Comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessments of cellulose dissolution with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide

Abstract

In this paper the expected environmental impacts of the industrial cellulose dissolution with the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (Bmim Cl) were analyzed through a "cradle to gate" Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In order to weigh up the "greenness" of the process, the analysis was performed through a comparison with the well established environmental friendly N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO)/H 2 O process. Although dissolution of cellulose in Bmim Cl has not been used for industrial production of cellulose fibers to date, results from LCA suggest that it could be interesting from an environmental point of view since its impacts are similar to those of the NMMO/H 2 O process. Specifically, the process with Bmim Cl generates a higher environmental load on abiotic resource depletion, emissions of volatile organic compounds and ecotoxicity than the NMMO/H 2 O process. Conversely it has some environmental advantages with regards to human toxicity. In both cellulose dissolution processes, the major contributions to the environmental impacts come from precursor syntheses. In addition to the comparative analysis of the two cellulose dissolution processes, the paper reports the complete life cycle inventory (LCI) of the two solvents, Bmim Cl and NMMO, and their life cycle impact assessment (LCIA).

Life cycle assessment of producing emulsion-templated porous materials from Kraft black liquor – comparison of a vegetable oil and a petrochemical solvent

“…Previous LCA case studies demonstrated that green solvents have an environmental footprint and that in some cases trade-offs exist between several environmental impact categories for different feedstock (Dom enech et al, 2002;Marquevich et al, 2002;Miller et al, 2007;Righi et al, 2001). In addition, existing studies on LCA (Do Amaral, 2004;Kukfisz and Maranda, 2014;Ophus and Digernes, 1996) of emulsion chemistry point out the need to assess the environmental cost/benefits of emulsion technologies.…”

Cellulose‐Based Sustainable Polymers: State of the Art and Future Trends

“…In a recent study from Righi et al the cellulose dissolution by BMIMCl in comparison to the dissolution in NMMO in the Lyocell process has been analyzed by a life cycle assessment (LCA). [16] It was shown, that the IL can dissolve higher amounts of cellulose with a lower time and energy consumption and that there is a small reduction of the hazardous compound emission. However, the major environmental impact is a result of the solvents syntheses.…”

“…lactone has been reported using H 3 PO 4 as catalyst. [16,72] By ring opening polymerization this intermediate can be transformed into an aliphatic polyester. It is considered a valuable polymer made from renewables that is degradable by light or under acidic/basic conditions.…”

Integrating Life Cycle Inventory and Process Design Techniques for the Early Estimate of Energy and Material Consumption Data

“…Righi et al [14] compared the expected environmental impacts of two cellulose dissolution methods, if applied at industrial production level: the well-established environmentally friendly non-viscose processes with N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO/H 2 O) and an alternative process with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BmimCl). This case represents a situation in which the former process is already implemented at an industrial scale but no LCA dataset is available and the latter is only tested at lab scale.…”

“…Process engineering practice has developed a few tools and rules-of-thumb that are typically used to start the process design activities and that can be fruitfully exploited also in the case [11][12][13]. While it is recognized that the actual scale-up process may lead to significant improvements in the performances of a plant, this simplified approach is considered adequate for the purpose of explorative LCA studies [14,15].…”