Lecture 8 - Product-life Cycle and Environmental Impact Flashcards
What are the six main steps for the creation of electornics?
1) Raw material extration
2) Raw material processing
3) Creation/Manufacturing
4) Distribution
5) Use/maintenance
6) End of useful life/disposal
What must one do to obtain metal?
Mining raw ore
What are the two main categories of mining?
1) Surface mining
2) Underground mining
How can one obtain plastic?
Plastics are created from natural, organic materials such as cellulose which is derived from either wood, coal, natural gas, oil, etc
How are oil and natural gas extracted?
Both are typically extracted using a drilled well and are often found in the same location
How can silicon be extracted?
Sand generally contains silicon, therefore silica sand is used since regular sand is too impure, this sort of sand is obtained from the same form of mining as the other named resources
Why is silicon great to use in electronic devices?
It is a semiconductor; conducts electricity under some conditions and does not conduct under others
What are the steps for metal processing?
1) Processed (benification); in the goal to increase the concentration of the desired metal
2) Melting and alloying are used to extract the metal to be fabricated
3) Forming the metal into the wanted shape and size
What are the steps for processing plastics?
1) Petroleum is decomposed under heat to form subcomponents including naptha which is further decomposed to form monomers that serve as raw materials for plastic
2) Combination of the monomers to create polymers
3) Forming the plastics into the desired shape and form
What are the steps for processing silicon?
1) Silica sand is removed of oxygen to isolate the silicon through mixing it with carbon and heating it beyon 2000 degrees.
2) Treated with oxygen for removing any impurities
3) Further purified by grinding it into a fine powder, adding hydrogen chloride and heating it at 300 degrees => created a liquid silicon compound
What are other post-refining steps to purifiy silicon to 99.999% ?
1) Fractional distillation
2) Heated silicon rod collects silicon for electronic-grade silicon
What is manufacturing?
Use of raw and the processed materials to make products
Name two types of maintenance?
1) Preventive maintenance
2) Corrective maintenance
What is preventive maintenance?
Ensures that the equipment dosen’t break down and is used when down-time is unacceptable to the user
What is corrective maintenance?
Applied to failed and thus broken down equipment; when one is indifferent to something breaking/easy to remplace/easier than regular preventive maintenance
What is the estimated amount of e-waste created annually?
40 million tons is estimated by the UN to be the amount of e-waste created on an annual basis
When does a product typically end its life cycle?
When it has either suffered a non-repairable failure or it has become outdated
Define obsolescence
Obsolescence is a loss in the utility of a product caused by non-physical factors’ shortens product’s useful lifespan
What are the general five types of obsolescence?
1) Technical
2) Functional
3) Aesthetic
4) Economic
5) Legal
Define technical obsolescence
Where an asset of the components of an asset become irreplaceable due to technological changes (over time)
Define functional obsolescence
Occurs once the owner’s needs have changed since the creation of the product; dosen’t satisfy owners/users needs (reduction of desireability because of an outdated design feature which cannot be changed)
Define aesthetic obsolescence
When a product is no longer desireable because it has gone out of the popular fashion, the style is then considered to be obsolete
Define economic obsolescence
Replacement or retirement of an asset because objectives/functionality can be achieved in a more cost-efficient way
Define legal obsolescence
Legislation or other directive/order issued by an authority reults in the prohibitive use of certain products
What step can be altered to improve electronic life cycle?
Replace the last step with recycling
What are responsabilities on the personal level?
On a personal level, responsabilities include reducing, re-using and re-cycling whatever products previously utilized
What are responsabilities on the professional level?
While designing products, be conscious of the impacts of one’s decision
