Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of an innovative

component for refrigeration units

fer a, b, Anna Laura Pisello b, c,
Jaume Gasia a, Claudia Fabiani b, c, Marta Cha
Agnese Manni d, Maurizio Ascani d, Luisa F. Cabeza a, *
a
GREiA Research Group, INSPIRES Research Centre, University of Lleida, Pere de Cabrera S/n, 25001, Lleida, Spain
b
CIRIAF - Interuniversity Research Centre, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 67, 06125, Perugia, Italy
c
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
d
Turboalgor S.r.l., Massa Martana, Perugia, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) are innovative tools based on an innovative
Received 27 June 2020 approach allowing to investigate the environmental and economic burdens of a product or service
Received in revised form throughout its lifecycle. Although usually carried out individually, their integration in a comprehensive
27 January 2021
analysis could provide a substantial asset in every kind of decision-making procedures. In this study, the
Accepted 16 February 2021
sustainability of a newly developed component for refrigeration units is investigated by applying these
Available online 20 February 2021
two tools in a cradle to grave approach in different scenarios. Results from the LCA show the huge impact
Handling Editor: Dr Sandra Caeiro associated with the manufacturing process of the kit compared to the transport. However, the use phase
environmental analysis showed an environmental payback period always lower than 10 years. Results
Keywords: from the LCC show that the initial investment cost represents the highest share for the final user.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) Furthermore, favourable discounted payback periods are generally found, leading to net savings above
Environmental impact 270,000 V in the case best-case scenario.
ReCiPe © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
Life cycle costing (LCC)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Net present value (NPV)
Industrial refrigeration

1. Introduction operating costs, and they are characterised by a long lifespan in

which repairs and maintenances often occur (Brom et al., 2016). In
In recent years, climate change and resource depletion have view of its extended lifespan and of the huge consumption of en-
become global concerns. The industrial sector, as one of the largest ergy and materials, the use phase of high energy-consuming
energy and resource consumer worldwide (Zhang et al., 2016), is equipment is particularly important for its sustainability assess-
asked to openly face these issues and achieve a suitable transition ment (Zhang et al., 2018). All this considered, a comprehensive
towards sustainability. In this context, about 17% of the global en- approach focusing on both its economic and environmental sus-
ergy consumption is associated with steam compression refriger- tainability is highly desirable and should be carried out concerning
ation plants (Waide and Brunner, 2011). Improving the efficiency of the perspectives of different stakeholders. In this context, life cycle
such high energy-consuming equipment would significantly assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) represent powerful
contribute to achieving better economic and environmental sus- tools for developing an integrated evaluation with a focus on both
tainability (Li and Tao, 2017). these aspects, being able to provide valuable support in the
A vapour compression refrigeration system generally consists of decision-making procedure of producers and consumers of prod-
a closed circuit including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion ucts and services.
device, an evaporator and the interconnecting pipes (Oh et al., LCA is an extensive analysis aimed at evaluating and quantifying
2016). Industrial refrigerators require high investment and the environmental impacts generated by a product or process
throughout its life-cycle, usually from raw material extraction to
final disposal (Visentin et al., 2019). As an acknowledged and
flexible investigation technique, several examples of its application
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (L.F. Cabeza).
can be found on various industrial sectors from the production of

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126442
0959-6526/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

fer et al.
J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

innovative components and materials (Asdrubali et al., 2016; and economic benefits deriving from the introduction of an inno-
Klugmann-Radziemska and Kuczyn  ska-Łazewska,
_ 2020; Lv et al., vative optimisation kit (the Turboalgor kit®) in a new or an existing
2019), to the development of advanced manufacturing processes refrigeration unit with the following characteristics:
or energy systems (Auer et al., 2017; Ristim€ aki et al., 2013).
LCC can be defined as the assessment of all costs related to a
Electric power absorbed by the main compressor in the range
product or service within its life cycle, from raw material extraction 20 ÷ 300 kW;
over production and use until disposal (Faraca et al., 2019; Hunkeler
Reciprocating (piston), scroll or screw-type refrigeration
et al., 2008). Such economic technique has a long tradition in the compressor;
industry, particularly in case of long lifetime and/or high mainte-
HFC (Freon) synthetic organic refrigerant working fluid, type
nance, use or disposal costs. An LCC can be carried out, separating R404a or similar;
the analysis among different stakeholders (mainly producers and
Condensing temperature: þ35  C ÷ þ45  C;
purchasers) (De Menna et al., 2018). The former uses LCC as a way
Evaporation temperature:
45  C ÷ þ5  C.
to demonstrate that more effort for the production “pays off”, by
reducing the use, maintenance and disposal costs. The latter, on the To this aim, the minimum, maximum and most common elec-
other hand, makes use of it to take into account the costs that will trical consumption configurations of the coupled compressor were
be faced during the lifespan of the product, which depending on the selected, i.e. 20 kW, 300 kW, and 100 kW, and the effect of the
application, can be much bigger than the simple purchase cost. introduction of Turboalgor kit® was investigated in terms of envi-
Currently, no comprehensive standards exist for LCC of products ronmental and economic parameters, based on LCA and LCC anal-
and/or services, except the ISO 15686-5 standard for buildings and ysis (Table 1). It should be noted that the kit is always the same,
constructed assets (ISO 15686-5, 2017). However, this compre- regardless of the main compressor configuration and that it is
hensive approach is becoming important for quantifying the eco- simply introduced in the refrigeration system (see Fig. 1).
nomic feasibility of a project. Based on the LCC technique various Each of the three selected configurations was investigated in
design alternatives can be compared by projecting (discounting or two different scenarios (see Table 2):
compounding) all initial and incremental associated costs over the
economic life of the project, also called the Life Cycle Period, to a
Best-Case (BC), corresponding to a system with an operating
common period of time. All these costs are analysed and quantified temperature of about
25  C (Low Temperature: LT) in which
by specifically taking into account money discount rates and the integration of the kit in the refrigeration unit allows to
several economic parameters allowing to predict the long term obtain a 23% energy savings throughout the year;
evolution of the market, and refer all the costs that will occur
Worst-Case (WC), corresponding to a system with an operating
during the lifetime of the investigated case study, to the present. temperature of about þ5  C (High Temperature: HT) in which
LCA and LCC studies are often carried out individually. However, the integration of the kit in the refrigeration unit allows to
their combination allows a holistic evaluation of the main envi- obtain a 5% energy savings throughout the year.
ronmental and economic characteristics of a product or system,
which provides a substantial asset in every kind of decision-making The reported energy savings in the above were calculated by
procedures (Zhang et al., 2016). This is particularly true in the case comparing the efficiency of several types of refrigeration systems
of refrigerators, whose environmental burdens in the use phase are before installing the Turboalgor kit, with the overall efficiency ob-
relatively significant if compared to those for manufacture (Baxter, tained from the same systems following the integration with the
2019; Xiao et al., 2015). innovative device.
In this study, LCA and LCC analysis are implemented to evaluate
the sustainability of a newly developed component for refrigeration 2.1. Life cycle assessment (LCA)
systems: the Turboalgor kit® (Ascani, 2012). This kit consists of an
energy recovery heat exchanger and a turbocharger whose main LCA allows the assessment of all environmental aspects and
purpose is optimising the functioning of the compressor unit. Once their consequent impacts throughout the life cycle of a product,
coupled into a conventional refrigeration plant, the Turboalgor kit® from raw material extraction to disposal, identifying and quanti-
can ’increase energy savings and reduce cooling power. It is a fying the energy and material consumptions, as well as, the
disruptive solution to improve energy efficiency both for old and generated wastes (Guine e et al., 2011). Hence, the LCA helps to
new refrigeration systems by transferring a highly efficient auto- evaluate and identifying the most suitable alternatives to optimise
motive technology to enhance energy recovery of heat exchangers. or enhance the environmental impact of new and already designed
It was developed within the framework of the European directives products and processes (Ekvall et al., 2009; Rebitzer et al., 2004). It
of sustainable cities for reducing CO2 emissions and greenhouse provides quantitative information, either on points of impact or
gases, as well as creating lower impacts on the ecosystem, human kilograms of CO2 emitted in the atmosphere, of the analysed
health and resources. product, system or process at each stage (Bruijn et al., 2002). The
The present study focuses on the evaluation of the environ- methodology for any LCA is carried out in four different stages:
mental and economic impacts associated to the Turboalgor kit® definition of the object and scope of the study, inventory, impact
throughout its entire life cycle. The present paper is organised as assessment, and interpretation (Rebitzer et al., 2004).
follows. In Section 2, the applied methods are introduced, and the
case study presented. Sections 3 and 4 show the results from the 2.1.1. Goal and scope definition
LCA and the LCC analysis and discusses potential generalisation, The objective of the LCA study was to quantitatively assess the
uncertainties and sensitivity of the present study. Finally, Section 5 environmental benefits derived from the integration of the Tur-
presents the main conclusions of the study and gives an outlook on boalgor kit® on conventional refrigeration units compared to the
future work. same predecessor system without the kit in terms of ecological and
economic parameters. The above kit is a unique system that can be
2. Methodology easily integrated into most kinds of refrigeration units, e.g. recip-
rocating (piston) and scroll or screw-type refrigeration compres-
The aim of this study was to assess the potential environmental sors in the power range 20 ÷ 300 kW. The LCA investigation was
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J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

