Mapping Anthropogenic Carbon Mobilization Through Chemical Process and Manufacturing Industries

EasyChair Preprint 7496

Abstract

The Paris Agreement aims to limit global temperature rise due to global warming to below 2° C over pre-industrial levels. Meeting this limit necessitates reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The chemical process industry along with associated manufacturing industries contributes significantly towards global carbon dioxide emissions. Mapping the precise routes of Carbon (C) mobilization is the first step towards establishment of a sustainable, circular and C neutral chemical industry. Current published literature does not contain C flow models, does not account for C mobilized to meet the energetic needs of global chemical processes, and emissions offset by material exchange between different processes. In this work, we develop a steady state model of C flow through chemical process and associated industries. Our model traces the flow of C from fossil feedstock, to energy carriers and chemical intermediates, and finally valuable products, by-products and emissions. This model makes use of process data, life-cycle inventories models developed by existing studies on the chemical and petrochemical industries, government databases, greenhouse gas emissions data and economy models . Fundamental laws like mass and energy balance are used in conjunction with stoichiometric calculations to estimate missing data and reconcile incorrect data. We represent this model as a Sankey Diagram to better facilitate visualization of the process network and identify scope of process improvement. We elaborate how this model helps the placement of process alternatives such as use of renewables, "net zero" electrification, green hydrogen and C capture and storage in the value chain, which can be highly energy, and land area intensive. Thus, the integration of fossil free alternatives in the model paves the path for their targeted and optimal usage towards decarbonization.

Keyphrases: Decarbonization, Sustainability, chemical industry, modelling, supply chain

@booklet{EasyChair:7496,
  author    = {Amrita Sen and George Stephanopoulos and Bhavik Bakshi},
  title     = {Mapping Anthropogenic Carbon Mobilization Through Chemical Process and Manufacturing Industries},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 7496},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2022}}