Environmental Attributes for Unsaturated Compounds

Abstract

Disclosed are systems for producing unsaturated compounds associated with digital assets, methods for producing unsaturated compounds associated with digital assets, apparatus for generating digital assets, computer-implemented methods for generating chemical passports, computer program elements for generating digital assets, uses of unsaturated compounds associated with digital assets, uses of digital assets, products produced from unsaturated compounds and associated with digital assets, digital assets including data relating to one or more decentralized identifiers and environmental impact data, apparatus for producing products associated with digital assets, and methods for producing products associated with digital assets.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a system for producing unsaturated chemical compounds (hereinafter "unsaturated compounds") associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, a method for producing an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, an apparatus for generating a passport or digital asset associated with an unsaturated compound, a computer implemented method for generating an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, a computer program element for generating an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, uses of an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, uses of an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, a product produced from an unsaturated compound and associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset including data relating to an unsaturated compound, one or more decentralized identifiers and environmental impact data, an apparatus for producing a product associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, and a method for producing a product associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset. [Background technology]

[0002] In the supply chain, the environmental impact of each supply chain participant is crucial. Particularly in the chemical sector, unsaturated compounds are used in a wide range of applications and feed into diverse value chains. Unsaturated compounds are used in particular as monomers that undergo polymerization reactions. In such a complex system, transparency between value chain participants is difficult to achieve. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] In one aspect, disclosed is a system for producing an unsaturated compound passport or unsaturated compound associated digital asset, comprising: a chemical production network configured to produce unsaturated compounds, the unsaturated compounds being produced from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes of the chemical production network, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes; -below, providing a dispersion identifier associated with the produced unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes of the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes; and A manufacturing and operations device configured to generate a CO compound passport or digital asset by linking the distributed identifier and the environmental attributes; - optionally a chemical manufacturing network or system configured to provide manufactured unsaturated compounds in association with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset.

[0004] In another aspect, disclosed is a system for producing an unsaturated compound passport or an unsaturated compound associated digital asset, comprising: a chemical production network configured to produce unsaturated compounds from one or more input materials through chemical processes, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes; - A system comprising: a manufacturing operations device configured to generate an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset by providing and / or linking a distributed identifier associated with an unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes associated with one or more input materials and / or chemical processes.

[0005] In another aspect, disclosed is a method for producing an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, comprising: - producing unsaturated compounds from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes are associated with environmental attributes; -below, providing a dispersion identifier associated with the unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes associated with one or more input materials and / or one or more chemical processes; and generating an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset by linking the decentralized identifier with one or more environmental attributes; - providing the produced unsaturated compound in association with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset.

[0006] In another aspect, disclosed is a method for producing an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, comprising: - producing unsaturated compounds from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes are associated with environmental attributes; - generating an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset by providing and / or linking a decentralized identifier associated with the unsaturated compound with one or more input materials and / or one or more environmental attributes of the chemical process.

[0007] In another aspect, what is disclosed is an apparatus for generating a passport or digital asset related to an unsaturated compound, the unsaturated compound being produced from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes in a chemical manufacturing network, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes; a distributed identity provider configured to provide a distributed identifier associated with the produced unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes of one or more input materials and / or one or more chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound; an assigner for configuring a distributed identifier and environmental attributes; - A device comprising: a passport provider configured to provide an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset to a distributed network in association with a manufactured unsaturated compound, wherein environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound are made accessible to consumers of the unsaturated compound through the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset.

[0008] In another aspect, disclosed is a method, e.g., a computer-implemented method, for generating an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset associated with an unsaturated compound, the unsaturated compound being produced from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes in a chemical manufacturing network, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes; - providing a dispersion identifier associated with the produced unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes of one or more input materials and / or one or more chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound; - linking a decentralized identifier with environmental attributes; - providing an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset to a distributed network in association with the produced unsaturated compound, wherein environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound are made accessible to users of the unsaturated compound through the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset.

[0009] In another aspect, what is disclosed is a computer element, such as a computer readable storage medium, a computer program, or a computer program product, comprising instructions that, when executed by a computing node or a computing system, direct the computing node or the computing system to perform steps of the computer-implemented methods disclosed herein.

[0010] In another aspect, what is disclosed is a computer element, such as a computer readable storage medium, a computer program, or a computer program product, comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus disclosed herein, direct the apparatus to perform the steps that the apparatus disclosed herein is configured to perform.

[0011] In another aspect, what is disclosed is an unsaturated compound passport or an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset as produced according to the methods disclosed herein.In another aspect, what is disclosed is an unsaturated compound passport or an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset as produced according to the systems disclosed herein.

[0012] In another aspect, what is disclosed is an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset, where the unsaturated compound is produced from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes in a chemical manufacturing network, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes, and the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset includes a distributed identifier associated with the produced unsaturated compound and a link to environmental attributes associated with the one or more environmental attributes of the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound.

[0013] In another aspect, what is disclosed is an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset as generated according to the methods disclosed herein. In another aspect, what is disclosed is an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset as generated according to the apparatus disclosed herein.

[0014] In another aspect, disclosed is a manufacturing system for producing a product from an unsaturated compound passport or an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset as provided in accordance with the systems, devices, or methods disclosed herein. In another aspect, disclosed is a manufacturing method for producing a product from an unsaturated compound passport or an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset as provided in accordance with the systems, devices, or methods disclosed herein.

[0015] In another aspect, disclosed is the use of an unsaturated compound passport or an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset disclosed herein to produce a product from the unsaturated compound passport or the unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset.

[0016] In another aspect, disclosed is the use of an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset as disclosed herein to generate a product passport or digital asset associated with a product made from an unsaturated compound associated with the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset. In another aspect, disclosed is a method for using a digital asset generated according to the methods disclosed herein in the manufacture of a product made from an unsaturated compound associated with the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset.

[0017] In another aspect, what is disclosed is an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset that includes a decentralized identifier that is associated with the unsaturated compound and linked to one or more environmental attributes of one or more input materials and / or one or more chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound.

[0018] In another aspect, disclosed is the use of an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset to produce a product from the unsaturated compound and associate the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset with a product produced from the unsaturated compound. In another aspect, disclosed is the use of an unsaturated compound associated with an unsaturated compound passport or digital asset to produce a product from the unsaturated compound and derive a product passport or digital asset from the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset. In another aspect, disclosed is a method for using an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset to produce a product from an unsaturated compound and derive a digital asset associated with the product from the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset as disclosed herein.

[0019] Any disclosures and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, systems, chemical products, unsaturated compounds, unsaturated compound passports or digital assets, and computer elements outlined above and below. Advantageously, benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples apply to all other embodiments and examples as well.

[0020] Embodiment In the following, the embodiments of the present disclosure are outlined by means of embodiments and / or examples. It goes without saying that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and / or examples.

[0021] Identifying and generating include initiating or causing the identifying or generating. Providing includes "initiating or causing the accessing, identifying, generating, transmitting, or receiving." "Initiating or causing the performance of an action" includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node to perform the respective action.

