Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 20798

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Abdelkarim Aydi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

French School Victor Hugo, Gontardstr. 11, 60488 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Interests: solubility; preferential solvation; green chemistry; physical and chemical thermodynamics; supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction; response surface methodology approaches used for modelling and optimization; heat transfer; mass transfer; economic study of the process

Dr. Lioua Kolsi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Ha’il, Ha’il 81451, Saudi Arabia
2. Department of Energy Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia
Interests: fluid mechanics; CFD; heat transfer; renewable energy; nanofluids; MHD; EHD; heat exchangers; PCM
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A sustainable green process that will allow us to reduce the human impact on the environment is urgently needed in modern society. Sadly, numerous questions must be answered first, before this can be achieved: What is the real impact of change in processes? Can we compare the impact using different green processes? What are the methods that must be used? Are the metrics and goals comparable?

This Special Issue focuses on original research articles and reviews regarding the analysis of sustainable green processes in different fields of research. The issue also aims to highlight the analysis of sustainable green processes, specifically:

(a) Analysis of green processes in the food and chemical industry,

(b) Development or application of a methodology of analysis to evaluate the impact of sustainable green processes;

In this framework, studies concerning the analysis and application of methods to evaluate green processes’ impact are welcome.

We also welcome other related arguments, in the form of both specialized and interdisciplinary manuscripts.

Prof. Dr. Abdelkarim Aydi
Prof. Dr. Lioua Kolsi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable green process
environmental impacts
analysis of sustainable green processes

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (9 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 994 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cellulolytic Bacillus Strain: Production Optimization Using Wheat Bran under Solid-State Fermentation and Investigation of Its Probiotic Potential

by Taroub Bouzaiene, Manel Ziadi, Malek Enneifer, Abir Sellami, Abdelkarim Aydi, Ameur Cherif and Moktar Hamdi

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8394; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108394 - 22 May 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1784

Abstract

Attention to the association of cellulolytic bacteria with probiotic potential as an additive in animal feeding has risen in the last decades. Such additive use in livestock feed is essential in improving animal health, growth, and production performances. This study was designed to identify probiotic characteristics and test the cellulolytic ability of Bacillus strains isolated from the dromedary gastrointestinal tract. Thus, thirty-two Bacillus strains were tested for their cellulolytic ability on cellulose Congo-red agar media. Among the isolates, only the strain D1B3 showed the largest degradation zone (2.4 cm) and was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefacians by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) retained this strain for cellulase and biomass production using wheat bran as a substrate. The fermentation was optimized through a central composite design, by exploring three factors: incubation temperature, moisture ratio, and pH. Biomass and cellulose enzyme activity were selected as responses and corresponding regression coefficients were calculated. The optimal parameters were: liquid-to-solid ratio (1.19%), pH buffer (6.2), and incubation temperature (36.99 °C) to obtain the highest level of biomass and cellulose enzyme activity reaching a value of 9.828 log CFU/g and 0.0144 g/L.min, respectively. The potentiality of Bacillus amyloliquefacians D1B3 as a probiotic was examined in vitro. It also showed antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa 9027, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli 10536. The isolate tolerates low pH and bile salt (0.3% Oxygall). The hydrophobicity and coaggregation abilities were 1.7% and 69.79%, respectively. The results indicated that Bacillus amyloliquefacians D1B3 could be a potential probiotic additive for improving in vitro fermentation of wheat bran and suggests the possibility of combining the probiotic attributes of this strain with its cellulolytic ability to enhance the rumen fermentation of animal feed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 575 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Analysis of Sulfamerazine Solubility in Acetonitrile + 1-Propanol Cosolvent Mixtures at Different Temperatures

by Claudia Patricia Ortiz, Rossember Edén Cardenas-Torres, Mauricio Herrera and Daniel Ricardo Delgado

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6596; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086596 - 13 Apr 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1399