Table 1
Different scenarios assessed.

Scenario Refrigeration unit compressor power Refrigeration unit compressor power Refrigeration unit compressor power

Best-Case - BC (LT ¼ 23% energy savings) 20 kW 100 kW 300 kW

Worst-Case - WC (HT ¼ 5% energy savings) 20 kW 100 kW 300 kW

Fig. 1. (a) Conventional refrigeration system compared to (b) refrigeration system equipped with the Turboalgor kit®, schematic view.

Table 2 different systems and scenarios, the results also provide valuable
Volume scenario of Turboalgor kit® sales considered by Angelantoni-Turboalgor information to know which equipment or element has a more
SRL.
significant impact on the environment and thus, being able to
Operating Temperatures Country 2019 2020 2021 2022 redesign, modify and optimise the system towards a more sus-
HT (-25  C) Italy 59 94 122 135 tainable system.
Germany 69 110 143 159
France 37 51 64 83
Spain 45 73 94 105 2.1.2. Functional unit
UK 60 95 124 137 The selected functional unit in this study is the whole Tur-
Other 0 45 73 94 boalgor kit® (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), which is considered to be used
Total 270 468 620 714 during 10 years. All components accounted for the performance of
LT (5 C) Italy 56 204 272 313
this LCA are detailed in the material breakdown shown in Fig. 3. A
Germany 65 230 307 353
France 35 106 137 179 more detailed breakdown is shown in the Appendix. Data for the
Spain 45 174 232 267 inventory and impact assessment in this work are expressed based
UK 59 230 308 354 on the functional unit.
Other 0 45 174 232
Total 260 989 1430 1697
2.1.3. System boundaries
As previously mentioned, the system studied in this LCA focuses
aimed at firstly quantifying the environmental burden of the kit as a on the full life cycle of the Turboalgor kit®, from the extraction of
whole and later defining the long term impacts of the coupled raw materials until the end-of-life management (Fig. 4). All energy
system (refrigeration unit þ Turboalgor kit®) as the difference and natural resources inputs are traced back to the extraction of
between the burden of the kit and the obtained environmental resources, and wastes and emissions from each life cycle stage are
savings due to its integration. This is to be reasonable since the quantified. Therefore, the following stages were included within
original refrigeration system is maintained during the functioning the system boundaries:
of the coupled configuration.
This analysis was based on the international standards ISO  Raw material extraction.
14040 (ISO 14040, 2006) and 14044 (ISO 14044, 2006) and  Raw material distribution to converters.
considered the whole life cycle, known as cradle-to-grave life cycle  Raw material transformation into semi-manufactured product.
assessment, taking into account the raw material extraction, the  Semi-manufactured product distribution to final product
production, the transport, the use and the end-of-life (Rebitzer producer.
et al., 2004). According to the manufacturer, a lifetime of 10 years  Final product production.
was considered, although the results can be extrapolated over time.  Final product distribution to final users.
The environmental impact was calculated following the meth-  Final product operation and maintenance.
odology of the LCA with the ReCiPe end-point methodology  End-of-life management.
(Goedkoop, 2008; Huijbregts et al., 2017), giving points of impact
by subcategories, and IPCC 2013 GWP100a (Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, 2014), giving equivalent emissions of 2.1.4. Impact analysis
CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Besides being able to compare The Ecoinvent v3.5 database (Wernet et al., 2016) was used to
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J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

Fig. 2. Turboalgor kit®. (a) Schematic view and (b) real picture.

factors that are representative on the global scale in line with the
global nature of many product life cycles (Huijbregts et al., 2017).
The impacts can be assessed with the help of the mid-point or end-
point model. Mid-point impact or problem-oriented model in-
terprets impacts by environmental issues such as abiotic depletion
and climate change. The Endpoint or damage-oriented model in-
terprets impacts to the human health, natural environment, and
natural resources (Dong and Ng, 2014).

