• 056920 - LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

The course is focused on the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology. The aim is two-fold: to introduce the students to the theoretical fundamentals of the methodology and then to apply them to evaluate the environmental sustainability of materials and processes. A consistent portion of the course will be devoted to the application of the LCA methodology to representative real-life cases, mainly taken from chemical, food and materials industrial real cases. The course is structured as an information laboratory.

DdD1: knowledge and comprehension

When the student has successfully passed the exam:

• Knows the fundamentals of the LCA methodology;
• Knows to the fundamentals of the environmental impact indicators to be applied in the environmental sustainability assessment;
• Is able to use a specialised software (OpenLCA) to carry out the LCA

DdD 2: ability to apply knowledge and comprehension

When the student has successfully passed the exam:

• Is able to apply the LCA methodology to simplified industrial cases studies

1. Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and Life Cycle Management (LCM): fundamentals and main tools. Sustainability assessment: introductory concepts.
2. Life Cycle Analysis: historical background, ISO standards, procedures, applications. Calculation methodology, databases and technical software. Computational structure of LCA.
3. Eco-indicators: measurement methods, environmental and damage impact category, impact quantification; carbon footprint and climate change.
4. Industrial processes for materials productions: case studies (i.e. cement, polymeric materials, metallic materials and ceramic materials).
5. Materials End-of-Life: open and closed-loop recycling, re-use, waste-to-energy process, waste management processes. 

The course deals with various Sustainable Development Goals and in particular:

1. Affordable and Clean Energy
2. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
3. Responsible Consumption and Production
4. Climate Action

It is required only a basic knowledge of chemistry and linear algebra in terms of

- simple stoichiometric calculations,

- international system of units of measure

- matrix calculations

The final exam will consist of a written test only, organized in two sections:

• Part A: numerical application of the LCA methodology to a simplified case study using the software OpenLCA
• Part B: open questions on theory fundamentals

The test will last two hours and half; any supporting materials and electronic devices are allowed during the exam; there are no limits to the number of tests the student can attend to.

At the end of the course, there is the possibility for the student to attend an end-of-course simulation test, which is in practice an additional exam test.

The student will use his/her own electronic device during the course and the exam.

Textbook available in the Polimi library as e-book