Life cycle assessment of electrical machine production considering resource requirements and sustainability

Abstract

This paper analyzes different electric machines considering sustainable and resource-efficient production using a life cycle assessment (LCA) in the European area (RER) and in the rest of the world area (RoW). Four machines are considered, the induction machine (IM), the externally excited synchronous machine (EESM), the permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM), and the synchronous reluctance machine (SynRM), each with an output power of 100 kW. This paper examines these three-phase machines on the basis of their material composition and classifies their needs for raw materials into critical and non-critical materials. The researchers used the Umberto LCA+ program to simulate a LCA for each machine based on the ReCiPe method and to calculate each machine's global warming potential (GWP). The ReCiPe method shows the damage caused during manufacturing to ecosystem quality, human health, and resource availability The GWP method maps the effect of individual manufacturing phases on emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The researchers' methodology yielded an overall environmental impact for each machine in its each of its individual manufacturing phases.