Environmental Impacts of Formalin and Hexamine Production Units Using Life Cycle Assessment: A Case Study in the Gameron Petro Industry Complex, Iran

Formalin and Hexamine are an important chemicals used widely in industry and the issue of their pollution is often taken into account. The aim of this study, the environmental effects of formalin and hexamine production process in Gameron Petro Industry complex have been investigated using life cycle assessment method.

This study have been investigated according to ISO 14040, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method and SimaPro software 9 and methods of evaluation of Eco-indicator99, IMPACT2002+ and EDIP2003. The functional unit studied is 1 ton of product (800 kg hexamine plus 200 kg formalin) in this complex.

The study of the obtained results shows that ammonia is the most influential input material in creating the consequences of climate change, radiation and toxicity. In respiratory inorganics, the contribution of ammonia and methanol is the same. In other outcomes, methanol is the dominant input. By examining the effect classes, it is determined that the effect of methanol and ammonia on human health is approximately equal. Ammonia has effect on ecosystem toxicity and methanol, among all inputs, in creating the category of resource consumption effect. The total values of the effect classes are 0.001636 DALY, 2038.305 PDF.m². year, 2091.536 Kg CO2 equivalents and 61.87139MJ surplus.

Examination of the results shows that in the life cycle of formalin production, and hexamine, methanol is the dominant input in creating environmental impacts. After that, ammonia, diesel and electricity are the effective inputs in the production life cycle of these products.