Integrating Life Cycle Inventory and Process Design Techniques for the Early Estimate of Energy and Material Consumption Data

Serena Righi, Filippo Baioli, Alessandro Dal Pozzo and Alessandro Tugnoli
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Serena Righi: CIRSA Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali, Università di Bologna, via S. Alberto 163, 48123 Ravenna, Italy
Filippo Baioli: CIRSA Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali, Università di Bologna, via S. Alberto 163, 48123 Ravenna, Italy
Alessandro Dal Pozzo: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali, Università di Bologna, via Terracini n.28, 40131 Bologna, Italy
Alessandro Tugnoli: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali, Università di Bologna, via Terracini n.28, 40131 Bologna, Italy

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to identify direct and indirect environmental burdens associated with products, processes and services. A critical phase of the LCA methodology is the collection of representative inventory data for the energy and material streams related to the production process. In the evaluation of new and emerging chemical processes, measured data are known only at laboratory scale and may have limited connection to the environmental footprint of the same process implemented at industrial scale. On the other hand, in the evaluation of processes already established at commercial scale, the availability of process data might be hampered by industrial confidentiality. In both cases, the integration of simple process design techniques in the LCA can contribute to overcome the lack of primary data, allowing a more correct quantification of the life cycle inventory. The present paper shows, through the review of case study examples, how simplified process design, modeling and simulation can support the LCA framework to provide a preliminary estimate of energy and material consumption data suitable for environmental assessment purposes. The discussed case studies illustrate the implementation of process design considerations to tackle availability issues of inventory data in different contexts. By evidencing the case-specific nature of the problem of preliminary conceptual process design, the study calls for a closer collaboration of process design experts and life cycle analysts in the green development of new products and processes.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; green chemistry; chemical process; conceptual design; chemical process simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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