ECO FRIENDLY ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION

Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of

acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and
mathematical knowledge to design and implement
materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and
processes that safely realize a desired objective or
invention.
By its very nature engineering is bound up with society
and human behavior. Every product or construction used
by modern society will have been influenced by
engineering design. Engineering design is a very powerful
tool to make changes to environment, society and
economies, and its application brings with it a great
responsibility.
Engineering is a key driver of human development. The
attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals
requires the achievement of sufficient engineering
capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable
technological development.
But all inventions and designs of man have its pros and
cons. Many of the engineering activities like building
dams, extracting oil etc lead to the gradual deterioration
of environment. To make the engineering designs
environment friendly,
Eco-friendly engineering is focused on using engineering
principles to improve the quality of the environment.
Eco-friendly engineering is a multi-disciplinary field whose
focus is on maintaining or improving the quality of the
environment. This includes air quality, water quality, and
land/soil quality, and how human activities are
intertwined with quality. Environmental quality affects
public health, so eco-friendly engineering is a vital part of
system design.
What is eco-friendly engineering?

Engineers, who want to create products requiring less

energy to operate, develop new technologies that
generate clean power, reduce emissions of fossil fuel-
based engines, and better understand the global
ecosystem need eco-friendly engineering. Eco-friendly
engineering uses measurement and control techniques to
design, develop, and improve products, technologies, and
processes that result in environmental and economic
benefits.

While green is the focus today, eco-friendly engineering is

fundamentally no different than any other type of
engineering innovation in that designers must first
measure and understand real-world data and then correct
or fix the problem by designing the next generation of
products and technologies that achieve the desired goal.

Today, many of these goals are centered on improved

efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Some of
the common measurements include power quality and
consumption; emissions from vehicles and factories, such
as mercury and nitrogen oxides; and environmental data,
including carbon, temperature, and water quality.

Tools and technology advancements

In a recent article in The Economist, Linda Fisher, chief

sustainability officer at DuPont, emphasized the
importance of the first step in the engineering innovation
process. "We find with energy and greenhouse gases, if
you start to measure, people reduce the usage," Fisher
said. "Measuring is not a simple task, but once a
company has a proper baseline, it can see what can be
changed."

While this latter statement highlights a considerable

challenge, there is good news. Significant innovations in
measurement, automation, and design tools, the
technology components required for eco-friendly
engineering, are more accessible, easier to use, and
available at lower prices than ever before. Key
technologies that enable eco-friendly engineering
include:

• High-speed and high-resolution measurements

• Domain-specific analysis libraries
• FPGAs for advanced control
• Graphical programming to measure and implement
control

Some of these new technologies have resulted from

growth in the semiconductor industry, which has led to
major advancements in the capabilities of analog-to-
digital converters while also decreasing costs associated
with the mass adoption of consumer electronics. Other
technologies have been around for some time, but new
improvements to design and engineering tools such as
graphical programming have made them more usable by
domain experts rather than solely technology experts.

This innovation in engineering tools puts the necessary

technology directly into the hands of those who are
closest to the problems, empowering them to develop
systems faster and with more success than in the past.
Principles of eco-friendly engineering:

Principle 1:
Product green, Process not

Principle 2:
Prevention rather than treatment
“It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up
waste after it is formed”

Principle 3:
Recycling of PET bottles

Principle 4:
Maximize efficiency

“Products, processes, and systems should be designed to

maximize mass, energy, space and time efficiency”

Principle 5:

Output-pulled rather than input-pushed “approaching

design through Le Chatelier’s Principle, therefore,
minimizes the amount of resources consumed to
transform inputs into desired outputs”

Principle 6:

Conserve complexity

“Embedded entropy and complexity must be viewed as

an investment when making design choices on recycle,
reuse, or beneficial disposition”
Principle 7:

Durability rather than immortality;

“It is therefore necessary to design products with a

targeted lifetime to avoid immortality of undesirable
materials in the environment. However, this strategy
must be balanced with the design of products that are
durable enough to withstand anticipated operating
conditions...”

Principle 8:

Meet Need, Not Excess

“Design for unnecessary capacity or capability (e.g., “one

size fits all”) solutions should be considered a design
flaw”

Principle 9:

Minimize material diversity

“Options for final disposition are increased through

upfront designs that minimize material diversity yet
accomplish the needed functions”

Principle 10:

Integrate Material and Energy Flows

“Design of products, processes, and systems must
include integration and interconnectivity with available
energy and materials flows”

Principle 11:

Design for commercial afterlife

“To reduce waste, components that remain functional

and valuable can be recovered for reuse and/or
reconfiguration”.

