Table Of ContentSustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management
Series Editors: Christoph Herrmann, Sami Kara
Wen Li
Efficiency of
Manufacturing
Processes
Energy and Ecological Perspectives
Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering
and Management
Series editors
Christoph Herrmann, Braunschweig, Germany
Sami Kara, Sydney, Australia
Modern production enables a high standard of living worldwide through products
and services. Global responsibility requires a comprehensive integration of sustain-
able development fostered by new paradigms, innovative technologies, methods and
tools as well as business models. Minimizing material and energy usage, adapting
material and energy flows to better fit natural process capacities, and changing con-
sumption behaviour are important aspects of future production. A life cycle perspec-
tive and an integrated economic, ecological and social evaluation are essential re-
quirements in management and engineering. This series will focus on the issues and
latest developments towards sustainability in production based on life cycle thinking.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10615
Wen Li
Efficiency of Manufacturing
Processes
Energy and Ecological Perspectives
1 3
Wen Li
Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle
Engineering
University of New South Wales
Sydney
Australia
Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http://extras.springer.com.
ISSN 2194-0541 ISSN 2194-055X (electronic)
Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management
ISBN 978-3-319-17364-1 ISBN 978-3-319-17365-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-17365-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015940982
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
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Dedicated to my daughter Lynn Li, my wife
Jie Zhu, and my parents
—Wen Li
Foreword
Energy and eco-efficiency of manufacturing processes are of great interest to man-
ufacturers, consumers, government and others. This is due to the soaring energy
costs and the environmental impacts caused by high-energy consumption levels.
However, the energy consumption of manufacturing processes and the associ-
ated environmental impact has been historically overlooked. The unit process
is the fundamental and dynamic element of any manufacturing system. Thus, it
requires careful evaluation of its energy and eco-efficiency in order to derive fur-
ther improvement measures.
In this book, Dr. Li has developed a reliable methodology for characterizing
energy and eco-efficiency of unit manufacturing processes. The Specific Energy
Consumption, SEC, has been identified as the key indicator for the energy effi-
ciency of unit processes. An empirical approach has been used to develop unit
process energy consumption models based on SEC. Then these models have been
validated on different machine tools and manufacturing processes to characterise
the relationship between process parameters and energy consumptions. The tested
cases cover a wide range of manufacturing processes including turning, milling,
grinding, injection moulding and electrical discharge machining. All the derived
SEC models agree with a universal form, where the Material Removal Rate
(MRR) or throughput rate plays a decisive role in the model. The statistical results
and additional validation runs have further proved the high accuracy of the derived
models which is capable of predicting energy consumption with an accuracy of
over 90 %.
In order to characterise the eco-efficiency of manufacturing processes, Dr. Li
also discussed the value and the associated environmental impacts of the pro-
cesses. Besides the electricity energy consumption, other resource consump-
tions such as tool and coolant have been taken into account. The interrelationship
among process parameters, process value and the associated environmental impact
has been integrated in the characterization of eco-efficiency. The results have been
further investigated to develop strategies for improving the energy and eco-effi-
ciency of manufacturing processes.
vii
viii Foreword
In addition, Dr. Li has further decomposed the derived SEC models of manu-
facturing processes in order to explore the mechanism of the model coefficients. A
clustered model has been also generated for a rough estimation. In order to over-
come the high efforts of empirical modelling, the methodology has been m odified
for the implementation in an industrial environment. Moreover, the derived
SEC models can be used for improving the quality of life cycle inventory (LCI)
databases. As a result, it encourages progress in industry and research towards
sustainability in manufacturing.
Prof. Christoph Herrmann Prof. Sami Kara
Technische Universität Braunschweig The University of New South Wales
Acknowledgments
The present book has been developed mainly in the context of my work as a
researcher within the Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle Engineering
Research Group at The University of New South Wales (SMLCE@UNSW). First
and foremost, I owe my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor and mentor, Prof.
Sami Kara, who has supported me throughout my research with his patience and
knowledge. It was always joyful and fruitful to discuss research questions as well
as philosophical topics with him during all kinds of occasions. I greatly appreciate
the excellent example he has provided as a successful academic. One simply could
not wish for a better or friendlier supervisor.
I would also offer my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Herrmann
in Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle Engineering Research Group at
Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS). During my research visit to TUBS,
I have been well supported and warmly welcomed by Prof. Herrmann and his
research team. He has not only provided constructive suggestions for my research,
but also integrated me as a member in his research team.
I am indebted to many of my colleagues in the SMLCE@UNSW research
group. Their encouragement and companionship has been very important to me.
I would like to particularly acknowledge Dr. Seung Jin Kim and Dr. Supachai
Vongbunyong for the friendship that I am keen to maintain. It was also a great
pleasure to work with colleagues from the TUBS team, particularly Dr.-Ing.
Sebastian Thiede, Dr.-Ing. André Zein, Dr.-Ing. Gerrit Posselt and Mr. Marius
Winter, Dr.-to-be. Their enthusiasm, professionalism and knowledge for the
research of sustainable manufacturing have deeply encouraged me for my
research. Special thanks go to Ms Anne-Marie Schlake who heartened me to finish
this book.
I greatly appreciate Advanced Manufacturing CRC (AMCRC) for funding
this research. Also, I have received great supports from the School of Mechanical
and Manufacturing Engineering, UNSW, especially from Mr. Martyn Sherriff for
assisting me with all the experiments. I would like to extend my gratitude to all the
technicians from Sydney City TAFE who has also provided voluntary assistance
for this research.
ix
x Acknowledgments
Last but not least, I would like to attribute this book to my family for their
love and encouragement. Most of all is for my loving, supportive and encourag-
ing wife, Jie Zhu, whose faithful support is so appreciated. Equally important
and appreciated is my daughter, Lynn Li, who is the true driving force for me to
accomplish this book. Also, I thank my parents Rong Han and Fangze Li who
have unconditionally supported me in all my pursuits. I would like to further thank
Jie’s parents who have provided me with unending encouragement and support.
Sydney Dr. Wen Li
May 2014
