2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Clean and smart manufacturing is vital towards combating climate change. Manufacturing is one of the leading contributors to climate change, with the EPA saying that 24% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from manufacturing. While progress has been made in the industry, most technologies that reduce emissions are too cost prohibitive for most businesses to implement. The main roadblock to cleaner manufacturing is cost effectiveness. Cleaner processes can cost as much as five times the cost of the processes they are trying to replace. However, there is hope that as these new technologies are implemented, their overall cost will begin to decrease allowing more businesses to implement these new technologies. These new technologies can be assessed using a life cycle assessment to determine the environmental consequences of each individual machine and process through analysis of the material, energy, and emissions at each stage of the process. This assessment assumed to help determine which machine and / or process is more sustainable. Through many trials, it has been determined that machining in a controlled environment with higher cutting speeds and feed rates is the most economical and sustainable approach. There are a number of criteria that can be used to determine the sustainability of a manufacturing process. Some of them are carbon emissions, estimate of remaining tool life, estimation of total machining cost, and the surface quality of the machined product. Turning is a process commonly done on a lathe machine where the metal stock is rotated at a very fast speed and a cutting tool. This process can be wasteful in terms of material and can create carbon dioxide emissions. A set of designing and conducting experimentations to test the carbon emissions and power consumed in the turning process. The experimentation is by changing a number of parameters including the types of stock material (aluminum, steel, brass, etc.), the speed of turning the stock, as well as the speed of the cutting. The carbon dioxide contamination from the turning process is measured using two of atmospheric sensors. These the current temperature and humidity of an area in the atmosphere at that current point are measured to be with standard. The differences in the values between before and after the process determined the change in carbon dioxide levels and gives the indication which variables have the greatest effect on carbon emissions and how they can be optimized to be more sustainable. Using an energy consumption device, the consumed power calculated and the effect of the changes in parameters observed as well. Resulted data showed an interpretation determined on what set up of experimentation was the most energy efficient and contamination reduction for each parameter as well as determine the most effective way to conduct turning overall on the lathe machine.