Principle 12:

Renewable rather than depleting

“Material and energy inputs should be renewable rather

than depleting”

Application areas

Eco-friendly engineering applications range from

monitoring forest health so ecologists can understand the
effects of climate change to developing renewable power-
generation technologies. While eco-friendly engineering
often conjures up images of solar power and windmills,
the application areas it could impact the most today are
nontraditional green industries, such as oil and gas,
power generation, and heavy manufacturing. These
markets can benefit and better compete in the global
economy by implementing more efficient, optimized
systems and technologies.

The Need for Green Engineering

Like putting a name to a face, as an engineer, I like to

put real numbers on these challenges. So here are some
sobering numbers. World energy consumption is around
11,294,500,000 tons of oil equivalents (TOE) and the UK
share of that in 2008 was 212,000,000 TOE according to
the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Some sources
calculate that world has used 1006 billion barrels of oil
and that there is a little less than this left in the ground.
In other words, we have passed “peak oil”. Whilst these
figures are fiercely debated, there is no doubt that most
of the easily accessible oil has been used and future
reserves will be more difficult to access, they are deeper
or in more challenging environments. The UK target for
energy generation from renewable sources is 15% by
2020, with an interim target of 10% in 2010. In 2008, the
proportion was just 2.3%.

Energy demand is only going to increase. World

population continues to increase, and more of the world
aspires to a western-style, energy hungry lifestyle. But
when we are faced with this stark future, why aren’t we
adopting solutions more quickly. One reason could be the
“endowment effect”. As a rule of thumb a new technology
needs to be twice as good, 10%-20% improvements will
not persuade most people to change.

The key to fixing these problems is engineering, and

more specifically green engineering. Green engineering is
defined as the use of measurement and control
techniques to design, develop and improve products,
technologies and processes, resulting in environmental
and economic benefits. As the eminent 19th century
physicist and engineer, Lord Kelvin, noted “If you cannot
measure it, you cannot improve it”. Measurements both
in the lab and in the field are crucial. And measurement
technology lies at the heart of the advanced embedded
control systems which are needed to deliver next
generation renewable energy, cleaner traditional energy
and more efficient energy use in industry.

What we need is a period of rapid innovation. We need

technology platforms that enable rapid innovation. The
National Instruments graphical system design platform
combines rapid application development using the NI Lab
VIEW graphical programming language, with CPU/FPGA-
based COTS hardware such as CompactRIO and a wide
range of modular I/O to enable green engineers to rapidly
prototype then deploy their proven innovations.

The deployment of new green engineering technologies is

inevitable. Commenting in 2000 the ex Saudi Arabian oil
minister Sheik Yamani said "The Stone Age came to an
end not for a lack of stones and the oil age will end, but
not for a lack of oil.” Newer and better technologies will
eventually make deep cuts in our dependence on fossil
fuels. Green engineering is here to stay and many of the
next generation will call themselves Green Engineers.

MoDOT Recycles Roads and Bridges

MoDOT can actually reuse asphalt directly in place by

heating it, processing it on the road and relaying it. The
process is called "Hot In-Place Recycling" and it saves
Missourians millions of dollars every year. Here's how it
works.
 First, the surface of the road is heated. It is processed using
specialized equipment that scarifies it on the road while mixing in a
rejuvenating agent.

The recycled asphalt is then spread back across the lane.

The refurbished material is ready for a new asphalt overlay without
leaving the site.

THE MOST INTERSTING TOPIC IN THIS PAPER

OIL FROM ALGAE!!!!!

Algae are versatile organisms that are "plant-like" but do
not have a root system or leaves. Plants pull water and
nutrients through their roots and release vapor through
their leaves in a process called transpiration. The United
States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that
an acre of corn transpires about 4,000 gallons of water a
day. Because algae do not have such a vascular system,
they use water only as a medium for growing.

Algae also are highly productive compared to

conventional crops. For example, a productivity model
estimates that 48 gallons of bio-diesel can be produced
from an acre of soybeans, whereas algae could produce
819 gallons – and theoretically as much as 5,000 gallons
– from a single acre.

Another advantage to growing algae is that varieties of

the organism have been found flourishing in all kinds of
environments – from the Arctic to tropical areas – and in
both fresh and salt water. Therefore, Murthy said,
growing algae "is not a food-versus-fuel issue; algae can
be grown using waste-water and in areas that cannot
support agriculture."

One of algae's most remarkable qualities is that it can

grow using carbon dioxide generated from fossil-fuel
combustion, according to Murthy. Greenhouse gases from
industry and coal-fired electrical-generating plants can be
piped to algae ponds, where carbon dioxide is a
necessary ingredient for growth. In fact, research has
shown that algae can grow 30 percent faster than normal
when fed carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel
combustion

Depending on the algae growth conditions, we can

usually extract 20 to 30 percent oil from it, and up to 60
percent is possible

NEXT CHALLENGE TO GREEN ENGINEERING!!??!!!

