Method and system for evaluating life cycle carbon footprint of phenol preparation process

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a system for evaluating a life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process. The method comprises the following steps: S1, determining a research purpose and a life cycle carbon footprint system boundary; s2, constructing a life cycle list: adopting industrial operation data for a cumene process; for a nitrous oxide and benzene oxide process, acquiring material and energy balance data under an industrial scale by adopting process simulation software; s3, modeling a life cycle model: modeling the two process scenes based on life cycle evaluation software and a background database; s4, carbon footprint quantification and comparison: quantifying the carbon footprint of the phenol with the set amount in the two process scenarios, and carrying out transverse comparison; and S5, result analysis and optimization suggestion. The method has the advantages that through integration of industrial operation data and process simulation, the bottleneck of newly-developing process list data missing is solved, the distribution problem of a traditional cumene method is avoided, and therefore a more scientific and comprehensive decision basis is provided for low-carbon process selection of phenol production.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of carbon footprint assessment and environmental analysis of chemical processes, and in particular to a method and system for assessing the life cycle carbon footprint of phenol preparation processes. Background Technology

[0002] Phenol is an important basic organic chemical raw material, widely used in synthetic resins, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, dyes, and engineering plastics. Currently, over 90% of the world's phenol is produced via the cumene process. Although this process has been industrialized for many years and is technologically mature, it suffers from problems such as complex processes, high energy consumption, and a high carbon footprint. Furthermore, the cumene process co-produces large quantities of acetone during phenol production, leading to allocation challenges in lifecycle carbon footprint accounting.

[0003] In recent years, with the advancement of the "dual carbon" target and the development of the green chemistry concept, the new process of directly oxidizing benzene to phenol with nitrous oxide (N2O) has attracted widespread attention due to its high atom economy and potential low-carbon advantages. This route has short reaction steps and high selectivity, and if industrially sourced N2O (such as the tail gas N2O generated during adipic acid production) can be utilized, the recycling of waste resources can be achieved, further reducing the overall carbon footprint.

[0004] Existing life cycle assessment studies on phenol production processes generally have the following shortcomings: 1. Data gaps: For emerging processes such as nitrous oxide and benzene oxide, there is a lack of publicly available industrial operation data, resulting in gaps in their life cycle inventory data and making scientific evaluation impossible; 2. Inconsistent system boundaries: Different studies set different system boundaries and key parameters, especially with insufficient consideration of the source of nitrous oxide (whether it is produced specifically or used from industrial waste gas), resulting in poor comparability of evaluation results; 3. Lack of multi-scenario systematic comparison: Most studies only focus on the carbon footprint accounting of a single traditional process, failing to conduct a fair, comprehensive, and scientific horizontal comparison between traditional processes and new resource-based processes under the same assessment framework, making it difficult to provide effective decision support for the low-carbon transformation of industries.

[0005] Therefore, this case is brought. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a method and system for evaluating the carbon footprint of phenol preparation processes throughout their life cycle, aiming to quantitatively compare the differences in carbon footprint between traditional processes and new resource recycling processes, and to provide a scientific and comprehensive basis for decision-making in selecting low-carbon processes for phenol production.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0008] A method for assessing the lifecycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process, characterized by comprising the following steps: S1. Define the research objectives and the boundaries of the life cycle carbon footprint system; S2. Construct the lifecycle inventory: For the cumene process, industrial operating data is used; For the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process, process simulation software was used to obtain material and energy balance data at the industrial scale in order to construct lifecycle inventory for two process scenarios. S3. Lifecycle Modeling: Based on lifecycle assessment software and background database, two process scenarios are modeled to achieve systematic integration of prospective and background data; S4. Carbon footprint quantification and comparison: The CML-2001 evaluation method was used to quantify the carbon footprint of producing a set amount of phenol under two process scenarios and to conduct a cross-sectional comparison. S5. Results Analysis and Optimization Recommendations: Analyze the carbon emission results, identify key emission processes and material flows based on their contribution, and propose process optimization recommendations.

[0009] Furthermore, in step S1: The purpose of this study is to use a life cycle model to analyze the carbon emissions resulting from energy and material inputs in phenol production process scenarios. The phenol production processes include the cumene process and the nitrous oxide-benzene process. The functional unit is defined as the production of 1 ton of phenol. The source of nitrous oxide is nitrous oxide from the tail gas of the adipic acid industry. The lifecycle carbon footprint system boundary includes all lifecycle stages from raw material acquisition to phenol product production.

