Comparative life cycle assessment of induction machines made with copper-cage or aluminium-cage rotors

摘要

This paper deals with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of induction machines and try to determine whether a copper-cage rotor is better than an aluminium-cage one, for a given using time and considering the global environmental footprint. The paper focuses on induction motors directly connected to the power grid, without electronic converters. The LCA takes into account the materials extraction, the machine construction, the use and the end of life for several criteria. In the first part, a copper conductor is compared to an aluminium one and results are discussed considering the part of recycled material in the rotor manufacturing process. In a second part, two machines with the same efficiency are compared. The environmental impacts differences are discussed. In the third part, two machines of the same sizes, but with a different rotor, are compared considering various usage times. The lower losses of the copper-rotor machine yield a significant advantage for the efficiency but the gains are smaller when the global life cycle is considered.