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Life Cycle Assessment of Coal-to-Liquid Process

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Abstract

In this study, the life cycle assessment method was used to evaluate energy and material consumption and pollutant emission based on the 2013 ledger data of a coal chemistry factory in western China and the subprocesses used include coal gasification, conversion, purification, Fischer–Tropsch synthesis and liquid hydrocarbons separation. This method provides a comprehensive understanding of the potential environmental burden of coal-to-liquid (CTL) production and can be used to identify areas with significant potential for improving energy efficiency and reducing pollutant emissions. The results indicate that the main source of pollution in the CTL program is CTL processing step. Large amounts of water are consumed in the coal mining and CTL processing. The total amount of gaseous pollutants discharged to produce one ton of liquid hydrocarbon is 25.629 t, and 99.5% of this total consists of greenhouse gases. Over the entire life cycle of one ton of this liquid hydrocarbon, 31.955 tons of greenhouse gases (calculated as CO2) are emitted, and the weighted impact potential value is 3.149/PET2010. A series of relevant and consistent emission standards, laws and policies must be issued for the reasonable and orderly growth of the coal chemical industry.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported with grants from Support Project of High-level Teachers in Beijing Municipal Universities in the Period of 13th Five-year Plan——Beijing Municipal College "Great Wall" Scholars Projects (CIT&TCD20190314), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (CC20160801), the Beijing Climate Change Response Research and Education Center.

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  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Beijing, 102617, China

    Chunyu Wang & Ling Zhu

  2. College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Chunyu Wang

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  1. Chunyu Wang
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  2. Ling Zhu
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Correspondence to Ling Zhu.

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Wang, C., Zhu, L. Life Cycle Assessment of Coal-to-Liquid Process. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 14453–14471 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01252-z

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