Life Cycle Assessment of Functionalized Bionanocompounds with Ice Nucleation Protein for Freezing Applications

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of functionalized bionanocompounds with ice nucleation protein (INP) as a novel approach for freezing applications in terms of how much energy is used during each step of freezing when water bionanocompound solutions were compared with pure water. According to the results of the manufacturing analysis, water required 28 times less energy than the silica + INA bionanocompound and 14 times less than the magnetite + INA bionanocompound. These findings showed that water used the least energy during the manufacturing process. In order to determine the associated environmental implications, an analysis of the operating stage was also conducted, taking the defrosting time of each bionanocompound during a 4 h work cycle into account. Our results showed that bionanocompounds may substantially reduce the environmental effects by achieving a 91% reduction in the impact after their use during all four work cycles in the operation stage. Additionally, given the energy and raw materials needed in this process, this improvement was more significant than at the manufacturing stage. The results from both stages indicated that, when compared with water, the magnetite + INA bionanocompound and the silica + INA bionanocompound would save an estimated 7% and 47% of total energy, respectively. The study’s findings also demonstrated the great potential for using bionanocompounds in freezing applications to reduce the effects on the environment and human health.