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Updated: Sep 13, 2025

Quantification of Heavy Metals and Other Inorganic Contaminants on the Productivity of Microalgae
Published on: July 10, 2015
Comprehensive environmental assessment of typical Chinese industrial metal production processes
Zhaolong Wang1,2,3, Han Cui4,5,2, Wenyi Yan1
1National Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Beijing Engineering Research Centre of Process Pollution Control, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Abstract:
To promote energy conservation and emission reduction, a quantitative assessment of pollutants from metal production is imperative. However, conventional life cycle assessment cannot provide detail environmental impact assessment for pollutants (e.g., waste water, waste gas, and solid waste) in metal productions. In this research, by analyzing 39 kinds of pollutants, a comprehensive environmental assessment (CEA) was conducted for 31 kinds of typical industrial metal-production processes in China. For CEA, Li, In, Cr, K, and Hg have higher environmental impact. Under global warming potential (GWP), 5 metals with higher carbon emission impacts are as follows: Nb > Ta > Mo > Cr > Au. A comprehensive analysis of CEA and GWP revealed that Cr has the most severe environmental impact (CEA: 74.99; GWP: 48500 kg CO2 eq./kg), while Ca exhibits the minimal influence (CEA: 0.05; GWP: 1.02 kg CO2 eq./kg). Overall, this research offers valuable insights to optimize relevant production processes.
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