In this focus overview, the main types and directions of engineering, methods and techniques of intensification of chemical process systems (CPS) and process optimization of energy- and resource-efficient processes for the representative production of titanium compounds, mining waste processing systems, electrochemical coating technologies, combined technologies for the treatment of industrial effluents and energy-and resource-efficient technologies for cleaning soils from petroleum and chemical pollution products are reviewed. The following issues have been discussed: methods of complex assessment of production energy efficiency and software and information support for automated synthesis of optimal energy-efficient regenerative heat exchange systems using pinch analysis; methods and algorithms for fractal-statistical characteristics analysis of nonstationary gas flows in complex gas pipelines; methods of ecological and economic optimization of production, infrastructure supply chains; methods for assessing and preventing the dangerous environmental impact assessment of chemical pollution; organization and logistics management of business processes engineering for improving the energy efficiency of plants; engineering of problem oriented computer systems, heuristic-computational models and algorithms for intelligent integrated logistics support of the equipment life cycle; engineering developments in the field of digital transformation of energy-efficient CPS and technological production systems; application of methods for optimizing reliability factors optimization, digitalized risk and safety management in the engineering of energy- and resource efficient CPS.

A critical survey concerning biocidal energetics is proposed according to a classification depending on their chemical structure. The need of optimizing the performances of such compounds is an important target for the inertization of biological weapons, requiring a synergy between the thermal effects of combustion/detonation with the biocidal effects of reaction products released into the environment. The main physicochemical aspects related to the synthesis technique, the thermodynamic variables and the antimicrobial activity have been discussed and compared. In particular, different kinds of biocides have been taken into account, with particular attention to the role of iodine as one of the most promising and eco-friendly chemical species to this purpose, in line with the paradigms of environmental protection and the rational utilization of chemicals. Furthermore, the protocols adopted to assess the effectiveness of biocidal agents have been thoroughly examined according to the recent studies proposed by some of the most reputable research groups in the field. Finally, some insights for future investigations are proposed.

Environmental pollution is becoming ubiquitous; it has a negative impact on ecosystem diversity and worsens the quality of human life. This review discusses the possibility of applying the plant microbial fuel cells (PMFCs) technology for concurrent processes of electricity generation and the purification of water and soil ecosystems from organic pollutants, particularly from synthetic surfactants and heavy metals. The review describes PMFCs’ functioning mechanisms and highlights the issues of PMFCs’ environmental application. Generally, this work summarizes different approaches to PMFC development and to the potential usage of such hybrid bioelectrochemical systems for environmental protection.

We have proposed an impact assessment methodology for determining sustainability in energy-intensive industrial production based on a comprehensive combination of economic, environmental, and social indicators for sustainable development. The goal of this study was to disclose this methodology for assessing sustainability in energy-intensive industrial production. We proved that any energy-intensive chemical, metallurgical, and energy generation processes should maximize the material output values and product value addition to ensure innovative sustainable development. We proposed indicators that determine the levels of increasing the sustainability of energy-intensive production as a whole, as well as taking into account individual technological processes. We proposed a procedure for making managerial decisions to increase the sustainability of energy-intensive outputs using the technological renewal of fixed assets and/or technological modernization of production. Our proposed methodology is based on a graphical model of the technological development’s life cycle of the existing energy-intensive production process. In addition, the proposed methodology ensures resource- and energy-efficiency intensification, together with the environmental safety of the technological processes.

The use of nature-like technologies, leading to acceleration of the processes of natural destruction of pollutants, is one of the promising directions for oil and petroleum product degradation in the environment. The joint use of oil-degrading bacteria and natural polymers with the properties of surfactants and humic acids (HAs) in bioorganic compositions is effective. In this study, humic acids from reed peat, which have a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.6 g/L, were used as an organic component. Oil-degrading bacteria of the genera Rhodococcus and Pseudomonas, which have an increased biodegrading ability in relation to crude oil and waste engine oil, were used as a bacterial component. Mono- and polybacterial bioorganic compositions based on these components are proposed. The emulsification index is maximum (94% ± 2%) using a bioorganic composition based on the association of strains of three bacteria. Analysis of films of model petroleum products in vitro showed a high degree of their destruction after 7 days using monobacterial bioorganic compositions (up to 80%) and after 2 days using a bioorganic composition based on 3 strains (almost 90%). A high ability to stabilize emulsions of humic acids and develop bioorganic compositions has been established, which indicates a significant potential for their use for cleaning the environment from oil pollution. The use of a combination of humic acids and oil-degrading bacteria (all strains) makes it possible to achieve the maximum stabilizing effect of emulsions: the transmission coefficients of emulsions are 37–75% lower relative to control (oil-polluted water) and 50% lower in relation to humic acids.

We propose a complex sealing compound for increasing the efficiency of shutoff operations based on natural materials processing for materials such as sand, peat, rice, and husks. We studied the influence of mechanical activation processes on the mechanical and rheological properties of the developed sealants. Through mechanochemical activation, sand dissolution in a low-concentrated alkali solution was possible, and gelling the resulting sodium silicate while reinforcing it with undissolved sand particles to obtain a sealant composition. We used this approach to produce a hybrid sealing compound based on activated rice husks with up to 20% biogenic silicon dioxide combined with mechanically activated peat: the maximum shear strain of the hybrid sealant was 27.7 ± 1.7 Pa. We produced hydrogels based on sodium silicate, polyacrylamide, and chromium acetate, reinforced with mechanically activated rice husks. We studied the sealants’ rheological and filtration properties and observed the respective viscoplastic and viscoelastic properties. An increase in the dispersion concentration from 0 to 0.5% increased the maximum strain value of undestroyed hydrogel’s structure in the range 50–91 Pa and the maximum shear strain from 104 to 128 Pa. The high residual resistance factor values of the ideal fracture model make the natural and plant-renewable raw materials very promising for repair and sealing work.