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Life Cycle Assessment of Henkel's Aquence Coating Technology
Christian Del Maestro,   Bren School, UCSB
Roland Geyer,*   Bren School, UCSB
Larry Crane,   Henkel, Adhesive Technologies R&T, Irvine, CA
Bill Fristad,   Henkel, Surface Treatment & Coatings R&D, Madison Heights, MI

Coatings are vital to protect products or their components from corrosive substances and other environmental exposures that can damage and corrupt their integrity. With advances in coating technologies over the past 30 years, metal parts now last significantly longer than their predecessors. This generates environmental benefits by reducing the need for replacement parts. The coating process has, of course, its own environmental burdens. The environmental performance of metal coating has improved as manufacturing techniques have evolved, however impacts remain stemming from chemical use, energy use, and water consumption. While increasing numbers of life cycle inventories become available for material production, there is a significant lack of environmental data for assessments of specific manufacturing technologies.

This LCA quantifies and benchmarks the environmental performance of Henkel’s Aquence coating technology relative to the traditional electrocoating process. It thus builds on and extends the existing work for electrocoating technologies and coating processes in general. Gate-to-gate inventory modeling is enabled through primary data collection at Henkel facilities and Aquence coating sites. Using suitable functional units and system boundaries, the life cycle results for Aquence coating are then benchmarked against existing life cycle inventories of the traditional electrocoating process. The results of the LCA are used to identify areas of environmental concern and the potential for further efficiency gains supporting future revisions in the Aquence coating system. An additional goal of this project is to broaden the target audience for life cycle thinking and approaches. Because of the significant market for metal coatings in global manufacturing, this project has the potential to increase the demand for life cycle data and analysis of industrial processes and technologies.

* corresponding author: geyer@bren.ucsb.edu