[0022] The methods, systems, unsaturated compounds, unsaturated compound passports or digital assets, and computer elements disclosed herein provide an efficient, secure, and robust way to share or exchange environmental impact data across different participant nodes in the value chain. In particular, by providing unsaturated compound specific data via the unsaturated compound passports or digital assets, environmental impacts can be shared and made transparent from the unsaturated compound to the products produced from such unsaturated compounds. The unsaturated compound passports or digital assets enable secure data exchange, since data access can be controlled by the unsaturated compound provider, e.g., the entity providing the unsaturated compound. The exchanged data assets are specific to the unsaturated compound as produced and can be tailored to the needs of the consumer of the unsaturated compound. In this way, improved tracking and tracing of unsaturated compounds can be achieved by providing environmental impact data securely in a diverse and highly complex value chain. The environmental impact of the unsaturated compound can thus be tracked, leading to easier, more efficient, and sustainable handling of the unsaturated compound by the value chain participants.

[0023] Unsaturated Compounds The unsaturated compounds associated with the passport or digital asset may have at least one carbon-carbon double bond and / or at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. Unsaturated compounds having at least one carbon-carbon double bond are preferred.

[0024] Unsaturated Compound The unsaturated compound associated with the passport or digital asset may be selected from organic compounds having 1 to 4, preferably 1 to 3, carbon-carbon double bonds. It can be an aliphatic, alicyclic, or aromatic compound.

[0025] Mixtures of unsaturated compounds are also possible.

[0026] In the context of the present invention, the terms "aliphatic" and "alicyclic" refer to any organic compound that is not aromatic. It is not limited to hydrocarbons and may contain a variety of functional groups. Similarly, aromatic compounds are not limited to hydrocarbons.

[0027] Preferably, the organic compound consists of carbon and hydrogen atoms, and optionally oxygen and / or nitrogen atoms, but does not contain any further types of atoms (apart from these four types of atoms).

[0028] Preferably, the unsaturated compound has from 3 to 50, more preferably from 4 to 20 carbon atoms.

[0029] In a preferred embodiment, the unsaturated compound may be selected from organic compounds having 1 to 3 vinyl groups.

[0030] Preferred organic compounds with one vinyl group may, for example, be selected from the following list: 1-vinylimidazole, cyclohexyl vinyl ether, ethyl vinyl ether, hydroxybutyl vinyl ether, vinyl caprolactam, vinyl methyl oxazolidinone, 5-methyl-3-vinyl oxazolidinone, octadecyl vinyl ether, tert-butyl vinyl ether, aminopropyl vinyl ether, dodecyl vinyl ether, N-vinyl-N-methylacetamide, isobutyl vinyl ether, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and dimethyl vinyl carbinol, cyclohexane dimethanol monovinyl ether.

[0031] Preferred organic compounds having two vinyl groups may, for example, be selected from the following list: 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol divinyl ether, diethylene glycol divinyl ether, triethylene glycol divinyl ether, butanediol divinyl ether, 1,3-divinylimidazolidin-2-one.

[0032] A preferred organic compound having three vinyl groups is trivinylcyclohexane.

[0033] In another preferred embodiment, the unsaturated compound may be selected from linear, branched, or cyclic alkenes, dienes, and trienes having 4 to 20, preferably 6 to 14, more preferably 8 to 14 carbon atoms. Cyclic trienes having 8 to 14 carbon atoms are particularly preferred. Among the cyclic trienes, 1,5,9-cyclododecatriene is particularly preferred.

[0034] In another preferred embodiment, the unsaturated compound may be selected from pyran and 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran, with 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran being preferred.

[0035] In another preferred embodiment, the unsaturated compound may be ethynylcyclohexane.

[0036] A chemical manufacturing network may include one or more chemical and / or mechanical processes. A chemical manufacturing network may produce one or more output materials through chemical and / or mechanical processing. A chemical manufacturing network may include multiple types of manufacturing processes for producing one or more output materials from one or more input materials. A chemical manufacturing network may produce one or more output materials from input materials provided to the chemical manufacturing network. A chemical manufacturing network may include a complex manufacturing network that produces multiple chemical products through multiple manufacturing processes. A chemical manufacturing network may include connected, interconnected, and / or unconnected manufacturing processes. A chemical manufacturing network may include a complex or Verbund network.

[0037] The chemical production network may include identity-preserving or segregated production processes. Identity-preserving or segregating in this context may refer to the environmental attributes of the input materials being preserved or segregated in the production process. An example is a non-fossil, e.g., renewable or recycled, input material used to produce one or more unsaturated compounds that do not contain fossil content. A further example is a fossil input material used to produce one or more unsaturated compounds with fossil content. The chemical production network may include non-identity-preserving or non-segregated production processes. Non-identity-preserving or non-segregated in this context may refer to a non-fossil input material being mixed with a fossil input material to produce an unsaturated compound. For example, fossil and renewable input materials may be mixed to produce an unsaturated compound with fossil and renewable content.

[0038] A chemical manufacturing network may include one or more manufacturing processes with multiple manufacturing steps. The manufacturing steps included in the chemical network may be defined by the physical system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network. The system boundary may be defined by the location and / or control of the manufacturing process or step. The system boundary may be defined by the site of the chemical manufacturing network. The system boundary may be defined by the manufacturing process or step that is jointly controlled by one entity or by multiple entities. The system boundary may be defined by a value chain with staggered manufacturing processes or steps to a chemical end product that may be jointly or separately controlled by multiple entities. The chemical manufacturing network may include waste collection and sorting steps, recycling steps such as pyrolysis, cracking steps such as steam cracking, separation steps that separate intermediates of one process step, and further processing steps that convert such intermediates into output materials that leave the system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network, in particular the unsaturated compounds that are produced. Input materials may enter the physical system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network. An entry point of the chemical manufacturing network may be indicated by the input of the input materials into the system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network or chemical network. The output material, particularly the produced unsaturated compound, may leave the physical system boundary of the chemical production network. An exit point of the chemical production network may be indicated by the exit of the output material, particularly the produced unsaturated compound, from the system boundary of the chemical production network or chemical network.

[0039] The chemical production network may include one or more production chains for the production of unsaturated compounds. The production chains for the production of unsaturated compounds may be interconnected. The production chains for the production of unsaturated compounds may be interconnected with production chains for the production of other output materials. The production chains for the production of unsaturated compounds may include production chains for the production of intermediates used to produce unsaturated compounds. The production chains for the production of unsaturated compounds may use input materials provided by the chemical network for the production of intermediates usable to produce unsaturated compounds.

[0040] One or more input materials may be provided to the chemical manufacturing network to produce one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds. Output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds, may be produced from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes of the chemical manufacturing network. The input materials may include any input materials that enter the chemical manufacturing network at any entry point. The input materials may include organic or inorganic input materials. The input materials may be precursor products, intermediate materials, feedstocks, or raw materials used to produce one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds. The input materials may be provided to the chemical manufacturing network to produce one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds. The input materials may be provided to the chemical manufacturing network including one or more manufacturing processes having multiple process steps. The input materials may be provided to the chemical manufacturing network at the start of the manufacturing process or at any intermediate stage of the manufacturing process. The input materials that enter the chemical manufacturing network may be used to produce one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds.

