Overview

General comment

100 W universal laptop power adapter with USB-C Power Delivery output. Flyback or LLC resonant topology with PFC stage. Supports 100-240 V universal input and 20 V/5 A PD output. Traditional brick form factor with captive DC cable or USB-C output.

Technology: AC-DC Power Supply, External Power Adapter
Geography: Global average data from equipment vendor specifications and industry literature

Terms used above

PFC perfluorinated compounds; in power-supply contexts, power-factor correction

System boundary

The figure groups this dataset's unit processes by class. It is not a count of manufacturing steps — each process runs over as many passes as the flow requires, and those pass counts ship with the dataset.

Download this figure (SVG)

Data quality and references

Composite DQI 2.2 Good

Reliability

2.8

Completeness

2.2

Temporal

1.8

Geographic

2.0

Technological

2.3

How the score is calculated: Constituent datasets have more influence when they contribute a larger share of the modelled cradle-to-gate energy demand.

Pedigree scores follow the ecoinvent data-quality matrix: 1 is the best attainable, 5 the weakest. The composite is their aggregate.

Sampling procedure: Component vendor specifications, academic papers, industry literature
Coverage status: Composed from linked REEL datasets
Pedigree-scored source files: 87 — the source records behind this dataset's manufacturing operations. Each carries the five pedigree axes above; the composite DQI aggregates them.

Technosphere inputs

22 flows. Quantities are not published; they ship with the dataset on Circa.

Active PFC controller REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Analog IC, SOP-8, 180nm
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

LLC resonant controller with SR REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Analog IC, SOP-8, 180nm
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

Protocol controller REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: PMIC, QFN 4x4, 180nm
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

PFC boost switch REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Power MOSFET, TO-220, 180nm
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

LLC primary half-bridge REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Power MOSFET, TO-220, 180nm
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

PFC boost inductor REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Ring Core Inductor
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Quantity is in reference-component equivalents, not pieces: this entry's declared total mass divided by the referenced dataset's reference-component mass, then adjusted for assembly yield. Read it against that reference mass, not against any piece count in this row's name.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

400V bulk capacitors REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Aluminum Electrolytic
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Quantity is in reference-component equivalents, not pieces: this entry's declared total mass divided by the referenced dataset's reference-component mass, then adjusted for assembly yield. Read it against that reference mass, not against any piece count in this row's name.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

Output capacitors REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Aluminum Electrolytic
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Quantity is in reference-component equivalents, not pieces: this entry's declared total mass divided by the referenced dataset's reference-component mass, then adjusted for assembly yield. Read it against that reference mass, not against any piece count in this row's name.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

Output synchronous rectifier body diode REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Discrete Schottky Diode
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

X7R ceramic capacitors REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: MLCC X7R
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

Common mode EMI filter REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: Ring Core Inductor
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Quantity is in reference-component equivalents, not pieces: this entry's declared total mass divided by the referenced dataset's reference-component mass, then adjusted for assembly yield. Read it against that reference mass, not against any piece count in this row's name.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

USB-C output connector REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: USB4 Receptacle
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

Main adapter PCB REEL datasetm2

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: 4-Layer FR4 PCB, ENIG finish
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: m2

IEC C8 or C6 inlet REEL datasetunit

Derivation basis: Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset: ATX Power Connector
Background dataset: Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes: Adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: unit

Copper, cathode Materialkg

Derivation basis: REEL derivation: copper magnet-wire share of wound-transformer mass set at about one half as an engineering estimate, the balance of the core and winding split; no individual public document was confirmed for the adopted value

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: copper, cathode
Notes: From copper magnet wire (97.0% copper)
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

Nylon 6-6 Materialkg

Derivation basis: REEL derivation: copper magnet-wire share of wound-transformer mass set at about one half as an engineering estimate, the balance of the core and winding split; no individual public document was confirmed for the adopted value

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: nylon 6-6
Notes: From copper magnet wire (3.0% enamel). Polyimide/polyamide enamel coating (~3% by mass)
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

