Gate to gate life cycle assessment of flat pressed particleboard production in Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Particleboard is one of the non-structural wood-based composites developed in the late 1950s in Iran to utilize agricultural and industrial wood residues. Since there was no published document about its Life Cycle Inventory in Iran, the aim of this study was to document the life cycle inventory data from the particleboard manufacturing in the second hand lines in Iran. The study covers the energy consumption and environmental impacts of raw materials and processes during particleboard production. In order to identify the main hotspots and characterize the production process, impact categories were considered using CML methodology and cumulative exergy demand (CExD) indicator. The results revealed that the board shaping subsystem was the main contributor to the most of impact categories.The main hotspot for resin production was known as Urea-formaldehyde (UF). Electricity was the main hotspot in acidification (AC) and ozone layer depletion (OLD) impact categories, while transportation and production process were the main hotspots in marine aquatic ecotoxicity (ME) and photochemical oxidation (PO) impact categories, respectively. Moreover, rotary dryer, hot press, flaker and hammer mill, vacuum pump and diesel fuel were the most effective sectors in the emissions of the production process. Results for substitution of natural gas showed that, except some impact categories, the use of alternative source of thermal energy such as wood residues could improve emissions from the manufacturing process.