Effect of unidirectional airflow ventilation on surgical site infection in cardiac surgery: environmental impact as a factor in the choice for turbulent mixed air flow

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) in the form of postoperative deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after cardiac surgery is a rare, but potentially fatal, complication. In addressing this, the focus is on preventive measures, as most risk factors for SSI are not controllable. Therefore, operating rooms are equipped with heating,...

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Syringes at the Intensive Care Unit

This research project, part of the Green Intensive Care Unit (ICU) initiative at the Erasmus University Medical Center (EMC), is focused on reducing the environmental impact of syringes at the ICU by designing solutions based on circular economy principles. Based on a Material Flow Analysis of the EMC ICU, syringes and their packaging have been...

Closing the Loop: Harnessing Waste Plastics for Sustainable Asphalt Mixtures – A Comprehensive Review

The widespread production and consumption of plastics is a pressing global issue that requires multifaceted approaches and solutions. In terms of recycling, one of the ways to repurpose waste plastics in the construction industry would be to utilize them for asphalt pavement-related applications. Although this approach can potentially provide...

Assessment of the impact of tidal power extraction from the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier through the evaluation of a pilot plant

Hydraulic structures can be a promising place for tidal energy extraction due to the high flow velocities, easy access to the power grid and easy access for maintenance. However, quantification of the impacts of a tidal power plant in a hydraulic structure is not straight forward. In 2015 a pilot plant consisting of an array of five Tocardo...

A comparative sustainability evaluation of alternative configurations of an urban nitrogen removal solution targeting different pathways

Limiting the introduction of excess nitrogen to natural water sources is a growing priority for water security and environmental health. This poses particular difficulties in urban environments where available land for potential solutions is limited. A promising option is the integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) process that requires...

A state-of-the-art review on rolling resistance of asphalt pavements and its environmental impact

In the context of climate change and global warming, the attention on the environmental cost of pavements is increasing. To scientifically quantify the environmental cost of pavements, accurate prediction of rolling resistance and fuel consumption is important. In this paper, a comprehensive review on rolling resistance of asphalt pavements...

Economic and environmental assessment of a CO₂ solar-powered plant with packed-bed thermal energy storage

Investigating supercritical natural fluids for efficient and clean energy production has become a trending research topic due to their technical and environmental advantages. However, on account of the supercritical operational conditions, using specially-developed components increases manufacturing prices, especially when dealing with solar...

The application of an environmental performance framework for climate adaptation innovations on two nature-based adaptations

In this paper, we introduce and test a framework to qualitatively assess the environmental impact of climate adaptation innovations with the ambition to facilitate the implementation of these adaptations. The framework was designed to enable continuous environmentally conscious benchmarking based on three environmental performance indicators:...

Environmental impact evaluation model of dam breach — Considering the uncertainty feature of environment

The environmental impact of dam breach has the features of complexity and uncertainty. There is a lack of systematic and comprehensive research on the environmental impact of dam breach in China. Considering such fuzziness of environment evaluation and the lack of precise data, this work chooses the method of multi-index comprehensive...

Understanding the carbonation of concrete with supplementary cementitious materials: a critical review by RILEM TC 281-CCC

Blended cements, where Portland cement clinker is partially replaced by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), provide the most feasible route for reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with concrete production. However, lowering the clinker content can lead to an increasing risk of neutralisation of the concrete pore solution and...

A novel asynchronous-pouring-construction technology for prestressed concrete box girder bridges with corrugated steel webs

Owing to the superior mechanical performance and material efficiency, the combination of prestressed concrete (PC) slabs and corrugated steel webs (CSW) as PC girder with CSWs (PCGCSW) is extensively applied to railway and highway bridges. To overcome the shortcomings of traditional balanced cantilever construction (TBCC) of PCGCSW, reduce...

Improved set pair analysis and its application to environmental impact evaluation of dam break

Despite the rapid development of risk analysis in dam engineering, there is a relative absence of research on the environmental impact of dam break. As a systematic theory, set pair analysis has a good effect in dealing with uncertainties, although the result is relatively rough and easy to distort. A connection degree of five grades and a...

Life Cycle Assessment of Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing compared to green sand casting and CNC milling in stainless steel

Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is a metal 3D printing technique based on robotic welding. This technique yields potential in decreasing material consumption due to its high material efficiency and freedom of shape. Empirical measurements of WAAM, using a deposition rate of 1 kg/h, were performed on site of MX3D. The measured power...

Do circular economy business models capture intended environmental value propositions?

The circular economy (CE) can be a driver for sustainability and CE can be promoted and supported by the creation of new and innovative business models, which embed CE principles into their value propositions throughout the value chains. This study focuses on the environmental value propositions of the CE business models. The term environmental...

Identifying reasons for historic car ownership and use and policy implications: An explorative latent class analysis

The number of historic vehicles is steadily increasing. Although, these vehicles are part of our cultural heritage with respect to road transport and mobility, they present (future) environmental concerns, which is a relevant development from policy perspective. Yet, as far as the authors are aware, there is hardly any academic literature...