Iron ore concentrate Materialkg

Derivation basis: REEL derivation: ferrite-core share of wound-transformer mass set at about one half as an engineering estimate, consistent with the ring-core inductor material split; no individual public document was confirmed for the adopted value

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: proxy-mapped
Background dataset: iron ore concentrate
Notes: From ferrite core (70.0% iron oxide)
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

manganese(III) oxide Materialkg

Derivation basis: REEL derivation: ferrite-core share of wound-transformer mass set at about one half as an engineering estimate, consistent with the ring-core inductor material split; no individual public document was confirmed for the adopted value

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: manganese(III) oxide
Notes: From ferrite core (15.0% manganese oxide)
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

Zinc oxide Materialkg

Derivation basis: REEL derivation: ferrite-core share of wound-transformer mass set at about one half as an engineering estimate, consistent with the ring-core inductor material split; no individual public document was confirmed for the adopted value

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: zinc oxide
Notes: From ferrite core (15.0% zinc oxide)
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

Component inbound, CN component supply to CN PSU assembly - Road Freight transporttkm · -40% / +400%

Derivation basis: Specified for this manufacturing operation and scaled to the dataset's functional unit.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: transport, freight, lorry, unspecified
Notes: Inbound freight uses the net-of-market mass basis: parent product mass after subtracting material mapped to ecoinvent markets, because those market datasets already include their own freight. Ref-linked components remain in the transported mass as discrete goods. Bulk tray or light carton shipping packaging is included at the class-specific factor while its production burden is excluded.
Uncertainty: -40% / +400% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit: tkm — tonne-kilometres, a transport effort rather than a mass

Electricity, Global (GLO) ElectricitykWh · -30.3% / +45.4%

Derivation basis: Calculated from equipment energy across all manufacturing operations. This model includes no facility support, so the total is the manufacturing operations alone.
REEL derivation: engineering estimate of power-delivery component mass and material split, built from vendor catalogue and product-page data for representative parts; no single published inventory covers this component class

The sources for this row are listed below.
Source citations (dataset-level): USB Power Delivery 3.0 Specification
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: electricity, medium voltage
Notes: Energy demand from wound transformer, adjusted for assembly yield.
Uncertainty: -30.3% / +45.4% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit: kWh

Process water WaterL · -33.1% / +34%

Derivation basis: Calculated from process-water and ultrapure-water demand across all manufacturing operations. This model includes no facility support, so the demand is the manufacturing operations alone. The fresh intake shown is that demand less the share reused under the water-recycling scenario this dataset assumes, and wastewater follows the same balance.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset: tap water
Notes: Aggregated water demand of this dataset's production stages.
Uncertainty: -33.1% / +34% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit: L

Outputs and waste

Ferrite Scrap Solid wasteg

Derivation basis: Calculated from the mass balance of spent materials and consumables, with treatment selected from the waste classification.

The sources below come from the manufacturing operations behind this row.
Sources (inherited): Inherited, rolled up from the contributing process steps:

US Patent 2022/0009837 A1. MnZn Ferrite Material with Wide Temperature Range. (Referencing principal and auxiliary component weight percentages)

US Patent 6,547,984 B2. Mn-Zn Ferrite having low power loss. (Referencing molar proportions of Fe2O3, ZnO, MnO)

Effect of Additives on Mn-Zn Ferrites. (Referencing 52 mol% Fe2O3, 34 mol% MnO, 14 mol% ZnO baseline)

Badaik. (2015). Study of Mn-Zn Ferrite. NIT Rourkela e-Thesis. (Referencing pressing loads of 4.2 US Tons for 10.1 mm pellets)

NIT Rourkela. Influence of B2O3 and V2O5 on Mn-Zn Ferrites
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset: treatment of inert waste, sanitary landfill
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: g

Wire Scrap Solid wasteg

Derivation basis: Calculated from the mass balance of spent materials and consumables, with treatment selected from the waste classification.

