- Title
- Towards an industrial ecology for the Nelson Mandela Bay: Metropolitan area
- Creator
- Dalindyebo, Litha
- Subject
- Industrial ecology -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Date Issued
- 2016
- Date
- 2016
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MSc
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/9263
- Identifier
- vital:26556
- Description
- The aim of this study is to formulate a model of industrial ecology for wider application in the Nelson Mandel Bay (NMB) Metropole. To achieve this aim, the following objectives will be pursued: • A theoretical investigation of the concept of industrial ecology – in an attempt to establish its meaning, as well as the implications thereof. • A theoretical investigation of the operational implications of industrial ecology, including existing methodologies, such as Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that can be applied, in order to develop a system of industrial ecology between different companies. • The formulation of a methodology for application to the case study. • Presenting and discussing the research results produced by the application of the industrial ecology related methodology to the case study. • To present a synthesis of the research results of this study. This objective includes a critical evaluation of the research methodology and results, as well as some recommendations for the facilitation of industrial ecology. The methodology of the research involved conducting semi structured interviews, conducting a Material Flow Analysis and Life Cycle Analysis using SIMAPRO software. There interview with Goodyear management took place (see Appendix A), while the management at Sovereign Foods agreed to an interview however they didn’t honour the agreement. During the interview at Goodyear understanding of the operational process was achieved by conducting the interviews. The three areas that were discussed during the interview process were: 1. How the boiler works; 2. Current Air-Emission results; and 3. The process of steam generation. An MFA and an LCA on the production process of comparing the boiler functionality was conducted, so that there is an adequate understanding of the environmental performance of the two different boilers. The results of the MFA are presented as follows, namely: the goal and scope definition and the inventory results. Coal boiler versus fluidised boiler data where modelled. The modelling is done on comparing the flow of chemicals during steam production process, and which chemicals have a significant environmental impact. The LCA results looked at the basis of the symbiotic approach by identifying sustainable choices of design, production and consumption. The findings of this research have been obtained from the investigation of industrial ecology framework planning at Goodyear SA and Sovereign Foods. The findings have revealed that there is a synergy that exists between the two case-study areas. However, this is based on Goodyear changing the technology of the boiler they use (a boiler creates steam for the tyre-building process). The company will be required to use a fluidised boiler, instead of the current coal boiler. The use of the fluidised boiler will ensure that all waste streams at Goodyear will be reused and recycled, thereby creating the framework for industrial ecology. The results that are firstly drawn out of SIMAPRO is the Life Cycle Inventory. In this research, there is a flow of 1437 chemical materials and substances in the production of steam using both coal boiler and fluidized boiler. Due to the number of substance flow elements, the research has presented only the significant substances that influence the environmental performance of steam production using the two different feeder materials, which are coal and chicken matter (see Figure 4.4). In the coal boiler process, sulfur comprises the largest amount of chemical substance. The other top five chemical components that contribute to the steam production process are: nickel, chromium, arsenic and iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium. The scale of figure 4.4 is reduced to show the various number of chemical flows found in the steam production process through SIMAPRO software. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results were presented looking at namely the following characterization, normalization, weighting, single score and damage assessment (see Figure 4.7 – 4.10 p87 – p90). The figures are presented as taken directly from the reports drawn from the SIMAPRO software. Figure 4.7 gives the characterisation results up to 100%, where 0% has a minimal environmental effect; whereas 100% has the most significant environmental effect. Oxidation of coal is compared versus the oxidation of chicken matter, the coal boiler process has higher environmental impacts. Figure 4.8 shows the normalisation results of the coal boiler versus the fluidised boiler for the functional unit steam production. The environmental degradation under normalisation between the two boilers are measured, based on three parameters, namely: human health, ecosystems and resources. In all three parameters that are measured under normalisation, the production of steam using the coal boiler has the highest impacts. The weighting results in Figure 4.9 show a mirror image of the normalisation results. Finally, a gap analysis of the theoretical requirements for industrial ecology is displayed versus what currently exists in the case study area. The gap analysis will assist in the development of recommendations. These will be presented in the next chapter. A gap analysis of findings is discussed leading into the synthesis. The value of this research is that the baseline data of planning for an industrial ecology create a platform that can be used for implementing an industrial ecology between Goodyear SA and Sovereign Foods. This will, in time, have wider applications for the entire NMB metropole.
- Format
- xiii, 119 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
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