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SUCCESS STORY | REICHHOLD & HOBAS

INVENTIVE ENGINEERS SERVING THE ENVIRONMENT

Engineering Sustainability: Choice of Unsaturated Polyester Resins for CC-GRP Pipe Systems

C A N E N V I R O N M E N TA L LY F R I E N D LY R A W M AT E R I A L S M E E T P R O D U C T
S P E C I F I C AT I O N S A N D B E C O S T- E F F E C T I V E ?
Reichhold is one of the
The analysis of products envi- worlds largest suppliers
ronmental impacts has been gai- of unsaturated polyester
ning attention due to the incre- resins for composites. Lo-
asing development of life cycle cated globally, Reichholds
assessment (LCA) tools. HOBAS four state-of-the-art
and Reichhold chose Umberto technology centres are
for assessing the environmental dedicated to the research
footprint of products, establi- and development of high-
shing an additional dimension performance resin systems.
for market and R&D analysis. The product development
and improvement is
supported by specialized
analytical and testing
TA K I N G T H E F I R S T S T E P W I T H C O U R A G E A N D C O M M I T M E N T equipment that allows for
the simulation of sever-
We would like to introduce two personalities with In order to identify the critical material and energy al full-scale composites
the burning ambition to change things for the flows which are responsible for environmental im- manufacturing processes.
better: Victor Vladimirov from the department of pacts, they performed an initial life cycle assessment Development projects
Environment and Energy Management at HOBAS (LCA) of a generic CC-GRP pipe and calculated the can be completed in
Engineering GmbH, and Marcin Pazdro, Technology Global Warming Potential (GWP, in CO2eq). The close cooperation with key
Manager at Reichhold Europe. They are both con- analysis clearly indicated that the unsaturated po- customers and suppliers,
fident that including environmental assessment in lyester resin (UPR) was the main factor influencing providing a short time to
R&D processes represents a key step when it comes the results and that this was the main input to con- market for new products.
to the evaluation and improvement of environmen- sider in the assessment of ecological alternatives.
tal performance.

GOAL AND METHOD

The intention was to compare the environmental other one a GRP shaft DN 1000 mm. The functional HOBAS is a leading ma-
impacts of products manufactured with standard unit was defined as 1000 meters of standard buried nufacturer of CC-GRP Pipe
UPR versus UPR containing either recycled PET ma- gravity CC-GRP sewer pipe system, consisting of Systems for applications
terial (rPET-UPR) or bio-sourced material (BIO-UPR). pipes DN 400 mm with couplings and shafts DN such as drinking water,
For a comprehensive picture, HOBAS defined two 1000 mm with a reference service life of 100 years. wastewater, hydropower
cradle-to-gate declared units and one cradle-to- System boundaries in the LCA were defined in ac- lines, cooling lines, irriga-
cradle functional unit. One declared unit was the cordance with ISO 14040/44 and EN 15804. tion and drainage systems.
base plate of a GRP shaft DN 1000 mm and the HOBAS Products are being
installed by a variety of
methods such as open
C O L L A B O R AT I V E T O O L F O R L C A M O D E L L I N G : U M B E R T O N X T L C A trench, jacking, microtun-
neling, sliplining and abo-
Our engineering team decided to use one of the datasets were exported by Reichhold and the re- ve ground in more than
most powerful software tools for the ambitious pro- ceived information was subsequently validated by 100 countries. Totaling
ject: Umberto NXT LCA. Using the same software HOBAS. The incorporation of Umberto NXT LCA in thousands of kilometers of
enabled them to exchange information easily. Vi- the R&D departments activities thus enabled the pipe, the line would span
sualisation, assessment of results, and the efficient evaluation of products environmental impacts and the world several times.
exchange of datasets were the main advantages benefits starting from the very first phases of pro- The company motto is
of the collaborative process. Calculated input LCA duct development. Make things happen.

ifu hamburg umberto


LETS D O I T
TOGETHE R !
Sharing knowledge
while protecting
sensitive data
The benefit of working
with a collaborative tool
such as Umberto is that
different models can be
discussed while ensuring
complete confidentiality
of proprietary datasets.
Data transmitted across
the supply chain can easily
be exported from a com-
plex production model
into a typical life cycle
inventory (LCI).
The inventory contains all
required material flows
for the LCA calculation.
However, it is impossible
to identify the structure
and specific proprietary
data (for example the
resin formula) of the
initial calculation model.
Confidential internal data
thus remains with the
producer.
ifu hamburg . Max-Brauer-Allee 50
R E S U LT S O F T H E P R O J E C T
Victor Vladimirov and his team examined the Base
Plate, Shaft, and Pipe System levels. In a series
of very detailed systematic analyses, they checked
and compared a comprehensive list of environmen-
tal indicators such as net use of fresh water, to-
tal renewable and non renewable energy, deple-
tion of abiotic resources, climate change, and so
on. In order to get there Marcin Pazdro provided
specific LCI data for all resins which were used in
the calculations.
Results indicate that the choice of BIO-UPR seems to
be relatively complex and can hardly be reduced to
the simple question of e.g. which resin contribute
more or less CO2 emissions. The use of BIO-UPR
can be associated with sustainability discussions
(pros and cons) related to biofuels. However, the
current data provided valuable know-how which
is essential for the further development of bio-ba-
sed but more sustainable products. On the other
hand, UPR resin containing recycled PET material
constitutes an interesting alternative, which may
W H AT O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L S S AY A B O U T W O R K I N G W I T H U M B E R T O
Marcin Pazdro: In the light of recent environmen-
tal studies, it is becoming more and more obvious
that sustainable developments and products are
not just an option but a necessity for humanitys
survival. Since most of the environmental aspects
of product sustainability can be assessed by the ap-
plication of LCA methodology, Reichhold decided
to enquire about the know-how and instruments
necessary to perform LCA studies in-house. Upon
a warm recommendation by HOBAS, and having
investigated other available options, the company
decided to purchase Umberto.
. 22765 Hamburg . Germany . fon +49 40 - 480 009-0
umberto.de
definitively be a choice from an environmental per-
spective. rPET-UPR has an excellent mechanical and
environmental overall performance. By means of
material recycling, the rPET-UPR ensures that va-
luable resources are conserved and indicators such
as depletion of abiotic resources from nature or
climate change are improved in comparison to
the standard resin.
After a few years of active usage, we believe that
this has been a very good choice as the software
is very intuitive in use; models build for the pro-
duction of a specific resin can easily be adapted
for other products, and the LCA phases option
helps to quickly identify the biggest contributors
to some specific environmental impacts.
The calculated LCI can easily be exported to Micro-
soft Excel and saved in various formats. Afterwards
it can be shared with customers like HOBAS wit-
hout compromises regarding the confidentiality of
the production process or resin formulations. This,
in turn, greatly facilitates the engineering of not
only more sustainable resins but also more sustai-
nable GRP products across the whole value chain.
Victor Vladimirov: HOBAS has positioned itself
on the cutting edge of our market sector in terms
of sustainability. All HOBAS factories are certified
according to the international environmental stan-
dard ISO 14001. In addition, we have provided our
clients with valuable information on the carbon
footprint of pipe jacking in dense urban areas and
are also offering carbon-neutral pipes in Australia.
The collaboration with Reichhold and an LCA in
R&D are the next steps on our path to sustaina-
bility. We have been using Umberto for several
years now and are delighted with the flexibility,
support, and business opportunities provided by
this premium LCA tool.
. fax +49 40 - 480 009-22 . info@ifu.com . www.ifu.com