umberto - ifu hamburg gmbh · of unsaturated polyester resins for composites. lo-cated globally,...
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ifu hamburg umberto®
INVENT IVE ENGINEERS SER VING THE ENVIRONMENT
umberto®
know the flow.
S U C C E S S S T O RY | R E I C H H O L D & H O BA S
Reichhold is one of the
world‘s largest suppliers
of unsaturated polyester
resins for composites. Lo-
cated globally, Reichhold’s
four state-of-the-art
technology centres are
dedicated to the research
and development of high-
performance resin systems.
The product development
and improvement is
supported by specialized
analytical and testing
equipment that allows for
the simulation of sever-
al full-scale composites
manufacturing processes.
Development projects
can be completed in
close cooperation with key
customers and suppliers,
providing a short time to
market for new products.
HOBAS is a leading ma-
nufacturer of CC-GRP Pipe
Systems for applications
such as drinking water,
wastewater, hydropower
lines, cooling lines, irriga-
tion and drainage systems.
HOBAS Products are being
installed by a variety of
methods such as open
trench, jacking, microtun-
neling, sliplining and abo-
ve ground in more than
100 countries. Totaling
thousands of kilometers of
pipe, the line would span
the world several times.
The company motto is
“Make things happen”.
Engineering Sustainability: Choice of Unsaturated Polyester Resins for CC-GRP Pipe Systems
Our engineering team decided to use one of the
most powerful software tools for the ambitious pro-
ject: Umberto NXT LCA. Using the same software
enabled them to exchange information easily. Vi-
sualisation, assessment of results, and the efficient
exchange of datasets were the main advantages
of the collaborative process. Calculated input LCA
datasets were exported by Reichhold and the re-
ceived information was subsequently validated by
HOBAS. The incorporation of Umberto NXT LCA in
the R&D departments’ activities thus enabled the
evaluation of products’ environmental impacts and
benefits starting from the very first phases of pro-
duct development.
COLLABORAT IVE TOOL FOR LCA MODELL ING: UMBERTO NXT LCA
The analysis of products’ envi-
ronmental impacts has been gai-
ning attention due to the incre-
asing development of life cycle
assessment (LCA) tools. HOBAS
and Reichhold chose Umberto
for assessing the environmental
footprint of products, establi-
shing an additional dimension
for market and R&D analysis.
CAN ENVIRONMENTALLY FR IENDLY RAW MATER IALS MEET PRODUCT SPEC IF ICAT IONS AND BE COST-EFFECT IVE?
We would like to introduce two personalities with
the burning ambition to change things for the
better: Victor Vladimirov from the department of
Environment and Energy Management at HOBAS
Engineering GmbH, and Marcin Pazdro, Technology
Manager at Reichhold Europe. They are both con-
fident that including environmental assessment in
R&D processes represents a key step when it comes
to the evaluation and improvement of environmen-
tal performance.
In order to identify the critical material and energy
flows which are responsible for environmental im-
pacts, they performed an initial life cycle assessment
(LCA) of a generic CC-GRP pipe and calculated the
Global Warming Potential (GWP, in CO2eq). The
analysis clearly indicated that the unsaturated po-
lyester resin (UPR) was the main factor influencing
the results and that this was the main input to con-
sider in the assessment of ecological alternatives.
TAKING THE F IRST STEP WITH COURAGE AND COMMITMENT
GOAL AND METHOD
The intention was to compare the environmental
impacts of products manufactured with standard
UPR versus UPR containing either recycled PET ma-
terial (rPET-UPR) or bio-sourced material (BIO-UPR).
For a comprehensive picture, HOBAS defined two
cradle-to-gate declared units and one cradle-to-
cradle functional unit. One declared unit was the
base plate of a GRP shaft DN 1000 mm and the
other one a GRP shaft DN 1000 mm. The functional
unit was defined as 1000 meters of standard buried
gravity CC-GRP sewer pipe system, consisting of
pipes DN 400 mm with couplings and shafts DN
1000 mm with a reference service life of 100 years.