[0010] Furthermore, for the nitrous oxide to benzene oxidation process, its system boundary carbon footprint is determined by the following model: ; in This represents the carbon footprint of the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process over its entire lifecycle. This indicates the carbon footprint of the production and transportation process of the raw material benzene; This indicates the carbon footprint of the process of recovering, purifying, and transporting nitrous oxide from the tail gas of the dicarboxylic acid industry. Indicates the carbon footprint of the benzene direct oxidation reaction section; Indicates the carbon footprint of the product refining and raw material recycling process;

[0011] For the cumene process, the system boundary and allocation model are as follows: ; ; in This represents the total carbon footprint of the cumene production system; The carbon footprint of the propylene acquisition unit includes the production and transportation of propylene. The carbon footprint of the cumene synthesis unit, including the entire process of the alkylation reaction of benzene with propylene to produce cumene; The carbon footprint of a methanol-to-hydrogen unit includes the methanol steam reforming process for hydrogen production and related energy consumption; The carbon footprint of the phenol-acetone unit includes processes such as cumene oxidation, CHP decomposition, and product separation and purification. This represents the carbon footprint allocated to 1 ton of phenol product. Indicates the quality of phenol products; This indicates the quality of the acetone product.

[0012] Furthermore, in step S2, the process simulation software is Aspen Plus, and the process simulation includes the following steps: Establish a steady-state process model and select the NRTL-RK property method; Modeling of the reactor and separation unit based on experimental data; Set process parameters and ensure convergence of the entire process through iterative calculations; Complete material and energy balance data of phenol from the production unit were extracted as foreground data.

[0013] Furthermore, in step S2, the data for both processes are standardized using the production of 1 ton of phenol as the functional unit, and the same background database and emission factor source are used.

[0014] Furthermore, in step S3, the modeling is based on the OpenLCA lifecycle assessment software and the Ecoinvent 3.11 background database, and the specific process is as follows:

[0015] The lifecycle lists of the two phenol preparation processes that have been constructed are imported into the OpenLCA software. Based on the actual situation of each process, the matching background data streams for energy and material inputs are selected in the ecoinvent 3.11 database to achieve the systematic integration of prospective data and background data. Prospective data refers to the process and operation data directly related to the process system, while background data refers to the related data in the ecoinvent standard database used to calculate the energy and material production process.

[0016] Furthermore, in step S3, for the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process, the background data stream of the adipic acid production tail gas purification process is selected.

[0017] Furthermore, the calculation formula for the CML-2001 method is as follows: ; In the formula, CFi D represents the total carbon footprint generated by a specific phenol preparation process scenario; i Represents the input data for the i-th type of energy or resource; F i Let represent the emission factor of the i-th type of energy or resource; i represents the various resources and energy inputs in this scenario; n represents the total quantity of the types of resources and energy inputs.

[0018] Furthermore, the contribution percentage aims to determine the percentage contribution of each activity to the total carbon footprint. For the i-th activity, the contribution percentage is calculated using the following formula: .

[0019] A system for assessing the lifecycle carbon footprint of phenol preparation processes based on the above method, comprising: The system boundary definition module is used to set the system boundary between the research objective and the life cycle carbon footprint. The inventory building module is used to construct lifecycle inventories for two phenol preparation process scenarios. For the cumene process, industrial operation data is imported; for the nitrous oxide-benzene oxide process, process simulation software is called to obtain material and energy balance data at the industrial scale. The model integration module is used to match and integrate the prospective data output by the inventory construction module with the environmental data in the background database based on the life cycle assessment software and the background database to establish a computable life cycle assessment model. The carbon footprint quantification and comparison module is used to calculate the carbon footprint generated by producing a set amount of phenol under two process scenarios using the CML-2001 evaluation method, and generate cross-sectional comparison results. The analysis and optimization suggestion module is used to analyze carbon emission results, identify key emission processes and material flows based on their contribution, and propose process optimization suggestions.

