Life Cycle Inventory of Brazilian Methanol: Contribution for National Database Luiz Alexandre Kulay Eduardo Toshio Sugawara Gil Anderi da Silva Life Cycle Assessment VIII 'Calculating Consequences Beyond the Box' 30 September - 2 October 2008, Seattle
1. Methanol in Brazil National Production: 250,000 ton. Companies: 02 METANOR S.A. (State of Bahia) 90,000 ton. PROSINT (State of Rio de Janeiro) 162,000 ton. Importation (Others) 4% METANOR 18% Importation: 250,000 ton. Up to 92% from Chile (Punta Arenas) Source: ABIQUIM (2006) 46% Importation (Chile) 32% PROSINT
2. Technology: ICI Low Process Methanol (LPM) 98% CH 4 (no S compounds) Natural Gas Catalytically Reforming SYNGAS Synthesis Compressing Distillation steam Methanol Others 5 10MPa; 200-300 C
3. Life Cycle Inventory of Brazilian Methanol 3.1 Goal and Scope Definition Objective - carry through the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of the methanol in order to contribute to the Brazilian Database for LCA studies Reference Flow 1,000 kg methanol Scope cradle to gate approach Methodological Framework NBR ISO 14040 series
Boundaries Refining Exclusion Criteria for Unit Processes and environmental loads: - quantitative: contribution below 1.0% system; - environmental relevance. Considered Subsystems - natural gas production; - natural gas transportation and distribution; - steam production; - SYNGAS obtaining; Excluded Subsystems - natural gas exploitation and extraction - construction + maintenance of capital goods - methanol processing in Brazil & in Chile; - transportation + distribution from Chile.
3.2 Product System Modeling Production Capacity: - METANOR and PROSINT: ~ 97% of the Brazilian methanol (last 5 years) Importation: - just from Chile; Technology: - LPM process Brazil and Chile; - Other outlets from purification than methanol: environmental loads.
Product System: methanol Purification Fractioning Compression Natural Gas Transportation SYNGAS Production Methanol Obtaining Distillation SYNGAS Production Methanol transport from Chile Brazilian Methanol
3.3 Specific Premises Natural Gas Production Natural gas origin: - off-shore extraction: Rio de Janeiro and Bahia littorals; Average composition: 26 platforms Component % CH 4 84,5 C 2 H 6 8,0 C 3 H 8 3,0 C 4 and C 4 + 3,5 CO 2 1,0 H 2 S 3,5ppm Desulphurization: - absorption in Fe 2 O 3 fluidized bed; - S compounds recover (allocation by commercial criteria)
Natural Gas Production Cold NGPU 2 Absorption Turbo NGPU 3 Expansion CH 4 Compression 3 Processed Natural Gas Compression 1 Liquid phase Cold LRU Absorption CH 4 Compression 2 Purified Natural Gas C2; C3; C4; C4+ Cold NGPU 1 Absorption CH 4
Natural Gas Transportation Rio de Janeiro: NGPU - Refinary - 01 pipeline: L = 180km; = 16 ; - compression stages along the line: Turbine Refinery - PROSINT - 01 pipeline: L = 10km; = 12 ; Bahia: NGPU Petrochemical Complex (Camaçari) - 02 pipelines: L = 37km; = 12 ; L = 33km; = 14 - No compression stages along the line; Petrochemical Complex METANOR - 01 pipeline: L = 10km; = 12 ;
Synthesis of Methanol SYGAS CH 4 = 3% CO = 15% H 2 = 74% CO 2 = 8% steam Methanol synthesis Catalysts CH 3 OH H 2 O H 2 CH 4 + H 2 O CO + 3H 2 - Energy CO + H 2 O CO 2 + H 2 + Energy CO + 2H 2 CH 3 OH + Energy CO 2 + 3H 2 CH 3 OH + H 2 O Energy
Importation: 250,000 ton. Methanol Importation Oceanic Transportation: Origin Punta Arenas (Chile) Port Amount (x 10 3 t) (%) Distance (Nautical Miles) Paranaguá (PR) 159 63,6 1,896 Rio Grande (RS) 47 18,8 1,721 Aratu (BA) 28 11,2 3,016 Rio de Janeiro (RJ) 16 6,4 2,271
3.4 Data Collection Primary data - Questionnaire distribution; - visiting on sites; - completeness: up to 60%; Secondary data - literature; - experts consultation; - material and energetic balances; - databases.
3.5 Results Environmental Loads - INPUTS Energy Consumption (/RF) Compression (transport) GJ 472.66 Cold Absorption (NGPU) GJ 27.18 Compression (distribution) GJ 22.23 Raw Materials (/RF) CH 4 m 3 475.84 C 2 H 6 m 3 45.05 Sulfur g 1.97 Environmental Loads - OUTPUTS Atmospheric Emissions (/RF) CH 4 m 3 36.43 CO 2 m 3 894.97 SO 2 m 3 3.43 Liquid Effluent (/RF) COD g 170.52 BOD g 24.01
4. Conclusion and Limitations Energy consumption: 472.86 GJ/ton. (= 87%) dispended for natural gas compression (transport step) Methanol obtaining generates low consumption due to the energy recovery Atmospheric emission: 66,7% are CO 2 from natural gas burning (compression step) Liquid Effluent: COD (0.17ton/ton.) from purifying action (organic lights & methanol losses) Solid waste: about 1.9g S/ton.: dessulfurization process
4. Conclusion and Limitations Low level of primary data - completeness of 60%; No information about environmental loads from capital goods and maintenance either in processual transformation or transport Variability in terms of data quality; Absence of well defined information about technology of methanol s production in Chile (modelled according Brazilian technology).
Life Cycle Inventory of Brazilian Methanol: Contribution for National Database Thanks for your attention!! Contact: Luiz Alexandre Kulay luiz.akulay@sp.senac.br Eduardo Toshio Sugawara eduardotoshio@gmail.com Gil Anderi da Silva ganderis@usp.br Life Cycle Assessment VIII 'Calculating Consequences Beyond the Box' 30 September - 2 October 2008, Seattle