Lifecycle Assessment of Steel Rebar Production with Induction Melting Furnace: Case Study in Turkey

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the utilization of the lifecycle assessment (LCA) methodology to determine the environmental burdens of steel rebar production with induction melting furnace technology. The data were obtained from an existing steel plant. The functional unit was selected as 1 t of steel rebar production. System boundaries were studied as cradle to gate. The lifecycle impact assessment analyses were considered in 11 impact categories. Analyses results summarized that the global warming potential of steel rebar production is approximately 720 kg CO2 eq/t product. Electricity consumption was the major impact with effects on greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuels–based abiotic depletion, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, freshwater toxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidification, and eutrophication. Most of the impacts of steel rebar have resulted from steel billet because the steel billet is a semifinished product of steel rebar production.