Abstract
Nowadays environmental impact assessment of a new product is necessary to meet rising sustainability requirements also in the Oil & Gas and Power Generation markets, especially for industrial gas turbines. From the conceptual phase to the detailed design, engineer’s work is supported by a wide range of tools aimed to define and evaluate typical parameters such as performances, life and costs, etc. However, considering environmental impact aspects from the early stages of product development may not be easy if the involved engineers are not provided by a specific Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) knowledge.
Scope of this paper is to introduce and explain the development of a methodology aimed to define and evaluate the Key Environmental Performance Factors (KEPF) during the whole design process. The proposed methodology enables easy and fast eco-design evaluations and supports sustainable design assessments. Preliminary analysis of the entire processes involved in gas turbine (GT) design and production as well as testing and commissioning phases were performed to evaluate which factors affect mostly the Carbon Footprint of each process, referred to their specific functional unit. Extrapolating the KEPF from Cradle-to-Gate LCA they can be combined with case-specific qualitative and quantitative information such as material selection, manufacturing processes, mass quantity, presence of coatings etc. to provide environmental assessments.
A case study of LCA applied to a heavy-duty GT is presented to outline the relative weight of each KEPF.
Sustainable manufacturing: Effect of material selection and design on the environmental impact in the manufacturing process
