NDLI: Comparative environmental performance of semi-trailer load boxes for grain transport made of different materials

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Teixeira, Cláudia Echevenguá Sartori, Luciane Fitti, Alexandra Rodrigues
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	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 the main 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.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.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.The TLS load boxes offer greater durability than wood panel load boxes, resulting in a smaller number of replacement TLS load boxes to fulfill the same functional unit. However, even considering the smaller number of replacement boxes, the difference in terms of impact points between the two types of load boxes was small. This result may seem counter-intuitive, since wood panel load box production employs more raw materials, generates more waste, and consumes more water than the TLs panel load box production. Non-standardization of the boundaries of the databases employed in the LCA is believed to be a major reason that only a small difference was found between material types in the LCA. This is particularly true with respect to the databases for disposal of residual materials, as these databases do not exist in Brazilian inventories or are not satisfactory available in other databases. Improvement of these datasets for Brazilian circumstances should be a priority.The TLS panel load boxes provided better overall environmental performance compared with the wood panel load boxes, considering both the mass balance analysis and LCA results. The quality of the databases employed in the analysis is a critical factor with respect to the adequacy of the LCA. Additional effort is necessary to create adequate datasets for use in Brazilian LCA, particularly with respect to waste disposal.
Starting Page	212
Ending Page	220
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09483349
Journal	The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Volume Number	15
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	16147502
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2009-12-03
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Comparative LCA Environmental performance Grain transportation Synthetic panel Wood panel Environmental Economics Environment
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Environmental Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Combined application of LCA and eco-design for the sustainable production of wood boxes for wine bottles storage

Wooden building products in comparative LCA : A literature review

Wood & other renewable resources: A challenge for LCA

LCA of beech manufactured products

Recycling in buildings: an LCA case study of a thermal insulation panel made of polyester fiber, recycled from post-consumer PET bottles

Environmental performance assessment of hardboard manufacture

A semi-quantitative method for the impact assessment of emissions within a simplified life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment of wood-based heating in Norway

LCA of land-based freight transportation: facilitating practical application and including accidents in LCIA

Comparative environmental performance of semi-trailer load boxes for grain transport made of different materials

Similar Documents

Combined application of LCA and eco-design for the sustainable production of wood boxes for wine bottles storage

Wooden building products in comparative LCA : A literature review

Wood & other renewable resources: A challenge for LCA

LCA of beech manufactured products

Recycling in buildings: an LCA case study of a thermal insulation panel made of polyester fiber, recycled from post-consumer PET bottles

Environmental performance assessment of hardboard manufacture

A semi-quantitative method for the impact assessment of emissions within a simplified life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment of wood-based heating in Norway

LCA of land-based freight transportation: facilitating practical application and including accidents in LCIA

Comparative environmental performance of semi-trailer load boxes for grain transport made of different materials