2.1.5. Data inventory

The life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis is the phase of life cycle
assessment involving the compilation and quantification of inputs
and outputs for a product throughout its life cycle. In the present
study, inventories of significant environmental flows to and from
Fig. 3. Material breakdown of the Turboalgor kit®. the environment, and internal material and energy flows, were
produced. Also, at this point, potential replacements must be taken
into account, according to the useful life of each component, and
obtain the environmental impacts associated with the materials, maintenance of the final product during the operation stage.
transport, and energy employed in the study. This database con- The production of raw materials used afterwards for the
tains LCI data that are represented to a large extent on the level of different parts of the kit, such as the different metals, polymers,
direct inputs and outputs of unit processes (Frischknecht et al., liquids, and others was included in the study (Fig. 3). Moreover, the
2005). This database is widely recognised for its integrity, usabil- transport from the raw material producer to converters was eval-
ity, and dedicated resources (Martínez-Rocamora et al., 2016). uated together with the extraction due to the lack of information. In
As mentioned above, the quantitative indicators used were the this stage, the following assumptions were made:
ReCiPe2016 and the IPCC2013 GWP. This IPCC 2013 Indicator is the
Global Indicator proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on ⁃ According to the type of raw materials:
Climate Change (IPCC), which quantify the climate change impacts o Steel: All type of steel is treated as “chromium steel 18/8”.
of greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities by aggre- o Aluminium: All type of aluminium is treated as “regular
gating them into a common unit, e.g. CO2 equivalent aluminium”.
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014). On the other o Glass: All type of glasses is treated as “flat glass, uncoated”.
side, the adopted method, ReCiPe is the successor of EI99 and CML- o Ceramic: All type of ceramics is treated as “refractory pro-
IA (Goedkoop et al., 2013). The primary objective of the ReCiPe duction, basic, packed”.
method is to transform the long list of life cycle inventory results, o Plastics: depending on the plastic characteristics given by the
into a limited number of indicator scores (Huijbregts et al., 2017) in suppliers, they are treated differently. The different options
order to facilitate the interpretation of the results. evaluated are “polyethylene, high density, granulate”, “poly-
ReCiPe2016 provides a state-of-the-art method to convert life urethane, rigid foam”, “polyethylene terephthalate, granulate,
cycle inventories to a limited number of life cycle impact scores on bottle grade”, “seal, natural rubber based”.
midpoint and endpoint level. Three endpoint categories (human o Copper: All type of coppers is treated as “regular copper”.
health, ecosystem quality, and resource scarcity) and 17 midpoint o Brass: All type of brasses is treated as “regular brass”.
categories were included with a focus on providing characterisation o Refrigerant is assumed R134a.
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J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

Fig. 4. Life cycle assessment system boundary of Turboalgor kit®.

The transformation (machining) of the different raw material ⁃ The process to produce HEX nuts is assumed to be the same way
into the different semi-manufactured products which compose the than the one for the screws.
Turboalgor kit® was also evaluated together with the distribution ⁃ The oil level sensor, the oil tank thermostat display, and the
of the semi-manufactured product to the final product producer for pressure display are not on the database as components, so it is
an analogous reason. This includes the production of the different assumed to be “market for an integrated circuit, logic type”.
components shown in Fig. 3, as well as the production of the ⁃ The energy use of production and infrastructure for factory for
different subcomponents included within these components but the lubricant recirculation pump is not considered.
not shown in the figure. ⁃ There is no fuse, circuit breaker, trigger, and relay in the data-
In this stage, there were some transformation processes which base, so they are treated as a connector.
were ambiguous or not available in the database used for the ⁃ There is no integrated filter, multifunctional timer, energy ana-
analysis. Therefore, the following assumptions were made: lyser, and amperometric transformer in the database, so they are
treated as a power unit supply.
⁃ The process to produce plastic pieces is assumed to be always ⁃ The assembly of the different subcomponents of a metal
“injection moulding”. component is assumed to be done by “welding, arc”.
⁃ There is no stamping process in the database, so this process is ⁃ If the component evaluated is not located in the database (i.e.
assumed to be “deep drawing, steel, 650 kN press, automode”. temperature sensors), it is exploded into its different sub-
⁃ There is no moulding process for steel in the database, so this components and each one is evaluated according to the quantity
process is assumed to be “deep drawing, steel, 650 kN press, and kind of material of which are composed.
automode”. ⁃ Stickers are not considered.
⁃ There is no moulding process for aluminium in the database, so
this process is assumed to be “impact extrusion of aluminium, According to the transport of the semi-manufactured products
deformation stroke”. to the final product producer, the present study was not able to
⁃ There is no wire drawing for lead and platinum in the database, define the specific distances of every single raw material analysed.
so this process is assumed to be “Wire drawing, steel”. Hence, the average distances and transport mediums given by the

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J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

database that was used for the analyses were used. Table 4
The transport of the semi-manufactured product to the factory Electrical consumption of the Turboalgor kit® electrical consumer subcomponents.

of the final product producer (Angelantoni-Turboalgor SRL), is Component Consumption

based on assumptions. In particular, it was assumed that all the Pressure sensor 3.20 W
suppliers are located around an average distance of 200 km from Displays 3.00 W
the factory and that a small lorry (lorry 3.5e7.5 metric ton, EURO5) Lubrication magnetic drive oil pump 100.00 W
was used as a mean of transport. Multifunctional timer 0.60 W
Green LED 0.08 W
The production of the final product that in the present case is
Power supply unit 120.00 W
the Turboalgor kit® contains the assembly and quality check, in the PLC Smart Module 0.84 W
factory of Angelantoni-Turboalgor SRL in Massa Martana (Italy) of Energy analyser 2.50 W
the different components that form the kit. In this stage, the Data acquisition module 0.84 W
Total 231.06 W
following assumptions were made:

⁃ The impact of workers is assumed to be negligible.

⁃ The assembly process consumes 400 W of electricity while the which are not treated like this, are specified below:
quality check process consumes 200 W of electricity.
⁃ The assembly process takes 16 h per functional unit while the ⁃ Aluminium: “sanitary landfill” since final disposal is not in the
quality check takes 4 h per functional unit. database.
⁃ There is no water consumption in the warehouse. ⁃ Copper: “treatment of copper scrap by electrolytic refining”.
⁃ Lubricant and refrigerant: “market for waste mineral oil”.
The distribution of the final product to the final users was done ⁃ There is no disposal for rock wool in the database, so it is
according to the volume scenarios considered by Angelantoni- assumed to be “treatment of waste polyethene/polypropylene
Turboalgor SRL (Table 2). In the present study, it was not possible product, collection for final disposal”.
to make an accurate assessment of the proportion of the transport ⁃ There is no disposal for ceramic in the database, so it is assumed
and distances that should be allocated to the functional unit, since to be “treatment of waste brick, collection for final disposal”.
the market study done by the company is a rough assumption ac- ⁃ There is no disposal for lead and platinum in the database, so it
cording to its expectations. However, some assumptions were is assumed to be “Treatment of waste reinforcement steel,
made in the present study on the exact location of the final user and collection for final disposal”.
distance from the Turboalgor kit® producer and type of trans- ⁃ There is no disposal for brass in the database, so it is assumed to
portation, in order to calculate the impact of this stage (Table 3). be “treatment of copper scrap by electrolytic refining”.
The operation of the final product is one of the most important ⁃ There is no disposal for the oil filter in the database, so it is
stages of the LCA since it could strongly affect the overall outcome assumed to be “treatment of waste paperboard, sanitary
of the study, depending on the different consumptions of energy landfill”.
and its energy source (Cha
fer et al., 2019). Hence, this study ⁃ There is no disposal for power supply unit, so it is assumed to be
considered that the Turboalgor kit® consumes 231 W due to the “treatment of used desktop computer, manual dismantling”.
different electrical subcomponents (Table 4). This data was ob- ⁃ The warehouse where the final TC assembly is done is assumed
tained from the technical data sheets of each component. The to remain after the lifetime of the products.
useful life of the kit is 10 years according to the manufacturer with
an average operation time per year of 4000 h. Moreover, according
to the technical representatives of Angelantoni-Turboalgor SRL no 2.1.6. Limitations
maintenance is needed in the Turboalgor kit® during the 10 years The main limitation of this study, such as in similar LCAs, is the
of useful life. difficulty of finding accurate and reliable data to be used in the life
In the present study, recycling is considered and, if possible, all cycle inventory, especially concerning complex materials and
components are treated as “collection for final disposal”. The cases products, from external producers. Lack of information through the
supply chain concerning the product has made it unfeasible to

Table 3
Assumptions done in the final product distribution to final users.