[0041] An input may be associated with an input identifier. The input identifier may comprise any identifier uniquely associated with the input. The input identifier may be associated with a physical instance of the input. The input identifier may be associated with a single batch of the input. The input identifier may be associated with a group of the input. The identifier may be associated with multiple physical instances of the input. The input identifier may be associated with a continuous or semi-continuous stream of the input. The input identifier may be associated with a stream of the input, for example over a particular time period or from a particular supplier. The input identifier may be linked or connected to one or more environmental attributes.

[0042] Environmental attributes may refer to characteristics related to environmental impact. Such characteristics may be characteristics of input materials, chemical processes, chemical production networks, and / or unsaturated compounds. Environmental attributes may indicate the environmental performance of input materials, chemical processes, chemical production networks, and / or unsaturated compounds. Environmental attributes may be derived from characteristics of input materials, chemical processes, chemical production networks, and / or unsaturated compounds. Environmental attributes may be associated with the environmental impact of input materials, chemical processes, chemical production networks, and / or unsaturated compounds at any stage of the life cycle of the input materials and / or unsaturated compounds. The stages may include providing raw materials, providing feedstock, producing chemical products such as intermediate products or final products, producing individual products by using chemical products, using chemical products or individual products, processing used products, recycling used products, disposing of used products, reusing ingredients from any subset of used products or stages. Environmental attributes may be specified or derived from any activity of one or more entities participating in any stage of the life cycle of one or more materials or products.

[0043] The environmental attributes may include one or more properties attributable to the environmental impact of the input materials, the chemical process, the chemical production network, and / or the unsaturated compound. The environmental attributes may include environmental, technological, recyclability, or circularity properties associated with the environmental impact of the input materials, the chemical process, the chemical production network, and / or the unsaturated compound.

[0044] The environmental attributes may include one or more properties attributable to the environmental impact of the input materials, the chemical process, the chemical production network, and / or the unsaturated compound. The environmental attributes may include environmental, technological, recyclability, or circularity properties related to the environmental impact of the input materials, the chemical process, the chemical production network, and / or the unsaturated compound. The one or more environmental attributes may be attributable to the environmental impact of the unsaturated compound. The one or more environmental attributes may relate to the environmental, technological, recyclability, circularity, and / or complementary risk properties of the unsaturated compound.

[0045] The environmental characteristics may specify or quantify environmental criteria related to environmental impacts. The environmental characteristics may be measurements taken during the life cycle or may be derived therefrom. The environmental characteristics may be identified at any stage of the life cycle and may characterize the environmental impacts during or up to such stage. The environmental characteristics may include, for example, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, resource usage, air emissions, ozone depletion potential, water pollution, noise pollution, energy consumption, waste reduction, or eutrophication potential. The environmental characteristics may include, for example, product characteristics related to the manufacture of the product, such as bio-based, plant-based, animal-based, halogen-free, fluorine-free, vegan, halal, kosher, palm oil-free, natural, hazardous substances-free, volatile organic compounds-free, or any combination thereof.

[0046] A technical characteristic may specify or quantify performance that is at least indirectly related to an environmental impact. A technical characteristic may be or be derived from measurements taken during the life cycle. A technical characteristic may be identified at any stage of the life cycle and may characterize performance during or up to such stage. A technical characteristic may include, for example, chemical composition data, raw material composition such as bio-based or recycled input material content specifying x% non-fossil and y% fossil content, bill of materials, product purity, product form (as an indication of their impact on dust formation / emissions), product specification data such as safety data, product extractability, migration data, toxicological data, or ecotoxicological data, product ingredient data, safety data, application property data, application instructions, quality data, or any combination thereof.

[0047] A circularity characteristic may specify or quantify a life cycle characteristic related to circular use. A circularity characteristic may be or be derived from measurements taken during the life cycle. A circularity characteristic may be or be derived from circularity data recorded during one or more previous life cycles including reuse. A circularity characteristic may be identified at any stage of the life cycle and may characterize reuse or recycling performance during or up to such stage. A circularity characteristic may include, for example, recycling data, reuse rate, recycling percentage, recycling loop, reuse performance, reuse quality, or any combination thereof.

[0048] The recycling characteristics may identify or quantify life cycle characteristics related to recycling utilization. The recycling characteristics may include the composition of a material, including specially tailored components that make the material suitable for recycling. The recycling characteristics may be measurements taken during the life cycle or may be derived therefrom. The recycling characteristics may be recycling data recorded in one or more previous life cycles or may be derived therefrom. The recycling characteristics may be identified at any stage of the life cycle and may characterize the recycling performance during or up to such stage. The recycling characteristics may include, for example, recycling data, reuse numbers, recyclate composition, recyclate quality, waste stream composition, waste stream quality, or any combination thereof.

[0049] In one embodiment, the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset associated with the unsaturated compound may include mass-balanced environmental attributes for the inputs. The mass-balanced environmental attributes may include environmental attributes of the inputs used to produce the unsaturated compound that are tracked and attributable by mass to the unsaturated compound. The environmental impact of the inputs may be determined based on the inputs used in the chemical process that produces the unsaturated compound. For example, the bio-based, renewable, and / or recycled content of the inputs used to produce the unsaturated compound may be tracked. Further, for example, the castor oil or palm oil content of the inputs used to produce the unsaturated compound may be tracked. Further, characteristics related to the environmental impact of the inputs may be tracked, including, for example, RSPO palm oil, palm oil free, castor oil, or rapeseed oil. Further, for example, characteristics of the chemical process used to produce the unsaturated compound may be tracked. Examples of tracked process characteristics related to environmental impact include water consumption, CO2 and / or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, waste generation, mixed material generation, recycling design, energy consumption, less waste or less property loss, etc. Characteristics may be tracked based on certificates from certification bodies. Characteristics may be tracked based on intrinsic physical properties derived from measurements.

[0050] In one embodiment, the manufactured unsaturated compound is associated with a distributed identifier that physically identifies the manufactured unsaturated compound. The manufacturing operations device may be configured to provide a distributed identifier associated with a physical entity of the manufactured unsaturated compound. The manufacturing operations device may be configured to link the distributed identifier to a physical identifier of the manufactured unsaturated compound. The manufacturing operations device may be configured to assign the distributed identifier to a physical identifier associated with the manufactured unsaturated compound. The manufacturing operations device may be configured to assign the distributed identifier to a physical identifier physically associated with the manufactured unsaturated compound.

[0051] In one embodiment, the distribution identifier relates to data related to at least one product produced from the unsaturated compound, and the one or more environmental attributes related to the at least one product are derived from the one or more environmental attributes related to the unsaturated compound. The one or more environmental attributes related to the unsaturated compound may be associated with one or more input materials and / or chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound. The distribution identifier may relate to any identifier uniquely associated with the unsaturated compound. The distribution identifier may be associated with a physical entity of the unsaturated compound. The distribution identifier may refer to a single batch of the unsaturated compound. The distribution identifier may be associated with a group of unsaturated compounds. The identifier may refer to multiple physical entities of the unsaturated compound. The distribution identifier may be associated with a continuous or semi-continuous stream of the unsaturated compound. The identifier may refer to a stream of the unsaturated compound, for example, over a particular time period or from a particular supplier.

