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Selection of Sustainable Processes using Sustainability Footprint Method: A Case Study of Methanol Production from Carbon Dioxide
Citation:
Sengupta, D. AND R. Mukherjee. Selection of Sustainable Processes using Sustainability Footprint Method: A Case Study of Methanol Production from Carbon Dioxide. Chapter 12, Sustainability of Products, Processes and Supply Chains. Elsevier, Shannon, Ireland, 36:,, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
The chapter illustrates how one can select the most sustainable process option from a number of contenders, using the sustainability footprint that the authors developed.
Description:
Chemical products can be obtained by process pathways involving varying amounts and types of resources, utilities, and byproduct formation. When such competing process options such as six processes for making methanol as are considered in this study, it is necessary to identify the most sustainable option. Sustainability of a chemical process is generally evaluated with indicators that require process and chemical property data. These indicators individually reflect the impacts of the process on areas of sustainability, such as the environment or society. In order to choose among several alternative processes an overall comparative analysis is essential. Generally net profit will show the most economic process. A mixed integer optimization problem can also be solved to identify the most economic among competing processes. This method uses economic optimization and leaves aside the environmental and societal impacts. To make a decision on the most sustainable process, the method presented here rationally aggregates the sustainability indicators into a single index called sustainability footprint (De). Process flow and economic data were used to compute the indicator values. Results from sustainability footprint (De) are compared with those from solving a mixed integer optimization problem. In order to identify the rank order of importance of the indicators, a multivariate analysis is performed using partial least square variable importance in projection (PLS-VIP) methods. The result shows that the choice of the most sustainable process using sustainability footprint differs from that using mixed integer programming, which uses economic optimization alone. The result also shows that total material consumption played the most significant role in affecting overall sustainability, while global warming potential had the least significant role.
URLs/Downloads:
https://www.elsevier.com/books/sustainability-of-products-processes-and-supply-chains/you/978-0-444-63472-6