Case Destination Mean of transport

Country Route Distance

1 Italy Massa Martana e 320 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
Naples
2 Germany Massa Martana e 1200 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
Frankfurt
3 France Massa Martana e 850 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
Marseille
4 Spain Massa Martana e 1900 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
Madrid
5 UK Massa Martana e 1800 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
London
6 Others (USA) Massa Martana e 140 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
Port of Civitavecchia
Port of Civitavecchia e 7570 km Transoceanic ship
Port of New Jersey
Port of New Jersey e 2000 km Middle lorry (lorry 7.5e16 metric ton, EURO5)
Random city within the selected distance

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J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

obtain the materials’ breakdown.

2.2. Life cycle costing (LCC) N 

X 
Ct
LCC ¼ (1)
t¼0 ð1 þ dÞt
An LCC is a comprehensive decision-making tool that can be
used for evaluating the total costs generated over the entire lifetime
Where LCC is the life cycle cost; Ct is the sum of the relevant costs
of a product or service. By comparing different alternatives, an LCC
during a single period t and it includes initial and future costs; d is
allows to identify the potential cost drivers as well as the cost
the discount rate or return that could be earned in alternative in-
savings of a product or service and determine the most competitive
vestments; and t is the number of time periods.
configuration. The LCC analysis carried out in this work focuses on
Considering the buyer as the main life cycle actor, the invest-
the entire life cycle (cradle-to-grave) of the Turboalgor kit®.
ment costs (Ci) can be defined as the sum of:
However, in this case, the product buyer was selected as the main
life cycle actor. For this reason, all the expenses that are associated
o The Turboalgor kit® purchase cost.
with the product development and production are quantified in the
o Purchase cost for the control and management software that
initial investment and installation cost faced by the life cycle actor.
regulates the functioning of the kit.
The selection of the product buyer as the main life cycle actor of the
o The installation cost of the Turboalgor kit® which, according to
LCC study derives from the consideration that for high energy
the producers is always quantified in the amount of 4500 V.
consuming appliances such as industrial refrigerators, the eco-
nomic and environmental burdens from the use-phase are signifi-
All these costs were here defined based on the specifications
cant compared to those of manufacture (Xiao et al., 2015). The LCC,
provided by the manufacturer commercial manager. They are faced
consisting of capital (CAPEX) and operational expeditures (OPEX),
at time zero in the life cycle, so they are already expressed in the
was derived by using a cost breakdown structure (CBS) over a given
present value (PV).
study period, and all costs were adjusted (discounted) to properly
Maintenance cost (CM), are the expenses incurred to keep an
reflect the time-value of money. The LCC methodology followed in
item in good condition or good working order. When purchasing an
this work is based on the present-value method outlined in the
item that requires upkeep consumers should consider the initial
NIST Handbook 135 for the Federal Energy Management Program
price tag as well as the item’s ongoing maintenance expenses.
(Fuller and Petersen, 1996).
Maintenance costs are divided in:
Also, in this case, a lifetime of 10 years (time zero is referred to
January 1st, 2019) and 4000 working hours were considered for the
 Periodic ordinary maintenance costs (CM). Defined as 1% of the
system, i.e. 50% of the actual duty cycle. The analysis allowed to
purchase cost, according to the producer of the Turboalgor kit®.
compare the Turboalgor kit® when applied to three different
It is an annual cost that is subjected to the annual discount rate.
refrigeration systems i.e. characterised by 20, 100 and 300 kW
Periodic ordinary maintenance costs are recurring uniform
power of the main compressor in the refrigeration unit. Further-
amounts faced during the entire life cycle of the product, so they
more, as previously discussed in Section 2, two different scenarios,
are taken to the present value through the uniform present
i.e. BC (Best-Case) and WC (Worst-Case) were assessed. The LCC
value (UPV) concept.
was carried out considering the same functional unit and system
 Extraordinary maintenance and repair costs (CR). Defined as
boundary of the LCA study.
every maintenance out of the ordinary periodic one, it is not
considered in this LCC.

2.2.1. LCC inventory and evaluation method Concerning operational costs (CO), they are defined as the ex-
Following the approach proposed in the Life-cycle costing penses which are related to the operation of the coupled refriger-
manual for the Federal energy Management Program (Fuller and ation unit-Turboalgor kit® setup. In this LCC, the operational costs
Petersen, 1996), the cost items taken into account in this work coincide with energy costs. As previously said, an average annual
are classified by the following categories: operating time of 4000 h was assumed for the refrigeration unit,
against the real total operating hours’ amount of 8000 h, for safety
 Investment costs (CI), which equals to the sum of the Turboalgor reasons.
kit® cost, and the cost of its installation. Operational costs, and specifically, energy costs are taken to the
 Periodical maintenance costs (CM), which mainly consists of the present value through the modified uniform present value (UPV*)
oil changes directly carried out by the user, since following the factors that are classified as annually recurring non-fuel costs.
producer’s inputs, no additional maintenance is taken into ac- With reference to the disposal costs (CEOL), since no real data
count in this study. were available for the prototype, and following the inputs from the
 Operational costs (CO), that are the electric energy costs of a producers, a 1% of the product purchase cost was assumed in each
refrigeration unit with and without the Turboalgor kit®, configuration, based on the fact that it is mainly necessary to
depending on the selected scenario. dispose of "standard" materials (aluminium, iron, plastic, etc.). Also,
 Residual value (CEOL), defined as the remaining value at the end there are no hazardous fluids or materials to dispose of. In partic-
of the study period, in this case it consists of the end-of-life ular, the gas contained in the kit will be recovered according to the
disposal costs of the goods. procedure described in the “Environmental risk assessment for
activities involving the use of fluorinated gases” plan (statistica,
All these costs contribute to the determination of the global cost 2019).
and the LCC is calculated as the present value (PV) of the different Since it is a one-time amount that needs to be paid at the end of
costs. the life cycle of the product, the residual value is transformed into
The general formula for the LCC calculation is the following Eq. present value by means of the single present value (SPV) factor
(1): calculated at years 10.
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2.2.2. Considered economic parameters

The present LCC analysis was carried out according to the
annualised method. In this methodology, all future costs are esti-
mated based on year zero values, i.e. considered as the year of the
expenditure.
Future rates of inflation and interest must be predicted and used
for defining the net present value of all the costs faced by the user
during the entire life cycle of the system. In particular, the following
values, referred to average European values, are used to define the
proper annualised value:

o Inflation rate ¼ 1.31% (statistica, 2019).

o Real discount rate ¼ 2.4% (The World Bank, 2019).
o Nominal labour cost increase ¼ 2.6% (Eurostat, 2019a).
o Nominal escalation rate for electricity ¼ 3% (Eurostat, 2019b).
Fig. 5. Summary of the environmental impacts in each stage of the Turboalgor kit® life
o Electricity price ¼ 0.1434 V/kWh (Eurostat, 2019c).
cycle transported and used in Italy: IPCC 2013 Method.