[0020] The advantages of this invention are:

[0021] 1. By innovatively combining chemical process simulation with life cycle assessment, a comparative method for the carbon footprint of phenol production processes was established. By incorporating industrial waste nitrous oxide as a raw material into the system boundary, the carbon footprint differences between traditional processes and resource recycling processes can be scientifically quantified and compared. This reveals the important role of industrial symbiosis in reducing carbon emissions and provides a scientific basis for green process selection in phenol production, which is of great significance for promoting the low-carbon transformation of the chemical industry.

[0022] 2. The established assessment framework is universal and can be extended to the low-carbon assessment and selection of other chemical processes, which is of great significance to promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the entire chemical industry. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the process for evaluating the lifecycle carbon footprint of the phenol preparation process in the examples; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the life cycle boundaries of the cumene process and the nitrous oxide to benzene process in the embodiments; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram comparing the carbon footprint contribution of each unit process in two phenol preparation processes based on the CML-2001 evaluation method from a process perspective in the examples. Detailed Implementation

[0024] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the invention.

[0025] This embodiment proposes a method for evaluating the lifecycle carbon footprint of phenol preparation processes, such as... Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, it includes the following steps:

[0026] S1. Determine the research objective and life cycle carbon footprint system boundary: The research objective is to analyze the carbon emissions resulting from energy and material inputs in two phenol preparation process scenarios using a life cycle model; the functional unit is defined as the production of 1 ton of phenol; the life cycle carbon footprint system boundary includes all life cycle stages from raw material acquisition to phenol product output; the cumene process includes a raw material acquisition unit (benzene and propylene), an isocumene unit, and a phenol-acetone unit; the nitrous oxide-benzene oxidation process includes a raw material acquisition unit (benzene and nitrous oxide), an oxidation unit, and a refining unit; the source of nitrous oxide is nitrous oxide from the tail gas of the adipic acid industry.

[0027] This embodiment takes the production of 1 ton of phenol as the functional unit. The defined life cycle carbon footprint system boundary includes: the production and transportation of raw materials (benzene, propylene, nitrous oxide), energy consumption (electricity, steam) in the process, chemical reactions, product separation and purification and other core unit operations. Non-process-related carbon emissions such as plant construction, equipment manufacturing and plant infrastructure are not within the scope of this assessment.

[0028] To ensure the scientific validity and comparability of the carbon footprint calculations for the two processes, this invention explicitly defines their respective system boundary calculation models. For the nitrous oxide-to-benzene process, its system boundary carbon footprint is determined by the following model: ; in This represents the carbon footprint of the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process over its entire lifecycle. This indicates the carbon footprint of the production and transportation process of the raw material benzene; This indicates the carbon footprint of the process of recovering, purifying, and transporting nitrous oxide from the tail gas of the dicarboxylic acid industry. Indicates the carbon footprint of the benzene direct oxidation reaction section; This indicates the carbon footprint of the product refining and raw material recycling processes.

[0029] The cumene process is a co-production process, producing approximately 0.62 tons of acetone for every ton of phenol produced. To address the challenge of carbon footprint allocation, this invention employs a mass allocation method to distribute the total carbon footprint of the system to the phenol product. The system boundary and allocation model are as follows: ; ; in This represents the total carbon footprint of the cumene production system; The carbon footprint of the propylene acquisition unit includes the production and transportation of propylene. The carbon footprint of the cumene synthesis unit, including the entire process of the alkylation reaction of benzene with propylene to produce cumene; The carbon footprint of a methanol-to-hydrogen unit includes the methanol steam reforming process for hydrogen production and related energy consumption; The carbon footprint of the phenol-acetone unit includes processes such as cumene oxidation, CHP decomposition, and product separation and purification. This represents the carbon footprint allocated to 1 ton of phenol product. Indicates the quality of phenol products; This indicates the quality of the acetone product.

[0030] S2. Collect process data for two phenol preparation process scenarios to construct a lifecycle inventory: For the cumene process, industrial operating data is used. The technology is mature, and the relevant energy consumption, material consumption and emission data have been widely studied and reported, and have been recognized as reliable. For the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process, since it is an emerging process that has not yet been commercialized on a large scale, there is a lack of publicly available industrial operation data. Therefore, Aspen Plus process simulation software was used to obtain industrial-scale material and energy balance data. This simulation is based on the principles of chemical reaction engineering and establishes a rigorous steady-state process model to generate high-confidence material and energy balance data at the industrial scale.

[0031] Data from the two processes were collected to construct lifecycle inventory for the two process scenarios, with the nitrous oxide source being nitrous oxide from adipic acid industrial tail gas.

