Life cycle assessment of plasma-assisted ethylene production from rich-in-methane gas streams

Abstract

Herein, the sustainability of plasma-assisted processes for ethylene production from rich-in-methane gas streams namely, natural and shale gas, is investigated by performing life cycle assessment (LCA).

Oxidative Functionalization of Long-Chain Liquid Alkanes by Pulsed Plasma Discharges at Atmospheric Pressure

“…A direct comparison of plasma to conventional processes has yet to be explored as the former technology is still in its infancy and optimization and scaling of such processes are yet to be investigated. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted with other plasma processes, such as methanol, ethane, and ammonia production, − show that the demand for electricity is the main driving cost for all plasma-assisted processes . In the plasma oxidation process of n -alkanes, the cost of separation will need to be accounted for; however, by optimizing the process for high power and short treatment time, a high energy yield and selectivity can be achieved to reduce separation and electrical costs.…”

Highly selective conversion of mixed polyolefins to valuable base chemicals using phosphorus-modified and steam-treated mesoporous HZSM-5 zeolite with minimal carbon footprint

“…Following this reasoning, the plastic waste stream was considered burden-free while the energy demand associated to the treatment activity was charged on the foreground processes (Case 1 and Case 2). The catalyst synthesis carbon footprint was neglected [98].…”

The Effects of Pulse Shape on the Selectivity and Production Rate in Non-oxidative Coupling of Methane by a Micro-DBD Reactor

“…Methane activation in discharge plasma is a rapidly expanding research topic in both science and engineering. This includes life cycle assessment and eco-efficiency analysis at industrial scale in process engineering field [10,11], and making synergy between plasma and catalysts to control the selectivity of products, product yield and conversion rate in chemistry field [12][13][14][15]. In plasma physics field, the focus is on the design of new plasma reactors and application of different discharge types for the purpose of controlling and tuning the reaction mechanism, heat transfer rate, and, more important, increasing energy efficiency [16][17][18][19][20][21].…”