Based on the previous parameters, all the conversion factors for

the different costs were calculated, as depicted in Table 5.

3. Results from the life cycle assessment

This section aims at graphically presenting the main results of

the LCA for the Turboalgor kit®. The different stages of the life cycle
are globally (Section 3.1) and individually (from Section 3.2 to
Section 3.4) analysed.

3.1. Entire life cycle

A detailed summary of the environmental impacts in each stage

of the Turboalgor kit® life cycle is shown in Fig. 5, for the GWP2013,
and in Fig. 6, for the ReCiPe Endpoint. Notice that only the case of
the final user in Italy is shown in this section for a better discussion
of the results. However, the influence of the transport to the other Fig. 6. Summary of the environmental impacts in each stage of the Turboalgor kit® life
final users as well as the operation and maintenance of the Tur- cycle transported and used in Italy: ReCiPe Endpoint Method.
boalgor kit® in such final user countries, are discussed explicitly in
the following sections, although they represent a small share in the
life cycle environmental impact. Results showed that the stage with Contribution from the impact categories to the single endpoint
the highest impact to the environment is the cradle to gate, which score is presented in Table 6. At the endpoint level, the damage to
contains the raw material extraction, the raw material distribution the ecosystem is breakdown into the categories where two impact
to converters, the raw material transformation into a semi- categories are found to be the most influential which are climate
manufactured product, and the semi-manufactured product dis- change ecosystem with 46.39% of the total impact followed by the
tribution to final product producer. The reason lies in the fact that a agricultural land occupation with 47.5%. Regarding the damage to
large quantity of material and energy is consumed in this stage, human health, the most influential category is human toxicity, with
which is translated to a higher quantity of emissions and impacts more than 50% of the total impact points. And finally, the two
on the environment. The second stage with the highest impact on categories on resources (fossil depletion and metal depletion) have
the environment is the assembly in the factory, which considers the also a significant impact on each one. Human toxicity is so far the
impact of the warehouse and the electrical consumption for the most contribution category, this is due to, as mentioned before a
assembly and quality check for one functional unit. Finally, the significant quantity of material (electric components) and energy is
remaining three stages practically do not influence the environ- consumed in the abovementioned cradle to gate stage, which is
ment if compared to the previous ones. Notice that in the final translated to a higher quantity of emissions and impacts to the
disposal stage, negatives values are observed due to the assumption environment.
done.

Table 5
Calculation scheme for the different investigated scenarios.

Cost item Base Date Cost (2) Year of occurrence (3) Discount factor Present value
(1) (4) (5) ¼ (2)  (4)

Initial investment cost Base date Already in

OM&R Annual
Electricity: Annual
20[kW]  4000[h] at 0.1434 V/h
Residual value 10

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Table 6 extraction, manufacturing and transport of the central body, all the
Contributions from impact categories toward endpoint single score. components for the electricity and data, and the sensors and dis-
Damage category Impact points (i. p.) plays are responsible for more than the 50% of the greenhouse
Ecosystem quality
gases emissions of the Turboalgor kit®. The reason lies on the fact
Terrestrial acidification 0.24 that the central body represents more than 1/3 of the total weight
Terrestrial ecotoxicity 0.44 of the kit. In contrast, the reason for the impact of the data and
Agricultural land occupation 88.3 electrical components, sensors and displays is due to the materials
Freshwater eutrophication 1.09
which these components are made of (see Appendix). On the other
Urban land occupation 5.3
Freshwater ecotoxicity 0.56 hand, we can also see that, besides the previous components, the
Natural land transformation 3.93 heat exchanger and the fluid piping, also have an important influ-
Marine ecotoxicity 0.11 ence on the ecosystem quality, human health and resources (Fig. 8).
Climate change, ecosystems 90.35
Total 190.35
Human Health 3.3. Transport from the factory to the final user
Climate change, human health 142.95
Human toxicity 244.43 Up to the final product production stage, the location of the final
Photochemical oxidant formation 1.06
user had no environmental impact, since the importance lied on the
Ozone depletion 0.23
Particulate matter formation 85.01
transport to the factory, which was the same for all cases. This
Ionising radiation 0.03 section aims to show the impact of the location of the final user on
Total 473.74 the environment. However, it is worthy to be mentioned that, as
Resources shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the influence of the transport to the final
Fossil depletion 189.03
users represents a small share in the life cycle environmental
Metal depletion 194.26
Total 383.30 impact.
Results from the IPCC 2013 method (Fig. 9) and ReCiPe Endpoint
method (Fig. 10) points of view show the influence of the distance,
3.2. From raw materials extraction to final product producer (cradle with higher impacts for higher distances. It can also be seen that
there is not much difference between case 6 (USA) and the other
to gate)
cases, despite the distance difference is significant. The reason lies
on the fact that the impact for the transport by transoceanic ship is
As previously seen in Section 3.1, the stage with the highest
impact to the environment is the cradle to gate. This section aims at much lower than the transport by lorry.
presenting the impact of each one of the thirteen main components
which form the Turboalgor kit®, from the raw material extraction 3.4. Final product maintenance and operation
to the transport to the final product producer. The results are pre-
sented from the IPCC 2013 method (Fig. 7) and ReCiPe Endpoint Similarly, to the transport stage, the final product maintenance
method (Fig. 8) points of view. and operation stage practically has no influence on the entire life
Results showed, on the one hand, that the raw material cycle because of its low energy consumption and the existence of
no maintenance during the useful lifetime of the kit. The small

Fig. 7. Impact of the different components that form the Turboalgor kit® during the stages between the raw material extraction to the transport and the final product producer:
Method of IPCC 2013.

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Fig. 8. Impact of the different components that form the Turboalgor kit® during the stages between the raw material extraction to the transport and the final product producer:
ReCiPe Method.

Fig. 9. Impact of the location of the final user during the transport of the Turboalgor
kit®: IPCC Method. Fig. 10. Impact of the location of the final user during the transport of the Turboalgor
kit®: ReCiPe Method.

differences observed between the case studies (Fig. 11 and Fig. 12)
unit.
are mainly due to the energy mix of each country.
Results from the study show that even for the WC scenario
(Fig. 13) the environmental payback period is always lower than the
3.5. Environmental payback
10 years of the kit useful life if the IPCC method is considered. In
particular, the decrease of the environmental impacts associated to
The environmental payback is the time, measured in years,
the electrical energy savings produced by the Turboalgor kit®,
required for the Turboalgor kit® to compensate for the environ-
allow compensating the environmental impacts due to the raw
mental impact during the entire life cycle of the kit, as a result of
material extraction, transport, manufacturing, operation during ten
the electrical energy savings on the refrigeration unit coupled to.
years and end-of-life management, after 8 years and 4 months from
Two main scenarios, i.e. BC and WC scenario (see Section 2), and
the installation when a 20 kW unit is considered. Additionally, such
three powers of the compressor unit, i.e. 20, 100, and 300 kW, are
environmental payback period is considerably lower when the
evaluated for the case of Italy, assuming that the same kit evaluated
100 kW and 300 kW units are taken into account, less than 2 years
in the present study can be indistinctly coupled to any refrigeration
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Fig. 11. Impact of the location of the final user on the operation of the Turboalgor kit®: ReCiPe method.

