Sustainability Study of a New Solid-State Aluminum Chips Recycling Process: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. DR and ARB Process
3. LCA Analysis
3.1. LCA of Direct Hot Rolling as the SSR Process
- Goal and scope definition.
- Life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis.
- Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA).
- Interpretation of results.
3.1.1. Goal and Scope Definition
3.1.2. LCI
3.1.3. LCIA
3.2. Comparison between SSR and Industrial Remelting Routes
- Traditional Recycling.
- Twin Roll Cast.
- DR + ARB.
- Melting: This initial step takes the cold-pressed sample obtained from the aluminum chips as its material input. The process requires additional inputs, such as thermal energy sourced from natural gas, and water used for dross treatment. Considering that in secondary aluminum production, there is a typical metal loss of approximately 20–45%, a total loss of 35% was assumed for this step. To obtain a cast ingot of 1 kg as input for the subsequent rolling process, the mass of compacted chips required was determined to be 1.54 kg. The material output of this step is the aluminum cast ingot, which represents the input for next step, while emissions into the air and water are additional outputs.
- Hot rolling: The cast ingot obtained from the melting stage serves as the primary input for this step. It requires electricity for both the reheating furnace and the rolling machine. The main output is the hot rolled sheet, which is prepared for subsequent cold rolling. Furthermore, considering a 10% material loss during the process, the aluminum residues are also considered as output waste.
- Cold rolling: This final step is carried out to reduce the thickness of the hot rolled sheet to the desired measurement, which, in this analysis, is determined to be 1.6 mm based on experimental procedures conducted in the laboratory. The inputs for this step include the hot rolled sheet, electricity for the rolling machine, and kerosene, which is employed as both a coolant and a lubricant. The output of this step is the cold rolled sheet, with any material loss during this particular process considered negligible.
- Melting: This step is identical to the first stage of traditional recycling, involving the same inputs and outputs. The process begins with the melting of the material, and it shares the same inputs and outputs as the melting step of traditional recycling. Therefore, the datasets and sources utilized for traditional recycling’s melting phase are also applicable to the twin roll cast process.
- Cold rolling: This step is comparable to the third stage of traditional recycling, with the same inputs and outputs. Similar to the cold rolling step in traditional recycling, the inputs and outputs remain unchanged. However, it is important to note that a total material loss of 10% was considered during this step for the twin roll cast process.
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
LCA | Life cycle assessment |
FSE | Friction stir extrusion |
FSC | Friction stir consolidation |
ECAP | Equal channel angular pressing |
SPD | Severe plastic deformation |
DR | Direct rolling process |
ARB | Accumulative roll bonding process |
DR + ARB | Direct rolling process followed by accumulative roll bonding |
SSR | Solid state recycling |
LCI | Life cycle inventory |
LCIA | Life cycle impact assessment |
UTS | Ultimate tensile strength |
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Cold Pressing | DR | ARB | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
INPUTS | Quantity | Unit | INPUTS | Quantity | Unit | INPUTS | Quantity | Unit |
Chips | 35 | g | Compacted chips | 35 | g | HR sheet | 31.5 | G |
Electric energy (press) | 0.0017 | MJ | Electric energy (heat) | 0.032 | MJ | Electric energy (heat) | 0.023 | MJ |
Electric energy (milling) | 0.006 | MJ | Electric energy (roll) | 0.018 | MJ | Electric energy (roll) | 0.005 | MJ |
Water (cooling) | 4.73 × 10−5 | m3 | ||||||
OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit | OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit | OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit |
Compacted chips | 35 | g | HR sheet | 31.5 | g | ARB sheet | 31.5 | G |
Steel chips | 405 | g | Aluminum scrap | 3.5 | g |
Melting | Hot Rolling | Cold Rolling | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
INPUTS | Quantity | Unit | INPUTS | Quantity | Unit | INPUTS | Quantity | Unit |
Compacted chips | 1.538 | kg | Cast ingot | 1 | kg | HR sheet | 0.9 | kg |
Thermal energy (CH4) | 8.442 | MJ | Electric energy (heat) | 1.08 | MJ | Electric energy (roll) | 0.259 | MJ |
Water | 1.79 × 10−6 | m3 | Electric energy (roll) | 0.72 | MJ | Kerosene | 0.042 | kg |
Water (cooling) | 0.0014 | m3 | ||||||
OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit | OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit | OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit |
Cast ingot | 1 | kg | HR sheet | 0.9 | kg | CR sheet | 0.9 | kg |
Emissions to air | Aluminum scrap | 0.1 | kg | |||||
Emissions to water |
Melting | Cold Rolling | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INPUTS | Quantity | Unit | INPUTS | Quantity | Unit |
Compacted chips | 1.538 | kg | Twin roll cast | 1 | kg |
Thermal energy (CH4) | 8.442 | MJ | Electric energy (roll) | 0.288 | MJ |
Water | 1.79 · 10−6 | m3 | Kerosene | 0.042 | kg |
OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit | OUTPUTS | Quantity | Unit |
Twin roll cast | 1 | kg | CR sheet | 0.9 | kg |
Emissions to air | Aluminum scrap | 0.1 | kg | ||
Emissions to water |
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El Mehtedi, M.; Buonadonna, P.; Carta, M.; El Mohtadi, R.; Mele, A.; Morea, D. Sustainability Study of a New Solid-State Aluminum Chips Recycling Process: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach. Sustainability 2023, 15, 11434. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411434
El Mehtedi M, Buonadonna P, Carta M, El Mohtadi R, Mele A, Morea D. Sustainability Study of a New Solid-State Aluminum Chips Recycling Process: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach. Sustainability. 2023; 15(14):11434. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411434
Chicago/Turabian StyleEl Mehtedi, Mohamad, Pasquale Buonadonna, Mauro Carta, Rayane El Mohtadi, Alessandro Mele, and Donato Morea. 2023. "Sustainability Study of a New Solid-State Aluminum Chips Recycling Process: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach" Sustainability 15, no. 14: 11434. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411434
APA StyleEl Mehtedi, M., Buonadonna, P., Carta, M., El Mohtadi, R., Mele, A., & Morea, D. (2023). Sustainability Study of a New Solid-State Aluminum Chips Recycling Process: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach. Sustainability, 15(14), 11434. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411434