Title: Managing the life cycle assessment for high-performance refrigerators through a comparative analysis of the impacts

Authors: Rosa Francesca De Masi; Menanno Marialuisa; Silvia Ruggiero; Giuseppe Peter Vanoli; Matteo Mario Savino

Addresses: Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy ' Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy ' Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy ' Department of Medicine, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy ' Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy

Abstract: Today, the continuous improvement of refrigeration systems is a topic of discussion both for energy and for environmental sector. The purpose of this work is to develop a research methodology to compare the environmental impacts of two industrial refrigerators through life cycle assessment (LCA). The research was stimulated by the need to identify technology solutions that allows high performances, low energy consumption and low environmental impact. Within the study, trough LCA we appraise the impacts long by the whole lifecycle - from cradle to grave - of two typologies of industrial refrigerator having different insulations technologies. Then, we develop a comparative analysis through different LCA assessment methods between two models having different insulations technologies. Among the main results, the analysis shows that the insulating material does not have high environmental impact, while the highest impact is due to internal and external transports.

Keywords: product development; LCA analysis; industrial refrigeration; environmental impact.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2023.133686

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2023 Vol.37 No.5/6, pp.452 - 479

Received: 20 Jan 2022
Received in revised form: 23 May 2022
Accepted: 21 Jul 2022
Published online: 29 Sep 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article