Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Pulp & Paper Mills: Comparison Between MFO With Biomass in Lime Kiln

Abstract

Pulp and paper mills keeps trying to take advantage of renewable energy as an energy source. One of utilization is used bark as renewable energy source to substitute fossil fuel. Bark from wood preparation utilized in bark gasifier to produced syngas as primary fuel in lime kiln. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of biomass utilization to environment using life cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The “gate to gate” approach was used to evaluate two scenarios of different fuel combination: (1) 75% biomass and (2) 100% MFO as primary fuel in the lime kiln for 1000 kg CaO. Evaluation of environment impact related to each scenario using ISO 14040 (2006) that consist of goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and interpretation. Result shown used biomass to produce syngas as fuel in lime kiln has impact to global warming 4.25E+01 kqCO 2 /ton CaO. Its lower than if used MFO that impact to global warming 6.91E+01 kqCO 2 / ton CaO. For increased environmental quality, using 100% biomass as primary fuel in lime kiln is recommended.