Open Access

ARTICLE

Preliminary Life Cycle Inventory of Rapeseed Oil Polyols for Polyurethane Production

Anda Fridrihsone-Girone

Polymer Laboratory, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, 27 Dzerbenes St., Riga, LV 1006, Latvia
Institute of Environment and Energy Systems, Riga Technical University, 12/1Azenes St., Riga, LV 1048, Latvia

* Corresponding Author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2015, 3(1), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2014.634136

Received 23 November 2014; Accepted 17 February 2015;

Abstract

This study assesses present preliminary Life Cycle Inventory for rapeseed oil polyols suitable for the production of polyurethane, which is one of the most widely used polymer materials. Due to growing environmental problems, the polyurethane industry is seeking bio-based raw materials. A study was carried out for rapeseed oil triethanolamine polyol developed at Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry. The cradle-to-gate study was carried out with functional unit of 1 kg rapeseed oil polyol synthesized in a scaled-up pilot reactor. The results show that at the midpoint level the production of rapeseed oil has the highest impact in the following environmental impact categories: agricultural land occupation with 59%, followed by climate change (human health) with 12%, fossil depletion with 8% and climate change (ecosystems) with 8%.

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Keywords

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