Life Cycle Assessment in Chemical and Micro Reaction Engineering

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has become increasingly popular in chemical industry as a standardized methodology for analysis of the environmental impact of products during their whole life cycle. Changes in process design by novel approaches like micro reaction engineering and the respective influence on the use of life cycle assessment are reviewed. The available literature on LCA in early research and development is comprehensively explored for conventional chemical and micro reaction engineering. Micro process engineering has initiated a rethinking in process design within the field of chemical process engineering. In order to demonstrate how these changes in process design influence the use of life cycle assessment (LCA), the available literature on LCA in early R&D for conventional chemical and micro reaction engineering is reviewed.