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Performance comparison of urea production using one set of integrated indicators considering energy use, economic cost and emissions’ impacts: A case from China

Author

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  • Chen, Yuhong
  • Lyu, Yanfeng
  • Yang, Xiangdong
  • Zhang, Xiaohong
  • Pan, Hengyu
  • Wu, Jun
  • Lei, Yongjia
  • Zhang, Yanzong
  • Wang, Guiyin
  • Xu, Min
  • Luo, Hongbin

Abstract

Sustainability of urea production should concentrate on its economic, energy and environmental performances, but few studies are found to address the three aspects simultaneously. Here a set of indicator system, composed of energy use, economic cost, and emissions' impacts in terms of emergy and carbon emission intensity, were built to investigate this issue. Next six scenarios of Chinese urea production, attained through combination of two ammonia synthesis methods and three urea production methods, were evaluated. The study results show that (1) urea production from natural gas (UPNG) should pay more attention to indirect energy use of raw materials and energy sources while urea production from coal (UPC) should more emphasize energy efficiency of production processes, (2) dust emissions should be emphasized for carbon dioxide stripping technology and ammonia stripping technology, while more attention should be paid to NH3–N discharge from urea production using aqueous solution full-cycle technology, (3) UPNG are worse than UPC according to energy consumption intensity and economic cost but better than the latter in terms of emissions’ impacts, and (4) generally combination of coal based ammonia synthesis and ammonia stripping method is the best one.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Yuhong & Lyu, Yanfeng & Yang, Xiangdong & Zhang, Xiaohong & Pan, Hengyu & Wu, Jun & Lei, Yongjia & Zhang, Yanzong & Wang, Guiyin & Xu, Min & Luo, Hongbin, 2022. "Performance comparison of urea production using one set of integrated indicators considering energy use, economic cost and emissions’ impacts: A case from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:254:y:2022:i:pc:s0360544222013925
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.124489
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