Hasil untuk "Cement industries"

J. Jang, G. M. Kim, H. Kim et al.

Solikhah Badingatus, Sarwono Edi, Aini Fina Khurul

This study investigates the alignment between corporate climate action efforts and environmental performance among Taiwanese listed companies from 2016 to 2023. Using firm-level data from the Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ), it analyzes trajectories of GHG Emissions Scores (representing environmental outcomes) and Energy Management Scores (representing managerial and operational efforts) across industries with different carbon intensities. Sectors are categorized into high-carbon (e.g., petrochemicals, cement, steel, and power generation) and low-carbon (e.g., electronics, finance, and services) groups to capture structural variations in energy use. Results reveal a steady increase in energy management performance, indicating rising managerial attention to efficiency and sustainability, while GHG emission performance remains relatively stagnant. The weak correlation between the two dimensions suggests that enhanced managerial commitment does not consistently translate into measurable decarbonization. This effort-outcome gap reflects a broader challenge in corporate climate action: firms may improve internal systems and disclosures without achieving substantive emission reductions. The findings contribute to the climate transition discourse by providing sector- based evidence from Taiwan and emphasizing the need for integrated strategies that connect managerial efforts with tangible environmental outcomes.

Liam Doyle, Fargol Seifollahi, Chandralekha Singh

The rapid advancement of quantum information science and technology (QIST) has generated significant attention from people in academia, industry, and the public. Recent advances in QIST have led to both opportunities and challenges for students and researchers who are curious about the potential of the field amid hype, considering whether their skills are aligned with what the field needs, and contemplating how collaborating with industries may impact their research. This qualitative study presents perspectives from leading quantum researchers who are educators on three critical aspects shaping QIST's development: (1) the impact of hype in the field and strategies for managing expectations, (2) approaches to creating conducive environments that attract students and established researchers from non-physics disciplines, and (3) effective models for fostering university-industry partnerships that can be valuable for students and researchers alike. These aspects, along with several interconnected challenges, were explored through in-depth interviews with quantum educators. Our findings reveal nuanced perspectives on managing the hype cycle and its risks in creating unrealistic expectations. Regarding greater interdisciplinary engagement and attracting more non-physicists to QIST, educators emphasized the need to recognize and leverage existing expertise from other fields while developing educational pathways that meet diverse student backgrounds to prepare them for the QIST workforce. On university-industry partnerships, respondents highlighted successful models, while noting persistent challenges around intellectual property, confidentiality, and differing organizational goals. These insights provide valuable guidance for educators, policymakers, and industry leaders working to build a sustainable quantum workforce while maintaining realistic expectations about the field's trajectory.

Yuxin Lu, Zhen Peng, Xiqiang Xia et al.

Against the backdrop of the global green transition and "dual carbon" goals, mining industry chain enterprises are pivotal entities in terms of resource consumption and environmental impact. Their environmental performance directly affects regional ecological security and is closely tied to national resource strategies and green transformation outcomes. Ensuring the authenticity and reliability of their environmental disclosure is thus a core and urgent issue for sustainable development and national strategic objectives.From a corporate governance perspective, this study examines equity balance as a fundamental governance mechanism, investigating its inhibitory effect on greenwashing behavior among these enterprises and the underlying pathways involved. Methodologically, the paper innovatively employs a Variational Autoencoder (VAE) and a Double Machine Learning (DML) model to construct counterfactual scenarios, mitigating endogeneity concerns and precisely identifying the causal relationship between equity balance and greenwashing. The findings indicate, first, a significant negative causal relationship between equity balance and corporate greenwashing, confirming its substantive governance effect. Second, this inhibitory effect exhibits notable heterogeneity, manifesting more strongly in western regions, upstream segments of the industrial chain, and industries with high environmental sensitivity. Third, the governance effect demonstrates clear temporal dynamics, with the strongest impact occurring in the current period, followed by a diminishing yet statistically significant lagged effect, and ultimately a stable long-term cumulative influence. Finally, mechanism analysis reveals that equity balance operates through three distinct channels to curb greenwashing: alleviating management performance pressure, enhancing the stability of the executive team, and intensifying media scrutiny.

