News Archives - Page 3 of 5

Investigation into the composition of commercial glass reveals energy saving potential

Investigation into the composition of commercial glass reveals energy saving potential

TransFIRe researchers from the Sheffield Hallam University have been investigating the composition of commercial glass currently present in the UK market following a lack of recent research and data on the subject. The study involved sampling and analysing the compositions of over 30 commercial container and float glass samples from the UK market and found a number of different properties within the glass that could bring about significant potential for energy saving in its production. Based on the results obtained from the compositional analysis, the performance of these commercial glasses was evaluated using multiple analysis methods and property models. These analyses reveal that glasses of the same colour and function exhibit different properties, with a difference in the estimated melting temperature (Log 2 viscosity) of over 20 degrees Celsius in some cases. Fig.1 Melting temperature difference between current UK container glasses: 21oC. At present, there is a [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-25T14:11:27+00:00July 25th, 2023|

Our shared understanding: a circular economy in the built environment

Our shared understanding: a circular economy in the built environment

We need to transition to a circular economy if we are to solve our global systemic challenges: climate change mitigation and adaption, biodiversity loss and social equity. We won’t hit our net zero targets if we don’t. TransFIRe researchers from the University of Leeds recently contributed to “Our Shared Understanding”, a report put together by a panel of world-leading experts to explore the core concepts that inform the transition to a circular economy. By holding these principles in common we can align policies, strategies and initiatives, enabling the built environment industries to work together across the globe to work together towards a common goal, with coordinated action. This report was launched at the World Circular Economy Forum 2023 and is aimed at policymakers, business leaders and future leaders in the built environment – both circular economy experts and non-experts. The launch event can be watched here. The call to [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-24T15:33:13+00:00July 24th, 2023|

The efficient use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in reducing global emissions

The efficient use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in reducing global emissions

A draft copy of a cross industry paper, which included contributions from TranFIRe researcher Michal Drewniok, has reported the current and future levels of availability of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in concrete and has concluded that GGBS is a highly utilised and constrained material. As such, it was noted that any local increase in the amount of clinker substituted with imported GGBS is unlikely to decrease global emissions. GGBS is a co-product of the iron and steel industry obtained by water-cooling and grinding blast furnace slag. It is used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in concrete due to its cementitious properties, which enhance the long-term strength and durability. The technical benefits of including GGBS in concrete are now well understood and documented, but in recent years GGBS has also been a subject of discussion among concrete producers for its ability to partially replace Portland cement clinker [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-24T13:23:51+00:00July 24th, 2023|

Inclusive Innovation in the Foundation Industries

Inclusive Innovation in the Foundation Industries

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to meet Karen Souza, D&I Partner at Innovate UK KTN. I was excited to hear about their focus on Inclusive Innovation, and immediately asked her to join us for our next TransFIRe EDI Working Group Session. Our EDI Working Group brings together people who are advocating and leading change for EDI in their businesses and industries, from the TransFIRe research community and our industry partners. Our industry participants represent production, research and development, and HR roles, and I was excited to bring the Inclusive Innovation discussion into this forum. Karen Souza Roll forwards a few weeks, and our session did not disappoint. Karen explained how UKRI’s vision is to work with partners to shape a dynamic, diverse and inclusive system of research and innovation in the UK. While the UK has incredible diverse talent, it is recognised that there [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-25T08:08:06+00:00July 24th, 2023|

What to do about plastics? Lessons from a study of UK plastics flows

What to do about plastics? Lessons from a study of UK plastics flows

A new study of UK plastics flows co-authored by TransFIRe researchers Michał Drewniok and Jonathan Cullen shows that 1/3 of related green house gas (GHG) emissions could be reduced by increasing recycling capacity and reducing demand. Plastics are pervasive. We use them every day in our phones, laptops, clothes, and cars. Plastics have also been found in the most unlikely places, from the human bloodstream to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Public concern about the use and disposal of plastic has soared in recent years, catalysed by David Attenborough’s documentary pleas and enduring images of seahorses grasping Q-tips circulating on social media. But alongside issues of marine and terrestrial pollution sits the less visible contribution of plastics to climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions are released when heat is generated for the chemical reactions required to manufacture plastics, and from those reactions themselves. Emissions also result from the management of waste [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-18T13:15:10+00:00July 18th, 2023|