[0032] The collected data included energy data, equipment input data, and material input data; among which, material input data included data on raw materials, catalysts, and auxiliary chemicals consumed in the process. To ensure the comparability of the two process scenario assessments, the industrial operation data of the cumene process and the simulation data of the nitrous oxide-to-benzene process were standardized using the production of 1 ton of phenol as the functional unit, and the same background database (Ecoinvent 3.11) and emission factor sources were used.

[0033] In step S2, the Aspen Plus process simulation includes: 1) Construct a complete steady-state process model for the nitrous oxide-to-benzene oxidation process. Considering the complex components of this system, including benzene, phenol (polar / non-polar organic compounds), nitrogen, and nitrous oxide (a permanent gas), the NRTL-RK property method was used for phase equilibrium calculations. In this method, the NRTL equations accurately describe the non-idealities in the liquid-phase mass transfer process, while the RK equations of state are applicable to the non-ideal behavior of the gas phase under reaction pressures (1-3 MPa), thus providing a reliable thermodynamic basis for the full-process simulation.

[0034] 2) Rigorous modeling was performed on the reactor, separation unit and energy recovery system. The reactor adopted the equilibrium reactor module and was set based on the reaction conversion rate data obtained from experiments. The separation system included a flash evaporation unit and a distillation column unit to achieve product separation and raw material recovery.

[0035] 3) Process parameter optimization and model convergence: Set reasonable process operating parameters, including reaction temperature of 300-400℃ and reaction pressure of 1-3 MPa. Through iterative calculation and parameter tuning, ensure that the material and energy balance of the entire process converges, thereby obtaining a stable and reliable simulation state, representing the feasible steady-state operating point of the industrial plant.

[0036] 4) Lifecycle Inventory Data Extraction: From the converged simulation reports, the system extracts data on all material consumption, product output, energy input, and waste emissions, with "producing 1 ton of phenol" as the functional unit. This high-confidence material and energy balance data will directly serve as the prospective data source for the lifecycle inventory of this emerging process.

[0037] S3. Life Cycle Modeling: Based on OpenLCA software and the Ecoinvent 3.11 background database, two process scenarios are modeled to achieve systematic integration of foreground and background data. The specific process is as follows: The pre-constructed life cycle lists of the two phenol preparation processes are imported into OpenLCA software. In the Ecoinvent 3.11 database, matching background data streams are selected for energy and material inputs based on the actual conditions of each process, achieving systematic integration of foreground and background data. Foreground data refers to process and operational data directly related to the process system, such as electricity, steam, and material consumption data for each process. Background data refers to the related data in the Ecoinvent standard database used to calculate energy and material production processes, especially background data for the tail gas purification process of industrial waste nitrous oxide, to accurately reflect its carbon footprint characteristics in utilizing industrial waste.

[0038] S4. Carbon Footprint Quantification and Comparison: The CML-2001 evaluation method was used to quantify the carbon footprint of producing 1 ton of phenol under two different process scenarios, and a cross-sectional comparison was conducted. The specific process is as follows: The carbon footprint assessment of the two phenol preparation processes first involves analyzing inventory data to collect energy and material consumption data for each process scenario. Then, emission factors are determined. The formula for calculating the carbon footprint of the phenol preparation process is as follows: ; Among them, CF i D represents the total carbon footprint generated by a specific phenol preparation process scenario; i Represents the input data for the i-th type of energy or resource; F i Let represent the emission factor of the i-th type of energy or resource; i represents the various resources and energy inputs in this scenario; n represents the total quantity of the types of resources and energy inputs.

[0039] S5. Results Analysis and Optimization Recommendations: Analyze the carbon emission results, identify key emission processes and material flows based on their contribution, and propose process optimization recommendations.

[0040] The contribution analysis aims to determine the percentage contribution of each activity (or process) to the total carbon footprint. For the i-th activity, the contribution calculation formula is: .

[0041] The specific process involves: comparing and analyzing the carbon footprint lifecycle assessment results of the two phenol preparation processes, evaluating the differences in carbon footprint between the cumene process and the nitrous oxide-to-benzene process, identifying the key influencing factors of carbon footprint in each process; focusing on analyzing the carbon emission reduction benefits of utilizing industrial waste in the nitrous oxide-to-benzene process, and, in conjunction with the current status of the chemical industry, proposing targeted process optimization suggestions to provide a decision-making basis for the selection of low-carbon process routes for phenol production and promote the carbon emission reduction process in the chemical industry.

