Title : Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of oxidative desulfurization of gas condensate in novel oxidation system
Abstract:
The present study investigates the life cycle assessment (LCA) of oxidative desulfurization (ODS) applied to sour gas condensate. This process uses a unique gas-liquid system where a combination of HzSO4, HNO , and NOT is employed as oxidizing agents. The goal of this research is to provide insights into the application of LCA methodology, offering guidance on process prioritization for plants aiming to comply with new emission stan- dards. The methodology is divided into two sections, which include laboratory experiments and environmental impact assessment using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The LCA methodology was assessed by the ReCiPe 20l6Endpoint (H) Vl.03 method with a functional unit of 1 kg of Treated Gas Condensate (TGC). The worst and the best results of oxidative desulfurization experiments were achieved in the llth and l9th of twenty experiment repetitions with 1217 and 105 ppm of total sulfur in TGC respectively. LCA results showed the lower final score of TGC (102 PPM total Sulfur) with 7.41 mPt compare to the final score of TGC (1217 PPM total Sulfur) with 11.72 mPt, which is related to more sulfur removal in the optimal experiment with a reduction of 2198 ppm of total sulfur in the final product and it is more aligned with the environmental strategies. Inhibition of SOx emission to atmosphere can have a positive effect on less fine particulate matter emission and less terrestrial acidification. Downstream industries are more inclined to purchase TGC that contains less sulfur. As a result, the production of TGC with lower concentration of sulfur will be economically more profitable compared to the production of lower quality products (more sulfur content in TGC).