Ruomu Tan, Martin W Hoffmann

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the industrial sector has not only driven innovation but also expanded the ethical landscape, necessitating a reevaluation of principles governing technology and its applications and awareness in research and development of industrial AI solutions. This chapter explores how AI-empowered industrial innovation inherently intersects with ethics, as advancements in AI introduce new challenges related to transparency, accountability, and fairness. In the chapter, we then examine the ethical aspects of several examples of AI manifestation in industrial use cases and associated factors such as ethical practices in the research and development process and data sharing. With the progress of ethical industrial AI solutions, we emphasize the importance of embedding ethical principles into industrial AI systems and its potential to inspire technological breakthroughs and foster trust among stakeholders. This chapter also offers actionable insights to guide industrial research and development toward a future where AI serves as an enabler for ethical and responsible industrial progress as well as a more inclusive industrial ecosystem.

S. Ruan, C. Unluer

Ardhymanto Am Tanjung, Haitham M. Ahmed, Hussin A. M. Ahmed

Saudi Natural Pozzolan (SNP) can be processed and used in construction as a partial replacement for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Its use as a supplementary cementitious material supports more sustainable and eco-friendly building practices. This study investigates various treatment methods for enhancing the reactivity of SNPs, including thermal, mechanical, thermo-mechanical, mechano-thermal, and chemical techniques. The activity of 18 different treated SNP mixtures was evaluated using the Strength Activity Index (SAI). Results identified the optimum conditions for each treatment: thermal treatment at 600 °C, mechanical treatment through 6 h of grinding, and chemical treatment with a 9% addition of hydrated lime. The SAI results demonstrated that a 6 h mechanical treatment was the most effective method for activating the raw pozzolan. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that phases such as quartz, anorthite, and aluminate are significant contributors to pozzolanic activity. The XRD analysis was further supported by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which examined microstructural changes. This study highlights the potential of maximizing the utilization of extensive pozzolan resources in the Harrat region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Treated SNP can be applied in various industries, such as mining backfills, brick industry, and pozzolanic concrete, as a sustainable and environmentally friendly material.

Marcelina Sołtysik, Izabela Majchrzak-Kucęba, Dariusz Wawrzyńczak

In the energy sector and in other types of industries (cement, iron/steel, chemical and petrochemical), highly roasted coffee ground residue can be used as a source material for producing bioadsorbents suitable for CO₂ capture. In this study, a bioadsorbent was produced in a two-step process involving biowaste carbonization and biocarbon activation within a KOH solution. The physicochemical properties of the bioadsorbent were assessed using LECO, TG, SEM, BET and FT-IR methods. Investigating the CO₂, O₂ and N₂ equilibrium adsorption capacity using an IGA analyzer allowed us to calculate CO₂ selectivity factors. We assessed the influence of exhaust gas carbon dioxide concentration (16%, 30%, 81.5% and 100% vol.) and adsorption step temperature (25 °C, 50 °C and 75 °C) on the CO₂ adsorption capacity of the bioadsorbent. We also investigated its stability and regenerability in multi-step adsorption–desorption using a TG-Vacuum system, simulating the VSA process and applying different pressures in the regeneration step (30, 60 and 100 mbar_abs). The tests conducted assessed the possibility of using a produced bioadsorbent for capturing CO₂ using the VSA technique.

Tulio Honorio, Fatima Masara, Gang Huang et al.

Interlayer species play a critical role in the thermo-hydro-mechanical properties of C-S-H at the molecular scale. We investigate how different choices in molecular modeling of C-S-H impact the behavior of interlayer species and subsequently affect the thermal, mechanical, and transport properties. By comparing various force fields, we identify the most effective approach per property. The choice of water force field has minimal influence on properties. As for heat capacity, we show that accounting for quantum corrections is important in calculating the thermal conductivity of C-S-H. Different choices of force fields lead to better agreement of estimates of the heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion of C-S-H with available experimental data. Non-reactive and reactive force fields exhibit similar behavior in tensile and shear tests. ClayFF Ca(aq) leads to a reduced interlayer diffusion coefficient. This research underscores the imperative role of accurately characterizing interlayer species in understanding C-S-H behavior.

Ferry Ardika Natanael , Nony Maulidya, Dedi Priadi

Chutes are critical materials handling assets to transport solid particles from one process step to another in mineral processing, coal mining and cement industries. The material transport, because of material characteristics, cause severe wear on internal lining of chutes or bins’ structure. The wear problem on internal lining of bins or chutes needs to be checked to keep production efficiency. Therefore, not checked wear rate causes liner replacement schedule becomes unpredictable. It leads to production loss and highly cost maintenance in industry. This study shows that condition-based maintenance through regular thickness measurement using Ultrasonic Transducer (UT) to predict life service of critical liners prevent unplanned maintenance schedule. Data collected can be used to predict the next liner replacement schedule, cuts unplanned maintenance and breakdowns.