Abstract

The current challenges of the pharmaceutical industry regarding the environmental impact caused by its waste have led to the design and development of more efficient industrial processes. In this context, solubility studies are at the core of different processes, such as formulation, preformulation, synthesis, purification, recrystallization, quantification, and quality control. This research evaluates the solubility of sulfamerazine (SMR) in acetonitrile + 1-propanol cosolvent mixtures at nine temperature levels with UV/vis spectrophotometry using the vial-shake method. According to the analysis of the solid phase in equilibrium using differential scanning calorimetry, there were no polymorphic changes. The minimal solubility of SMR was reached in 1-propanol at 278.15 K, and the maximal solubility in acetonitrile at 313.15 K. In all cases, the process was endothermic and dependent on the cosolvent composition, and the solution enthalpy drove the solution process. The solubility data were well correlated with the van’t Hoff, Yalkowsky–Roseman–van’t Hoff, Apelblat, Buchowski–Ksiazczak λh, Yaws, NRTL, Wilson, and modified Wilson models, with the YR model being one of the most attractive because it presented an excellent prediction percentage from four sets of experimental data. The solution process of SMR in acetonitrile + 1-propanol cosolvent mixtures depends on the affinity of SMR for acetonitrile and temperature increase. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 5582 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Experimental Comparison of the Performance of Various Evacuated Tube Solar Collector Designs

by Sana Said, Sofiene Mellouli, Talal Alqahtani, Salem Algarni, Ridha Ajjel, Kaouther Ghachem and Lioua Kolsi

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5533; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065533 - 21 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2678

Abstract

An experimental study was carried out to assess the thermal performance of a few evacuated tube solar collectors (ETSCs) for water heating. The thermal performance of two kinds of ETSC (heat pipe ETSC and direct-flow ETSC) was investigated using an indoor experimental apparatus in lab testing conditions with a solar simulator. Several experimental tests were carried out for the heat pipe ETSC system under different operating conditions, such as the solar intensity (300, 500, and 1000 W/m²) and the tilt angle (0°, 30° and 90°) of the ETSC and the water flow rate (0.6, 1.2, and 2.4 LPM). Moreover, four configurations of direct-flow ETSC (U tube, double U tubes, coaxial tubes, and helical tube) were examined and compared to the conventional heat pipe ETSC. The results of the experiment proved that the ETSC system presents a great performance at higher solar irradiance and lower water flow rates, and the experiments indicated that with a 30° tilt angle, the ETSC reaches the maximum thermal efficiency of 36%. Furthermore, compared to the conventional heat pipe ETSC and the other proposed configurations of direct-flow ETSCs, the helical tube-based ETSC has a better thermal efficiency, 69%, and can be considered a greater potential heat exchanger that can be integrated in ETSCs. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time this helical tube type been integrated into the ETSC and tested under these conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 536 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermodynamic Analysis of the Solubility of Propylparaben in Acetonitrile–Water Cosolvent Mixtures

by Claudia Patricia Ortiz, Rossember Edén Cardenas-Torres, Mauricio Herrera and Daniel Ricardo Delgado

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 4795; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064795 - 8 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2363

Abstract

Parabens are substances used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Recent studies have indicated that these substances have toxic potential, cause endocrine disruption and can easily bioaccumulate; therefore, their physicochemical properties are of industrial, biological and environmental interest. Due to their potential use in the development of more efficient and cleaner processes, the design of environmental recovery strategies and more reasonable designs for solubility in cosolvent mixtures, studies of thermodynamic analysis and mathematical modeling are of great interest. This research studies the solubility of propylparaben in acetonitrile + water cosolvent mixtures at nine temperatures by UV/Vis spectrophotometry, analyzing the solid phase by differential scanning calorimetry to evaluate possible polymorphic changes. The solubility of propylparaben is an endothermic process, where phase separation occurs at intermediate mixtures, reaching its minimum solubility in pure water at 278.15 K and the maximum solubility in pure acetonitrile at 315.15 K. The experimental data are well-correlated with the va not Hoff, Apelblat and Buchowski–Ksiazaczak models. The results revealed that possible microheterogeneity of the MeCN + W mixture can generate phase separation in intermediate mixtures, possibly due to the formation of solvates or hydrates. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2105 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Valorization of Lyophilized Olive Mill Wastewater: Chemical and Biochemical Approaches

by Imen Dali, Abdelrahman T. Abdelwahab, Abdelkarim Aydi, Nouha Fares, Aboulbaba Eladeb, Mondher Hamzaoui, Manef Abderrabba, Marwa A. Abdelfattah and Arbi Guetat

