An introduction to life cycle assessment with hands-on experiments for biodiesel production and use |
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| Affiliation: | 1. NEST – Excellence Group in Thermal Power and Distributed Generation, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Itajubá, Av. BPS 1303, Itajubá, Minas Gerais State, CEP: 37500-903, Brazil;2. IRN – Institute of Natural Resources, Federal University of Itajubá, Av. BPS 1303, Itajubá, Minas Gerais State, CEP: 37500-903, Brazil;3. ICIDCA – Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar, Via Blanca y Carretera Central 804, San Miguel Del Padrón, A.P. 4036, La Habana, Cuba;1. Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan;2. Department of Chemical System Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan;1. Programa de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ingeniería de Reactores (PROIRQ), Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina;2. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas “Dr. J.J. Ronco” (CINDECA), CCT La Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 47 N° 257, B1900AJK La Plata, Argentina;3. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Patagonia Norte (IDEPA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina;4. Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Buenos Aires 1400, Neuquén 8300, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | This paper describes a hands-on project that introduces first year engineering students to life cycle assessment (LCA) through the comparison of the environmental impact of the production and use of three diesel fuels: petroleum diesel, biodiesel from new vegetable oil, and biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. The purpose of this LCA project was to incorporate life cycle thinking into the engineering design process, to apply the four main steps of LCA (definition and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and improvement assessment), and to explore some of the challenges associated with each step. The inventory for biodiesel production (from both new and waste vegetable oils) was based on measurements obtained by the students in laboratory experiments. The fossil diesel production inventory was obtained from the SimaPro® database. The inventory for the use of all three fuels was obtained from measurements taken during combustion of the fuels in a generator. A cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis was then conducted using SimaPro® for each fuel. The assessment of learning outcomes indicates a significant increase in conceptual understanding of the four stages of life cycle assessment, and an average gain of over 55% in overall knowledge of life cycle assessment. |
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| Keywords: | Life cycle assessment Biodiesel First-year project How people learn |
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