Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a framework for quantifying the potential environmental impact of products from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life. Prospective LCA estimates the future environmental impacts of emerging technologies. It can be used to support eco-design, such as green surface engineering. Prospective LCA is used in this thesis to compare emerging surface engineering and incumbent technologies. The first case study compares a novel thermal sprayed multi-layered alumina-nickel chromium resistive heating coating to heat tracing cables for pipe freeze protection. The coating system’s impacts are higher for fabrication but lower for use, making it environmentally preferable in areas with colder climates and non-renewable electricity mixes. Specific life expectancy and efficiency improvements were identified to achieve environmentally preferability in most locations. Alternate strategies include reducing the environmental impact of fabrication by using alternate materials or deposition processes and developing strategies for recovering and recycling coating materials. The second case study compared a novel pulse water jet (PWJ) technology with alkaline electrochemical cleaning for removing hard chromium from aircraft landing gear. If the PWJ system can be designed to remove the coating from workpieces with complex geometry, its environmental impact is expected to be lower due to its lower electricity consumption, chemical use, and waste management. The case studies demonstrate the value of using prospective LCA during early development, adopting a range of techniques for addressing uncertainty, and breaking down the results to provide developers with strategies for reducing environmental impact.