System boundaries in the LCA were defined in ac-
cordance with ISO 14040/44 and EN 15804.
Victor Vladimirov and his team examined the „Base
Plate“, „Shaft“, and “Pipe System“ levels. In a series
of very detailed systematic analyses, they checked
and compared a comprehensive list of environmen-
tal indicators such as “net use of fresh water”, “to-
tal renewable and non renewable energy”, “deple-
tion of abiotic resources”, “climate change”, and so
on. In order to get there Marcin Pazdro provided
specific LCI data for all resins which were used in
the calculations.
Results indicate that the choice of BIO-UPR seems to
be relatively complex and can hardly be reduced to
the simple question of e.g. which resin contribute
more or less CO2 emissions. The use of BIO-UPR
can be associated with sustainability discussions
(pros and cons) related to biofuels. However, the
current data provided valuable know-how which
is essential for the further development of bio-ba-
sed but more sustainable products. On the other
hand, UPR resin containing recycled PET material
constitutes an interesting alternative, which may
definitively be a choice from an environmental per-
spective. rPET-UPR has an excellent mechanical and
environmental overall performance. By means of
material recycling, the rPET-UPR ensures that va-
luable resources are conserved and indicators such
as “depletion of abiotic resources” from nature or
“climate change” are improved in comparison to
the standard resin.
LET‘S DO IT TOGETHER!
Sharing knowledge while protecting sensitive data
The benefit of working
with a collaborative tool
such as Umberto is that
different models can be
discussed while ensuring
complete confidentiality
of proprietary datasets.
Data transmitted across
the supply chain can easily
be exported from a com-
plex production model
into a typical life cycle
inventory (LCI).
The inventory contains all
required material flows
for the LCA calculation.
However, it is impossible
to identify the structure
and specific proprietary
data (for example the
resin formula) of the
initial calculation model.
Confidential internal data
thus remains with the
producer.
umberto.de
ifu hamburg . Max-Brauer-Allee 50 . 22765 Hamburg . Germany . fon +49 40 - 480 009-0 . fax +49 40 - 480 009-22 . [email protected] . www.ifu.com
RESULTS OF THE PROJECT
WHAT OUR PROFESS IONALS SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH UMBERTO
Marcin Pazdro: „In the light of recent environmen-
tal studies, it is becoming more and more obvious
that sustainable developments and products are
not just an option but a necessity for humanity’s
survival. Since most of the environmental aspects
of product sustainability can be assessed by the ap-
plication of LCA methodology, Reichhold decided
to enquire about the know-how and instruments
necessary to perform LCA studies in-house. Upon
a warm recommendation by HOBAS, and having
investigated other available options, the company
decided to purchase Umberto.
After a few years of active usage, we believe that
this has been a very good choice as the software
is very intuitive in use; models build for the pro-
duction of a specific resin can easily be adapted
for other products, and the “LCA phases” option
helps to quickly identify the biggest contributors
to some specific environmental impacts.
The calculated LCI can easily be exported to Micro-
soft Excel and saved in various formats. Afterwards
it can be shared with customers like HOBAS wit-
hout compromises regarding the confidentiality of
the production process or resin formulations. This,
in turn, greatly facilitates the engineering of not
only more sustainable resins but also more sustai-
nable GRP products across the whole value chain.”
Victor Vladimirov: „HOBAS has positioned itself
on the cutting edge of our market sector in terms
of sustainability. All HOBAS factories are certified
according to the international environmental stan-
dard ISO 14001. In addition, we have provided our
clients with valuable information on the carbon
footprint of pipe jacking in dense urban areas and
are also offering carbon-neutral pipes in Australia.
The collaboration with Reichhold and an LCA in
R&D are the next steps on our path to sustaina-
bility. We have been using Umberto for several
years now and are delighted with the flexibility,
support, and business opportunities provided by
this premium LCA tool.”