A carbon emissions allocation method based on temperature field for products in the usage stage

With the rapid development of manufacturing industry, carbon emissions have risen year by year within the global environment. As we know, the equipment manufacturing product, i.e., machine tool, which is broadly used in the machining process, produces large amounts of carbon emissions in the usage stage. Low-carbon design is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions through optimization and improvement of some certain parts or components. Because the carbon emissions of the equipment manufacturing product are the joint result of all parts in the usage stage, how to estimate and allocate carbon emissions to these parts or components to be optimized, which are defined as the target parts or components, is becoming the bottleneck. Therefore, this paper presents an allocation method of carbon emissions based on the product’s temperature field to support the low-carbon design. Firstly, the boundary model and calculation method are proposed based on a concept of “embodied carbon-energy (ECE)” to provide carbon emissions data. Secondly, some key factors influencing energy consumption in the usage stage are analyzed based on an exergy analysis approach. Thirdly, an allocation model of carbon emissions based on the temperature field is established. Finally, the proposed model and method are applied to a honing head component to validate their feasibility and correctness. The result shows carbon emissions of the usage stage have a close connection with the temperature distribution and gradient, so the temperature field can be used to allocate carbon emissions effectively. In addition, the effective allocation method provides a theoretical basis for the target parts or components decision in the low-carbon design.