Ronald Neufert

Life cycle assessment of the selective catalytic reduction process for power plants

The overall reduction of the environmental impact by the use of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxide emissions in power plants was determined by strict application of ISO 14040 and ISO/DIS 14041. Special emphasis was placed on the implementation of the total product life cycle (PLC) of ammonium molybdate as a key input material. The environmental impact was generated by application of the life cycle assessment (LCA) concept of “ecoscarcity” and integrated in the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) of SCR systems. The LCI was used to generate the life cycle impact assessment (LC1A) by use of different quantitative valuation methods. Under consideration of the overall LCIA results and the environmental protection costs of the SCR variants, the Ecological Effectiveness of the SCR alternatives was determined. The results enable plausible conclusions with regard to the ecological advantages of the use of deNOx catalysts in the SCR used in hard-coal fired power plants.

Life cycle assessment for the implementation of emission control measures for the freight traffic with heavy duty vehicles in Germany: Phase 1: Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

Under consideration of the overall Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) results generated in the first step of this study and based on the February 1999 edition of ISO/DIS 14042 the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) for the introduction of various emission control measures for freight traffic heavy duty vehicles in Germany was determined. For the examination of the several mandatory elements 11 impact categories related to the freight traffic and the LCI results were focussed, the LCI results were designed to these impact categories and with characterization factors of the 11 selected and recognized characterisation models the categories indicator endpoints were quantified. The optional elements for normalization and weighting were added to the analysis. Two reference values are used for normalizing the category indicator results. For the weighting step 8 recognized evaluation methods were selected with the aim to aggregate the LCI results to an overall value. The results enable plausible conclusions with regard to the ecological advantages and disadvantages of the use of each analysed emission control technology for heavy duty diesel vehicles. As no perfectly clear ranking can be distinguished for evaluation of the generated results and no correlation can be established to the economical effects of the corresponding measurements, it is necessary to complete the currently existing recommendation from the ISO/DIS-Standards with further parameters.

Life cycle assessment for the implementation of emission control measures for the freight traffic with heavy duty vehicles in Germany

This Life Cycle Interpretation Analysis describes the third phase of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for the implementation of emission control measures for the freight traffic with heavy duty vehicles (HDV) in Germany. It is based on the December 1999 edition of ISO/DIS 14043. Special emphasis was placed on the determination of the ecological effectiveness and the ecological category indicator effectiveness for each emission control scenario to compare the overall ecological-economical effect of the emission control measures investigated. Following these steps the main factors influencing the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) results were identified. As a result of these analyses only a small number of influencing factors were detected having an influence on the LCIA result of more than 93%. Another result was the determination of the main influence factors from the different phases of the Product Life Cycle (PLC) of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system on the total weighting results of the bulk environmental load. The influence of the Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) results on the final Category Indicator Effectiveness result was analysed. The contribution of the different phases of the PLC of SCR systems on the total result of the LCI with regard to the bulk environmental load was determined. A completeness and sensitivity check was carried out. The results of the study enable plausible conclusions and recommendations, the absolutely essential one being the introduction of an consumption-optimized Diesel engine with SCR systems by the reference year 2005 for ecological and economical reasons.