Study On Life Cycle Analysis Of Plate-fin Exchanger Based On GaBi5Software

The rising standard of indoor air quality increases the demand of fresh air in air-conditioned room, and also the energy consummation of air-conditioning system. In the context of energy crises, the application of energy recovery device not only satisfies the need of fresh air but also eases the energy burden of air-conditioning system. The plate-fin exchanger which is a typical energy recovery device was analyzed in this article with the method of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) based on software GaBi5. The "Carbon Footprint" was traced from "cradle" to "grave" of its whole life cycle, including producing the raw material, manufacturing, using and maintaining the product, treating and recycling the waste. The analysis provides data bases for evaluating "low carbon" performance of the plate-fin exchanger.The study results prove:when a plate-fin exchanger with fresh air of300m3per hour is used in Nanjing for15years, it consumes various resources of2180tons in the whole life cycle, exhausts Global Warming Effect (GWE) gas of3171kg CO2-equivalent. In its use phase, the product consumes electricity of2774kWh, recoveries energy of31704kWh, and saves electricity of7793.6kWh for air-conditioning system. When it is used in Guangzhou, it consumes various resources of1680tons in the whole life cycle, exhausts GWE gas of2312kg CO2-equivalent. In its use phase, the product consumes electricity of1929kWh, recoveries energy of27357kWh, and saves electricity of7189.41kWh for air-conditioning system. Among the different life phases, the service stage consumes the most resources with70%of life cycle, and exhausts the most GWE gas with86%of life cycle.Furthermore, a large amount of analysis data is provided in this article, including the proportion of consumed resources of each life stage, GWE values analyzed with different Life Cycle Impacts Analysis (LCIA) methods and the other environmental impacts values in the life cycle of the product system. The data could be used to evaluate the "low-carbon" performance of the plate-fin exchanger, and also provides reference to improve the product performance. Otherwise, this article will be helpful for applying LCA in the other same type energy saving products.