Life-Cycle Assessment of Trenchless Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) Renewal Method in Large Diameter Stormwater Drainage Conduits

Sustainability has become a trend in recent years in stormwater infrastructure management and will need to be practiced in perpetuity. Trenchless rehabilitation technologies are sustainable and innovative techniques for the renewal of stormwater drainages. Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) is a trenchless technology solution for rehabilitation of large diameter stormwater drainages that prevent further deterioration and can provide structural support for severely damaged host pipes. Trenchless CIPP method involves a liquid thermoset resin-saturated material that is inserted into the existing pipeline. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for quantifying the environmental performance associated with the rehabilitation of stormwater drainages considering the complete life cycle, starting from the production of raw materials to the final disposal of the products. The available information of the materials, manufacturing, processes, transportation, and disposal are used to analyze the emissions and other ecological impacts associated with a trenchless CIPP renewal project. The objective of this paper is to conduct the LCA of CIPP liners using styrene based unsaturated polyester resins for stormwater drainages and to identify influencing factors impacting the environment. The LCA was carried in SimaPro using TRACI method. Results show that carbon dioxide and ozone are the major emissions in CIPP renewal process that can lead to global warming and smog, respectively. It can be concluded that the LCA of CIPP is an important component when considering sustainable stormwater infrastructure management. This study can be useful for analyzing the LCA and associated costs of CIPP renewal for large diameter culverts with different project conditions.