Fig. 12. Impact of the location of the final user on the operation of the Turboalgor kit®: IPCC method.

and 1 year, respectively. As for the ReCiPe method, in the WC sce- 4. Results from the life cycle costing
nario, the environmental payback period exceeds the 10 years of kit
useful life for the human health and the resources category for the 4.1. Entire life cycle
20 kW refrigeration unit consumption, while it is always lower than
5 years in the other configurations. This section aims at presenting the main outcomes of the LCC for
Concerning BC scenario (Fig. 14) the environmental payback is the Turboalgor kit®. Results from the different scenarios are pre-
always within the 10 years of operation for both the investigation sented and compared, and the actual economic feasibility of the kit
methods taken into account, depending on the refrigeration unit is investigated for the buyer stakeholder. Table 7 shows a summary
electrical consumptions and the indicator studied. More in detail, of the LCC of the two considered scenarios for the Turboalgor kit®
the additional environmental impacts produced during the Tur- to be coupled to a 20, 100 and 300 kW refrigeration unit. As can be
boalgor kit® entire life cycle, are overcome within the fourth year of seen from this table, both scenarios are always associated to the
operation, and in some cases, i.e. in the case of the 20 kW unit, even same energy costs: according to the producer, the electric con-
within the first year. sumption of the kit is the same for each application. The investment
cost, always higher for the BC scenario, is at least 84.1% and never

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Fig. 13. Environmental payback of the Turboalgor kit® in Italy (WC scenario): (a) IPCC.;
(b) ReCiPe. Note: EQ (energy quality), HH (Human health), R (Resources). The nu- Fig. 14. Environmental payback of the Turboalgor kit® in Italy (BC scenario): (a) IPCC.;
merical values between parentheses mean the supposed power of the refrigeration (b) Method. Note: EQ (energy quality), HH (Human health), R (Resources). The nu-
unit coupled to the kit. merical values between parentheses mean the supposed power of the refrigeration
unit coupled to the kit.

exceeds 89.1% of the final LCC value. Disposal and ordinary main-
tenance costs always represent a small share of the final life cycle refrigeration system for the final user. For this purpose, the energy
cost. Globally, it can be stated that the Turboalgor kit® integrated to cost of the different refrigeration units is calculated for the selected
the 300 kW is the most impacting for the final user. time period (10 years), considering the same working time (4000 h
The integration of the kit in the refrigeration unit, however, per year), in terms of modified uniform present value through the
produces different energy costs during the operational phase for UPV* factor, thus following the LCC approach. Later the energy
the combined system. Indeed, as previously described in section 2, saving produced by the integration of each Turboalgor kit® is
both BC and WC scenario can reduce the energy consumption of a calculated and the payback period of each scenario is defined
regular refrigeration system. This is all the more important if we considering the cumulated present value of the energy costs.
consider that the share of these costs generally, represent the Fig. 15 shows the results from the calculation. As can be seen
highest impact on the LCC of high energy consuming appliances from this graph, in the BC scenarios, the Turboalgor kit® allows to
such as industrial refrigerators (Xiao et al., 2015). obtain substantial energy savings leading to DPPs always below 5
years. The highest payback is associated with the kit coupled to the
4.2. Discounted payback period 20 kW RU (4 years and 10 months), while the lowest to the kit
coupled to the 300 kW RU (1 year and 6 months). As a result, the
The economic payback period represents the time (in years) integration of the kit allows a net saving at the end of the life cycle
required for the Turboalgor kit® to compensate for the economic of about 14,000 V, 91, 000 V, and 273,000 V, in the 20 kW, 100 kW,
impact produced by the kit during its full life cycle, as a result of the and 300 kW coupled systems, respectively.
electrical energy savings on the coupled refrigeration unit. In this As for the WC scenarios, in this case the integration of the kit
work, we consider the discounted payback period (DPP) for taking still allows defining acceptable DPPs (below 10 years) when the 100
into account the time value of money by discounting the cash flows and the 300 kW RU is taken into account, i.e. about 7 and 5 years,
for each period at a suitable discount rate. respectively. However, it is higher than 10 years for the 20 kW RU
By calculating this factor, it is possible to investigate the eco- configuration. As a result, the integration of the kit allows a net
nomic feasibility of the Turboalgor kit® integration in a real saving at the end of the life cycle of about 8000 V and 41,000 V, in

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Table 7
Summary of the LCC analysis when a Turboalgor kit® is coupled to a 20, 100 and 300 kW refrigeration unit (RU).

Type of costs Scenario 20 kW RU 100 kW RU 300 kW RU

Investment costs Full Turboalgor kit® purchase cost BC 7000 V 31,000 V 53,000 V
WC 5000 V 15,000 V 37,000 V
Consumables for installation BC 3000 V 3000 V 3000 V
WC 3000 V 3000 V 3000 V
Installation at costumer site BC 1500 V 1500 V 1500 V
WC 1500 V 1500 V 1500 V
OM&R costs BC 659 V 2918 V 4990 V
WC 471 V 1412 V 3483 V
Energy costs BC 1274 V 1274 V 1274 V
WC 1274 V 1274 V 1274 V
Disposal costs BC 63 V 278 V 474 V
WC 45 V 134 V 331 V
LCC BC 13,496 V 39,970 V 64,238 V
WC 11,290 V 22,320 V 46,589 V

reduces its DPP by 11 and 10 months when the energy price of 0.14
V/kWh and 0.16 V/kWh is considered.
Concerning the BC scenario, in this case, using the kit for about
5000 h per years allows to always reduce the DPP below 4 years,
even reaching 1 year when the higher energy price (0.16 V/kWh)
and power of the RU (300 kW) are taken into account. As for the
WC, in this case 5000 operating h per year result in a DPP of about 6
years when the kit is coupled to a 100 kW RU, and of about 4 years
when it is coupled to a 300 kW RU.
From these results, it is evident that the selected parameters
represent the main drivers for the economic assessment of this
kind of systems. Therefore, their effect should be carefully assessed
to properly evaluate the feasibility of their integration in an existing
refrigeration unit.