The sources below come from the manufacturing operations behind this row.
Sources (inherited): Inherited, rolled up from the contributing process steps:

US Patent 2022/0009837 A1. MnZn Ferrite Material with Wide Temperature Range. (Referencing principal and auxiliary component weight percentages)

US Patent 6,547,984 B2. Mn-Zn Ferrite having low power loss. (Referencing molar proportions of Fe2O3, ZnO, MnO)

Effect of Additives on Mn-Zn Ferrites. (Referencing 52 mol% Fe2O3, 34 mol% MnO, 14 mol% ZnO baseline)

Badaik. (2015). Study of Mn-Zn Ferrite. NIT Rourkela e-Thesis. (Referencing pressing loads of 4.2 US Tons for 10.1 mm pellets)

NIT Rourkela. Influence of B2O3 and V2O5 on Mn-Zn Ferrites
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset: market for copper scrap, sorted, pressed
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: g

Injection-molding runner and sprue scrap Solid wasteg

Derivation basis: Calculated from the mass balance of spent materials and consumables, with treatment selected from the waste classification.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset: treatment of inert waste, sanitary landfill
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: g

Process solid waste, component assembly steps Solid wastekg

Derivation basis: Calculated from the mass balance of spent materials and consumables, with treatment selected from the waste classification.

No source is attached to this row.
Source citations: Not stated
Background data: ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset: treatment of inert waste, sanitary landfill
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

Emissions to air

No emissions to air are recorded at this level.

Emissions to water

No emissions to water are recorded at this level.

Flows not quantified

1 flow is recorded for this dataset but carries no quantity — cut off below the significance threshold, or with no background dataset available. It remains inside the declared system boundary; each is listed with its reason.

Cut off - below the significance threshold (1)

Plastic Compound Materialkg

Derivation basis: Calculated from per-operation consumption, operation counts, and manufacturing yield.
REEL derivation: engineering estimate of power-delivery component mass and material split, built from vendor catalogue and product-page data for representative parts; no single published inventory covers this component class

The sources for this row are listed below.
Source citations (dataset-level): USB Power Delivery 3.0 Specification
Background data: cut off
Background dataset: Not applicable: this flow is not quantified in the inventory.
Reason: A generic plastic housing or insulation material, recorded in this inventory. Where its mass is significant it is tracked as a named plastic at component level, so no upstream production dataset is attached to this catch-all entry.
Uncertainty: No range defined.
Unit: kg

Limitations and unquantified flows (4)

Limits this dataset declares about itself: first any limit stated in its own description, then any limit it declares flow by flow, grouped by channel. Each entry below is the model's own disclosure.

Waste

These flows are named in this inventory but ship without a quantity, so their burden is not carried anywhere in the dataset: Process solid waste, component assembly steps. Each row states its own reason on the row itself.

General

This dataset represents the adapter body and its mains inlet. It does not represent the output cord that leaves the adapter: no row of its bill buys one, and nothing in this dataset carries the materials or the manufacturing of that cord. The cord is outside the boundary of everything published here, including the declared mass and every quantity derived from it.
The number this dataset publishes for its aluminum electrolytic capacitor rows is not a count of capacitors. The capacitor dataset those rows draw on describes one small radial part and states that part's mass, and the quantity is worked out as the ratio of the mass declared here to that reference part - so a row for a few large bulk capacitors is published as many times that many reference parts. The materials the rows carry are right in total, because the same ratio reproduces the capacitor mass this dataset declares, and that declared mass was checked against manufacturer datasheets for the same voltage and capacitance and sits inside the published range. What the shipped electricity figure IS, plainly: the reading in which a capacitor's manufacturing energy grows in proportion to its mass, applied through that same ratio. That reading is not established, and the two things known about it point in OPPOSITE directions. Against it: roughly a seventh to a quarter of the reference part's electricity is spent on steps that happen once per capacitor however large it is - welding the tabs, closing the can, sleeving, testing, packing, and on the wider reading the ageing soak - and the ratio multiplies those by the full count, so on this reading they are over-counted. For it: the research this project registered for this component class puts the per-piece energy several times higher than the figure shipped here, and a 450 V part needs a far thicker anodic oxide than the 25 V part described, which takes more forming energy for every unit of foil - so the shipped figure may equally be too low. Which way the error runs is unresolved and no public measurement settles it. What is bounded is the size of it: these rows carry under two percent of this dataset's electricity, so the whole unresolved question is worth less than that in either direction.
The inductor, choke and transformer rows on this dataset are published as reference parts rather than as a count of parts. Each draws on a dataset describing one reference part of a stated mass, and its quantity is the ratio of the mass declared here to that reference part; most of these rows declare no number of parts at all, so nothing states how many pieces the published quantity stands for. Where the declared part is much heavier or much lighter than the reference part, no dataset in this collection describes one of its size.

