Evaluation of the Technical and Environmental Viability of a Bioethanol, Propene, and Green Ammonia Process for Acetonitrile Production through a Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment

Acetonitrile (ACN) is a valuable product, serving as a feedstock in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and fine chemical industries. This study analyzes the environmental footprint of ACN production employing a life cycle assessment. A comparative assessment was conducted between the fossil-based process and a novel bioethanol and green ammonia approach. The ReCiPe Midpoint method was applied, utilizing Ecoinvent database in SIMAPRO. Dates to evaluate environmental impacts of adding bioethanol were obtained by using a pilot-scale reactor operating parallel to the main reactor in a Brazilian industrial unit. The scenario using bioethanol, propene, and petrochemical ammonia exhibited a noteworthy compensation for 96 kg of CO2-equiv/t of ACN, when compared to scenario 1. Additionally, this scenario achieved a 14% reduction in fossil resource scarcity. The use of bioethanol and green ammonia can reduce environmental impacts by up to 5% in the six assessed categories. Specifically, while global warming potential and fossil resource scarcity have decreased, the introduction of bioethanol has increased human toxicity and ecotoxicity impacts in ACN production, primarily due to sugar cane cultivation. The study demonstrates that the proposed innovations offer a viable approach to mitigating the environmental effects of ACN production and maintaining process safety, also highlighting the increased impacts associated with bioethanol.