Tag Archives: brick industry

367-372 M. Repele, M. Dudko, J. Rusanova, K. Valters and G. Bazbauers
Environmental aspects of substituting bio-synthetic natural gas for natural gas in the brick industry
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Environmental aspects of substituting bio-synthetic natural gas for natural gas in the brick industry

M. Repele*, M. Dudko, J. Rusanova, K. Valters and G. Bazbauers

Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University,Kronvalda Boulevard ¹, Riga, LV¹0¹0, Latvia;*Correspondence: mara.repele@rtu.lv

Abstract:

Firing of bricks is an essential manufacturing process during which the bricks obtainall  the  necessary  properties.  Life  cycle  assessment  studies  show  that  this  process  is  also  themost  energy  intensive  in  the  brick  manufacturing  process  and  results  in  the  largestenvironmental impact. Usually kilns are fired with natural gas, therefore substitution of fossilfuel  with  a  renewable  energy  source  is  considered  one  of  the  most  effective  approaches  forreduction  of  environmental  impact.  Bio-synthetic  natural  gas  (bio-SNG)  is  one  of  the  mostfeasible  substitutes  for  natural  gas  and  therefore  the  aim  of  the  study  was  to  compare  theenvironmental impacts of those energy sources.Comparison  of  the  life  cycle  of  the  environmental  impact  of  natural  gas  and  bio-SNG  wascarried out using the GEMIS (Global Emission Model for Integrated Systems) database. Bothenergy  sources  were  compared  on  the  basis  of  the  life  cycle  of  CO²  emissions,  cumulatedenergy and material requirement, land use and employment effects.Results show that by replacing natural gas with bio-SNG, greenhouse gases could be reducedand employment increased. However, cumulated energy, material and land requirement is largerwhen bio-SNG is used instead of natural gas.

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