E-WASTE DISPOSAL!!!
"Electronic waste" may be defined as all secondary
computers, entertainment device electronics, mobile
phones and other items such as television sets and
refrigerator, whether sold, donated, or discarded by their
original owners. This definition includes used electronics
which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling,
or disposal. Others define the re-usable (working and
repairable electronics) and secondary scrap (copper,
steel, plastic, etc.) to be "commodities", and reserve the
term "waste" for residue or material which was
represented as working or repairable but which is
dumped or disposed or discarded by the buyer rather
than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling
operations. Because loads of surplus electronics are
frequently commingled (good, recyclable, and non-
recyclable), several public policy advocates apply the
term "e-waste" broadly to all surplus electronics. The
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
includes discarded CRT monitors in its category of
"hazardous household waste" considers CRTs set aside
for testing to be commodities if they are not discarded,
speculatively accumulated, or left unprotected from
weather and other damage.
THIS NATURE CANCER ACTUALLY IS:

In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals

in landfills come from discarded electronics, while
electronic waste represents only 2% of America's trash in
landfills. The EPA states that unwanted electronics totaled
2 million tons in 2005. Discarded electronics represented
5 to 6 times as much weight as recycled electronics. The
Consumer Electronics Association says that U.S.
households spend an average of $1,400 annually on an
average of 24 electronic items, leading to speculations of
millions of tons of valuable metals sitting in desk drawers.
The U.S. National Safety Council estimates that 75% of all
personal computers ever sold are now gathering dust as
surplus electronics. While some recycle, 7% of cell phone
owners still throw away their old cell phones.

Surplus electronics have extremely high cost differentials.

A single repairable laptop can be worth hundreds of
dollars, while an imploded cathode ray tube (CRT) is
extremely difficult and expensive to recycle. This has
created a difficult free-market economy. Large quantities
of used electronics are typically sold to countries with
very high repair capability and high raw material
demand, which can result in high accumulations of
residue in poor areas without strong environmental laws.
Trade in electronic waste is controlled by the Basel
Convention. The Basel Convention Parties have
considered the question of whether exports of hazardous
used electronic equipment for repair or refurbishment are
considered as Basel Convention hazardous wastes,
subject to import and export controls under that
Convention. In the Guidance document produced on that
subject, that question was left up to the Parties, however
in the working group all of the Parties present believed
that when material is untested, or contains hazardous
parts that would need to be replaced as part of the repair
process, and then the Convention did apply.

Like virgin material mining and extraction, recycling of

materials from electronic scrap has raised concerns over
toxicity and carcinogenicity of some of its substances and
processes. Toxic substances in electronic waste may
include lead, mercury, and cadmium. Carcinogenic
substances in electronic waste may include
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Capacitors,
transformers, and wires insulated with or components
coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), manufactured
before 1977, often contain dangerous amounts of PCBs.

Up to 38 separate chemical elements are incorporated

into electronic waste items. Many of the plastics used in
electronic equipment contain flame retardants. These are
generally halogens added to the plastic resin, making the
plastics difficult to recycle. Due to the flame retardants
being additives, they easily leach off the material in hot
weather, which is a problem because when disposed of,
electronic waste is generally left outside. The flame
retardants leach into the soil and recorded levels were 93
times higher than soil with no contact with electronic
waste. The unsustainability of discarding electronics and
computer technology is another reason commending the
need to recycle or to reuse electronic waste.

When materials cannot or will not be reused,

conventional recycling or disposal via landfill often
following. Standards for both approaches vary widely by
jurisdiction, whether in developed or developing
countries. The complexity of the various items to be
disposed of, the cost of environmentally approved
recycling systems, and the need for concerned and
concerted action to collect and systematically process
equipment are challenges. One study indicates that two
thirds of executives are unaware of fines related to
environmental regulations.

NOW COMES THE ENGINEERING SOLUTION

Today the electronic waste recycling business is in all
areas of the developed world a large and rapidly
consolidating business. Electronic waste processing
systems have matured in recent years, following
increased regulatory, public, and commercial scrutiny,
and a commensurate increase in entrepreneurial interest.
Part of this evolution has involved greater diversion of
electronic waste from energy-intensive down cycling
processes (e.g., conventional recycling), where
equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This
diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The
environmental and social benefits of reuse include
diminished demand for new products and virgin raw
materials (with their own environmental issues); larger
quantities of pure water and electricity for associated
manufacturing; less packaging per unit; availability of
technology to wider swaths of society due to greater
affordability of products; and diminished use of landfills.
Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo
equipment, mobile phones, other handheld devices, and
computer components contain valuable elements and
substances suitable for reclamation, including lead,
copper, and gold.

