(259c) Comprehensive Sustainability Assessment of the Design of Achained Chemical Manufacturing System for Decarbonization

Decarbonization is the process of significantly reducing or eliminating GHG emissions including CO2. The chemical industry is the largest energy user among all industrial sectors. The GHG emissions footprint of the U.S. chemical industry was 274 million MT CO2 in 2020.[1] Thus, how to significantly improve energy efficiency and capture carbon in the chemical industry in a sustainable way is of great importance in industrial decarbonization. One approach for chemical industrial decarbonization is to achieve synergistic manufacturing among subsectors.[2] Qian et al. [3] and Liu et al. [4], among others, proposed conceptual design methodologies for constructing chemical complex systems to poly-generate chemical, fertilizer, power, and other products from natural gas and other resources, where GHG emissions were expected to be significantly reduced. However, the known design methodologies do not show whether the resulting complex systems could be highly sustainable.

In this presentation, we will introduce a comprehensive sustainability assessment method to evaluate a chained chemical manufacturing system designed by Liu et al. [5] for simultaneous production of ammonia, urea, liquified natural gas (LNG), and electricity, where internal carbon capture is realized. The assessment will be conducted using a sustainability metrics system that contains over 30 indicators, including one specifically quantifying decarbonization effectiveness. It is expected that the assessment will generate detailed information about whether such a type of chemical-energy-power integrated system design can demonstrate economic attractiveness, environmental cleanness (especially GHG emission reduction), and social responsibility clearly superior to the standalone design of the plants that are geographically distributed.

References

[1] U.S. Department of Energy, Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap, DOE/EE-2635, September 2022. https://www.energy.gov/industrial-technologies/doe-industrial-decarboniz...

[2] Zhang, K., H. H. Lou, and Y. L. Huang, "Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction via Advanced Heat Integration Techniques", in Handbook of Climate Change Mitigation, 3rd Edition, M. Lackner, B. Sajjadi, and W.Y. Chen, (eds.), Springer, 2021.

[3] Qian, Y., J. Liu, Z. Huang, A. Kraslawski, J. Cui, and Y. Huang, “Conceptual Design and System Analysis of a Poly-Generation System for Power and Olefin Production from Natural Gas,” Applied Energy, 86(10), 2088-2095, 2009.

[4] Liu, Y.; Wang, S.; Xu, Q.; Ho, T. C. Eco-Friendly Natural Gas Monetization Complex for Simultaneous Power Generation and Nitrogen-Based Fertilizer Production. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 62 (1), 489-499, 2023.

[5] Liu, Y., S. Wang, Q. Xu, and Y. Huang, “Comprehensive Utilization of Natural Gas for Simultaneous Production of Power, Fertilizer, and LNG with Inherent Carbon Capture,” submitted, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, Sept. 2023.