Environmental life cycle assessment of remanufactured engines with advanced restoring technologies

Several restoring technologies are employed in engine remanufacturing, such as brush electroplating, arc spraying and laser cladding, which could improve the quality and performance of the remanufactured product and the efficiency of remanufacturing processes. The primary objective of the present study is to analyze the environmental benefits of remanufacturing employing advanced restoring technologies (Scenario 3) in comparison to newly manufacturing (Scenario 1) and remanufacturing without using advanced restoring technologies (Scenario 2) based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Resource and energy consumptions of each manufacturing and remanufacturing processes were collected along the production line and then the results of seven selected environmental impact categories are calculated. The results show that engine remanufacturing with advanced restoring technologies will achieve large environmental benefits. By using advanced restoring technologies, engine remanufacturing could be able to restore more damaged components and reduce the environmental impacts through reduced consumption of raw materials production and manufacturing process of production replacement parts.