A. R. Pina, Shams El-Adawy, H. J. Lewandowski et al.

Continued growth of the quantum information science and engineering (QISE) industry has resulted in stakeholders spanning education, industry, and government seeking to better understand the workforce needs. This report presents a framework for the categorization of roles in the QISE industry based on 42 interviews of QISE professionals across 23 companies, as well as a description of the method used in the creation of this framework. The data included information on over 80 positions, which we have grouped into 29 roles spanning four primary categories. For each primary category we provide an overview of what unites the roles within a category, a description of relevant subcategories, and definitions of the individual roles. These roles serve as the basis upon which we generate profiles of these roles, which include information about role critical tasks, necessary knowledge and skills, and educational requirements. Our next report will present such profiles for each of the roles presented herein.

C. C. Thong, D. Teo, C. Ng

S. S. Berriel, Aurélie Favier, E. Domínguez et al.

Jiaying Zhang, Yan Zhuge, Yue Liu

There has been significant attention from both academics and industries towards the demand for high-strength and crack-free cementitious composites. Nanofibers are a group of promising reinforcement materials due to their high strength, large specific surface area, and high toughness. This paper provides a review of the fracture properties of nanofiber reinforced cement-based composite (NFRC), including the investigation of various types of nanofibers available in the market, test methods, and theoretical analysis models. The effects of different volumes and types of nanofibers are also summarised. Based on the analysis of previous studies, the enhancements in fracture properties are closely associated with the length and aspect ratio of nanofibers. Moreover, several challenges persist in the practical application of NFRC in industries are discussed. Further research efforts are required to address these concerns and advance the industrial application of NFRC.

Yudan Whulanza, Eny Kusrini, Heri Hermansyah et al.

