(587r) Development of Bottom-up Life Cycle Inventory Methods for Chemical Reaction Systems

Bottom-up life cycle inventory (LCI) methods involve the use of process models to obtain the material and energy flows at various stages within an overall product life cycle. Process models of chemical reactions utilize the reaction rate, physical and chemical characteristics of the reaction mixture, and desired reaction extent to determine the reactor vessel configuration. Material flows of interest to life cycle inventory for the chemical reaction system include the reactant and product flows, byproducts, catalysts, and other reaction aids required. Energy balances for the reactor provide an estimate of the energy requirements. Energy flows include addition or removal of heat from the reaction system to maintain proper reaction conditions. The overall life cycle inventory must include an enumeration of the energy requirements and ancillary material flows, as well as the reactor infrastructure. Releases from the reactor, including fugitive emissions must be considered as part of the life cycle inventory. This presentation will focus on the development of life cycle inventory data from models of chemical reaction systems. The approach will include shortcut methods for sizing equipment and fugitive emission estimation.