5. Conclusions and future prospects

In this study, a combined environmental and economic analysis

was used to investigate the potential of an optimisation kit for in-
dustrial refrigeration units: The Turboalgor kit® The LCA was
evaluated using real data from the manufacturing company (Tur-
boalgor S.r.l.). Ecoinvent v3.5 database was used to obtain the
environmental impacts. Two different methodologies were
applied: ReCiPe (End-Point) and IPCC 2013 (GWP). An LCC analysis
was also developed, based on the same functional unit and system
Fig. 15. LCC threshold and cumulate discounted cash flow in time for (a) the BC and (b) boundaries of the LCA, considering the product buyer as the main
WC scenario, considering the three different powers of the refrigeration units, i.e. 20, stakeholder of the analysis. In both cases, two different scenarios,
100 and 300 kW. i.e. Best-Case (BC) and Worst-Case (WC) scenario, differing in terms
of main operating temperature and, consequently, final energy
savings were evaluated, considering three refrigeration units
the 100 kW and 300 kW coupled systems, respectively. characterised by an electrical consumption of 20 kW, 100 kW, and
300 kW.
4.3. Discounted payback period: the role of operating time and According to the LCA results, the stage with the highest impact
energy cost to the environment is the cradle to gate, i.e. from raw materials
extraction to raw materials distribution to converters, up to their
In this section, the effect of different operating times and energy transformation into a semi-manufactured product, and distribution
prices on the final DPP was investigated. Five different operating to the final product producer. In detail, the damage to human health
times, i.e. 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500, and 5000 h per year, and two is the highest category in impact points with 488 i.p. Indeed, the
different energy prices, i.e. 0.14 and 0.16 V/kWh, were taken into midpoint category toxicity has so far the highest impact with
account. Results from these calculations are presented in Table 8. As 244.43 i.p. A large quantity of materials and energy is consumed at
can be seen, all the configurations, apart from the 20 kW WC, this stage, which is translated to a higher quantity of emissions and
generally respect the limit DPP of 10 years, even when the impacts on the environment. Therefore, a future optimisation
extremely low operating time of 3000 h per year is considered. procedure could regard the use of materials with a lower impact on
Both operating time and energy price have a significant effect on the environment, such as recycled materials, for the manufacturing
the calculated payback. In particular, a change from 4000 to 4500 of the Turboalgor kit®.
operating h per year allows to significantly reduce the DPP in all WC Results from the LCC showed that the investment costs repre-
configurations. The kit coupled to a 100 kW RU, for example, sent the highest impact for the final user in terms of present value,
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Table 8
Summary of the different DPP for the Turboalgor kit® coupled to a 20, 100 and 300 kW refrigeration unit (RU) considering 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500, and 5000 operating hours
during the year and two different energy prizes (0.14 and 0.16 V/kWh).

DPP (m ¼ months)

Scenario BC WC

Size 20 kW 100 kW 300 kW 20 kW 100 kW 300 kW

Energy cost (V/kWh) 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.16 0.14 0.16

Operating hours per year 3000 79 m 72 m 46 m 41 m 24 m 21 m 420 m 389 m 127 m 117 m 86 m 78 m

3500 62 m 61 m 39 m 35 m 21 m 18 m 351 m 326 m 108 m 99 m 73 m 66 m
4000 58 m 53 m 34 m 30 m 18 m 15 m 302 m 280 m 93 m 85 m 63 m 57 m
4500 52 m 47 m 30 m 27 m 16 m 13 m 264 m 245 m 82 m 75 m 56 m 51 m
5000 46 m 42 m 27 m 24 m 14 m 12 m 235 m 218 m 74 m 67 m 50 m 45 m

with an average of 88% and 87% in the BC and WC scenarios, Writing e original draft, Visualization. Marta Cha
fer: Conceptual-
respectively. The investigation of the economic discounted payback ization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation,
allowed to verify that the Turboalgor kit® is always convenient in Writing e original draft, Visualization. Anna Laura Pisello: Vali-
the best-case (BC), where the initial investment is recovered after 4 dation, Project administration. Agnese Manni: Validation, Project
years and 10 months at the latest (when a 20 kW RU is considered), administration. Maurizio Ascani: Conceptualization, Methodology,
and energy savings up to 273,000 V are found (in the 300 kW RU). Formal analysis, Resources, Writing e review & editing, Supervi-
In the worst-case, the only configuration with a discounted payback sion, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Luisa F. Cabeza:
period higher than 10 years is the one associated with the 20 kW Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Data
RU. However, the integration of the kit in the 100 kW and 300 kW curation, Writing e review & editing, Supervision, Project admin-
RU allows to obtain convenient DPPs, i.e. 8 years and 4 years and a istration, Funding acquisition.
half, respectively. As a result, in these last configurations a net
saving of about 8000 V and 41,000 V, can be found at the end of the
Declaration of competing interest
life cycle, respectively. In general, operating time and energy cost
represent the key features that should be taken into account when
The authors declare that they have no known competing
investigating the economic feasibility of the kit integration in an
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
existing RU. All this considered, the proper selection of these pa-
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
rameters would be crucial for optimising the functioning of the kit
and thus significantly reducing the DPP of each configuration. In
general, the integration of the kit seems particularly promising in Acknowledgements
medium-large refrigeration units characterised by 4000 operating
hours per year. The authors from the University of Lleida would like to thank the
Future studies will focus on optimising the overall production Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their
process of the Turboalgor kit®, with the aim of reducing its envi- research group GREiA (2017 SGR 1537). GREiA is a certified agent
ronmental impact during the cradle to gate stage, particularly, TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Gov-
considering the integration of lower embodied energy semi- ernment of Catalonia. This work is partially supported by ICREA
manufactured components. under the ICREA Academia programme. Jaume Gasia would like to
thank the Departament d’Universitats, Recerca i Societat de la
 de la Generalitat de Catalunya for his research fellow-
Informacio
CRediT authorship contribution statement
ship (2017 FI_B1 00092).

Jaume Gasia: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Vali-

dation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing e Appendix
review & editing, Visualization. Claudia Fabiani: Conceptualiza-
tion, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation,

C Subcomponent Q Material Summary

V U Name V U V U

Central body Casing 1 u AISI 304 SS 84.900 kg/u 84.900 kg

Casing (paint color) 1 u Powder coating 10.890 m2 1.360 kg
Machine screw 10 u Stainless steel 0.010 kg/u 0.100 kg
Flat washer 10 u Stainless steel 0.001 kg/u 0.010 kg
Window (Glass) 1 u Glass 0.010 kg/u 0.010 kg
Window (Protection) 1 u Polyethylene (Rigid) 0.014 kg/u 0.014 kg
Window (Machine Screw) 4 u Stainless steel 0.010 kg/u 0.040 kg
Door tape 1 u Polyurethane (Flexible) 0.300 kg/u 0.300 kg
Top cabinet Casing 1 u AISI 304 SS 18.300 kg/u 18.300 kg
Casing (paint color) 1 u Powder coating 3.050 m2 0.380 kg
HEX screw 10 u Stainless steel 0.010 kg/u 0.100 kg
Flat washer 10 u Stainless steel 0.001 kg/u 0.010 kg
Internal plate 1 u Stainless steel 1.800 kg/u 1.800 kg
Analogic display 2 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.200 kg

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J. Gasia, C. Fabiani, M. Cha Journal of Cleaner Production 295 (2021) 126442

(continued )

