Measuring Material Cycling in Industrial Systems

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Life-Cycle Assessment Inventory and Impact
Assessment
Reid Bailey
MEE 499/590 Design for the Environment Summer 2001
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Phases of a Life Cycle Assessment
I.
Goal Definition and Scope
Inventory Analysis
IV.
II.
Interpretation
LCI
Impact Assessment
III.
LCIA
(ISO/FDIS 14040, 1997)
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General Model of LCIA
Categories
Global Warming Potential
Resource Depletion
Al extraction
CO2 emissions
Aquatic Toxicity
methane emissions
CFCs

Fe in landfill
Acetone
Photochemical Smog
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LCA Continuum
even the most complete LCAs will not
satisfactorily address all of the
limitations you must find the balance point
between completeness/rigor time.
Full Comprehensive LCA
Ecoscreening
Extensive LCA
Streamlined LCA
LCA Scoping
LiDS Wheel
EIO-LCA EI-99
Embodied Energy
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A look ahead examples of inventory analysis
Goal Scope
Inventory Analysis
Impact Assessment
Interpretation
establishing the physical basis identification
and quantification of material and energy usage
throughout a products life cycle
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LCI

• Develop a flow diagram of material and energy
  inputs and outputs for each life cycle stage of
  the product
• Data collection
• develop a plan what data quality is required?
• collect the data
• Evaluate and report results
• check for conservation of mass
• is data sufficient for goals and scope and for
  the impact assessment? iterate as needed

keep in mind LCIA capabilities dont collect
data that you cant use
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Material Inputs (product, process, other)
Material Outputs (product, emissions, waste,
effluents)
Life Cycle Stage
Energy Inputs (process, other)
Energy Outputs (transportation, major process
outputs)
-- conservation of mass and energy --
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Food for Thought, LCI In Detail
Manu- facturing
Distrib- ution
Materials
Use
End-of-Life
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BUT, you dont need that level of detail in an
LCI to complete an LCA
others have done a lot of work for you
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Coffee Maker Example
Coffee
Paper
PS
Alum.
Steel
Glass
Transport/ processing
Filter production
Injection Molding
Extrusion
Press/ Form
Forming
Assembly/ Transport
Water
Packaging
Electricity
Use
Coffee/Filters
Machine/ packaging
Note data collection is affected by impact
strategy Eco-indicator
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Coffee
Paper
PS
Alum.
Steel
Glass
Transport/ processing
Filter production
Injection Molding
Extrusion
Press/ Form
Forming
Assembly/ Transport
Water
Packaging
Electricity
Use
Coffee/Filters
Machine/ packaging
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Materials
Coffee
Paper
PS
Alum.
Steel
Glass
Transport/ processing
Filter production
Injection Molding
Extrusion
Press/ Form
Forming
Manu- facturing
Assembly/ Transport
Distrib- ution
Packaging
Water
Electricity
Use
Use
Coffee/Filters
Machine/ packaging
End-of-Life
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YSI 5300 YSI 5300a
Alum.
Cu
PC
Cu
Steel
Materials
Sheet
Inj. Mold
Manu- facturing
Bend
Elect- ricity
Elect- ricity
Use
Use
Use
End-of-Life
Alum.
Cu
PC
Cu
Steel
Landfill
Landfill
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Inventory Structure of Manufacture Structural
layout for the modeling
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Inventory Structure of Use Structural layout for
the modeling
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Inventory Structure of End of Life
(EoL) Structural layout for the modeling
Energy (power)/Fuels
kg
kWh/kg
Disposal
Shredding
No specific emissions are available today!
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Data for LCI Models

• Set data quality goals
• e.g., 95 of all material and energy accounted
  for
• Document data sources/types
• measured
• modeled
• sampled
• surrogate (non-site specific)
• vendor
• guesstimate
• Develop data collection worksheet
• EPA Strategy
• (estimate at first, if important, collect more
  exact data)

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Data Reporting
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Coffeemaker
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Goal Scope
Inventory Analysis
Impact Assessment
Interpretation
determining environmental impact from inventory
data
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Impact Assessment
Objective Connect the material and energy flows
over a products life cycle to environmental
impact
Eco-Indicator 99 traditional LCA (relates
material and energy to impact categories), all
impacts are aggregated EIO-LCA aggregated
impacts per dollar output Embodied Energy
greater embodied energy equals more impact, all
impacts in one common unit LiDs Wheel use less
material and energy and avoid toxic substances
over the life cycle of a product (qualitative
heuristics for assessment of impact)
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Eco-Indicator 99

• When to Use?
• hard data available (redesign of existing
  product/late in design process)
• product is composed of common materials with
  common processes

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EI-99 Specifics
Damage Categories
LCI
Impact Categories
Impact
Concentrations
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Damage Model
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Relative Influence of Each Impact
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The Tables
1 Pt (annual environmental load of
European)(1/1000)
all of the preceding is taken into account for
common

• materials
• processess
• uses of electricity
• end-of-life options

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EI 99 Tables
Production of Materials (millipoints/kg)
extraction of raw materials up to production of
bulk material, including transportation along
during these stages
Processing (millipoints)
emissions from the process itself and the energy
generation necessary to run process
Transportation (millipoints/tkm)
impact from extraction and production of fuel and
from use of fuel during transport accounts for
non-full loads and possible empty return journey
accounts for capital goods such as trucks and
rail infrastructure
Use (millipoints/kWh)
impacts from the extraction and product of fuels
and the actual generation of electricity
accounts for infrastructure
End-of-Life (millipoints/kg)
many possibilities (household waste, municipal
waste, incineration, landfill, recycling),
similar level of impact accounted for as for above
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Coffeemaker
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YSI 5300