Page 50 - Market Analysis Report of Optical Communications Field in China & Global market 2023

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Figure 3. Cradle-to-gate impact of 1 km optical fiber with 242 μm
coating diameter

of optical fiber, all substances needed upstream for its there are many techniques for making optical fiber,
production are considered, as well as electricity and other Corning invented and uses the outside vapor deposition
utilities in what is called a Cradle-to-Gate analysis. This (OVD) process. Soot preforms are formed layer-by-layer
considers all the resources needed and emissions caused by deposition of particles on a rotating cylindrical target
by raw material extraction (“cradle”), their processing into rod by traversing the soot-laden flame along the axis of
semi-finished products, and final manufacturing into optical the cylindrical target. The soot preforms are sintered to
fiber that is ready for further distribution (“gate”). glass and then drawn to optical fibers by treating them at
temperatures as high as 2000° C. During the drawing of the
Corning collected primary data from its production sites optical fibers, the fibers are coated with acrylate coatings
and detailed material information to quantify the Cradle- and UV-cured to protect the glass fiber from damage and
to-Gate impact of its optical fiber and optical fiber cables. mitigate attenuation increase under external forces.
Using the calculation method Environmental Footprint 3.0
(EF3.0) and according to the principles and requirements Due to the elevated temperatures involved in laydown
of ISO 14040 and 14044 standards, Corning’s LCA study deposition, sintering, and drawing processes, optical fiber
confirmed that the electricity required to manufacture manufacturing is energy intensive. As the market leader
optical fiber is the main source of impact, contributing 70- with the most widely deployed brand of fiber, Corning
80% to the overall CF. The study also estimates the raw continues to invest in world class anufacturing technology
material impact to be 15-20% of the overall CF [9]. that drives the highest scale and efficiency. In 2018,
Corning hit a significant milestone, achieving a 50% energy
A Cradle-to-Grave analysis was also carried out to intensity reduction in optical fiber and cable manufacturing
understand the impacts of the entire life cycle. This since 2006, and continues to work on improving it further.
analysis expands the boundaries to consider distribution
and End-of-Life, where recyclability and other concepts of Raw material impact
circularity play a key role. The Cradle-to-Grave analysis Corning requires highly pure raw materials to produce
also confirmed that electricity and raw materials in the low attenuation (low loss) optical fibers. These include
manufacturing stage are the main hotspots. silica or doped silica glass, protective acrylate coatings,
and other auxiliaries. Results from Corning’s LCA study
How optical fiber is made indicate that raw materials contribute between 15% to 20%
To adequately quantify the CF of optical fiber, it is of the total CF of optical fiber [9], with 50% of this impact
important to understand how it is manufactured. While attributed to the silica glass precursor used in the chemical

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