TY - JOUR
TI - Life cycle assessment of a short-flight belt conveyor
AU - Đorđević Miloš D
AU - Zrnić Nenad Đ
AU - Perić Milica M
AU - Komatina Mirko S
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2026
VL - 30
IS - 2
SP - 1361
EP - 1374
PT - Article
AB - This paper presents a parametric life cycle assessment (LCA) of a short-flight belt conveyor installed on the bucket wheel excavator SchRs 1200 ×22/2. The primary objective of this study is to identify environmental hotspots linked to the manufacturing and use phases of the belt conveyor, introduce potential improvements in design, materials, and energy consumption, and establish a flexible parametric model applicable to various short-flight conveyor systems. The LCA was conducted using SimaPro 8 software, applying the CML-IA baseline method. In most analyzed impact categories, the production of the belting and pulleys exhibits the biggest impact, primarily due to the environmental impact of steel and rubber production. The environmental impact of the impact and return rollers is also noticeable for the same reason. The contribution of the electric motor is most prominent in the abiotic depletion category due to copper extraction. When the use phase is considered, the impact of electricity consumption for electric motor operating exhibits the highest impact results primarily because Serbia’s electricity is largely generated from lignite combustion. The resulting LCA model provides a robust foundation for decision-making in Ecodesign and sustainability optimization of short-flight belt conveyors.
DO - 10.2298/TSCI250516155D
ER -