A conceptual model for evaluating eco-efficiency of thermal spraying processes

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Industrial Ecology
• Operations Research

Background:

• Thermal spraying (TS) is crucial for protective surface coatings in industry.
• TS is energy-intensive, necessitating evaluation of its economic and environmental impacts.
• A gap exists in comprehensive eco-efficiency (EE) assessment models for TS processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel conceptual model for evaluating the eco-efficiency (EE) of thermal spraying (TS) treatments.
• To identify and integrate key environmental and economic indicators for TS processes.
• To address the identified lack of EE evaluation frameworks in the literature for TS.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify and weight impactful environmental and economic input/output indicators.
• Defined a structured model framework for EE assessment.
• Applied Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to quantitatively evaluate the eco-efficiency of TS processes.

Main Results:

• Developed a clear, step-by-step model for evaluating TS eco-efficiency.
• Successfully integrated diverse environmental and economic indicators using DEA.
• Demonstrated the model's effectiveness in assessing EE scores for twenty-one decision-making units (DMUs).

Conclusions:

• The proposed model effectively fills the literature gap for TS eco-efficiency evaluation.
• DEA integration provides valuable insights into the economic and environmental performance of TS.
• The model successfully identifies the most eco-efficient DMUs within thermal spraying processes.