A life‐cycle assessment (LCA) model for cables based on the fire‐LCA model

Abstract

SUMMARYA novel life-cycle assessment (LCA) model has been developed for the investigation of the environmental impact of the choice of material in cable production. In the first application polyolefin based material and PVC material is used. In both cases equivalent fire behaviour is assumed and a fire model is established based on existing fire statistics. This study represents the second full application of the fire-LCA model.In this paper the new 'cables fire-LCA' model will be presented together with the results of this first application. Aspects such as end-of-life scenarios, fire statistics, and fire scenarios and large scale fire performance of cables are discussed together with details of the straw LCA model defined for cables and the results of four different end-of-life scenarios.

Fire Emissions of Organics into the Atmosphere

“…For these materials a rather wide range was estimated as possible emission factors for dioxins. In the low end the factor estimated for wood, 0.002 ng TEQ/g, and in the high end a factor of 0.10 ng TEQ/g, originating from full-scale tests with nominally halogen free cables [23]. As no specific data on PAH and VOC from textile, paper, grain and hay was found, the lower limits of the spans for wood were used, i.e., 0.1 mg/g for PAH and 1 mg/g for VOC.…”

“…A number of useful references were, however, found for PVC, wood, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene and petroleum products. The emission factor for dioxins from PVC was largely based on data from two sources, a series of tubular-furnace tests [22] and a series of large-scale test with PVC cables [23]. As the yields of dioxins varied considerably between experiments, the emission factor was expressed as a range, between 0.012 and 2.2 ng TEQ/g, corresponding to the lowest value from the furnace tests and the highest value from the cable-tests.…”

Environmental Assessment Of Fires In Products Using The Fire-lca Model

“…The second application of the Fire-LCA model focussed on a comparison between two types of electrical cables, assumed to have essentially the same fire performance [7,8]. The third, and most recent, application of the Fire-LCA model has focussed on a comparison between two types of furniture, one having the minimal fire performance required on mainland Europe and the other with fire performance akin to that required in the UK [9,10].…”

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of overhead and underground medium voltage power distribution

“…Australia and many regions in the US and EU, for example, are considering altering current protocols for new power distribution installations or conversion of existing overhead systems to underground. There are a few assessments on the relative environmental performance of OH and UG cable materials [1], [2]. However, there has been no examination of the complete environmental impacts of both underground or overhead power distribution and associated infrastructure.…”