[0052] In one embodiment, the one or more environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compounds are provided from at least one balancing account configured to store environmental attributes associated with the input material. The balancing account may be associated with a storage structure associated with metadata such as an environmental attribute type. For example, the balancing account may be associated with metadata indicating that the environmental attribute type is recycled content or bio-based. The inbound allocator may be configured to assign the one or more environmental attributes associated with the input material to at least one balancing account, for example, upon input of the input material into the chemical manufacturing network. The balancing account may be associated with a respective environmental attribute type. The outbound assigner may be configured to assign at least one environmental attribute from the at least one balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute to a distributed identifier. The one or more environmental attributes may be assigned to the at least one distributed identifier. The assignment may include de-assigning the one or more environmental attributes from the balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute type. The balancing account may be used to reliably track and assign environmental attributes of the input material to the unsaturated compounds.

[0053] In one embodiment, the one or more environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compounds are provided from at least one balancing account configured to store environmental attributes associated with the input materials. The inbound allocator may be configured to, for example, allocate the one or more environmental attributes to at least one balancing account associated with the respective environmental attributes when the input materials enter the chemical manufacturing network. The balancing accounts may be associated with the respective environmental attribute types. The one or more environmental attributes associated with the input materials may be allocated to the balancing accounts associated with the respective environmental attribute types. The outbound assigner may be configured to assign or link the at least one environmental attribute from the at least one balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute to a distributed identifier. This may include de-allocating the one or more environmental attributes from the balancing accounts associated with the respective environmental attribute types. By using the balancing accounts, the environmental attributes may be tracked through the chemical manufacturing network. In this way, the environmental attributes may be decoupled from the material flows. Attribution of the environmental attributes may be performed based on a mass balance of the chemical manufacturing network. In such an approach, the total mass of the input materials and unsaturated compounds, as well as the attributes of the respective environmental attributes associated with the input materials and unsaturated compounds, are balanced.

[0054] In one embodiment, the one or more environmental attributes are associated with at least one characteristic related to the environmental impact of one or more input materials and / or chemical processes. The one or more environmental attributes may specify environmental characteristics of the input materials used to produce the unsaturated compound, and / or the one or more environmental attributes may specify environmental characteristics of the chemical process used to produce the unsaturated compound. The one or more environmental attributes may be generated from environmental characteristics of the input materials used to produce the unsaturated compound, process data associated with the chemical processing of the input materials, and / or energy data associated with the energy consumption of the chemical processing. The one or more environmental attributes may include a recycled content associated with the input material and assigned or assignable to the unsaturated compound, a renewable content associated with the input material and assigned or assignable to the unsaturated compound, and / or a product carbon footprint associated with the unsaturated compound.

[0055] In one embodiment, the manufacturing operations device is configured to collect environmental attributes related to the manufactured unsaturated compound before, during, and / or after the manufacturing of the unsaturated compound by the chemical manufacturing network. The environmental attributes related to the manufactured unsaturated compound may be related to the input material. The environmental attributes related to the input material may be provided before, during, and / or after the manufacturing of the unsaturated compound by the chemical manufacturing network. The environmental attributes related to the input material may be assigned to at least one balancing account before, during, and / or after the manufacturing of the unsaturated compound by the chemical manufacturing network. The environmental attributes related to the manufactured unsaturated compound may be related to environmental characteristics generated from process data related to chemical processing of the input material and / or energy data related to energy consumption of the chemical processing. The environmental attributes related to the manufactured unsaturated compound may be generated before, during, and / or after the manufacturing of the unsaturated compound by the chemical manufacturing network. The process data related to chemical processing of the input material and / or energy data related to energy consumption of the chemical processing may be collected before, during, and / or after the manufacturing of the unsaturated compound.

[0056] In one embodiment, the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset may include a distributed identifier associated with the unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes linked to the distributed identifier. The one or more environmental attributes may be linked to the distributed identifier included in the unsaturated compound passport or digital asset. The one or more environmental attributes may be associated with the unsaturated compound producer or stored in a database of the unsaturated compound producer for access by any consumer of the unsaturated compound. The one or more environmental attributes may be associated with the unsaturated compound producer or stored in a database of the unsaturated compound producer for transfer to the consumer of the unsaturated compound when accessed or when providing the unsaturated compound, for example. The distributed identifier may include any unique identifier that is uniquely associated with the unsaturated compound data, such as the unsaturated compound producer and the environmental attributes. The distributed identifier may include a universally unique identifier (UUID) or a digital identifier (DID). The distributed identifier may be issued by a central or distributed identity issuer. The distributed identifier may be linked to authentication and / or authorization information. Through the decentralized identifier and its unique association with unsaturated compound data, such as unsaturated compound producers and environmental attributes, access to the unsaturated compound data may be controlled by the unsaturated compound producers. This is in contrast to a central authority scheme where the identifiers are provided by, and access to the data is controlled by, such a central authority. Decentralized in this context refers to the use of identifiers in an implementation that is controlled by the data owners, such as unsaturated compound producers.

[0057] The distributed identifier may be uniquely associated with the unsaturated compound or the physical entity of the unsaturated compound, for example, as packaged for transport to a consumer of the unsaturated compound. The distributed identifier may be unique for one or more environmental attributes. The unsaturated compound passport or digital asset may include one or more digital representations pointing to the unsaturated compound data including the environmental attributes or a portion thereof including the environmental attributes. The digital representation may comprise at least one interface to a data providing service. It may further include at least one interface to a data consuming service. It may include an endpoint for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoint) or an endpoint for service interaction (service endpoint), uniquely identified via a communication protocol. The digital representation pointing to the unsaturated compound data or a portion thereof may be uniquely associated with the distributed identifier.

[0058] The unsaturated compound passport or digital asset may comprise or be connected to a digital representation of unsaturated compound data, such as environmental attributes. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing unsaturated compound data, such as environmental attributes or a portion thereof. The digital representation may include a representation of unsaturated compound data, such as environmental attributes. The unsaturated compound passport or digital asset may include or be connected to data relating to the unsaturated compound data, such as environmental attributes, authentication information, and a distributed identifier. The data relating to unsaturated compound data, such as environmental attributes, may include a digital representation of unsaturated compound data, such as environmental attributes.

[0059] In the following the present disclosure will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0060] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a simplified diagram of an embodiment of a chemical manufacturing network that produces one or more output materials from one or more input materials in association with a manufacturing operations system that includes an attribute management system. [Diagram 2]1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of attributing environmental attributes of input materials to output materials in a chemical manufacturing network. [Diagram 3] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of attributing environmental attributes of input materials and chemical processes to output materials of a chemical manufacturing network. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes related to produced materials to material users as data consumers over a distributed network. [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes of output materials across a value chain via a distributed network. [Figure 6] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a chemical manufacturing network for producing an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0061] FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a chemical manufacturing network 102 that produces one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated chemical compounds 104, from one or more input materials 100 in association with a manufacturing operations system 106 that includes an attribute management system.