C Subcomponent Q Material Summary

V U Name V U V U

Digital display 1 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.100 kg

Plastic protection 2 u Polyethylene (Rigid) 0.150 kg/u 0.300 kg
Data acquisition cabinet Casing 1 u AISI 304 SS 14.000 kg/u 14.000 kg
Casing (paint color) 1 u Powder coating 0.880 m2 0.110 kg
Hinge 2 u Stainless steel 0.065 kg/u 0.130 kg
Door seal 1 u N.A. 0.150 kg/u 0.150 kg
Locker 1 u N.A. 0.030 kg/u 0.030 kg
HEX screw 21 u Stainless steel 0.010 kg/u 0.210 kg
Flat washer 21 u Stainless steel 0.001 kg/u 0.021 kg
HEX nut 21 u Stainless steel 0.002 kg/u 0.042 kg
Internal plate 1 u Stainless steel 1.800 kg/u 1.800 kg
Sticker 2 u N.A. 0.001 kg/u 0.002 kg
Electrical cabinet Casing (shell) 1 u AISI 304 SS 14.000 kg/u 14.000 kg
Casing (paint/ink) 1 u Powder coating 0.880 m2 0.110 kg
Hinge 2 u Stainless steel 0.065 kg/u 0.130 kg
Door seal 1 u N.A. 0.150 kg/u 0.150 kg
Locker 1 u N.A. 0.030 kg/u 0.030 kg
HEX screw 21 u Stainless steel 0.010 kg/u 0.210 kg
Flat washer 21 u Stainless steel 0.001 kg/u 0.021 kg
HEX nut 21 u Stainless steel 0.002 kg/u 0.042 kg
Internal plate 1 u Stainless steel 1.800 kg/u 1.800 kg
Sticker 2 u N.A. 0.001 e 0.002 kg
Insulation Panel of insulation 1 u Polyurethane 1.150 kg/u 1.150 kg
Foam 1 u Fiberglass 10.000 kg/u 10.000 kg
Tubes insulation 1 u Elastomeric foam 2.100 kg/u 2.100 kg
Turbocharger Holder (Plastic part) 2 u N.A. 0.050 kg/u 0.100 kg
Holder (Body) 2 u AISI 304 SS 0.050 kg/u 0.100 kg
Holder (Screw) 2 u AISI 304 SS 0.010 kg/u 0.020 kg
Turbocharger (BHA comp. type 1) 40 u AISI 304 SS varies kg/u 0.624 kg
Turbocharger (BHA: comp. type 2) 2 u Aluminium varies kg/u 2.040 kg
Turbocharger (RA: comp. type 1) 8 u AISI 304 SS varies kg/u 0.224 kg
Turbocharger (RA: comp. type 2) 2 u Aluminium varies kg/u 0.080 kg
Turbocharger (THA: Turbine housing) 1 u Aluminium 0.580 kg/u 0.580 kg
Turbocharger (THA: Turbine nozzle ring) 1 u Aluminium 0.020 kg/u 0.020 kg
Turbocharger (THA: Washers/bolts) 12 u AISI 304 SS varies kg/u 0.126 kg
Turbocharger (CHA: Compressor housing) 1 u Aluminium 1.840 kg/u 1.840 kg
Turbocharger (CHA: components) 49 u AISI 304 SS varies kg/u 0.982 kg
Sensors and displays Sensor: Temperature 9 u N.A. 0.041 kg/u 0.369 kg
Sensor: Temperature 18 u Stainless steel 0.045 kg/u 0.810 kg
Sensor: Pressure þ switch 4 u N.A. 0.050 kg/u 0.200 kg
Sensor: Flow meter 1 u N.A. 5.000 kg/u 5.000 kg
Sensor: Flow meter 2 u AISI 316L 2.080 kg/u 4.160 kg
Sensor: Flow meter 2 u Nitrile rubber and fibers 0.014 kg/u 0.028 kg
Sensor: Flow meter 8 u Stainless Steel 0.130 kg/u 1.040 kg
Sensor: Flow meter 8 u Stainless Steel 0.030 kg/u 0.240 kg
Sensor: Flow meter 16 u Stainless Steel 0.016 kg/u 0.256 kg
Sensor: Oil level 1 u N.A. 0.050 kg/u 0.050 kg
Display: Oil tank thermostat 1 u N.A. 0.050 kg/u 0.050 kg
Display: Pressure gauge 2 u N.A. 0.050 kg/u 0.100 kg
Fluids Refrigerant 1 u R404A 5.000 kg/u 5.000 kg
Lubricant 1 u Polyol ester (POE) 1.000 kg/u 1.000 kg
Fluid piping Valve components 16 u N.A. varies kg/u 3.610 kg
Brass component 11 u Brass 0.060 kg/u 0.660 kg
Piping 4 u Copper varies kg/u 7.720 kg
Connections type 1 4 u AISI 304 SS varies kg/u 4.940 kg
Connections type 2 2 u Nitrile rubber and fibers 0.014 kg/u 0.028 kg
Connections type 3 27 u Stainless Steel varies kg/u 1.522 kg
Connections type 4 1 u Polymerisate 0.010 kg/u 0.010 kg
Reductions 8 u Copper varies kg/u 0.463 kg
Junctures 2 u Copper varies kg/u 0.580 kg
Plastic tie 25 u Nylon 0.005 kg/u 0.125 kg
HE Heat Exchanger 1 u N.A. 11.100 kg/u 22.200 kg
Oil tank Oil body 1 u ASTM A 333 CS 5.000 kg/u 5.000 kg
Lubrication outlet tube 1 u ASTM A 333 CS 0.270 kg/u 0.270 kg
Equalization tube 1 u ASTM A 333 CS 0.044 kg/u 0.044 kg
Lubrication outlet tube 1 u ASTM A 333 CS 0.250 kg/u 0.250 kg
Temperature sensors junction 1 u ASTM A 333 CS 0.063 kg/u 0.063 kg
Oil level sensor junction 1 u ASTM A 106 CS 0.140 kg/u 0.140 kg
Oil filter 1 u N.A. 1.000 kg/u 1.000 kg
Lubrication magnetic drive oil pump 1 u N.A. 1.500 kg/u 1.500 kg
Electrical and data Fuse 7 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.140 kg
Fuse holder 7 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.140 kg
Built-in circuit breaker 1 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.020 kg
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(continued )

C Subcomponent Q Material Summary

V U Name V U V U

Terminal cover 1 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.020 kg

Connectors 2 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.040 kg
Extension shaft 1 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.020 kg
Integrated filter 1 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.020 kg
Multifunctional timer 1 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.020 kg
Green LED 2 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.040 kg
Trigger and relays 5 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.100 kg
Amperimetric transformer 3 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.300 kg
Power supply unit 1 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.100 kg
PLC Smart Module 1 u N.A. 0.050 kg/u 0.050 kg
Plug (component) 13 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 1.300 kg
Plug (Screw) 52 u N.A. 0.005 kg/u 0.260 kg
Ferrite plastic cover 2 u N.A. 0.020 kg/u 0.040 kg
Energy analyser 1 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.100 kg
Data acquisition module 1 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.100 kg
Antenna (wifi and Gu@rdian EVO) 2 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.200 kg
Module gu@rdian EVO 1 u N.A. 0.100 kg/u 0.100 kg
Electric cable 1 u N.A. 10.000 m 10.000 m
Data cable 1 u N.A. 30.000 m 30.000 m

Life cycle inventory (LCI): Summary (C ¼ component, Q ¼ quantity, V ¼ value, U ¼ unit, BHA¼Bearing Housing Assembly, RA ¼ Rotor Assembly, THA ¼ Turbine Housing
Assembly, CHA¼Compressor Housing Assembly, HE¼Heat Exchanger).

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