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- Title
Comparative environmental performance of semi-trailer load boxes for grain transport made of different materials.
- Authors
Teixeira, Cláudia Echevenguá; Sartori, Luciane; Finotti, Alexandra Rodrigues
- Abstract
Background, aim, and scope Semi-trailers with load boxes are the most important mode of grain transport by land in the world. Load boxes can be produced with different materials such as: wood, steel, and synthetic material. They are responsible for effectiveness retention and quality of grains during the transport.Among themain aspects to be considered and valued when selecting materials for load boxes are the final mass of the semi-trailer, loss of grains, and mechanical properties. Environmental performance is another important aspect to be taken into account for developing and selecting new materials in this kind of application. This study presents a comparative environmental evaluation of load boxes built from two different materials (a wood panel and a three-layer synthetic (TLS) panel). Mass balance and life cycle assessment (LCA) were used in this study. Materials and methods The TLS panel is made of polyvinyl chloride, metal, and wood sheets. The wood panel is composed of a marine plywood, protected with latex paint. Each semi-trailer is 7.1 m long and has two load boxes. Mass balance allowed the evaluation of the productive process itself, considering the different materials used, water and energy consumption and solid waste generation. LCA was applied to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the production, use, and end-of-life (EOL) processes for the two different types of load box panels. LCA followed the ISO 14040 standard and was performed with the SimaPro 7.0 software. The functional unit of the load boxes is defined as: to allow and to protect the transportation of 40 tons per journey of dry grains, for 10 years, traveling 120,000 km per year. The databases selected for this study were local ones produced by different authors that presented Brazilian inventories (petroleum, PVC, wood, electrical energy, steel, and natural gas). When local databases were not available, inventories from Buwal and Ecoinvent were used. Impact evaluation was performed with the Eco-indicator 95 method. Results The mass of materials necessary to build wood panel load boxes is four times higher than the mass of material required to build the TLS panel load boxes. Furthermore, solid waste generation is ten times higher for the wood panels (on a mass basis). Water consumption is also higher for the production of the wood panel load boxes. However, the mass balance analysis showed that energy consumption during production is higher for a TLS panel load box than for the wood panel load box. The results of the LCA showed that the TLS panel load boxes provide superior environmental performance compared with wood panel load boxes. However, the wood boxes panel scored only 10.7% more impact points than the TLS panel load boxes in the LCA, considering all phases, including production, use, and end-of-life processes. The use phase is responsible for more than 96% of the total impact points for the wood panel load boxes. Impact points for the TLS load boxes are 33% higher than for the wood panel boxes during the production phase.…
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL impact analysis; MATERIALS handling; STEEL industry; ENERGY shortages; GAS companies; PRIMARY commodities; NATURAL gas prospecting; MASS production
- Publication
International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2010, Vol 15, Issue 2, p212
- ISSN
0948-3349
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11367-009-0138-9