Condition Assesment 2015 D10 2 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT MEDIUM VOLTAGE FOR FRENCH MARKET PDF
Condition Assesment 2015 D10 2 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT MEDIUM VOLTAGE FOR FRENCH MARKET PDF
Condition Assesment 2015 D10 2 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT MEDIUM VOLTAGE FOR FRENCH MARKET PDF
D10.2
ECO-DESIGN THEORY
ABSTRACT
For several years, GENERAL CABLE France has
integrated eco-design in the heart of its activity. The life
cycle assessment of the cable is used to identify
environmental impact of products. This includes the
extraction of raw materials, its end of life in terms of
natural resources consumption (materials, energy ...),
their production impacts but also wastes generated.
With the concern of environment respect and in addition
to life cycle assessment of our Medium Voltage
products for French market, the autors have chosen to
describe the launched approach to minimize the
environmental impact of cables.
Assessments conducted through EIME software
(Environmental Information and Management Explorer)
enabled to clearly identify the impacts and to highlight
potential improvements of MV products with new raw
materials or appropriate design.
KEYWORDS
INTRODUCTION
Environmental impact is more and more taken into
account and the aim of eco-design method is to decrease
it. Industries must integrate in enterprise policy which
includes design, manufacturing and commercialization, an
eco-responsible approach.
Establishing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows to
quantify and after, to compare environmental impacts in
order to see new sources of improvement.
The objective of this paper is to introduce the Life Cycle
Assessment process, and to highlight potential solutions
to improve environmental impact of Medium Voltage
cables used for the French Market.
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LCA ESTABLISHMENT
of
Impact indicators
Global Warming Potential (GWP): The greenhouse
effect is a natural phenomenon amplified by human
activities and it causes global warming.
Contributors: C02, Methane, Nox
Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP): Result of interaction
between chemical component of air and UV radiation.
Contributors: CFC, agricultural pesticides, CO2
Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP):
Result of chemical reactions between different
components creating Ozone at low altitude.
Contributors: Nox, COVs
Air Acidification (AA): Change in an environment's
natural chemical balance caused by an increase in the
concentration of acidic elements.
Contributors: Sulphur and nitrogen, ammoniac
Air Toxicity (AT) / Water Toxicity (WT): Dangerousness
of certain substances in function of a dilution factor to
bring them back to a regulatory level.
Contributors: Heavy metals, dioxins
Water Eutrophication (WE): Ecosystem response (algae
Figure 4: Inventory
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computes
LCA of a product
Replacement of raw materials or integration of
recycled materials
New supplier
Design
comparison
nature,)
(sections,
conductor
Sheath
material
PE with
decreasing
of the
thickness
PEbased
blend
Recycled
PE
PVC
Design
changes
Thickness
Material
and
thickness
Material
Material
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PVC compound
Choice of sheath can have an important impact on LCA
result:
Recycled PE
PE-based blend
Sheath thickness decreasing
Design optimization is the first and the simplest step to
Eco-design.
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CONCLUSION
EIME (Environmental Information and Management
Explorer) is an appropriate tool to describe the complete
life of a MV cable. We identified the most impacting steps,
which are still manufacturing and using phases.
Some configurations allow to highlight the notable
reductions of environmental impact: Use a recycled PE
seems to be a good way. On the contrary, PVC has a bad
effect on environmental impact.
However, even if two products/designs can be compared,
results must be carefully analyzed before interpretations:
Is the same functional unit? Is the same product? Etc
REFERENCES
[1] Bureau Veritas CODDE, EIME software and EIME
designer training, E.Lees-Perasso.
Figure 12: Comparison between different
configurations
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