Environmental and economic assessment of sustainable manufacturing processes for metal products

Latorre-Noguera, Sandra Ximena (2015). Environmental and economic assessment of sustainable manufacturing processes for metal products. University of Birmingham. M.Sc.

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Abstract

The environmental damage taking place in our world is mainly due to economic activity in the industrialised countries. Humanity’s activities are contributing to the contamination of the environment which have attained global levels. Global warming, climate change and ozone layer depletion are clear indicators of our environment’s degradation. The impact of this is likely to increase in the future having devastating consequences for the next generations and eco-systems.
As metal products constitute a large proportion of manufactured products and large amounts of energy are consumed typically in their manufacture, the sustainable manufacturing of metal products is the focal point of this research. Aluminium based products were chosen since it is the non-ferrous material which is more common on the earth and is used for many applications ranging from building to aerospace industry.
Based on the above, this MSc thesis addresses the following research questions:
• Which new manufacturing process concepts for aluminium products are likely to meet the economic and environmental sustainability of the future?
• What impacts will these new concepts have on other processes outside manufacturing e.g. impact on raw material production?

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Sc.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Sc.

Supervisor(s):