Resource-saving technology. Industrial technologies. Newest technologies

Modern industry is developing very dynamically. In contrast to past years, this development is proceeding in an intensive way, with the involvement of the latest scientific developments. The resource-saving technology is of great importance. This term is understood as a whole system of measures aimed at a significant reduction in the consumption of resources provided that a high level of product quality remains. Ideally, they try to achieve the lowest possible level of consumption of raw materials.

Prerequisites for the widest possible implementation

Despite the efforts of environmental organizations and lawmakers, there is no need to speak about any significant reduction in the harm that is inflicted on the environment by industrial enterprises. Only in Russia, the damage from industrial emissions is estimated at 150 billion rubles per year, and in the United States this figure even reaches about 7% of domestic GDP!

World experience shows that the costs of resource-saving technology at the first stage of its implementation are not comparable with the costs of leveling the consequences of using obsolete and dirty methods of production. The terms of full payback of new technologies do not exceed five years.

A great danger is the gradual depletion of minerals. So, just 50 years ago, iron ore deposits were not developed if the iron content in them was less than 50-60%. Today, the extraction of even the ore, in which not more than 30% of the metal, begins.

Even the ash content of coals used at CHP plants today exceeds 30%, whereas in the 1960s this index did not exceed 20%. Some cities are forced to use raw materials for heating, ash content of which exceeds 55%. Moreover, in some cases active extraction of raw materials even from dumps of the past years already begins. All this contributes to a sharp increase in the amount of waste. Thus, resource-saving technology is extremely important, since it allows industry and the national economy to consume less raw materials, producing more products.

How are resources saved?

In most cases, the reduction in the amount of consumed resources is achieved through the re-use of waste materials. So, at a steel smelting now it is applied not less than 30% of modular scrap metal, at manufacture of a paper it is undertaken to 25% of paper for recycling. The production of non-ferrous metals uses at least 20% of secondary raw materials. It should be noted that the amount of capital investment for the widespread introduction of recycling technologies for waste materials is exactly four times lower than when creating production complexes for mining.

Considering the fact that it is not necessary to invest in steelmaking, these technologies allow a minimum of one third to reduce the thermal pollution of the environment. Simply put, the harm of the greenhouse effect is reduced. In a word, investing in these developments is very profitable.

What do resource-saving technologies allow?

First, any resource-saving technology can seriously reduce the amount of waste and emissions into the environment. For example, with the involvement of chlorine-containing waste from the metallurgical titanium plants into the processing, the level of chlorine emissions into the environment was reduced by 50%!

Areas that were previously occupied by technological dumps or landfills, the latest technologies can be completely freed from debris and used for recreational purposes. By the way, sending to the processing of waste, which in many cases contain sulfur dioxide (in the same metallurgy, for example), not only significantly reduces the pollution of the environment, but also significantly reduces the amount of primary sulfur produced.

It is extremely important that new technologies develop a base for processing of polymeric waste: for example, the specific heat of two tons of plastic bottles is equal to the same value for a ton of crude oil! Thus, by creating filters of a new generation, we can heat large metropolitan areas for years, using only plastic trash from landfills ...

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Extremely high importance, which have new industrial technologies in the iron and steel industry. If the ton of scrap is melted, the pollution of the environment (compared to smelting steel from ore) is reduced by 86%, water is 76% less, and the total amount of waste is reduced by 57%! Approximately the same picture is obtained if we compare the production of paper from waste paper and primary pulp.

Do not forget about ecology!

In the light of the fact that the current situation in the ecological sphere leaves much to be desired, all modern technologies must necessarily reduce the amount of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Given the condition of the same Norilsk and other metallurgical cities today, not only in our country, but all over the world, the latest industrial technologies should not only give jobs to thousands of people in heavy industry enterprises, but also protect their health.

What are the new production methods based on?

First, mass replacement of low-quality raw materials with more modern analogues is carried out, which allow producing the same quantity of products with better quality. For example, in paint and varnish production, this approach led to the replacement of standard paints on organic solvents with water-soluble products.

For the end users, the preserved functionality of the products is also important without deteriorating its real technical characteristics. An excellent example is the replacement of a polymer film with paper in the case of a tape. Its quality remains the same, but the amount of waste and emissions into the atmosphere has sharply decreased. This is the resource-saving technologies, examples of which we cite in our article.

Of course, it is extremely important to change the technological process itself, so that it corresponds to modern realities. So, today, more and more importance is attached to the transfer of production to a continuous production cycle. This solution is much more promising than the periodic shutdown and launch of equipment, which is accompanied by a sharp increase in emissions of harmful substances.

This is also closely linked with the requirement to re-equip production for new equipment, which consumes less consumables, fuel and spare parts. Such resource-saving technologies in the industry significantly increase the manufacturability of production. This not only helps to reduce the amount of waste, but also contributes to a significant reduction in the cost of the final product.