[0062] Different input materials 100 may be provided as physical inputs to a chemical manufacturing network 102 to produce one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104. The physical input materials 100 and the output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, may be associated with one or more characteristics related to environmental impact. The characteristics related to environmental impact may be digitized in the form of environmental attributes, such as the recycled or bio-based content of the input materials. The manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to capture such environmental attributes and track the environmental attributes across the chemical manufacturing network 102 from the input materials 100 to the output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104.

[0063] The chemical production network 102 may include multiple interlocking processing steps. The chemical production network 102 may be an integrated chemical production network 102 with interrelated production chains. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple different production chains that have at least one intermediate product in common. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple stages of a chemical value chain. The chemical production network 102 may include gas or crude oil production, refining, processing, and / or purification. The chemical production network 102 may include a stream cracker or a syngas plant connected to multiple production chains that produce products 104 from the effluent of such a plant. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple production chains that produce products 104 from one or more input materials 100 to one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple layers of a chemical value chain. The chemical production network 102 may include a physically interconnected arrangement of production sites. The manufacturing sites may be at the same location or at different locations, in which case they may be interconnected by dedicated transportation systems such as pipelines, supply chain vehicles like trucks, supply chain ships, or other cargo transport vehicles.

[0064] The chemical production network 102 may chemically convert the input material 100 into one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104. The chemical production network 102 may convert the input material 100 into one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, by chemical conversion.

[0065] The input material 100 may be provided to the chemical production network 102 at any entry point. The input material 100 may be provided to the chemical production network 102 at the initiation of the chemical production network 102. The input material 100 may constitute, for example, a feedstock for a steam cracker. The input material 100 may include non-fossil input materials, such as bio-based or recycled materials, and / or fossil input materials for the production of chemical intermediates and chemical output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104.

[0066] The chemical manufacturing network 102 may include multiple manufacturing steps. The manufacturing steps included in the chemical manufacturing network 102 may be defined by the system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network 102. The system boundary may be defined by location or control over the manufacturing process. The system boundary may be defined by the sites of the chemical manufacturing network 102. The system boundary may be defined by manufacturing processes controlled jointly by one entity or multiple entities. The system boundary may be defined by a value chain with staggered manufacturing processes to a final product that may be controlled separately by multiple entities. The chemical manufacturing network 102 may include waste collection and sorting steps, recycling steps such as pyrolysis, cracking steps such as steam cracking, separation steps to separate intermediates of one process step, and further processing steps to convert such intermediates to output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, that leave the system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network 102.

[0067] The manufacturing operations system 106 of the chemical manufacturing network 102 may be configured to monitor and / or control the chemical manufacturing network 102 based on different process operating parameters. One process step that may be monitored and / or controlled may be the supply of input materials 100 or the release of output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104. Another process step that may be monitored and / or controlled may be the registration of environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100 entering the system boundary of the chemical manufacturing network 102. Yet another process step that may be monitored and / or controlled may be the attribution of environmental attributes to output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, produced through the chemical manufacturing network 102. Yet another process step that may be monitored and / or controlled may be the management of environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100 and output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, of the chemical manufacturing network 102.

[0068] The manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to register inbound environmental attributes and assign outbound environmental attributes. The manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to access data related to input materials 100, processes, and / or output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, used in the chemical manufacturing network 102. For example, the manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to register the recycled or bio-based content of one or more input materials 100 used in the chemical manufacturing network 102 as an environmental attribute. The manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to assign the environmental attribute to at least one balancing account related to the recycled or bio-based content of the input materials 100. The manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to assign at least a portion of the environmental attributes from the at least one balancing account to at least one output material, particularly unsaturated compounds 104.

[0069] The manufacturing operations system 102 may be configured to process environmental attributes related to the input materials 100 and output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, of the chemical manufacturing network 102. For example, the manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to identify environmental attributes related to the use of the input materials 100 and output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, produced by the chemical manufacturing network 102 that affect the environmental characteristics of the chemical manufacturing network 102. More specifically, the manufacturing operations system 102 may be configured to identify environmental attributes related to the output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104. In this manner, the manufacturing operations system 102 may be configured to store the environmental attributes in a balancing account or to withdraw the environmental attributes from a balancing account. The environmental attributes may thus be considered as credits that may be deposited in or withdrawn from accounts related to the input materials and output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds, of the chemical manufacturing network 102. In this manner, the environmental impact of the production may be tracked and / or traced.

[0070] In the chemical production network 102, multiple value chains may be linked. Additionally, different input materials 100 or chemical processes may be used that affect the environmental properties of the output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, produced by the chemical production network 102. Examples of input materials 100 that affect at least one environmental property of the output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, produced from such input materials 100 are recycled, renewable, or bio-based input materials 104. Examples of chemical processes that affect environmental properties include chemical processes that use environmentally friendly technologies such as carbon capture, carbon utilization, or heat pumps.

[0071] Due to the processing of chemicals in continuous or semi-continuous manufacturing and the complexity of the chemical manufacturing network 102, traceability of input materials through the network may be hindered. In such a scenario, equivalent environmental attributes representing the impact on the environmental properties of output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, produced by the chemical manufacturing network may be assigned to a balancing account and assigned to one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, of the chemical manufacturing network 102. The environmental attributes may thus be decoupled from the physical material flow within the chemical manufacturing network 102. The decoupling may be based on a mass balance model in that the equivalents assigned to one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds, may not exceed the equivalents provided by the input materials or processes. If an equivalent is assigned to a virtual account of one environmental attribute type, it may not be assigned a second time to another virtual account of that one environmental attribute type. The environmental attribute types may be recycled, bio-based, renewable, etc. The environmental attributes may be provided in the form of a digital asset or an unsaturated compound passport attached to the physical entity of the unsaturated compound.

[0072] FIG. 2 illustrates, in a simplified diagram, one embodiment of attributing environmental attributes associated with an input material 100 to an output material, specifically an unsaturated compound 104, of a chemical manufacturing network 102.

[0073] 1 , the chemical production network 102 and the operations of the chemical production network 102 may be monitored and / or controlled by a manufacturing operations system 106. The manufacturing operations system 106 may be configured to track environmental attributes from the input materials 100 provided to the chemical production network 102 to the output materials, particularly the unsaturated compounds 104, produced by the chemical production network 102. To do so, the operations system 106 may be configured to register environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100 provided to the chemical production network 102 and to attribute the environmental attributes to the output materials, particularly the unsaturated compounds 104, produced by the chemical production network 102.

[0074] An input material 100, such as pyrolysis oil, bio-naphtha, or biogas (particularly biomethane), may be provided to a chemical production network 102. The input material 100 may enter the chemical production network 104 at an entry point, such as a steam cracker or a syngas plant. The input material 100 may be used in the chemical production network 102 to produce one or more output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, from the input material 100, and the output materials, particularly unsaturated compounds 104, may be provided at an exit point of the chemical production network 102. Further output materials may be MDI, TDI, PA6, EPS, PC, polyols, caprolactam, adipic acid, HMD, polyamides.

