Scenario analysis on abating industrial process greenhouse gas emissions from adipic acid production in China

Qing Tong,Xu-Ying Qin,Han-Yi Lin,Xin-Yang Wei,Yue-Feng Guo,Run-Sheng Yan

doi:10.1007/s12182-020-00450-0

Abstract

Adipic acid is an important petrochemical product, and its production process emits a high concentration of greenhouse gas N2O. This paper aims to provide quantitative references for relevant authorities to formulate greenhouse gas control roadmaps. The forecasting method of this paper is consistent with the published national inventory in terms of caliber. Based on the N2O abatement technical parameters of adipic acid and the production trend, this paper combines the scenario analysis and provides a measurement of comprehensive N2O abatement effect of the entire industry in China. Four future scenarios are assumed. The baseline scenario (BAUS) is a frozen scenario. Three emission abatement scenarios (ANAS, SNAS, and ENAS) are assumed under different strength of abatement driving parameters. The results show that China’s adipic acid production process can achieve increasingly significant N2O emission abatement effects. Compared to the baseline scenario, by 2030, the N2O emission abatements of the three emission abatement scenarios can reach 207–399 kt and the emission abatement ratios can reach 32.5%–62.6%. By 2050, the N2O emission abatements for the three emission abatement scenarios can reach 387–540 kt and the emission abatement ratios can reach 71.4%–99.6%.

Highlights

Industrial production process emissions refer to greenhouse gas emissions generated by chemical reactions and physical changes in industrial production (IPCC 1996)
For the forecasting of emission factors, this paper considers the application and corresponding influence of the end treatment technology in the adipic acid production industry in China, and the end treatment technology is mainly based on thermal decomposition technology
By 2050, the emission factors for the three emission abatement scenarios are 0.124 tN2O/t adipic acid, 0.065 tN2O/t adipic acid, and 0.006 tN2O/t adipic acid, and the emission factors are reduced by 58.7%, 78.3%, and 98%, respectively, compared to the baseline scenario

Summary

Introduction

Industrial production process emissions refer to greenhouse gas emissions generated by chemical reactions and physical changes in industrial production (IPCC 1996). These emissions do not include energy activities. The commercialized production of adipic acid in China mainly adopts the cyclohexane method This method mainly comprises two steps (Shimizu et al 2000; Frutos et al 2018): The first step is to conduct catalytic hydrogenation of pure benzene in order to obtain cyclohexane, and cyclohexane is further oxidized to obtain a mixture of cyclohexanol–cyclohexanone (Alcohol ketone, known as KA oil).

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Conclusion