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3360; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043360 - 12 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1648

Abstract

Lipid composition and antioxidant activity have been carried out in order to valorize the composition of olive mill wastewater extracts with different solvents (supercritical carbon dioxide, n-hexane, dichloromethane and ethanol). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) tests. The total phenolics and flavonoid contents were, also, determined. The chemical composition of the extracted oil was established, respectively, by gas chromatography–flame ionization detector and high-performance liquid chromatography methods. The results showed that the oleic acid and equivalent carbon number of forty-eight were the major compounds of the analyzed oils. Residual olive mill wastewater from the Sousse region displayed the highest DPPH radical-scavenging activity (31.10 ± 0.10 μg/mL). The chemical analysis of extracts of OMWs showed that the n-hexane fraction contained an abundance of oleic acid (61.62%) and an equivalent carbon number of forty-eight (53.14%). The best antioxidant activity was determined for the ethanol fraction (14.5 μg/mL). The final results showed a significant difference and variations in polar and apolar components. Moreover, n-hexane extracts showed high percentages of Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) with 64% of OMWs oil composition and the dichloromethane extracts contained the largest amount of flavonoids (160.30 ± 1.70 mg EQ/g DM). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5821 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Al₂O₃ and NiO Nanoparticle Additions on the Structure and Corrosion Behavior of Sn—4% Zn Alloy Coating Carbon Steel

by Ghada A. Alshammri, Naglaa Fathy, Shereen Mohammed Al-Shomar, Alhulw H. Alshammari, El-Sayed M. Sherif and Mohamed Ramadan

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2511; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032511 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1651

Abstract

The application of a higher corrosion resistance coating modified with nano additions can effectively decrease or prevent corrosion from occurring. In the present work, a novel method is successfully developed for the modification of carbon steel surfaces aiming for high corrosion resistance using Sn—4% Zn alloy/nanoparticle composite (NiO+ Al₂O₃) coating. Sn—4% Zn alloy/nanoparticle composite (NiO+ Al₂O₃) coatings were deposed on carbon steel using a direct tinning process that involved a power mixture of Sn—4% Zn alloy along with a flux mixture. Regular coating and interface structures were achieved by individual Al₂O₃ and both NiO and Al₂O₃ nanoparticle combined additions in the Sn-Zn coating. The maximum coating thickness of 70 ± 1.8 µm was achieved for Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in the Sn-Zn coating. Interfacial intermetallic layer thickness decreased with all used nanoparticle additions in individual and hybrid conditions. The minimum intermetallic layer thickness of about 2.29 ± 0.28 µm was achieved for Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in the Sn—Zn coating. Polarization and impedance measurements were used to investigate the influence of the incorporated Al₂O₃, NiO, and hybrid Al₂O₃/NiO nanoparticles on the passivation of the low-carbon steel (LCS) corrosion and the coated Sn—Zn LCS in sodium chloride solution. It was found that the presence of Al₂O₃, NiO, and Al₂O₃/NiO nanoparticles remarkably improved the corrosion resistance. The corrosion measurements confirmed that the corrosion resistance of the coated Sn-Zn carbon steel was increased in the presence of these nanoparticles in the following order: Al₂O₃/NiO > NiO > Al₂O₃. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 4752 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interfacial Microstructure and Shear Strength Improvements of Babbitt–Steel Bimetal Composites Using Sn–Bi Interlayer via Liquid–Solid Casting

by Naglaa Fathy

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 804; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010804 - 2 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2310

