Life Cycle Assessment of Nitrogen Circular Economy-Based NO x Treatment Technology

Mianqiang Xue, Bin-Le Lin, Kiyotaka Tsunemi, Kimitaka Minami, Tetsuya Nanba and Tohru Kawamoto
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Mianqiang Xue: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan
Bin-Le Lin: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan
Kiyotaka Tsunemi: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan
Kimitaka Minami: Nanomaterials Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan
Tetsuya Nanba: Renewable Energy Research Center, Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2-2-9 Machiikedai, Koriyama 963-0298, Japan
Tohru Kawamoto: Nanomaterials Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: Humans are significantly perturbing the global nitrogen cycle, leading to excess reactive nitrogen in the environment. Nitrogen oxides as a key reactive nitrogen species are mainly controlled by selective non-catalytic reduction and selective catalytic reduction. Converting nitrogen oxides to ammonia, defined as ReNOx, emerges as an alternative method under a disparate design concept. However, little is known about its overall environmental performance. In this study, we conducted for the first time a life cycle assessment of ReNOx. Compared with the eco-index in the condition of 200 °C with a conversion rate of 95%, it would increase substantially in the condition of 160 °C with a conversion rate of 80% and in the case without a sound NH 3 treatment. Feedstock format change, adsorption material performance deterioration, and recovery rate decline would increase the eco-index by 8%, 12%, and 18%, respectively. The eco-index was decreased by 31% in the optimized scenario with a renewable energy source and an increased conversion rate. The environmental impacts were compared with traditional methods at impact, damage, and eco-index levels. Finally, the implications on process arrangement in the flue gas system, the externality for power generation, and the contribution to the nitrogen circular economy were examined. The results can serve as a reference for its developers to improve the technology from the environmental perspective.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; nitrogen oxides; environmental impact; flue gas; waste recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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