Life Cycle Assessment of an automated paper testing system A key product in the paper industry’s future
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Industrial ecology (MPTSE), MSc
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Lidfeldt, Matilda
Mårtensson, Sara
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Climate change has led to an increased usage of renewable paper products, resulting in a
greater demand for high-quality products. Therefore, the need for paper testing machines
will increase as well. In this master thesis, a life cycle assessment was conducted on ABB
Process Industries’ product L&W Autoline in size small with the three most commonly
used modules. L&W Autoline is used in pulp and paper mills to measure the quality of the
paper produced. The LCA was an attributional one, from cradle to grave. It measured the
impact categories; climate change, depletion of abiotic resources, eutrophication, acidification,
terrestrial ecotoxicity, fossil and nuclear (non-renewable energy resources) and
water (renewable energy resources). The results from this study can be used internally
to improve the product and gain knowledge in the supply chain. The report also fills a
knowledge gap regarding capital goods.
The results showed that the environmental impacts of the production phase are dominant
when L&W Autoline is used in Sweden. The main contributors in the production phase
are aluminium and the circuit boards, despite the circuit boards’ small weight relative to
the total weight of L&W Autoline. The report contains two sensitivity analyses; one that
compared the use phase between China and Sweden and another that compared the gold
coating on the circuit boards. The results from the two countries showed that the use phase
was dominant when used in China. The sensitivity analysis showed that it depends on the
electricity mix in the different countries where China’s consists of more hard coal than
Sweden’s, which mainly consists of nuclear and hydroelectricity. Therefore, it is crucial
to make the L&W Autoline energy efficient, primarily when used in countries with a
fossil-based electricity mix. The results from the sensitivity analysis regarding the gold
coating in the circuit boards showed a significant decrease in environmental impact for
both impact categories investigated. Therefore, the final recommendations are that ABB
further investigates the origin, acquisition and production of the materials, especially for
gold in the circuit boards and aluminium.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Life cycle assessment , ABB , Pulp and paper industry , Machinery , OpenLCA , Capital equipment