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Assessment of cleaner process options: A case study from petroleum refining
Author(s) -
Weston Neil,
Clift Roland,
Basson Lauren,
Pouton Andrew,
White Neil
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.20051
Subject(s) - process (computing) , hazardous waste , refinery , oil refinery , life cycle assessment , refining (metallurgy) , computer science , environmental impact assessment , risk analysis (engineering) , cleaner production , process engineering , environmental science , waste management , engineering , municipal solid waste , production (economics) , business , ecology , chemistry , biology , economics , macroeconomics , operating system
Assessment of process changes to reduce, recycle or avoid wastes requires attention to systems which are broader than the immediate process; that is, it is necessary to take a life cycle perspective. Definition of the system boundary for such an assessment can be problematic in itself. A real case study is presented to illustrate the problem of assessing clean technologies: possible modifications to an alkylation unit at a UK refinery. The process uses hydrogen fluoride as alkylation catalyst, and generates fluoridic wastes which are hazardous and require treatment both on‐ and off‐site. Possible changes to avoid, reduce or enable partial recycling of the waste are identified, representing different levels of change in the process and therefore requiring assessment with different system boundaries. The different system definitions lead to differences in the ways data must be compiled for quantitative environmental life cycle assessment, and in the range of stakeholders explicitly or implicitly involved in assessing and implementing the changes. The case study demonstrates some of the less familiar challenges introduced by the “pollution prevention” or “clean technology” paradigms of chemical processing.