Environmental benefits of remanufacturing: A case study of cylinder heads remanufactured through laser cladding

Zhichao Liu, Qiuhong Jiang, Tao Li, Shiyun Dong, Shixing Yan, Hongchao Zhang, Binshi Xu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

88 Scopus citations

Abstract

Laser cladding is one of the principal means of equipment remanufacturing and the environmental profiles of this technology has become a research focus. This paper examines the environmental impacts of cast iron cylinder head block remanufacturing through laser cladding using life cycle assessment (LCA), and compares it with the new cylinder head block manufacturing. Resource and energy consumptions of each manufacturing and remanufacturing processes are collected along the production line and then the results of six selected environmental impact categories are calculated. Consistency and sensitivity analysis is also conducted after life cycle impact assessment. The results reveal that cylinder head remanufacturing by laser cladding will achieve large environmental benefits, which can cut environment impact over the entire life cycle by 63.8% on average. This paper also discusses the trend of changes in environmental impacts using scenario analysis over different remanufacturing levels. By taking characterized global warming potential (GWP) as the assessment index, the result shows that remanufacturing will no longer be the preferred option if it needs to repair more than 16 cracks by laser cladding for the cylinder head.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1027-1033
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Cleaner Production
Volume133
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2016

Keywords

  • Cylinder head
  • Environmental impact
  • Laser cladding
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Remanufacturing

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