Energy and Environmental HarmonyHydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, is increasingly recognized for its potential to serve as a clean energy carrier. Hydrogen is a clean energy source that produces no emissions when used, making it a good choice for reducing air pollution. Additionally, it is an abundant energy source that can be produced from a variety of sources such as air, biomass, and natural gas. Unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen combustion only produces water, making it an environmentally friendly alternative. There are two primary methods for hydrogen production: steam reforming of methane, which results in significant CO2 emissions, and electrolysis, the splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen using electricity. When this electricity is derived from renewable sources like wind or solar, the result is green renewable energy, such as hydrogen (H2) gas, which is seen as key to a sustainable energy future. Globally, the majority of hydrogen gas production still relies on natural gas, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. The challenge is to increase the share of green hydrogen to make this energy source truly sustainable and environmentally benign.The urgency of adopting hydrogen technologies is amplified by the need to meet climate goals set by global agreements like the Paris Accord. According to forecasts from University College London, to limit global warming to 2°C, it is necessary to keep a third of all oil, half of all natural gas, and 80% of coal in the ground by 2050. Achieving these targets requires a shift to renewable energy sources that do not solely rely on the intermittent availability of wind and solar. The transition to hydrogen is also driven by practical needs in the energy market. For instance, the recent energy shortages in the UK, exacerbated by non-wind days in the North Sea, highlighted the limitations of current renewable energy infrastructures and the necessity for alternatives like hydrogen that can provide reliable, continuous power. Hydrogen gas can be used as an energy source, energy storage, and energy carrier, and also used for infrastructure purposes. This gas is particularly suited for heavy industries and long-haul transport where direct electrification is impractical.  Industries such as steel, cement, and heavy manufacturing, which are significant contributors to carbon emissions, stand to gain substantial benefits from transitioning to hydrogen. For instance, replacing coal in steel production with hydrogen can drastically cut emissions, helping to decarbonize a notoriously difficult sector. Companies like ThyssenKrupp and Salzgitter AG are pioneering the shift to hydrogen-based processes. Similarly, the chemical industry benefits from green hydrogen in ammonia synthesis, reducing the overall environmental impact of chemical production.   Economic and Financial Challenges The path to a hydrogen-driven future is fraught with technical and economic hurdles. Historically, the perception of hydrogen has been marred by safety concerns, notably exemplified by the Hindenburg disaster. Critics argue that direct electrification may offer greater efficiency for certain applications compared to hydrogen. Additionally, the production of hydrogen is characterized by high energy intensity, necessitating substantial electricity inputs. When sourced from non-renewable energy, this can undermine its environmental advantages. In 2020, producing one kilogram of green hydrogen cost between around $5 and $7. This is significantly higher if the source is coal ($1.00 to $1.80 per kg) and natural gas ($1.40 to $2.40 per kg). The range of cost heavily depends on the location. Financially, the transition to hydrogen technology requires considerable investment. Currently, there are over 350 large-scale projects worldwide, with total projected expenditures upwards of $500 billion. These projects span various applications from industrial processes to transportation and energy storage, indicating a growing confidence in hydrogen’s role in reducing carbon footprints. The U.S. alone, through a recent bipartisan infrastructure bill, has allocated $9.5 billion towards hydrogen initiatives, including the creation of hydrogen hubs and the advancement of hydrogen transportation and research. This substantial investment underscores the commitment to integrating hydrogen into the national energy strategy, aiming to ensure a stable, reliable energy supply. The commitment to hydrogen technology is also robust, with countries such as Germany dedicating approximately €7 billion to hydrogen projects. The country committed to establishing a core hydrogen grid extending 1,800 kilometers by 2027-2028 and is boosting its domestic electrolyzer capacity to at least 10 gigawatts by 2030. The project, located near Puerto Llano, Spain, is part of Iberdrola's broader plan to invest €3 billion in hydrogen technology by 2030. The goal is to link renewable energy production directly to hydrogen and ammonia production facilities, enhancing the sustainability of industrial processes. India's central government has committed a significant investment of (approximately $2.5 billion) to the National Green Hydrogen Mission. This initiative is designed to create export opportunities, decarbonize energy production, and develop local manufacturing capabilities. The ambitious goal is to reduce the production cost of green hydrogen from the current range of $4.5 per kg to about $1.2 per kg. China targeting the deployment of 1 million fuel-cell vehicles by 2030. These investments underscore a strong belief in hydrogen’s capacity to support a low-carbon economy.   Hydrogen and Ammonia Nexus Hydrogen's potential is limited by its low density at room temperature, which is roughly one-third that of natural gas. This means that hydrogen either needs to be cooled to -250°C to become a liquid or compressed to up to 300 times atmospheric pressure in order to be transported. This introduces significant energy losses in hydrogen production, estimated at about 30% of overall efficiency. Despite these challenges, the energy sector sees hydrogen as an attractive option because, in its compressed form, hydrogen contains approximately 40,000 Watt hours of energy per kilogram, significantly more than the best lithium-ion batteries, which hold about 280 Watt-hours per kilogram. Ammonia gas has several advantages over hydrogen gas. It is easier to liquefy, requiring only -33°C, and needs to be compressed to just 10 times atmospheric pressure. Additionally, ammonia does not react with steel or leak from containers as hydrogen does, making it a superior carrier. Indeed, ammonia contains 50% more hydrogen by volume than hydrogen itself and converts back into hydrogen and nitrogen when needed without the intense conditions required for storing pure hydrogen gas. Parallel to hydrogen, ammonia production is undergoing a transformation. Traditionally reliant on the Haber-Bosch process, which is energy-intensive and carbon-heavy. This process is responsible for about 2% of the world's fossil fuels and accounts for 1.2% of global CO2 emissions. Evidently, this contributes significantly to CO2 emissions, nitrate pollution, and nitrous oxide emissions. Ammonia is a critical industrial chemical used primarily in agricultural fertilizers and in the manufacture of plastics and pharmaceuticals. With global production exceeding 200 million tonnes annually in a market worth nearly $100 billion and growing. Due to its potential as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, the efficient and environmentally friendly production of ammonia is increasingly vital. To achieve the vision of fully green ammonia, the industry must transition away from hybrid and conventional plants. The future lies in using electrochemical cells that operate solely on electricity and catalysts to combine air and water components into ammonia. This process does not require the high heat and pressure typical of traditional ammonia synthesis. However, there is a challenge in producing ammonia efficiently at normal temperatures and pressures. Researchers are currently working towards developing a single cell that can effectively produce ammonia under these conditions. Monash University’s breakthrough in synthesizing ammonia from water and air using renewable energy illustrates the potential for significant reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions. This method, if scalable, could revolutionize ammonia production and provide a blueprint for clean industrial processes worldwide. This new process, detailed in the online journal Science, has demonstrated ammonia production rates significantly closer to industrial targets than previous attempts at electrolytic ammonia synthesis. The team has established a startup, Jupiter Ionics, which has already attracted $1.8 million in seed investment.   Future Potential Ongoing advancements in hydrogen production, such as improved electrolysis techniques and the scaling up of infrastructure, are critical. The development of green ammonia as a derivative of hydrogen for easy storage and transport is also a promising avenue, particularly for sectors like maritime shipping, transportation, and heavy industry where traditional battery storage is unfeasible. Whether hydrogen or battery electrification will dominate the future of transport remains to be seen, but the integration of hydrogen into global energy systems represents a significant step toward achieving a sustainable and clean energy future.

