Life Cycle Assessment result of MIG and TIG welding technologies

TVS's mechanical engineer, Surja Sarkar, is due to present at the IEEE 13th International Conference on Mechanical and Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies (ICMIMT) in Cape Town, South Africa, on May 25-27, 2022.

Surja's presentation 'Life cycle assessment (LCA) results of MIG and TIG welding technologies using the IMPACT 2002+ methodology' will be part of the officially selected paper presentation. The work that inspired the presentation was based on the WeldGalaxy project by Surja, alongside TVS colleagues Dr Mahfuza Ahmed, Dr M. A. Hye Chowdhury, and Geoff Melton from TWI Ltd, UK. The paper investigates the potential environmental impacts of arc welding technologies such as Metal Inert Gas (MIG) and Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) processes that follow the ISO's framework, requirements, and guidelines. LCA studies have been carried out in accordance with cradle to gate system boundary employing the SimaPro LCA application tool and the ecoinvent version 3.6 database. The comprehensive life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodology, IMPACT 2002+ version 2.14, has been applied to translate the input and output inventory data into the environmental impacts. According to the research findings, the TIG welding process had more significant environmental impacts than the MIG welding procedure, particularly in midpoint impact categories such as global warming potential, aquatic acidification, ozone layer depletion, and aquatic eutrophication. This variation is due to the slower welding speed of the TIG welding process, which results in increased shielding gas and electrical energy consumption.

About WeldGalaxy Project The WeldGalaxy project (www.weldgalaxy.eu) is funded by the European Commission's H2020 funding scheme. WeldGalaxy is a knowledge-based B2B digital platform that connects end-users with equipment & consumables manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, technology and service providers. The responsive web-based platform integrates Knowledge Base Engineering (KBE) tools, Simulation, Chatbot, DLT tendering, analytics and ontologies that provide innovative web-based services.