The top 50 commodity chemicals: Impact of catalytic process limitations on energy, environment, and economics

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Abstract
The production processes for the top 50 U.S. commodity chemicals waste energy, generate unwanted byproducts, and require more than a stoichiometric amount of feedstocks. Pacific Northwest Laboratory has quantified this impact on energy, environment, and economics for the catalytically produced commodity chemicals. An excess of 0.83 quads of energy per year in combined process and feedstock energy is required. The major component, approximately 54%, results from low per-pass yields and the subsequent separation and recycle of unreacted feedstocks. Furthermore, the production processes, either directly or through downstream waste treatment steps, release more than 20 billion pounds of carbon dioxide per year to the environment. The cost of the wasted feedstock exceeds 2 billion dollars per year. Process limitations resulting from unselective catalysis and unfavorable reaction thermodynamic constraints are the major contributors to this waste. Advanced process concepts that address these problems in an integrated manner are needed to improve process efficiency, which would reduce energy and raw material consumption, and the generation of unwanted byproducts. Many commodity chemicals are used to produce large volume polymer products. Of the energy and feedstock wasted during the production of the commodity chemicals, nearly one-third and one-half, respectively, represents chemicals used as polymer precursors.more » Approximately 38% of the carbon dioxide emissions are generated producing polymer feedstocks.« less

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