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

Abstract

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 andmore » 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.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  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)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Northeastern Univ., Shenyang (China)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); China Scholarship Council
OSTI Identifier:
1435522
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-27933
Journal ID: ISSN 0959-6526
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396; 41601609
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Cleaner Production
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 182; Journal ID: ISSN 0959-6526
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; magnesia refractory products; life-cycle assessment; scenario analysis; carbon emissions; reduction measures

Citation Formats

An, Jing, Li, Yingnan, and Middleton, Richard S. Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.266.
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An, Jing, Li, Yingnan, & Middleton, Richard S. Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.266
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An, Jing, Li, Yingnan, and Middleton, Richard S. Tue . "Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.266. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1435522.
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@article{osti_1435522,
title = {Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective},
author = {An, Jing and Li, Yingnan and Middleton, Richard S.},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.266},
journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},
number = ,
volume = 182,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {2}
}
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Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.266
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Cited by: 14 works
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Figures / Tables:

Table 1 Table 1: The energy consumption of scenario 1 and scenario 2.
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Works referenced in this record:

Life-cycle carbon footprint analysis of magnesia products
journal, April 2017

Pore-scale imaging of geological carbon dioxide storage under in situ conditions: PORE-SCALE IMAGING OF CARBON STORAGE
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The Investigation of Grindability of Refractory Wastes in Their Recycling
journal, September 2015

Environmental analysis for identifying challenges to recover used reinforced refractories in industrial furnaces
journal, February 2015

To A Dynamic Update Of The Sleipner CO2 Storage Geological Model Using 4d Seismic Data
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journal, March 2015

Application of cleaner production in a Chinese magnesia refractory material plant
journal, February 2016

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Generating candidate networks for optimization: The CO2 capture and storage optimization problem
journal, January 2012

Industrial CO2 and Carbon Capture: Near-term Benefit, Long-term Necessity
journal, July 2017

CO 2 Capture by a Rhenium(I) Complex with the Aid of Triethanolamine
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Membrane processes for carbon capture from coal-fired power plant flue gas: A modeling and cost study
journal, December 2012

Evaluation of GHG emissions from the production of magnesia refractory raw materials in Dashiqiao, China
journal, November 2016

The Cost of Carbon Capture and Storage for Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plants
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Assessment of opportunities for CO2 capture at iron and steel mills: An Australian perspective
journal, January 2011

CO2 capture using a superhydrophobic ceramic membrane contactor
journal, December 2015

Fabrication and Properties of New Building Materials by Reutilization Refractory Materials
journal, January 2014

A full chain CCS demonstration project in northeast Ordos Basin, China: Operational experience and challenges
journal, July 2016

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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Effect of carbon sources on the properties of lightweight corundum‐spinel refractory with density gradient
    journal, October 2019

    • Wan, Qifa; Yin, Hongfeng; Tang, Yun
    • International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, Vol. 17, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13437

    Profile and source apportionment of volatile organic compounds from a complex industrial park
    journal, January 2019

    • Liu, Yuan; Xie, Qing; Li, Xuehua
    • Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Vol. 21, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.1039/c8em00363g

    Environmental and economic impact assessment of the alumina–carbon refractory production in China
    journal, August 2019

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      Figures / Tables found in this record:

      Table 1 (p. 14)table
      Table 2 (p. 14)table
      Table 3 (p. 14)table
      Table 4 (p. 15)table
      Table 5 (p. 15)table
      Table 6 (p. 15)table
      Fig. 1 (p. 17)figure
      Fig. 2 (p. 17)figure
      Fig. 3 (p. 18)figure
      Fig. 4 (p. 18)figure
      Fig. 5 (p. 19)figure
      Fig. 6 (p. 19)figure
      Fig. 7 (p. 20)figure
      Fig. 8 (p. 20)figure
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