[0075] When a material input 100 is input, material input data 108 may be provided to a computing interface of the manufacturing operations system 106 via a communications network. A data provider, such as a QR code reader, may be configured to provide material data 108 associated with one or more material inputs 100 and respective environmental attributes 108 to a computing interface configured to assign the environmental attributes associated with the material inputs 100. The material data 108 may include an input identifier and the environmental attributes associated with the material input 100. The input identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the material input 100 entering the chemical manufacturing network 102. The material data may be provided prior to or after the provision of one or more material inputs at an entry point to the chemical manufacturing network 102.

[0076] The input identifiers may be linked to environmental attributes associated with each input 100, the quantity of the input 100, and a certificate attesting to the environmental attributes. The quantity of the input may be a measured amount of the input 100 provided to a plant or reservoir of the chemical manufacturing network 102 for producing one or more output materials from the input 100, in particular the unsaturated compound 104. The input identifiers associated with each input 100, the environmental attributes associated with each input 100, and the quantity of the input 100 provided to the chemical manufacturing network 102 may be provided to the manufacturing operations system 106. Such data may be provided via a communications network upon entry into the chemical manufacturing network 102, or the data may be transferred from a computing system to the manufacturing operations system 106.

[0077] The inbound allocator 110 may be configured to assign one or more environmental attributes to at least one balancing account 112 associated with the respective environmental attributes. For example, one balancing account 112 may relate to environmental attributes from recycled materials and another balancing account 112 may relate to environmental attributes from bio-based materials. A balancing account may be associated with each environmental attribute type, such as bio-based or recycled. Based on such association, a balancing account associated with the environmental attribute type of each input material 100 may be selected. The environmental attributes may be assigned to the selected balancing account. For example, an account 112 for recycled materials may be selected and the environmental attributes may be assigned to such account 122.

[0078] For allocation, one or more environmental attributes may be converted into balancing units, and the balancing units may be assigned to a balancing account 122. The conversion may be based on a conversion factor, such as mass, weight, carbon atoms, hydrogen atoms, methane equivalents, or any other suitable measure for quantifying the environmental impact of the environmental attribute. The conversion factor may thus take into account the difference between producing a chemical product from conventional input materials and producing a chemical product from unconventional input materials, or producing a chemical product from a mixture of conventional and unconventional input materials. The conversion factor may relate to differences in the chemical and / or physical properties of the conventional and unconventional input materials.

[0079] The use of balancing accounts 112 can ensure that the environmental attributes of the input materials 100 are used only once for allocation to the unsaturated compounds 104. In this manner, double counting of inputs or outputs is avoided, ensuring that positive environmental impacts can be reliably tracked and allocated to the unsaturated compounds 104.

[0080] The identifier provider 116 may be configured to provide unsaturated compound identifiers associated with unsaturated compounds produced by the chemical production network 102 and provided at an exit point from the chemical production network 102 .

[0081] The outbound assigner 114 may be configured to assign at least one environmental attribute from at least one balancing account 112 associated with a respective environmental attribute to the unsaturated compound identifier ID2. One or more environmental attributes may be assigned to the at least one unsaturated compound identifier ID2. The assignment may include de-assigning one or more environmental attributes from the balancing account 112 associated with the respective environmental attribute type. The assignment may include converting one or more balancing units to one or more environmental attributes.

[0082] Assigning at least one environmental attribute associated with the input material to the unsaturated compound may include linking the unsaturated compound identifier ID2 with the environmental attribute. The unsaturated compound identifier ID2 may be associated with a physical entity of the unsaturated compound. In this way, the virtual identifier of the material may be uniquely linked to the physical material. Such a link may include a physical or virtual link of an identifier uniquely associated with the physical material. For a physical link, a tag or code may be physically connected to the material, for example by printing a QR code on the package. For a virtual link, different identifiers associated with the physical material may be linked. For example, an order number, a batch number, a lot number, or a combination thereof may be linked.

[0083] The outbound ascertainer 114 may be configured to provide environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound to a data consumer, such as a system associated with a user of the unsaturated compound. The outbound ascertainer 114 may be configured to provide environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound to a distributed network, as described in the example of Figure 4. The environmental attributes may be provided via the identity-based schema described above, in the form of a digital asset associated with the physical entity of the unsaturated compound or an unsaturated compound passport.

[0084] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of one embodiment of attributing environmental attributes and chemical processes of an input material 100 to an unsaturated compound 104 in a chemical production network 102 .

[0085] 1 and 2, the chemical production network 102 and the operation of the chemical production network 102 may be monitored and / or controlled by a production operations system 106. An input material 100, such as pyrolysis oil, bio-naphtha, or biogas (particularly biomethane), may be provided to the chemical production network 102. The input material 100 may be used in the chemical production network 102 to produce one or more unsaturated compounds 104 from the input material 100.

[0086] When the material inputs 100 are input, the material input data 108 may be provided to a computing interface of the manufacturing operations system 106 via a communication network. A data provider, such as a QR code reader, may be configured to provide the material data 108 associated with one or more material inputs 100 and their respective environmental attributes 108 to a computing interface configured to assign the environmental attributes associated with the material inputs 100. The material data 108 may include an input identifier and an environmental attribute associated with the material input 100. The input identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the material input 100 entering the chemical manufacturing network 102. The input identifier may be linked to the carbon footprint of the material input 100 as an environmental attribute. The material data may be provided prior to or after the provision of the one or more material inputs at the entry point to the chemical manufacturing network 102.

[0087] The inbound allocator 110 may be configured to retrieve one or more environmental attributes and provide such attributes to a carbon footprint (CF) generator 120. The process data provider 122 may be configured to collect process data related to the chemical processing of the input material 100 to produce the unsaturated compound 104. The process data provider 122 may be configured to collect energy data related to the energy consumption of the chemical processing. The process data provider 122 may be configured to provide the process data and the energy data to the CF generator 120.

[0088] The CF generator 120 may be configured to determine a carbon footprint of an unsaturated compound produced by the chemical production network. The carbon footprint of the unsaturated compound may be determined based on the process data, the energy data, and the carbon footprint of the input materials 100 used to produce the unsaturated compound.

[0089] The identifier provider 116 may be configured to provide unsaturated compound identifiers associated with unsaturated compounds produced by the chemical production network 102 and provided at an exit point from the chemical production network 102 .

[0090] The outbound assigner 114 may be configured to assign the determined carbon footprint to an unsaturated compound identifier ID2. One or more environmental attributes may be assigned to the at least one unsaturated compound identifier ID2, such as those described in the context of FIG.

[0091] The outbound ascertainer 114 may be configured to provide environmental attributes, particularly carbon footprints, associated with the unsaturated compound to data consumers, such as systems associated with users of the unsaturated compound. The outbound ascertainer 114 may be configured to provide environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound to a distributed network, as described in the example of Figure 4. The environmental attributes may be provided via the identity-based schema described above, in the form of a digital asset associated with the physical entity of the unsaturated compound or an unsaturated compound passport.

[0092] FIG. 4 illustrates, in a simplified diagram, one embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes related to unsaturated compounds to material users as data consumers via a distributed network.