In developed countries, electronic waste processing

usually first involves dismantling the equipment into
various parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit
boards, plastics), often by hand. The advantages of this
process are the human's ability to recognize and save
working and repairable parts, including chips, transistors,
RAM, etc. The disadvantage is that the labor is often
cheapest in countries with the lowest health and safety
standards.

In an alternative bulk system, a hopper conveys material

for shredding into a sophisticated mechanical separator,
with screening and granulating machines to separate
constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to
smelters or plastics recyclers. Such recycling machinery
is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. Most of
the emissions are caught by scrubbers and screens.
Magnets, eddy currents, and trommel screens are
employed to separate glass, plastic, and ferrous and
nonferrous metals, which can then be further separated
at a smelter. Leaded glass from CRTs is reused in car
batteries, ammunition, and lead wheel weights, [19] or sold
to foundries as a fluxing agent in processing raw lead ore.
Copper, gold, palladium, silver, and tin are valuable
metals sold to smelters for recycling. Hazardous smoke
and gases are captured, contained, and treated to
mitigate environmental threat. These methods allow for
safe reclamation of all valuable computer construction
materials.[16] Hewlett-Packard product recycling solutions
manager Renee St. Denis describes its process as: "We
move them through giant shredders about 30 feet tall
and it shreds everything into pieces about the size of a
quarter. Once your disk drive is shredded into pieces
about this big, it's hard to get the data off."[30]

An ideal electronic waste recycling plant combines

dismantling for component recovery with increased cost-
effective processing of bulk electronic waste.

Reuse is an option to recycling because it extends the

lifespan of a device. Devices still need eventual recycling,
but by allowing others to purchase used electronics,
recycling can be postponed and value gained from device
use.

BACK BONE OF A GREEN FUTURE!!!

Industrial Ecology
• Industrial metabolism is the basic concept upon
which industrial ecology is based.
• Industrial ecology is a means of designing and
operating industrial systems as systems
interdependent with natural systems.

• Industrial ecology involves application of systems

science to industrial systems, proper definition of the
system boundary to incorporate the natural world,
and optimization of the systems in under
consideration.

• It is characterized by exchange of materials and

energy within aIt network of industrial, commercial,
or municipal facilities to the e
• Mutual benefit of each and all entities in the network.

• The prime example of the employment of industrial

ecology
• concepts is located in Kalundborg , Denmark, where
a number of industrial facilities are interconnected in
such a manner that wastes or byproducts from one
facility provide feedstock for other facilities
FEATHERS FROM THE HAT OF GREEN
ENGINEERING

CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN

 A biological nutrient is a material or product that is

designed to return to the biological cycle.

 A technical nutrient is a material or product that is

designed to go back into the technical cycle, into the
industrial metabolism that made it. Isolating the
technical nutrient from the biological nutrient allows
it to retain its high quality in a closed-loop industrial
cycle.
  Example: design of a new upholstery fabric Example:
fabric

 Initially considered a recycled PET/cotton

combination that sounds great(recycled and natural)
until one sees that the PET will not degrade and the
cotton cannot re-circulate in industrial cycles

 Instead of filtering out mutagens, carcinogens,

endocrine disrupters, persistent toxins, and
bioaccumulative substances at the end of the
process, a filter was applied to the design, rather
than the waste stream applied stream

 Eight thousand chemicals were eliminated for their

negative effects; 38 were selected for their positive
effects. selected effects
 A textile was created that can be thrown on the
compost pile at the end of its

ENGINEERING DESIGNS
 Process heat integration Process integration

 Uses the heat from streams that need cooling to heat

streams that need heating

 Prevents pollution by reducing the need for fuels and

for cooling tower operation cooling operation

 Done by heat exchange network (HEN) synthesis

Done synthesis

 One method is to use a ““pinch pinch””diagram,

which determines the extent to which heat transfer is
possible and helps determine which hot stream
should be paired with which cold stream which
stream
CONCLUSION
PROVING THE WORLD
As society’s environmental and energy challenges
become more acute, innovative engineers and scientists
must step up to measure and fix the world around them.

It is apparent that green applications will be the

engineering and technology focus for the next 5-10 years.
Advances in eco-friendly engineering technology will
continue to empower engineers and scientists to solve
complex environmental issues while encouraging them to
improve their products and processes.

BY:
SHARATH, ECE B, II YR
YUVASRI, ECE B, II YR