Life Cycle Assessment comparison of two ways for acrylonitrile production: the SOHIO process and an alternative route using propane Daniele Cespi, Fabrizio Passarini * , Esmeralda Neri, Ivano Vassura, Luca Ciacci, Fabrizio Cavani Department of Industrial Chemistry “Toso Montanari”, ALMA MATER Studiorum University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 4, 40136 Bologna, Italy article info Article history: Received 31 July 2013 Received in revised form 13 January 2014 Accepted 17 January 2014 Available online 28 January 2014 Keywords: Acrylonitrile Ammoxidation of propylene Ammoxidation of propane Catalyst Chemical process Environmental sustainability abstract The aim of this study is to apply the LCA methodology to the industrial chemical sector, in order to compare the traditional process for acrylonitrile production from propylene with alternative routes starting from propane, while assessing which one is the cleaner production in terms of sustainability, from a life cycle perspective. The model created refers to the production of 1 kg of acrylonitrile. System boundaries of each scenario include all mass flows into and out of the reactor, all mass and energy flows into and out of the heat exchanger of the fluid bed, the amount of raw material for the production of each catalyst, the avoided impacts resulting from energy and mass recovery, and all transportations. Also, average infrastructure processes that refer to land use, building, and disposal of the chemical plant were not included. The life cycle evaluation was performed using the ReCiPe 2008 method v1.07, showing results in terms of midpoint categories such as Climate Change, Fossil Fuel Depletion, and Metal Depletion. The results from the inventory show that alternative synthetic routes starting from propane have higher impacts than the traditional processes in terms of fossil fuel depletion and climate change categories due to higher consumption of reactants, caused by the lower efficiency of catalytic systems. Conversely, impacts associated with the metal depletion category have an irregular trend, due mainly to the extraction of different percentages of resources for the catalyst production. The results were vali- dated by a sensitivity analysis using the Monte Carlo method. This study suggests that the LCA meth- odology may be used as a scientific approach to identify the environmental issues associated with the chemical production of a product. In particular, it is useful in comparing alternative ways of synthesis and evaluating which process is more sustainable, and which production stage should be improved in order to ensure greater environmental sustainability. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The chemical industry is one of the sectors that contribute most to the economy in terms of revenues, trade, and employment, while chemistry is considered to be at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable development, as it takes part in all economies through the furnishing of products (Sus Chem, 2013). The need to move away from the old anthropic production led to the definition of “Green Chemistry” and the publishing of the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry, which claim to support sustainability through, for instance, avoiding or limiting the use and production of hazardous substances; enhancing heat recovery and energy effi- ciency; improving the closure of waste flows and reducing emissions to the environment; and aiming for prevention as the inspiring feature in every human activity (Jiménez-González and Constable, 2011). In this sense, eco-efficiency may be intended as synony- mous with industrial efficiency: reducing the consumption of energy and resources and orienting processes toward a selective production do put the eco-design principles into practice, with the prefix “eco-” applying in both ecological and economic terms. The 20th century has been defined, among other ways, as the “plastic century” due to the primary role played by polymers in influencing the human culture and way of living. While considering the wide use of plastics and rubbers in our society as critical ele- ments in the depletion of fossil fuels, it is not surprising that among the most promising fields of improvement for a greener chemistry is the study of alternative building blocks and innovative processes to replace traditional feedstock routes from oil (Cavani, 2010a). Acrylonitrile (ACN) is an example of a chemical whose use increased dramatically after its first application in plastic and * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 0512093863. E-mail address: fabrizio.passarini@unibo.it (F. Passarini). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro 0959-6526/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.057 Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 17e25