Title:
Analyzing Factors Of Variability In Energy-Use In Concrete Production
Author(s):
Satoshi Fujimoto
Publication:
Symposium Paper
Volume:
305
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
37.1-37.10
Keywords:
ready-mixed concrete production; electricity; energy intensity; life cycle assessment, inventory analysis
DOI:
10.14359/51688597
Date:
9/1/2015
Abstract:
Estimation of energy and material input-output during the production and other lifecycle stages is the most basic and repeated procedure to evaluate the environmental impact. Therefore, it is important to develop an accurate, convincing and field-verified model for estimating the material and energy input-output at each lifecycle stages and at each plant or site. With this background, we have been developing energy-use estimation model at concrete production stage. In this paper, we firstly present the unique characteristics of concrete production process in Japan based on our previously proposed model. With this model, we statistically estimate three factors through the field questionnaire survey on ready-mixed concrete plants. The estimation has shown the following characteristics in electric consumption; 1) major manufacturing machineries such as mixer, belt conveyer and blowers are less electric consuming than facilities in constant operation (ex. air compressor), 2) around half of the constant electric consuming facilities can be stopped (at least in some conditions) when concrete shipping is not in queue, which may imply possible options for the reduction of electric energy-use.