- Manual balancing
- Automatic balancing
Manual balancing
Manual balancing is done by adding balancing datapoints when materials containing energy and/or biogenic carbon as an inherent property are leaving the system. This requires finding the values for biogenic carbon and energy in the datacards to ensure the right balance.
More details about manual balancing can be found in the Academy course, including an example model (commercial user access only).
The feature can be used for automatically balancing the biogenic carbon content and energy, and can be found in the material input row by scrolling to the right of your screen, as shown below.
Four different options are available:
1a. Balance in EOL (C3, C4): to balance at end of life, where the product is sent for reuse, recycling, or energy recovery (C3) and/or disposal (C4). To be used for input materials only. Example: wooden material in A1 Manufacturing materials.
1b. Balance in Installation (A5): this is only available for packaging materials input in A3, which are usually leaving the system in A5. To be used for input packaging only. Example: pallet in A3 Packaging materials
2. Balance in the same LCA stage: this is to be used in all other cases. It is selected for balancing materials that enter and leave in same stage, e.g., ancillary materials (A3), for all output materials, e.g., EOL processes themselves, as well as transport, energy, or where biogenic carbon content is not an inherent property of the material itself. Example: Steel production A1, Electricity production A3, Transported mass A4, Treatment of waste wood C3/C4, etc.
3. Do nothing: this is the default setting, for cases where balancing is not required or has been done manually.
The following table summarizes the automatic balancing options depending on the material type and the module:
Example: in A1 raw materials you input 1 kg of "Glued laminated timber production". This material will leave the system in C3 "Treatment of waste wood, untreated, municipal incineration"
Select "Balance in EoL" in the A1 raw material resource, allocating 100% to module C3 for both Biogenic carbon balancing (shown below) and Energy as material balancing.
Then add "Treatment of waste wood, untreated, municipal incineration" as the output process in C3 and select "Balance in the same LCA stage" for this process.
Additional information
Please note that if you have a production loss % added in A1, the Biogenic carbon and Energy as material content of the loss will automatically be balanced in A3 Manufacturing.
If you have any questions about using this feature, please don't hesitate to Contact Us.
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