Nilmini Dissanayake, HN Dhakal, SM Grove, MM Singh, J Summerscales

1. Nilmini Dissanayake, HN Dhakal,SM Grove, MM Singh, J Summerscales

2. Research Objective Fibre Production: glass & flax Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Quantitative Life Cycle Inventory Environmental Impact Categories Current Results Future Study Questions Nilmini regrets that she is unable to attend

3. Field of Flax Flax plant Flax fibre Glass fibre • Comparative quantitative LCA for glass and flax • Are natural fibres truly environmentally preferable to manmade fibres when used as thereinforcement in composites?

4. Ploughing and drilling • Applying fertiliser • Weed control • Pest control • Dessication • Harvest • Rippling • Retting • Decortication • Hackling • Carding • Spinning • Weaving Water retting Dew (field) Retting

5. Raw material processing (crushing, weighing, mixing) • Melting • Spinning • Forming • Curing and cooling • Weaving Kaolin Limestone Colemanite Glass fibre weaving

6. Goal & scope definition • Life Cycle Inventory analysis (LCI) • Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) • Life Cycle Interpretation ISO 14040:2006

7. Agricultural Operations Fibre Processing Operations • Embedded energies of fertiliser, herbicides/pesticides and desiccant are not considered here

8. On previous slide

12. But the above excludes textile processes for flax: decortication/carding (at 6.06 GJ/tonne) and spinning (at 22.9 GJ/tonne) NB: only a single data point available for each Total energy is in the range: 34.6 - 36.3 GJ per tonne *There are routes to reducing these energies(e.g. manure as fertiliser and biological control of pests) which are still to be analysed.

13. Energy values for raw material extraction, handling, crushing, forming, curing, weaving etc are not easily found. • Embodied energy for glass = 54.8 GJ/tonne [Joshi et al, 2004]vs max of 36.3 GJ/tonne for flax. • However, LCI is incomplete for full comparison with flax fibres.

17. Corbière-Nicollier* on China Reed vs Glass * Resources, Conservation and Recycling, November 2001, Volume 33, Issue 4,  Pages 267-287.

18. Identified key environmental impact issues in production of: • flax fibre - eutrophication, global warming, abiotic resource depletion • glass fibre - global warming, human toxicity • Calculated Energy values for flax vary due to different agricultural practices • Limited data available for both flax fibre processing ..and.. glass fibre production

19. Main environmental impact factors have been identified and prioritised • Initial quantification of embedded energy has been partially completed • Still need to determine the variation between worst and best practice in each case • Need to acquire a more comprehensive data set – further information most welcome ?

20. More comprehensive/quantitative analysis for all 8 environmental impact classification factors and continuing life cycle inventory • Extend the cradle-to-gate study to a cradle-to-grave by considering the disposal of materials • Parallel study to compare the flow processes in RTM or RIFT when using either flax and glass fibre reinforcements • Consider a potential modelling technique for ISO 14040

21. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/node/40 http://www.flaxfarm.co.uk/linseed%20or%20flax.htm http://www.classactfabrics.com/newsletters/Stray%20Fabric%20Writing%201.htm http://www.petrochem.co.ae/prodnapp.htm http://www.aquafil.com/html/aziende/atp/prod_corpo_atp.htm http://www.sydneyconstructionmaterials.com/kaolin.shtml http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photolime.html

22. Any questions?