(590d) Electrified Steam Cracking: Handling Multifunctionality in Life Cycle Assessment

Electrifying endothermic reactors and unit operations in chemical manufacturing is seen as key to reducing fossil reliance and improving performance under certain conditions. But it also poses challenges in operations, low-carbon electricity availability, and multifunctionality in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). Our analysis examines how handling multifunctionality in electrified steam crackers with varied feedstocks may shape perceptions through LCA, using a dedicated in-house model.

Steam cracking is the main technology for producing key petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene, monocyclic aromatics). By-product fuels, including fuel gas and oil, are produced as well. Various hydrocarbons—both light (ethane, propane) and heavy (naphtha, atmospheric gas oil)—can be processed in steam crackers, affecting energy requirements, emissions profiles, and product distributions. Feedstock decisions depend on infrastructure configuration, local resource availability, and long-term contracts. Electrifying steam crackers could significantly reduce or eliminate by-product fuel use, which, depending on modeling choices, necessitates detailed analysis of alternative allocation approaches.