[0042] The results of the two phenol preparation processes, assessed using the CML 2001 evaluation method on the Global Warming Potential (GWP) index, are as follows: Figure 3 As shown, the carbon emission structures and root causes of the two phenol production processes differ fundamentally. Carbon footprint analysis of the two processes reveals these fundamental differences. The nitrous oxide-to-benzene process exhibits a significant carbon footprint advantage, with a substantial reduction in total carbon footprint compared to the traditional cumene process. This stems from two main factors: firstly, its innovative raw material strategy, utilizing industrial waste nitrous oxide to keep the carbon footprint contribution from raw material acquisition at an extremely low level (approximately 3.2%); secondly, as a co-production process, the total carbon footprint of the cumene process needs to be allocated between phenol and acetone products using a mass allocation method, meaning that the carbon footprint allocated to each unit of phenol product ultimately includes some inherent emissions from the co-production process. Under this accounting framework, the carbon emission structures of the two processes are quite different: the carbon footprint of the cumene process is driven by feedstock and co-production, with the three major units of propylene acquisition, benzene acquisition, and phenol and acetone making balanced and prominent contributions (each accounting for about 30%); while the nitrous oxide-benzene oxidation process, as a single-product process, has a carbon footprint driven by energy consumption, with emissions highly concentrated in the benzene acquisition unit (contributing about 64.0%).

[0043] In summary, the nitrous oxide-to-benzene process, through innovation in the feedstock route, successfully shifts the main challenge to carbon emissions from upstream feedstock production, which is difficult to change in the short term, to local process energy consumption, which can be optimized through technological upgrades. Therefore, further deep emission reduction efforts for this process should focus on developing highly active catalysts to mitigate reaction conditions and enhancing the energy integration and efficiency of the oxidation unit.

[0044] This embodiment quantifies the lifecycle carbon footprint of two phenol preparation processes. Based on industrial operation data of the cumene process and Aspen Plus process simulation data of the nitrous oxide-benzene process, it identifies key unit processes and material flows that affect the carbon footprint. Based on this, it proposes targeted suggestions for carbon emission reduction improvements in the phenol production process, which helps to promote the selection and application of green process routes and provides scientific basis and data support for improving the environmental sustainability of the chemical industry.

[0045] In addition, this embodiment also proposes a system for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of the phenol preparation process using the above method, comprising: The system boundary definition module is used to set the system boundary between the research objective and the life cycle carbon footprint. The inventory building module is used to construct lifecycle inventories for two phenol preparation process scenarios. For the cumene process, industrial operation data is imported; for the nitrous oxide-benzene oxide process, process simulation software is called to obtain material and energy balance data at the industrial scale. The model integration module is used to match and integrate the prospective data output by the inventory construction module with the environmental data in the background database based on the life cycle assessment software and the background database to establish a computable life cycle assessment model. The carbon footprint quantification and comparison module is used to calculate the carbon footprint of producing 1 ton of phenol under two different process scenarios using the CML-2001 evaluation method, and generate cross-sectional comparison results. The analysis and optimization suggestion module is used to analyze carbon emission results, identify key emission processes and material flows based on their contribution, and propose process optimization suggestions.

[0046] The above embodiments are only used to explain the concept of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the protection of the present invention. Any non-substantial modifications made to the present invention using this concept should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for assessing the lifecycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1. Define the research objectives and the boundaries of the life cycle carbon footprint system; S2. Construct the lifecycle inventory: For the cumene process, industrial operating data is used; For the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process, process simulation software was used to obtain material and energy balance data at the industrial scale in order to construct lifecycle inventory for two process scenarios. S3. Lifecycle Modeling: Based on lifecycle assessment software and background database, two process scenarios are modeled to achieve systematic integration of prospective and background data; S4. Carbon footprint quantification and comparison: The CML-2001 evaluation method was used to quantify the carbon footprint of producing a set amount of phenol under two process scenarios and to conduct a cross-sectional comparison. S5. Results Analysis and Optimization Recommendations: Analyze the carbon emission results, identify key emission processes and material flows based on their contribution, and propose process optimization recommendations.

2. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S1: The purpose of this study is to use a life cycle model to analyze the carbon emissions resulting from energy and material inputs in phenol production process scenarios. The phenol production processes include the cumene process and the nitrous oxide-benzene process. The functional unit is defined as the production of 1 ton of phenol. The source of nitrous oxide is nitrous oxide from the tail gas of the adipic acid industry. The lifecycle carbon footprint system boundary includes all lifecycle stages from raw material acquisition to phenol product production.

3. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 2, characterized in that, For the nitrous oxide to benzene oxidation process, its system boundary carbon footprint is determined by the following model: ； in This represents the carbon footprint of the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process over its entire lifecycle. This indicates the carbon footprint of the production and transportation process of the raw material benzene; This indicates the carbon footprint of the process of recovering, purifying, and transporting nitrous oxide from the tail gas of the dicarboxylic acid industry. Indicates the carbon footprint of the benzene direct oxidation reaction section; Indicates the carbon footprint of the product refining and raw material recycling process; For the cumene process, the system boundary and allocation model are as follows: ； ； in This represents the total carbon footprint of the cumene production system; The carbon footprint of the propylene acquisition unit includes the production and transportation of propylene. The carbon footprint of the cumene synthesis unit, including the entire process of the alkylation reaction of benzene with propylene to produce cumene; The carbon footprint of a methanol-to-hydrogen unit includes the methanol steam reforming process for hydrogen production and related energy consumption; The carbon footprint of the phenol-acetone unit includes processes such as cumene oxidation, CHP decomposition, and product separation and purification. This represents the carbon footprint allocated to 1 ton of phenol product. Indicates the quality of phenol products; This indicates the quality of the acetone product.

4. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S2, the process simulation software is Aspen Plus, and the process simulation includes the following steps: Establish a steady-state process model and select the NRTL-RK property method; Modeling of the reactor and separation unit based on experimental data; Set process parameters and ensure convergence of the entire process through iterative calculations; Complete material and energy balance data of phenol from the production unit were extracted as foreground data.

5. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S2, the data for both processes are standardized using the production of 1 ton of phenol as the functional unit, and the same background database and emission factor source are used.

6. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S3, the modeling is based on the OpenLCA lifecycle assessment software and the Ecoinvent 3.11 background database. The specific process is as follows: The lifecycle lists of the two phenol preparation processes that have been constructed are imported into the OpenLCA software. Based on the actual situation of each process, the matching background data streams for energy and material inputs are selected in the ecoinvent 3.11 database to achieve the systematic integration of prospective data and background data. Prospective data refers to the process and operation data directly related to the process system, while background data refers to the related data in the ecoinvent standard database used to calculate the energy and material production process.

7. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 6, characterized in that, In step S3, for the nitrous oxide to benzene oxide process, the background data stream of the adipic acid production tail gas purification process is selected.

8. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The calculation formula for the CML-2001 method is as follows: ； In the formula, CF i D represents the total carbon footprint generated by a specific phenol preparation process; i Represents the input data for the i-th type of energy or resource; F i Let represent the emission factor of the i-th type of energy or resource; i represents the various resources and energy inputs in this scenario; n represents the total quantity of the types of resources and energy inputs.

9. The method for evaluating the life cycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The contribution percentage aims to determine the percentage contribution of each activity to the total carbon footprint. For the i-th activity, the contribution percentage is calculated as follows: 。 10. A system for evaluating the lifecycle carbon footprint of a phenol preparation process based on the method of any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, include: The system boundary definition module is used to set the system boundary between the research objective and the life cycle carbon footprint. The inventory building module is used to construct lifecycle inventories for two phenol preparation process scenarios. For the cumene process, industrial operation data is imported; for the nitrous oxide-benzene oxide process, process simulation software is called to obtain material and energy balance data at the industrial scale. The model integration module is used to match and integrate the prospective data output by the inventory construction module with the environmental data in the background database based on the life cycle assessment software and the background database to establish a computable life cycle assessment model. The carbon footprint quantification and comparison module is used to calculate the carbon footprint generated by producing a set amount of phenol under two process scenarios using the CML-2001 evaluation method, and generate cross-sectional comparison results. The analysis and optimization suggestion module is used to analyze carbon emission results, identify key emission processes and material flows based on their contribution, and propose process optimization suggestions.

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