Application of SimaPro7 on Al-Hilla City Sewerage Network, Iraq

Mohammad Ali Alanbari¹, Hind Qasim Alazzawi¹, Nadhir Al-Ansari², Sven Knutsson²

¹College of Engineering, Babylon University, Babylon, Iraq.
²Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.

DOI: 10.4236/eng.2015.75019                

Abstract

SimaPro is a software package designed to make a valuable contribution for analyzing the environmental impact on products during their whole life cycle. A huge amount of knowledge about the environment is built into the program and database, enabling to analyze a product with a minimum of specialized knowledge. In this study, SimaPro was used to analyze and evaluate the impacts that resulted from sewerage network in Al-Hilla city, Iraq. The results of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) showed that sewerage network had an impact and damage on the environment by 291 points for every cubic meter of collect wastewater. The most potential environmental impacts were global warming, respiratory inorganics and non-renewable energy, contributing to the sewerage network. The study also showed that most of the effects were as a result of energy consumption in the pumping of wastewater, pipes used and diesel using for network operation.

Keywords

SimaPro, Environmental Impact, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Sewerage Network, Al-Hilla, Iraq

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Lemos, D., Dias, A.C., Gabarrell, X. and Arroja, L. (2013) Environmental Assessment of an Urban Water System. Journal of Cleaner Production, 54, 157-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.04.029
[2]	Jang, S., Roesner, L. and Park, D. (2006) Development of Urban Storm Sewer Optimal Layout Design Model Considering Risk. World Environmental and Water Resource Congress, Omaha, 21-25 May 2006, 1-10.
[3]	Amores, M.J., Meneses, M., Pasqualino, J., Antón, A. and Castells, F. (2013) Environmental Assessment of Urban Water Cycle on Mediterranean Conditions by LCA Approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 43, 84-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.12.033
[4]	Altaee, S.A. (2013) Comparison Study for Appraisals of Environmental Sustainability Indicators Wastewater Treatment Plants for Middle Euphrates Region in Iraq. M.Sc. Thesis, College Engineering, University of Babylon, Babylon.
[5]	PRé Consultants (2013) Introduction to LCA with SimaPro. www.pre-sustainability.com/download/SimaPro8IntroductionToLCA.pdf
[6]	Akwo, N.S. (2008) A Life Cycle Assessment of Sewage Sludge Treatment Options. M.Sc. Thesis, Aalborg University, Aalborg.
[7]	Frischknecht, R. and Jungbluth, N., Eds. (2007) Implementation of Life Cycle Assessment Methods. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dubendorf. http://www.pre-sustainability.com/download/manuals/ EcoinventOverviewAndMethodology.pdf