Influence of the Composition on the Environmental Impact of a Casting Magnesium Alloy

Isabel García Gutiérrez, Daniel Elduque, Carmelo Pina, Rafael Tobajas and Carlos Javierre
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Isabel García Gutiérrez: i+AITIIP, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza EINA, María de Luna 3, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Daniel Elduque: i+AITIIP, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza EINA, María de Luna 3, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Carmelo Pina: BSH Electrodomésticos España, S.A., Avda. de la Industria, 49, 50016 Zaragoza, Spain
Rafael Tobajas: i+AITIIP, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza EINA, María de Luna 3, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Carlos Javierre: i+AITIIP, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza EINA, María de Luna 3, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: The influence of the composition of magnesium alloys on their environmental impact was analyzed. In order to perform a more accurate environmental impact calculation, life cycle assessment (LCA) with the ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint and IPCC 2013 GWP (100 y) methodology was used, taking the EcoInvent AZ91 magnesium alloy dataset as reference. This dataset has been updated with the material composition range of several alloys included in the European standard EN 1753:2019. The balanced, maximum, and minimum environmental impact values were obtained. In general, the overall impact of the studied magnesium alloys varied from 3.046 Pt/kg to 4.853 Pt/kg and from 43.439 kg CO 2 eq./kg to 55.427 kg CO 2 eq./kg, depending on the composition. In the analysis of maximum and minimum environmental impacts, the alloy that had the highest uncertainty was 3.5251, with a range of ±7.20%. The element that contributed the most to increase its impact was silver. The AZ91 alloy, provided by the EcoInvent dataset, had a lower environmental impact than all the magnesium alloys studied in this work. The content of critical raw materials (CRMs) was also assessed, showing a high content in CRMs, between 89.72% and 98.22%.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; material composition; environmental impact; magnesium alloy; critical raw materials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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