[0093] The unsaturated compound 104 as produced by the chemical production network 102 may be provided in association with a digital asset, as described in the context of Figures 2 and 3. The digital asset may include an unsaturated compound identifier. The digital asset may include one or more environmental attributes, such as product carbon footprint, recycled content, or bio-based content. The digital asset may relate to one or more environmental attributes, such as product carbon footprint, recycled content, or bio-based content. The digital asset may include a digital representation of one or more environmental attributes, such as product carbon footprint, recycled content, or bio-based content.

[0094] The digital asset may further include or be associated with authentication and / or authorization information linked to the unsaturated compound identifier. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of the data providing service 208 and / or the data consuming service 210. The unsaturated compound identifier may include or be associated with a distributed identifier uniquely associated with the unsaturated compound. The distributed identifier may be connected to a digital representation of the environmental attribute. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the environmental attribute or a portion thereof. The distributed identifier may include a universally unique identifier (UUID) or a digital identifier (DID). The distributed identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with the data owner and / or the unsaturated compound. The data owner may be the manufacturer of the unsaturated compound. Through the distributed identifier and its unique association with the data owner and / or the unsaturated compound, access to the material constituent data may be controlled by the data owner.

[0095] Digital assets including a digital representation of one or more environmental attributes, such as product carbon footprint, recycled content, or bio-based content, may be stored in a distributed database 200. The one or more environmental attributes, such as product carbon footprint, recycled content, or bio-based content, may be stored in a database 202 associated with a data owner, such as a manufacturer of the unsaturated compound 104.

[0096] The unsaturated compound 104 may be physically delivered to a user of the unsaturated compound. The unsaturated compound may be associated with a QR code that encodes an unsaturated compound identifier. The user of the unsaturated compound may read the QR code through a QR code reader 206. The unsaturated compound identifier may be provided to a database 208 associated with the consumer of the unsaturated compound 104. In other embodiments, the consumer of the unsaturated compound may obtain the unsaturated compound identifier through the distributed database 200.

[0097] The data owner in this example may be an input material producer, an output material producer, an output material user, an end product manufacturer. The data owner may comprise any entity that generates data. The data generating node may be coupled to a data owner or an entity that owns or produces the physical product for which the data is generated. The data may be generated by a third party entity on behalf of the entity that owns the physical product for which the data is generated.

[0098] The data consuming service 210 may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data, such as unsaturated compound data, associated with a data owner. The data providing service 210 may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and / or processing data, such as unsaturated compound data, associated with a data owner for access and / or processing by the data consuming service 214.

[0099] Based on the received unsaturated compound identifier, a request to access environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound identifier may be triggered by a data consuming service 210, as indicated by arrow 212. The unsaturated compound identifier may be provided to a data providing service 214 associated with or associated with the manufacturer of the unsaturated compound 104. Additionally, authentication and / or authorization information may be provided.

[0100] The request may be authenticated and / or authorized to access the environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound identifier. Based on successful authorization and / or authentication, access to the environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound identifier may be granted.

[0101] For access, the unsaturated compound identifiers may be provided to a data providing service 214, as indicated by arrow 212. The data providing service 214 may use the received unsaturated compound identifiers to obtain environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound 104, as indicated by arrows 218 and 220. The environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound 104 provided to the data providing service 214 may be provided to a data consuming service 210, as indicated by arrow 216. The environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound 104 may be stored in a database 208 associated with a user of the unsaturated compound 104, as indicated by arrow 220.

[0102] Environmental attributes can be uniquely associated with the unsaturated compound via an output identifier or a distributed identifier. Through the distributed network, environmental attributes may be transferred between producers of the unsaturated compound and users of the unsaturated compound. In this way, environmental attributes, along with their unique association to the unsaturated compound, can be shared directly between value chain players without a central intermediary. This allows transparency of environmental attributes across the value chain, and positive environmental impacts from unsaturated compounds produced by the chemical production network 102 can be tracked through the value chain.

[0103] FIG. 5 illustrates, in a simplified diagram, one embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes related to unsaturated compounds across a value chain via a distributed network.

[0104] In the example of Figure 5, a fully connected value chain including a chemical manufacturing network is shown. In the example, input material providers, unsaturated compound producers, unsaturated compound users, and end product manufacturers may be connected in a distributed network as described in the context of Figure 4. Environmental attributes may be provided via the identity-based schema described in the context of Figures 2-4 in the form of digital assets or unsaturated compound passports associated with the physical entities of the input materials, unsaturated compounds, any intermediate products, or end products.

[0105] An input material provider may provide an input material, such as biogas or pyrolysis oil. The environmental attributes of the input material may be provided through a data providing service connected to the distributed network, as described in the context of FIG. 4. An unsaturated compound producer may produce an unsaturated compound from an input material provided to a chemical production network. The unsaturated compound producer may access the environmental attributes related to the input material through a data consuming service connected to the distributed network, as described in the context of FIG. 4. The unsaturated compound producer may manage the environmental attributes through a manufacturing operations system, as described in the context of FIG. 1-3. The unsaturated compound producer may assign environmental attributes related to the input material or environmental attributes related to the chemical production network, such as a carbon footprint, to the unsaturated compound, as described in the context of FIG. 1-3. The unsaturated compound producer may provide the environmental attributes related to the unsaturated compound through a data providing service connected to the distributed network, as described in the context of FIG. 4. An unsaturated compound user or an end product producer may access the environmental attributes related to the unsaturated compound through a data consuming service connected to the distributed network, as described in the context of FIG. 4.

[0106] Respective data owners in this embodiment may be an input material producer, an output material producer, an output material user, an end product manufacturer. A data owner may comprise any entity that generates data. A data generating node may be coupled to a data owner or an entity that owns or produces the physical product for which the data is generated. Data may be generated by a third party entity on behalf of the entity that owns the physical product for which the data is generated.

[0107] A data consumption service may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data, such as unsaturated compound data, associated with a data owner. A data provisioning service may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and / or processing data, such as unsaturated compound data, associated with a data owner for access and / or processing by a data consumption service.

[0108] In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a decentralized identifier may relate to an end product. Such a decentralized identifier may be provided to value chain participants. Through the end product specific decentralized identifier, data related to the end product produced from the unsaturated compound may be collected across the production chain and assigned to the end product specific decentralized identifier. For example, one or more environmental attributes related to the end product may be derived from environmental attributes related to the unsaturated compound, the input materials, or any other product entities present in the value chain of the end product.

[0109] In this way, the environmental attributes of the input materials, the unsaturated compounds, and any products made from the unsaturated compounds may be tracked through the value chain to the final product. By tracking the environmental attributes of the materials in such a way, the information can be made transparent across the value chain while the flow of information can be controlled by the supply chain participants. In addition, the environmental attributes can be processed according to the needs of the individual participants by the manufacturing operations system as described in the context of Figures 1-3. Overall, such tracking allows for the tracking of positive environmental impacts by individual supply chain participants, which makes the positive environmental impacts transparent and attributable to the individual supply chain participants.

