A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds

In our research, we analyzed the energy and water consumption in diamond mining and laboratory synthesis operations. We used publicly available reports issued by two market leaders, DeBeers and ALROSA, to estimate water and energy use per carat of a rough diamond. The efficiency of the two most popu...

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Autores principales:	Vladislav Zhdanov, Marina Sokolova, Pavel Smirnov, Lukasz Andrzejewski, Julia Bondareva, Stanislav Evlashin
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	energy efficiency water intake diamond mining high-pressure high-temperature chemical vapor deposition Technology T
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e394976f52a4410a8877db75865ef485
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e394976f52a4410a8877db75865ef4852021-11-11T15:52:13ZA Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds10.3390/en142170621996-1073https://doaj.org/article/e394976f52a4410a8877db75865ef4852021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7062https://doaj.org/toc/1996-1073In our research, we analyzed the energy and water consumption in diamond mining and laboratory synthesis operations. We used publicly available reports issued by two market leaders, DeBeers and ALROSA, to estimate water and energy use per carat of a rough diamond. The efficiency of the two most popular synthesis technologies for artificial diamonds—High-Pressure-High-Temperature (HPHT) and Microwave-assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (M-CVD)—was examined. We found that the modern HPHT presses, with open cooling circuits, consume about 36 kWh/ct when producing gem-quality and average-sized (near-) colorless diamonds. ALROSA and DeBeers use about 96 kWh/ct and 150 kWh/ct, respectively, including all energy required to mine. Energy consumption of M-CVD processes can be different and depends on technological conditions. Our M-CVD machine is the least energy-efficient, requiring about 215 kWh/ct in the single-crystal regime, using 2.45-GHz magnetron for the support synthesis. The M-CVD methods of individual synthetic companies IIa Technology and Ekati Mine are different from our results and equal 77 and 143 kWh/ct, respectively. Water consumption for the HPHT and M-CVD methods was insignificant: approximately zero and 0.002 m<sup>3</sup>/ct, respectively, and below 0.077 m<sup>3</sup>/ct for ALROSA-mined diamonds. This study touches upon the impact of the diamond production methods used on the carbon footprint.Vladislav ZhdanovMarina SokolovaPavel SmirnovLukasz AndrzejewskiJulia BondarevaStanislav EvlashinMDPI AGarticleenergy efficiencywater intakediamond mininghigh-pressurehigh-temperaturechemical vapor depositionTechnologyTENEnergies, Vol 14, Iss 7062, p 7062 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	energy efficiency water intake diamond mining high-pressure high-temperature chemical vapor deposition Technology T
spellingShingle	energy efficiency water intake diamond mining high-pressure high-temperature chemical vapor deposition Technology T Vladislav Zhdanov Marina Sokolova Pavel Smirnov Lukasz Andrzejewski Julia Bondareva Stanislav Evlashin A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds
description	In our research, we analyzed the energy and water consumption in diamond mining and laboratory synthesis operations. We used publicly available reports issued by two market leaders, DeBeers and ALROSA, to estimate water and energy use per carat of a rough diamond. The efficiency of the two most popular synthesis technologies for artificial diamonds—High-Pressure-High-Temperature (HPHT) and Microwave-assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (M-CVD)—was examined. We found that the modern HPHT presses, with open cooling circuits, consume about 36 kWh/ct when producing gem-quality and average-sized (near-) colorless diamonds. ALROSA and DeBeers use about 96 kWh/ct and 150 kWh/ct, respectively, including all energy required to mine. Energy consumption of M-CVD processes can be different and depends on technological conditions. Our M-CVD machine is the least energy-efficient, requiring about 215 kWh/ct in the single-crystal regime, using 2.45-GHz magnetron for the support synthesis. The M-CVD methods of individual synthetic companies IIa Technology and Ekati Mine are different from our results and equal 77 and 143 kWh/ct, respectively. Water consumption for the HPHT and M-CVD methods was insignificant: approximately zero and 0.002 m<sup>3</sup>/ct, respectively, and below 0.077 m<sup>3</sup>/ct for ALROSA-mined diamonds. This study touches upon the impact of the diamond production methods used on the carbon footprint.
format	article
author	Vladislav Zhdanov Marina Sokolova Pavel Smirnov Lukasz Andrzejewski Julia Bondareva Stanislav Evlashin
author_facet	Vladislav Zhdanov Marina Sokolova Pavel Smirnov Lukasz Andrzejewski Julia Bondareva Stanislav Evlashin
author_sort	Vladislav Zhdanov
title	A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds
title_short	A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds
title_full	A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds
title_fullStr	A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds
title_full_unstemmed	A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds
title_sort	comparative analysis of energy and water consumption of mined versus synthetic diamonds
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e394976f52a4410a8877db75865ef485
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A Comparative Analysis of Energy and Water Consumption of Mined versus Synthetic Diamonds

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