Material Flow Analysis with Software STAN

The software STAN (subSTance flow ANalysis) is a new user-friendly freeware that supports performing material flow analysis (MFA) according to the Austrian standard ONORM S 2096 (MFA- Application in waste management) under consideration of data uncertainties. After building a graphical model with predefined components (flows, processes, subsystems, system boundaries and text fields), known data (mass flows, stocks, concentrations and transfer coefficients) with corresponding physical units can be either entered or imported for different hierarchical layers (good, substance, energy) and time periods. A graph of the model with flows displayed as Sankey arrows (i.e. the width of a flow is proportional to its value) can be printed or exported into various graphical formats. If sufficient data are given calculation algorithms can be used to reconcile uncertain data and to compute unknown variables including their uncertainties (error propagation). Statistical tests are used to detect gross errors in a given data set. The features of STAN are demonstrated on the example of a fictitious waste management company.