Abstract

To enhance the performance of Babbitt–steel bimetallic composites, bismuth (Bi) was incorporated into the Tin (Sn)-interlayer. Babbitt–steel bimetallic composites were created using the liquid–solid compound casting method in this study. Sn–Bi interlayer alloys with varying levels of Bi (1, 2, 3, and 4 wt.%) were created. The Babbitt-steel bimetallic composite’s bonding strength and interfacial microstructure were examined in relation to Sn-Bi interlayer alloys. The structure of the interface layer at the Babbitt–steel interface’s edge and center are significantly altered when Bi is added to the Sn interlayer. The relatively higher cooling rate near the edge led to the formation of clear unsolved Sn/Sn–Bi interlayers. Otherwise, the Sn–Bi interlayers in the middle were completely dissolved. By increasing the amount of Bi in the Sn–Bi interlayer alloy, the interfacial hardness of Babbitt-steel bimetallic composites increases by increasing Bi content in Sn–Bi interlayer alloy. Babbitt-steel bimetal composites’ shear strength increased to 28.27 MPa by adding Bi to the Sn interlayer using 1 wt.% alloying, with a 10.3% increase when compared with the reference pure Sn interlayer. Future research that aims to improve the production of Babbitt-steel bimetallic composites with high-quality and long-lasting bi-metal bonding ought to take into consideration the ideal pouring temperature, the preheating of the mold, and the addition of a minor amount of Bi (Bi ≤ 1) to the Sn-interlayer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Solar Energy Yield Based on Artificial Intelligence Techniques for the Ha’il Region, Saudi Arabia

by Lioua Kolsi, Sameer Al-Dahidi, Souad Kamel, Walid Aich, Sahbi Boubaker and Nidhal Ben Khedher

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010774 - 31 Dec 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2838

Abstract

In order to satisfy increasing energy demand and mitigate global warming worldwide, the implementation of photovoltaic (PV) clean energy installations needs to become common practice. However, solar energy is known to be dependent on several random factors, including climatic and geographic conditions. Prior to promoting PV systems, an assessment study of the potential of the considered location in terms of power yield should be conducted carefully. Manual assessment tools are unable to handle high amounts of data. In order to overcome this difficulty, this study aims to investigate various artificial intelligence (AI) models—with respect to various intuitive prediction benchmark models from the literature—for predicting solar energy yield in the Ha’il region of Saudi Arabia. Based on the daily data, seven seasonal models, namely, naïve (N), simple average (SA), simple moving average (SMA), nonlinear auto-regressive (NAR), support vector machine (SVM), Gaussian process regression (GPR) and neural network (NN), were investigated and compared based on the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) performance metrics. The obtained results showed that all the models provided good forecasts over three years (2019, 2020, and 2021), with the naïve and simple moving average models showing small superiority. The results of this study can be used by decision-makers and solar energy specialists to analyze the power yield of solar systems and estimate the payback and efficiency of PV projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 8125 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Assessment of Three Latent Heat Storage Designs for a Solar Hot Water Tank

by Waleed Zakri, Sofiene Mellouli and Yahya Fageehi

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 640; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010640 - 30 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2433

Abstract

Solar hot water tanks (SHWT) based on a latent heat storage system are gaining momentum for their integration into solar heater water collectors. They can efficiently store daytime solar thermal energy and shift on-peak period loads to off-peak periods. However, their performance is generally limited by the tank configuration, the design of the thermal storage system, and the selection of the appropriate phase change material (PCM). This work presents a numerical investigation of three SHWT-PCM storage designs. A mathematical model was developed to predict the effectiveness of the geometric design and operating conditions in the SHWT-PCM system. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis was performed on the PCM type and PCM thermo-physical properties. The obtained numerical results demonstrated that the energy efficiency of the SHWT-PCM system was significantly impacted by the PCM thermo-physical properties (melting temperature, thermal conductivity, and enthalpy). In addition, it was found that using encapsulated PCM tubes with an external PCM jacket in the SHWT can result in a thermal efficiency of 70%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science)

► Show Figures

Arabic	Hebrew	Polish
Bulgarian	Hindi	Portuguese
Catalan	Hmong Daw	Romanian
Chinese Simplified	Hungarian	Russian
Chinese Traditional	Indonesian	Slovak
Czech	Italian	Slovenian
Danish	Japanese	Spanish
Dutch	Klingon	Swedish
English	Korean	Thai
Estonian	Latvian	Turkish
Finnish	Lithuanian	Ukrainian
French	Malay	Urdu
German	Maltese	Vietnamese
Greek	Norwegian	Welsh
Haitian Creole	Persian

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (9 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI