Design of a Remanufacturing Process for an Air Conditioning Unit and its Environmental Implications.
Date of Award
12-20-2018
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.Sc.
Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Supervisor
Azab, Ahmed
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Remanufacturing is considered as the most preferable recovery option. The objective of this thesis is to verify this claim and test its validity. A window-mount air conditioner (AC) is selected as a case study to verify the environmental benefits of remanufacturing a product characterized by high energy consumption during the use phase in its lifecycle. A lifecycle approach has been followed. The research investigates the environmental savings in regard to a remanufactured AC compared to a new and equivalent AC. The assessment is conducted with the guidance of the ISO 14044 -2006 life cycle assessment (LCA). Analysis shows that AC remanufacturing is not always an environmentally attractive option; sensitivity analysis shows that ten percent improvement in energy efficiency of new AC is breakeven point. A new and more efficient AC scored better on three areas related to environmental impacts out of five studied. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it provides an authentic example wherein remanufacturing is not always the environmentally preferred recovery option. The developed lifecycle model can be utilized to help AC manufacturers make decisions about the overall environmental performance of their products.
Recommended Citation
Ziout, Aiman, "Design of a Remanufacturing Process for an Air Conditioning Unit and its Environmental Implications." (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7612.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7612