The flows above are this dataset's own records. What follows are the scope rules set once for the whole database in the methodology report, repeated here so every dataset page carries them.

Database-wide boundary policy — applies to every REEL dataset

These boundaries are set once for the whole database, in Chapter 2 of the methodology report, and apply to this dataset wherever they are relevant to it. The excluded flows listed above are specific to this dataset.

Use phase: Product operation is outside the cradle-to-gate scope.
End-of-life treatment: Recycling and disposal are outside the cradle-to-gate scope.
Distribution and retail: The gate is a finished component ready for integration into a higher-level assembly.
Inbound transport of raw materials: Transport of purchased raw materials to the manufacturing facility is already inside the upstream "market for" datasets that users link to a background database, so it is not modelled a second time here. This does not cover freight between REEL production stages, which is modelled where a dataset authors it.
Returnable shipping containers: Where freight between production stages is modelled, the mass moved is the product itself. The shipping container (FOSB, SEMI M31) is returnable capital equipment whose per-trip share is unsourced, so its tare is excluded from the transport effort.
Photomask fabrication: A mask set's embodied burden is amortised across a high-volume production run and is not attributed per wafer. Users assessing low-volume production should add mask fabrication separately; the methodology report gives the basis for the exclusion.
Employee transport, administration and R&D overhead: Employee transportation, facility administration and R&D/pilot-production overhead are outside scope.
Capital goods: Manufacturing equipment, cleanroom construction and facility infrastructure are excluded, on the grounds of absent public data on equipment embodied energy, uncertainty in equipment lifetime and allocation, common practice in electronics LCA, and a focus on the operational inventory. Future versions may include capital goods when sufficient public data becomes available.
Precious metal recovery credits: Scrap recovery credits for precious metals are excluded pending data availability.
Wafer reclaim: Test wafers and scrap are outside the system boundary.

Inside the boundary, linked rather than modelled

Silicon ingot growth and wafer slicing: Inside the cradle-to-gate scope, but treated as upstream material inputs linked to background databases rather than modelled as REEL processes.
Freight between production stages: Where a dataset's product moves between REEL production stages - wafer fabrication to the packaging site, for example - that leg is authored as a transport service and linked to an ecoinvent freight activity. It is measured as a transport effort in tonne-kilometres, not as a mass. Route distances are authored per route class with a stated band; a lower bound of zero is a modelling statement that the two sites can be co-located, not a missing value.

Cut-off criteria

A flow is excluded from a process inventory when it contributes less than 1 % of the total mass of inputs to that unit process, or less than 1 % of its total energy input. The denominator is total process inputs, not product mass. That distinction matters in semiconductor manufacturing, where the input mass of water, chemicals and gases greatly exceeds the product mass, so the threshold removes only genuinely minor flows.

Included regardless of the cut-off

Perfluorocarbons (CF4, C2F6, SF6, NF3) - high GWP, EPA regulated
Heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Cr(VI)) - RoHS regulated, high toxicity
Volatile organics (photoresist solvents, PGMEA) - air quality
Precious metals (Au, Ag, Pd, Pt) - high embodied impacts
Ozone-depleting substances (legacy CFCs, HCFCs) - Montreal Protocol