is developed according to two alternative process schemes (liquid-liquid separator equipped with a coalescer and separation using membrane process). The goal is twofold: from an environmental point of view, the aim is to treat the gas flow, limiting the dispersion into the atmosphere of hazardous pollutants; to this, an economic target should be added, with the opportunity to simultaneously retrieve reusable substances in industrial production cycles.

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, May 6, 2015

Dust removal from a gas stream is a common problem in many industrial processes (e.g. power, ceme... more Dust removal from a gas stream is a common problem in many industrial processes (e.g. power, cement, steel plants, etc.). In the last decades, plant managers more and more often have had to face the necessity of improving de-dusting systems in order to meet more stringent law requirements, inspired by the principle of the "maximum safety technologically feasible", but also pushed by the increased penetration of environmental issues into public opinion, and its meaning in terms of company image. Budgets for these improvements play a role in a general asset management strategy: de-dusting, being often an operation having low influence on production performances, is seen more as a "necessary cost" than a profit generator. The trend for companies, especially in the actual economical scenario, is to reuse existing de-dusting plants, enhancing their efficiencies rather than install new plants that would involve costs for the decommissioning of obsolete equipment. The obvious economic benefits of retrofits are counterbalanced by technical disadvantages. In particular, a systematic assessment of safety issues is required, not limited to the safetyoriented design of new machines, but extended in the evaluation of the impact that changes in process conditions (induced by the new equipment) can have on the existing ones. In this work, explosion problems in the de-dusting section of a cement plant have been considered. Particularly, using fault tree analysis, it has been evaluated Safety and Security Engineering VI 239

Waste Management, Dec 1, 2020

The management of food waste has been considered an extremely important issue since the 1990s but... more The management of food waste has been considered an extremely important issue since the 1990s but finding efficient solutions for small and rural communities is still challenging. Anaerobic digestion (AD) may provide interesting opportunities in terms of carbon emissions and economic payback in the long term, but the choice of the correct technology and the spatial scale requires attention. The focus of this study is on a small rural municipality, which is selected as a case study to assess the environmental and economic sustainability of the application of two options for AD (a conventional and an alternative wet process) and two spatial scales (municipality and a consortium of municipalities). Both the AD configurations are examined in terms of biogas exploitation, through a combined heat and power generator, and in combination with a post-composting stage of the digestate. From economic and environmental perspectives, the consortium-scale application of the conventional wet process is expected to generate greater benefits in the long term, as it enables 80% more electric energy production and economic revenues/savings, and avoids carbon emissions. However, before selecting the technology, decision makers should consider the public acceptance of local communities (e.g., the susceptibility to the ''not-in-mybackyard" syndrome), as the best technical-economical solution may not be the most appropriate to specific communities. The methodology developed in this paper and the discussion of the results will inform decision makers about how to identify the most appropriate alternative for their purposes.

Chemosphere, Sep 1, 2014

h i g h l i g h t s PCB dioxin-like are good tracers for steel making plant (SMP). Deposimeters c... more h i g h l i g h t s PCB dioxin-like are good tracers for steel making plant (SMP). Deposimeters can track the presence of multiple sources of POPs. Electric arc can keep very low the emissions of a SMP when coupled with BAT. Uncontrolled waste burning can give PCDD/F depositions higher than the one of a SMP. Domestic burning of wood can impact more than a SMP with BAT.

Ecology and the Environment, May 12, 2014

This study focuses on the application of the environmental part of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA... more This study focuses on the application of the environmental part of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to identify the best alternative among four solutions representing different integrated management systems for the treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) fluxes. The comparison between the results is made in terms of the human toxicity potentials, with respect to other treatments, including mechanical-biological treatments (MBTs). However, findings from previous studies highlighted the potential risk deriving from the applications of MBTs in their conventional configurations. It may be important to consider the need for adopting additional methods, such as emission, dispersion and exposure models. These tools can improve the understanding of the potential constraints derived from the choice of an integrated solution for waste management and provide useful insights for the choice of the location of a plant, in order to protect fields, pasture and dwellings from potential contamination of soil, the food chain and air.

Chemosphere, Nov 1, 2013

h i g h l i g h t s Food chain models were edited to get a region-specific PCDD/F deposition limi... more h i g h l i g h t s Food chain models were edited to get a region-specific PCDD/F deposition limit. The calculation started from the local diet and the WHO's Tolerable Daily Intake. The case-study refers to an Alpine valley where a steel producing plant is present. Dairy products are of primary importance in the PCDD/F intake. PCDD/F deposition was measured for one year and was lower than the limit value.

Energy Procedia, Jul 1, 2017

District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective s... more District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease, prolonging the investment return period. The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand-outdoor temperature function for heat demand forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665 buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors. The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications (the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered). The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 2021

Anaerobic digestion contributes to the implementation of circular economy (CE) concepts. This pro... more Anaerobic digestion contributes to the implementation of circular economy (CE) concepts. This process is assuming an increasingly important function in the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW), that is, food waste, where selective collection is optimised. The possibility of combining the recovery of matter with energy makes this approach interesting for the concepts of circular economy. Specifically, the extraction of biomethane from biogas and the following refining of the residual off-gas from impurities gives as result the extraction of CO2 that can also be used for food industry applications. A high-quality source separation of food waste gives the chance to generate a good product, compost, coherently with the aims of the circular economy principles. The use of dry processes of anaerobic digestion allows avoiding the discharge of (treated) water in the environment. Co-digestion is another option that deserves a wider adoption, because of the possibility to exploit existing volumes of digestion. This paper presents a bibliographic research based on current CE progress and MSW anaerobic digestion infrastructure in Italy and Russia. Perspectives of the sector are discussed too.

This article aims to provide a contribution to the value and possibility of using composting as a... more This article aims to provide a contribution to the value and possibility of using composting as a tool for the treatment and management of the organic fraction of urban solid waste in developing contexts – specifically, the city of Beira, Mozambique. The aforementioned process should be intended not as an exhaustive tool but rather as a useful form of treatment to be employed within an Integrated Waste Management Plan. The high and diversified presence of materials suitable for the specific treatment in question is ascertained while also highlighting the diversification of the users that can be involved. Mixing strategies are drawn up in order to provide indications for a correct composition of the matrix that is intended to be started as a process and, according to the quantities considered (according to a modular approach), the production that can derive from it. A technical proposal is then drawn up on the functional areas making up the plant in order to develop the process in qu...

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 2018

In this article, we will discuss about the potential of renewable energies available in a relativ... more In this article, we will discuss about the potential of renewable energies available in a relatively small territorial context, such as municipalities, and the various problems interfering with a full exploitation of said potential. Since the launch of Covenant of Mayors, CoM, in 2008, thousands of local governments committed on volunteer basis in reaching or even exceeding, to the EU targets with regards to climate change and renewable energies for the years to come. Every local government committed to the CoM needs to produce the SEAP (Sustainable Energy Action Plan), which highlights the actions that the government is willing to implement in order to achieve the target set by the CoM (referred either to the 2020 or to the 2030). While studying the local context, many problems of various nature often arise which can be detrimental for the full exploitation of the potential of renewable resources available. This article displays a few examples of local governments located around the world and the problems encountered while writing their SEAP, related to geographical position, types of agricultural, industrial and commercial activities in the area, plants already operative, financial situation of the local government and the population living in the area. The possible areas of intervention include energy efficiency works on public and private buildings, traffic reduction strategies, energy recovery systems applied to factories and industrial plants, solar thermal, photovoltaic and wind power installations, material and energy recovery processes applied to waste management and hydroelectric power installations.