Computers - to the masses!

For example, these include CNC machines and fully computerized production lines that can extract the required parts with the utmost precision and economy. Such machines (in comparison with conventional ones) provide a reduction in the amount of waste by 50-80%. In addition, there is no need to worry about the level of training of workers.

Note that the use of modern technologies must necessarily involve not only a maximum reduction in the amount of waste, but also their safe storage. The last item includes the following requirements:

• The place of formation of hazardous waste materials should in no way be in contact with the environment.
• All waste must be packed in such a way that it can later be easier to send them for recycling.
• If waste processing at the existing techno-technological level is not possible, they should be transferred to a state in which they have the least possible negative effect (melting down the waste nuclear fuel).
• Accordingly, containers for long-term storage should be minimally susceptible to corrosion and other negative environmental factors.

Basic examples of using resource-saving technologies

A classic example can be considered pyrolysis coal enrichment, chemical methods of ore dressing, methods of alkaline peat processing, through which not only fuel is produced, but also humic fertilizers, plant growth stimulators. All these technological "delights" not only dramatically reduce the amount of raw materials required for production, but also produce a lot of by-products. Especially it concerns the processing of peat, when using chemical reagents from ordinary raw materials for CHP even drugs are obtained!

Examples of biological and chemical processing of raw materials

If you think that the introduction of resource-saving technologies in biological production is exhausted only by new methods of obtaining biologically active additives and medicines, then you are deeply mistaken. The current level of technology development implies their use even in metallurgy.

So, more and more often bacterial leaching of metals is used, when from mines with a minimum content of matter (old dumps) it is possible to extract a lot of high-quality raw materials, without polluting the whole district with dumps from development. Even more attractive is the bacterial extraction of valuable metals ... from sewage! And we are talking not only about the metallurgical industry, but also about the drains of large megacities.

Thus, the introduction of resource-saving technologies characterizes the degree of development not only of industry, but of society as a whole. Preserving the environment around us, we transfer it to our descendants.

In addition, by leaching, it is possible to obtain a huge amount of sulfur from low-quality high-ash coal, which is not particularly suitable for anything else. By the way, in our country in recent years, the technology of biological treatment of low-quality brown coal is actively introduced, from which good artificial soil is obtained.

Building

The most common materials for construction in our time are concrete and reinforced concrete. Only in our country for the year they produce more than 250 million tons. That is why modern building technologies in no small degree accentuate the economy of resources in their release.

Resource saving in the production of reinforced concrete

The problem is that reinforced concrete is a very energy-intensive material, the production of which consumes a huge amount of electricity. To produce only one cubic meter, 470 thousand kcal are spent! If the technological processes are imperfect, or in the case when it is required to pour concrete structures somewhere on the landfill, the costs can even exceed 1 million kcal!

Considering that the national economy needs at least 12 million tons of concrete a year, energy and resource-saving technologies make it possible to save a huge amount of money.

The most significant problem is the large overexpenditure of cement by builders. There are several real ways to correct this omission. Firstly, the greatest overexpenditure of the material is observed when the builders use poor-quality fillers that do not meet a specific goal. So, most often this is manifested when instead of normal sand is used PGS.

To a large extent, it is possible to reduce costs using plasticizer additives, which are now widely represented on the international construction scene. High-quality plasticizer allows to reduce the consumption of cement at once by 20%, and the strength characteristics of the erected structure will not be affected. Considering that the newest technologies in the industry allow producing hundreds of their names, plasticizing additives should be used in any suitable case.

Other energy costs

With isothermal aging in steel form, one cubic meter of concrete "eats" at least 60 thousand kcal. If the equipment is defective, the heat loss increases exponentially. So, in some factories this figure exceeds 200 thousand kcal per one cubic meter of concrete. Thus, it is possible to reduce the excessive consumption of resources by more than three times, simply by repairing the equipment used in concrete production on time.

A very promising method is heating the plasticized mixture with electricity (in winter). In this case, it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of not only the cement, but also the plasticizer in the mixture.

Other ways to save cement

It should be noted that a huge negative role is played by huge losses of cement during its transportation. In no case can this material be loaded open-pit, transport with frequent overloads is not allowed. The loss of cement becomes simply gigantic, if it is first carried by sea transport, then overloaded to the railway platforms, from which it is carried by cars.

These losses can be avoided if the cement clinker is transported to distant areas. It can be unloaded unlimited times. When the material is delivered to the work site, the clinker is simply ground, obtaining high-quality cement in the required quantity.

Extremely important is also the correct selection of concrete grades, which would really correspond to a specific task. Practice shows that more than 30% of the total loss of cement accounts for cases when builders use the wrong grades of concrete. As a result, there are cases when the work has to be completely redone.

Thus, the development of modern technologies should help preserve the resources used in all branches of science and industry. Introducing new methods of production, we can reduce the amount of harmful emissions in air and water, save the environment for all future generations.