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Title: Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective

Journal Article · · Journal of Cleaner Production
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Northeastern Univ., Shenyang (China). School of Metallurgy. Liaoning Province Key Lab. of Metallurgical Resources Recycling Science; Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Northeastern Univ., Shenyang (China). School of Metallurgy. Liaoning Province Key Lab. of Metallurgical Resources Recycling Science
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

China is the largest producer of magnesia refractory materials and products in the world, resulting in significant energy consumption and carbon emissions. This paper analyzes measures to reduce both the energy consumption and carbon emissions in the production phase and use phase, providing a theoretical basis for a sustainable magnesia refractory industry. Results show that the total carbon emissions of carbon-containing magnesia bricks produced with fused magnesia are much higher than those of other products, and the total carbon emissions of both general magnesia brick and magnesia-carbon spray are lower than those of other products. Carbon emissions of magnesia products are mainly concentrated in the production process of magnesia. Manufacturers should select materials with lower environmental impacts and emphasize saving energy and reducing carbon emissions in the magnesia production process. Through scenario analysis we found that CO2 capture is an effective measure to reduce carbon emissions compared with just improving energy consumption. However, a robust CO2 market does not currently exist. Policy makers should plan on integrating CO2 capture in the magnesia industry into a regional CO2 capture and storage development planning in the long term. In particular, magnesia production is concentrated in a single geographical area which would and thus could take advantage of significant scale effects. Finally, in the use phase, extending the service lifetime reduces carbon emissions over the product lifetime, thus users should attempt to extend the service lifetime of a furnace as a whole. However, results show that it is not advisable to add a large number of repair refractories to extend the lifetime of existing furnaces.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Northeastern Univ., Shenyang (China)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); China Scholarship Council
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396; 41601609
OSTI ID:
1435522
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-27933
Journal Information:
Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 182; ISSN 0959-6526
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (3)

Effect of carbon sources on the properties of lightweight corundum‐spinel refractory with density gradient journal October 2019
Profile and source apportionment of volatile organic compounds from a complex industrial park journal January 2019
Environmental and economic impact assessment of the alumina–carbon refractory production in China journal August 2019

Figures / Tables (14)

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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
magnesia refractory products
life-cycle assessment
scenario analysis
carbon emissions
reduction measures