Mapping material use and embodied carbon in UK construction

Mapping material use and embodied carbon in UK construction

TransFIRe researchers have co-authored a paper in which they quantified and benchmarked the material use and embodied carbon to the deliver the 'core and shell' of typical residential and non-residential buildings. In this paper embodied carbon emissions, equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), are released during the production of materials and construction processes rather than when it is in use. They are an essential measurement to deliver carbon neutral buildings. With the government’s 2050 net-zero deadline approaching and the pressure to decarbonise increasing, it is vital that ways of minimising levels of embodied carbon are tackled. The detailed bottom-up approach taken by the researchers showed that, compared to the top-down analysis, the embodied carbon emissions were underestimated by up to 20%. Combining their detailed bottom-up model with top-down analysis and other material consumption data, the researchers found that in 2018 (the year in which the most recent available high-level [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-18T11:00:51+00:00July 18th, 2023|

Make sustainable manufacturing the heart of the UK’s net zero transformation

Make sustainable manufacturing the heart of the UK’s net zero transformation

The UK’s net zero future will depend on making things in sustainable ways, with close attention to the whole cycle: the materials we use, the energy and carbon emissions involved in processes, and the opportunities for re-use, re-manufacturing and (last of all) recycling. But for the time being the manufacturing sector in the UK — the sector that globally generates around a third of all carbon emissions — is mired in old ways. The sector has become stuck within a wasteful system based around imports of products and materials, and exports of materials that could have been re-used or recycled. There is still a take-make-dispose mindset. We have industries without the means or motivation to move away from energy intensive, carbon-heavy processes. And while the UK’s carbon footprint is ‘off-shored’ to other nations, increasingly important materials, resources and business opportunities are draining away; consumers are misled over the actual [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-17T12:51:56+00:00July 17th, 2023|

Poster competition celebrates advanced ceramics research

Poster competition celebrates advanced ceramics research

TransFIRe researcher, Dr Ahmed Khalil, has won first prize for his poster, “ThermoRecycliSt – Thermodynamic simulation-guided (waste) Recycling Strategy” at the Advanced Ceramics Show at the Birmingham NEC. The competition on advanced ceramic innovation and research was sponsored and supported by the Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG) and presented an opportunity for researchers and academics to network and interact with industry to celebrate research from across the sector. Each poster entry was marked for technical content, visual and verbal presentation skills and industrial application awareness by two judges from industries from the MICG and their international advisory group. The poster, that won in the category for Sensors, Artificial Intelligence and Modelling for the ceramics sector, describes a reliable waste or byproduct recycling guidance approach that evaluates the recycling potential and quality of waste materials and directs them to suitable applications. This strategy relies on thermodynamic calculations to predict phase [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-10T08:45:35+00:00July 10th, 2023|

Facilitating industrial symbiosis

Facilitating industrial symbiosis

Last month TransFIRe brought together a wide range of industrial partners to offer them a chance to discuss and exchange information on the materials, waste and services that they have within their organisations and how these could potentially be used to supply another company as part of an ongoing agreement. TransFIRe has been helping the foundation industries (paper, cement, ceramics, metals, chemicals and glass) in the UK to collaborate to help tackle CO2 emissions and waste. The way that the products we use on a daily basis are produced tend to rely on established processes that utilise very expensive equipment and assets and often produce large amounts of waste. There is a huge demand for change in the way this is done in order to improve profitability and help become more sustainable. This Industrial Symbiosis Workshop, facilitated by International Synergies and project lead Dr Lampros Litos, enabled companies such [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-05-16T12:15:05+00:00May 16th, 2023|

Key performance indicators in sustainability reporting: what do we need to measure?

Key performance indicators in sustainability reporting: what do we need to measure?

Sustainability reporting is a vital tool to provide information on an organisations’ social, economic, and environmental performance and is an essential way for organisations to demonstrate accountability to their various stakeholders. But how do companies know which metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) they should use? The TransFIRe project through its different Work Streams (WS) is addressing the need of identifying the most suitable metrics for the foundation industries (FI), by looking at different levels for measuring and reporting performance, ranging from the process level to factory level and eventually to the “beyond the fence” level (a system view, looking from the perspective of external stakeholders, including the surrounding community, and the environment). Figure 1 - Schematic representation of the different levels for measuring performance of FIs. Process level metrics At a process level, TransFIRe researchers have created a framework to help the manufacturing industries identify the right [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-06-05T11:02:10+00:00May 16th, 2023|