Life cycle assessment examines the environmental impacts of a product by considering the major stages of a product's life span, viz., Raw material acquisition: includes material harvesting and transportation to manufacturing sites. Processing: involves materials processing and transportation to production sites. Manufacturing: includes product manufacture and assembly, packaging and transportation to final distribution. Product life: includes energy and emissions during normal product life, required maintenance and Product reuse and Waste management/end of life: includes recycling, landfills, liquid waste, gas emissions, etc. To evaluate the environment impact during fish culture based on the aerators (paddle wheel, spiral, propeller, pooled circular stepped cascade and circular stepped cascade), paddle wheel aerators were more efficient in terms of Standard Oxygen transfer rate (SOTR) and Standard aeration efficiency (SAE) but also gives more emission of kg of CO2 equivalent in that of more energy used. Spiral aerators are less efficient in terms of SAE and SOTR than paddle wheel aerators but their environmental impact is lower than paddle wheel aerators. In the present study it was observed that in a small pond, pooled circular stepped cascade (PCSC) and circular stepped cascade (CSC) aerators provided more efficiency and low emission of CO2 equivalent. Also, in case of propeller aerators which are generally used in small ponds, the environmental impact was found to be lower than paddle wheel and spiral aerators.
Keywords: Life cycle assessment, Aerators, Emission