Arne Peys, Athina Preveniou, David Konlechner et al.

New sources of reactive supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are essential to help the cement industry to further lower CO2 emissions. A co-calcination process in which bauxite residue (BR) is mixed with kaolinitic clay before calcination can deliver such SCM. The main novelty of the work discussed here is that acceptable reactivity as a SCM can be reached when co-calcining the BR with clays having only 40 wt% of kaolinite. The use of such low-grade kaolinitic clay greater increases the process economics and therefore likely increases overall feasibility. A high inherent reactivity of the desilication products present in the BR is the cause of this ability of using low-grade kaolinitic clays. Cement mortars were made with 30 wt% replacement of CEM I, which showed adequate strength at 28 days and increased strength in comparison with calcined clays or other SCMs in the literature at early age (2–7 days). A wide process temperature window with relatively constant reactivity was observed, but a range of 700–750 °C is recommended for process stability. In addition, a life-cycle assessment underlines that at these conditions a sufficiently low embodied CO2 relative to Portland clinker production is obtained.

Francisco W. Jativa, Laura E. Dalton, M. Pourghaz

In this study, concentrated CO2 gas was used to create foamed cement paste, and concentrated CO2 gas was intermixed in fresh cement paste to produce regular cement paste materials that were not foamed. The potential of both methods to form CaCO3 from calcium ions that would form Ca(OH)2 was investigated. After curing the materials for different ages, the Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 contents were measured using thermogravimetric analysis; the large void size distributions, dynamic modulus, and compressive strength were tested and compared against Control (no gas added), and N2 foamed and N2 intermixed specimens. A 10% increase in dynamic modulus and compressive strength was measured in CO2 foamed specimens compared to N2 foamed specimens. The increase in mechanical properties was the result of both a narrow void diameter distribution and CaCO3 formation in place of Ca(OH)2. The CO2 foamed cement generation method shows the potential to sequester 0.06 ton of CO2 for every ton of cement which is a CO2 emission reduction of 7.0% of the CO2 production associated with cement production. For the CO2 intermixing method, the void content, compressive strength, and dynamic modulus results were consistent between the Control and CO2 intermixed specimens while the N2 intermixed specimens showed a decrease in compressive strength and dynamic modulus. The CO2 intermixing method showed potential to sequester 0.04 ton of CO2 for every ton of cement or a 4.7% CO2 emission reduction of the total CO2 production associated with cement manufacturing. The reported CO2 emissions are not based on life cycle assessment and do not account for emissions associated with CO2 collection, transportation, and intermixing. The present paper does not investigate the mechanisms of hydration under CO2 intermixing.

Xuwei Dong, Yang Liu, Jinpeng Dai

Compressive strength of concrete is an important parameter in the design of concrete structures and the prediction of their durability. Therefore, it is of great significance to predict the compressive strength of concrete. In this study, a fully connected neural network model is developed using the PyTorch framework to predict the compressive strength of concrete and compared with six other machine learning models. These models are multiple linear regression, K-nearest neighbor regression, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, light gradient boosting machine, and artificial neural network. The model is trained using 4,253 data with seven input parameters, including cement (C), fly ash (F), mineral powder (K), fine aggregate (FA), coarse aggregate (CA), water reducer admixture (WRA), and water (W). Three thousand six hundred twenty-one data in the datasets are used to train the prediction model after data cleaning, and 632 data are used to validate the model. The results show that the fully connected neural network model based on PyTorch frame can predict the compressive strength of concrete with higher accuracy. Therefore, it is a reliable and useful method to optimize the artificial network model. So, it has important application value in practice. The strength of concrete can be predicted in advance, making the project more efficient and reducing costs. Besides, by adjusting the mix ratio, combining the strength prediction results in different environments and industries to ensure the quality of construction.