Holistic sustainability assessment of novel oscillating-heat-pipe grinding-wheel in Earth-friendly abrasive machining

Abstract

The aero-engine manufacturing industry is booming in China, while sustainability is neglected. For example, the grinding superalloy part uses a high-volume low-velocity flood delivery strategy for grinding cooling, which is harmful to health and the environment, consumes more resources and energy, emits more CO2 and increases production costs. To achieve sustainability in the aero-engine manufacturing industry, it is worth considering eliminating coolant from the grinding to reduce the environmental impact and production cost. In this study, a novel oscillating heat pipe grinding wheel (OHP grinding wheel) is introduced to enhance the heat transfer in the eco-benign grinding process. The core concept is to design, fabricate particular oscillating heat pipes and position them in the grinding wheel so that the inside oscillating heat pipes transfer out the heat directly through the grinding wheel to avoid heat gathering, lower the grinding temperature, and suppress the thermal damages. Moreover, the use of harmful coolant can be diminished or even avoided, and an eco-benign grinding technology can therefore be achieved. Holistic sustainability analysis is then conducted in this paper. Compared with grinding by Non-OHP grinding wheel, the water-based coolant is avoided, the energy consumption is reduced by 26%–42%, and the carbon emission is reduced by 45%–56%. The OHP grinding wheel shows a great advantage in eco-benign grinding.