Life-cycle assessment of using liquid hazardous waste as an alternative energy source during Portland cement manufacturing: A United States case study

The goal of this study was to use life cycle assessment to evaluate whether using liquid hazardous waste as an alternative fuel source in cement manufacturing processes located in the United States improves system environmental impact when compared with a facility using coal. Results from this study indicate that replacing coal with hazardous waste reduces the environmental impacts associated with the global warming impact, acidification impact, and freshwater ecotoxicity, while the human toxicity impacts for cancer and eutrophication-related environmental impacts increase. Reducing grid purchased electricity by recuperating waste heat from the process, cooling the exhaust gases and generating electricity to offset electrical demand, could reduce environmental impacts associated with off-site grid purchased electricity and should be considered for further environmental impact reductions. In addition, these results confirm that there are certain positive environmental effects associated with the co-burning of hazardous waste during cement manufacturing and replacing fossil fuels, such as coal, with high energy content hazardous waste.