LIFE CYCLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MAGNESIUM AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENTS

摘要

The development of magnesium applications for automotive industries is receiving significant attention. One aspect of this attention is the assessment and reduction of the cradle-to-grave environmental impact of magnesium components. The study investigates detailed impact of magnesium converter housing for automotives starting from the production of magnesium ingots to the manufacture and assembly, use and recycling. Extensive sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the impact of key process parameters that can improve the environmental performance of the component. The parameters include: cover gases other than SF_6, improvements to product yield and use of secondary magnesium. From this analysis, a number of environmental performance scenarios are proposed and used to compare the impact of similar functional components made using of magnesium produced in China, aluminium and iron. The investigations clearly show a significant reduction in the greenhouse gas impact may be achieved from the lighter weight of the magnesium components. Also, process improvements to reduce the impact improve the break-even distances in the use of automobiles at which magnesium becomes comparable with other competing metals.