Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Chinese Radial Passenger Vehicle Tire

Abstract

The life cycle environmental impacts of the new model radial passenger vehicle tire product was evaluated and compared. the silicon dioxide was added to replace part of the carbon black as filler, with its previous model tire product. The study covers all relevant life cycle stages: from the acquisition of raw materials to the production, use, and end-of-life. The data collected onsite in 2014 by one of the largest Chinese tire companies were used in the assessment. The evaluation is presented in terms of individual impact category according to the CML model. Five impact categories (i.e., global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), photochemical oxidant creation potential (POCP), eutrophication potential (EP), and human toxicity potential (HTP)) were considered. The research was conducted in accordance with the ISO 14040/14044 standards. The results showed that In all the five impact categories, new model tire product is lower than the previous model in the whole life cycle. It is mostly due to the reduction of the fuel consumption during the use stage, which resulted in replacing part of the carbon black with silicon dioxide. Fuel (gasoline) consumption represents an important contribution to most impact categories, including the GWP, AP, POCP, and EP, during the use stage. Vehicle fuel consumption and its proportion consumed by the tires during the use stage are key factors that contribute to environmental impact during tire life time. The largest contributor to the HTP category is raw material acquisition, mainly because of the impact of the production of organic chemicals. During the raw material acquisition stage, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black, and organic chemicals represent the largest contribution to the environmental impact categories, which could be mitigated by reducing the use of raw materials, replacing the aromatic oil with environmental oil in the new model tire product.

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“…The tire manufacturing process is modeled using data from the production of passenger car tires ( [33], [pp. 1752]).…”

“…1752]). The data as given in [33] is presented in Table 9 in the Appendix, and the data used to describe tire and tread production is presented in Table 10 and Table 11, respectively. Process waste from tread and tire production is assumed to be handled as follows: rubber waste is incinerated, steel waste is sold as scrap steel, and tire waste is processed according to the EoL options described in Data Collection and Modeling of the Tire's End of Life in the Appendix.…”

“…Based on the data given in Table 9, we derive process input and emission values for tires as presented in Table 10, and for treads as presented in Table 11. To model tire production, we use the Table 9 Inputs, emissions, and wastes in tire production process as given in [33] per 1 passenger car tire à 9.497 kg. The data is given per step in the tire production process: 'compound blending', 'rolling and extrusion', 'cutting and forming', 'vulcanizing and testing'.…”

“…total values. To model tread production, we use the data for the first two steps given in [33], i.e., 'compound blending,' and 'rolling and extrusion'. When the data from [33] is only given as a total, we allocate one-fourth of these values to each of the four process steps.…”

“…To model tread production, we use the data for the first two steps given in [33], i.e., 'compound blending,' and 'rolling and extrusion'. When the data from [33] is only given as a total, we allocate one-fourth of these values to each of the four process steps. For the data reported in the column 'other three processes,' we allocate one-third of the values to each of the three steps ('rolling and extrusion,' 'cutting and forming,' and 'vulcanizing and testing').…”