how to model incineration process with ecoinvent cut-off database

Question

Hello everybody,I am using OpenLCA 1.10 and Database: Ecoinvent 3.5 cut-off.

I need to build a process that represent the Incineratotion of Plastic waste and that consider the energy and heat produced from this incineration. I am using the following data as input:

-"treatment of waste plastic, mixture, municipal incineration | waste plastic, mixture | Cutoff, U". According the description in "General infrmation" of this data: Net energy produced in MSWI: 3.48MJ/kg waste electric energy and 7.03MJ/kg waste thermal energy.

I noted that when I calculate the impacts no credit for the net energy produced described in the General Information of the data are considered. If I understood well that is due to my database "Cut-Off".

Because I want to consider them in my model I put the amount of energy and heat in the outputs as "avoided product". Is this a correct way to proceed?

I inserted as output and I selected as "avoided product" the following data:

-treatment of municipal solid waste, incineration | heat, for reuse in municipal waste incineration only | Cutoff, U.

-treatment of municipal solid waste, incineration | electricity, for reuse in municipal waste incineration only | Cutoff, U

But...I realized that they are empty (they don't consider any input so their related impact/credit is =0).  So what data I am supposed to use?

Thank you very much for your help.

Answer 1

Your approach is correct, but you don't substitute the electrical and thermal energy produced by the MSWI plant but the energy you actually subsitute, e.g. the country grid mix for electricity or heat from a gas or coal plant

Comments

Dear Bernhard,

ok! I got it, thank you very much for your help

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Hi Bernhard and md_prj,

I am attempting to do the same as md_prj. However, since I am new I am having some difficulty understanding the approach. Could you please elaborate on the same?

When I try to calculate the impact of the product systems (created from processes) mentioned above, I get an error (I suspect since these are intermediate systems). How can I proceed with what you have just discussed?