A LIFE-CYCLE INVENTORY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DETERGENT-GRADE ALCOHOLS

An overview is given of the resource and energy requirements and envir onmental emissions arising from the production of 1000 kg of detergent - range alcohols of petrochemical and oleochemical origin, in casu cru de oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil. The total energy r equirements range from 61 GJ/1000 kg (palm alcohol) via 72 GJ/1000 kg (palm kernel alcohol) and 82 GJ/1000 kg (coconut alcohol) to 91 GJ/100 0 kg (petrochemical alcohol), with energy of material resource as the major energy component for all studied alcohols. For petrochemical alc ohols, fossil energy sources contribute about 97% of the total energy. For oleochemical alcohols, the fossil energy contributes 23% (coconut alcohol) and 32% (palm kernel alcohol), mainly as process energy. For the oleochemical alcohols the energy of material resource consists pr edominantly of biomass-energy, ranging from 66% for palm kernel alcoho l to 76% for coconut alcohol. Most of the atmospheric emissions arise from the production and consumption of fuels and thus, reflect the pro cess energy requirements. Methane emissions arise from the manufacture of palm alcohol and palm kernel alcohol. Non-fossil CO2-emissions fur oleochemical alcohols are associated with the incineration of fibres and shells, which provides a self sufficient energy supply at the palm oil mill. For coconut alcohol, the non-fossil CO2-emissions come from the incineration of coconut shells during the drying of copra. Most o f the waterborne emissions arise from processing operations COD ranges from 1.4 kg/1000 kg (petrochemical alcohol) to 15 kg/1000 kg (coconut alcohol) and dissolved solids range from 3 kg to 43 kg, respectively. Palm kernel alcohol and palm alcohol production results in a COD of 1 .9 and 3 kg/1000 kg, respectively and dissolved solids of 6.5 kg/1000 kg each. The high water-borne emissions of coconut alcohol arise from the run-off of coconut water when the nuts are halved. The values for total solid waste range from 50 kg/1000 kg (palm alcohol and coconut a lcohol) via 72 kg/1000 kg (petrochemical) to 79.5 kg/1000 kg (paint ke rnel alcohol). For petrochemical and coconut alcohols, the major part of the solid waste is fuel-related ranging from about 50% for palm and palm kernel alcohol, up to 85% for petrochemical alcohol.