Life cycle impact assessment of ammonia production in Algeria: A comparison with previous studies

In this paper, a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) from cradle to gate of one anhydrous ton of ammonia with a purity of 99% was achieved. Particularly, the energy and environmental performance of the product (ammonia) were evaluated. The eco-profile of the product and the share of each stage of the Life Cycle on the whole environmental impacts have been evaluated. The flows of material and energy for each phase of the life cycle were counted and the associated environmental problems were identified. Evaluation of the impact was achieved using GEMIS 4.7 software. The primary data collection was executed at the production installations located in Algeria (Annaba locality). The analysis was conducted according to the LCA standards ISO 14040 series. The results show that Cumulative Energy Requirement (CER) is Of 51.945 x 10(3) MJ/t of ammonia, which is higher than the global average. Global Warming Potential (GWP) is of 1.44 t CO2 eq/t of ammonia; this value is lower than the world average. Tropospheric ozone precursor and Acidification are also studied in this article, their values are: 549.3 x 10(-6) t NMVOC eq and 259.3 x 10(-6) t SO2 eq respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.