Generalization of LCA Analysis Using the Matrix Method and Development of a General Purpose LCA System

Abstract

Although the matrix method in LCA has been proposed for many years, there are still some unsolved problems, which result in that matrix method is rarely used in the practical LCA case studies. The conventional approach of the matrix method is somewhat complicated, and it is inconvenient to use, especially to the LCA practitioners with few LCA experience and knowledge. In this paper, a new practical approach for matrix composition in LCI is proposed, and the algorithm of the matrix method is generalized. In the improved matrix method, the necessary matrices can be composed easily by specifying some process data. Moreover, by the improved matrix method, the operations from LCI analysis to sensitivity and uncertainty analysis are connected to facilitate the LCA analysis. After that, in this paper, a general-purpose LCA system, which adopts the generalized matrix method in LCI and is established on worksheet, is introduced. In this system, the necessary matrices are composed automatically, and the operations are fully based on matrix algebra. Finally, using an example of LCA case study, the practicability of the improved matrix method and the LCA system is examined.