Life cycle assessment studies of chemical and biochemical processes through the new LCsoft software-tool

Abstract

LCSoft software-tool has been developed to perform LCA as a stand-alone tool with ability to be integrated with other process design tools such as process simulation, economic analysis (ECON), and sustainable process design (SustainPro). The development frame work consists of four main parts. The first part deals with the development of Life Inventory (LCI) calculation function. The second part consists of extension of the LCI database and improvement of impact categories in LCLA calculation. The third part deals with analysis to investigate the contributions of processes, LCI results, and environmental impact results with respect to the production stage. The forth part with validation and improvement of LCSoft by comparing the assessment result with other available tools pass through the case study. LCI calculation function and four new impact categories were validated using case study of acctic acid (98%) production. Contribution analysis was validated by using case study of bioethanol production using cassava rhizome as a feed stock. The assessment result from both case studies were compared with commercial LCA software, SimaPro7.1. The results indicated the improvement in the performance of LCSoft, giving accurate and reliable LCI, LCIA, and contribution analysis results with wider application range from extended inventory database.