Create a process

The following example creates a process for the production of aluminium.

A process is defined by its quantitative reference, which represents the amount of product or service that the process provides. In the script below, the output flow aluminium passed to Process.of becomes the quantitative reference (with a default amount of 1 kg), and the other inputs and outputs are expressed relative to it.

Source: openLCA 2 manual — Processes

Inputs:

• 1.9 kg of alumina
• 0.4 kg of carbon anode
• 50.0 MJ of electricity

Outputs:

• 1.0 kg of aluminium
• 0.02 m³ of wastewater

# get flow properties from the database
mass = db.getForName(FlowProperty, "Mass")
energy = db.getForName(FlowProperty, "Energy")
volume = db.getForName(FlowProperty, "Volume")

# create the product output flow (quantitative reference)
aluminium = Flow.product("Aluminium ingot", mass)

# create the aluminium production process with 1 kg of aluminium as
# quantitative reference
process = Process.of("Aluminium production", aluminium)

# add the material input flows
alumina = Flow.product("Alumina", mass)
process.input(alumina, 1.9)  # kg alumina per kg aluminium
carbon_anode = Flow.product("Carbon anode", mass)
process.input(carbon_anode, 0.4)  # kg anode consumption

# add the electricity input flow
electricity = Flow.product("Electricity, medium voltage", energy)
process.input(electricity, 50.0)  # MJ

# add waste water output flow
wastewater = Flow.waste("Industrial wastewater", volume)
process.output(wastewater, 0.02)  # m3

# insert all new objects into the database
db.insert(
    alumina,
    carbon_anode,
    electricity,
    wastewater,
    aluminium,
    process,
)

# refresh the navigator to display the new process
App.runInUI("Refresh navigator", lambda: Navigator.refresh())