[0110] Figure 6 illustrates, in a simplified diagram, one embodiment of a chemical manufacturing network for producing diethylene glycol divinyl ether associated with a digital asset. The embodiment of Figure 6 is illustrative and should not be considered limiting.

[0111] In the embodiment of Figure 6, biomethane and natural gas (fossil methane) may be provided to a chemical production network to produce diethylene glycol divinyl ether, as an example. Biomethane and natural gas may be input materials as mixed feedstocks in this embodiment. From biomethane and natural gas, ethyne and other intermediate materials may be produced. From ethyne and diethylene glycol, diethylene glycol divinyl ether and other products such as intermediate materials or output materials may be produced.

[0112] In the embodiment of Figure 6, the biomethane biosourced content as a non-fossil input material may be tracked. As described in the context of Figure 2, the biomethane biosourced content at the beginning of the diethylene glycol divinyl ether production chain may be registered via the production operations system 106. Here, the biomethane biosourced content may be allocated to a balancing account 112 for biosourced content. The environmental attributes of the biomethane biosourced content are thus decoupled from the mass flows of chemical processes in the chemical production network 102, as shown in Figure 6.

[0113] A bio-based content may be specified for the bio-based content attribute of the biomethane used to produce diethylene glycol divinyl ether. The bio-content attributable to diethylene glycol divinyl ether production may be based on the mass conservation attributable to the diethylene glycol divinyl ether produced. For example, only half of the bio-based content may be attributable to diethylene glycol divinyl ether and the other half may be attributable to other output products resulting from the biomethane as an input. The bio-based content of the environmental attribute may be attributable to diethylene glycol divinyl ether in such a range.

[0114] In the system shown in FIG. 2, environmental attributes related to the production of diethylene glycol divinyl ether may be attributed to the produced diethylene glycol divinyl ether by associating a decentralized ID with the diethylene glycol divinyl ether and assigning the environmental attributes to the decentralized ID. By linking the ID and the environmental attributes, the environmental attributes may be uniquely linked to the produced diethylene glycol divinyl ether. The diethylene glycol divinyl ether may be delivered to a user of the diethylene glycol divinyl ether. Packaging, such as a container, having the diethylene glycol divinyl ether may include a QR code. The decentralized ID may be included or encoded in the QR code. In this way, a user of the diethylene glycol divinyl ether may access the environmental attributes related to the diethylene glycol divinyl ether via the ID-based protocol described in the context of FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0115] Similar to this example, a chemical manufacturing network for producing diethylene glycol divinyl ether associated with a digital asset may be based on the methodology shown in FIG. 3 for carbon footprinting.

[0116] Although the disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples, other variations can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the claims.

[0117] Any steps presented herein may be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a particular order of these steps. It is also not required that different steps are performed at a particular location or at a particular node of a distributed system, i.e., each of the steps may be performed at a different computing node using different equipment / data processing.

[0118] As used herein, "identifying" also includes "initiating identifying or causing to be identified," "generating" also includes "initiating generating and / or causing to be generated," and "providing" also includes "initiating identifying, generating, selecting, transmitting, and / or receiving or causing to be identified, generating, selecting, transmitting, and / or receiving." "Initiating or causing to be performed an action" includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

[0119] In the claims as well as in this specification, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite articles "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.

[0120] Any disclosures and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, systems, devices, computer program elements outlined above, and vice versa. Advantageously, benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples apply to all other embodiments and examples as well, and vice versa.

[0121] All terms and definitions used herein are broadly understood and have their ordinary meaning.

Claims

1. 1. A system for producing unsaturated chemical compounds (unsaturated compounds) related to digital assets, comprising: a chemical manufacturing network configured to manufacture the unsaturated compound, the unsaturated compound being manufactured from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes of the chemical manufacturing network, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes; -below, a manufacturing operations device configured to generate the digital asset by providing a decentralized identifier associated with the manufactured unsaturated compound and linking the decentralized identifier to the environmental attribute; system.

2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the unsaturated compound associated with the digital asset is selected from 1-vinylimidazole, cyclohexyl vinyl ether, ethyl vinyl ether, hydroxybutyl vinyl ether, vinyl caprolactam, vinylmethyloxazolidinone, 5-methyl-3-vinyloxazolidinone, octadecyl vinyl ether, tert-butyl vinyl ether, aminopropyl vinyl ether, dodecyl vinyl ether, N-vinyl-N-methylacetamide, isobutyl vinyl ether, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylvinyl carbinol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol divinyl ether, diethylene glycol divinyl ether, triethylene glycol divinyl ether, butanediol divinyl ether, 1,3-divinylimidazolidin-2-one, trivinylcyclohexane, 1,5,9-cyclododecatriene, cyclohexanedimethanol monovinyl ether, ethynylcyclohexane, 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran, or any mixture thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the digital assets of the unsaturated compounds include mass-balanced environmental attributes for the input materials.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compounds are provided from at least one balancing account configured to store environmental attributes associated with input materials.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more environmental attributes are associated with at least one characteristic related to the environmental impact of the one or more input materials and / or the chemical process.

6. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the manufacturing operations device is configured to collect environmental attributes associated with the manufactured unsaturated compounds before, during, and / or after production of the unsaturated compounds by the chemical manufacturing network.

7. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compounds produced through a chemical process from one or more input materials provided to the chemical manufacturing network include the environmental attributes associated with the input materials, the chemical process, and / or the chemical manufacturing network.

8. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental attributes associated with input materials are provided before, during, and / or after production of the unsaturated compound by the chemical manufacturing network, and the environmental attributes associated with input materials are assigned to at least one balancing account before, during, and / or after production of the unsaturated compound by the chemical manufacturing network.

9. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental attributes associated with the produced unsaturated compounds relate to environmental characteristics generated from process data associated with chemical processing of the input materials and / or energy data associated with energy consumption of the chemical processing, and the environmental attributes associated with the produced unsaturated compounds are generated before, during, and / or after production of the unsaturated compounds by the chemical manufacturing network.

10. 1. A method for producing an unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset, comprising: - producing said unsaturated compounds from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes of a chemical manufacturing network, wherein said one or more input materials and / or said one or more chemical processes are associated with environmental attributes; - the digital assets, providing a distributed identifier associated with the produced unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes associated with the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes, and linking the distributed identifier with the one or more environmental attributes; - providing the produced unsaturated compound in association with the digital asset.

11. An unsaturated compound associated with a digital asset that includes a decentralized identifier associated with the unsaturated compound and linked to one or more environmental attributes of one or more input materials and / or one or more chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound.

12. 12. The unsaturated compound of claim 11, wherein the unsaturated compound is selected from 1-vinylimidazole, cyclohexyl vinyl ether, ethyl vinyl ether, hydroxybutyl vinyl ether, vinyl caprolactam, vinylmethyloxazolidinone, 5-methyl-3-vinyloxazolidinone, octadecyl vinyl ether, tert-butyl vinyl ether, aminopropyl vinyl ether, dodecyl vinyl ether, N-vinyl-N-methylacetamide, isobutyl vinyl ether, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylvinyl carbinol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol divinyl ether, diethylene glycol divinyl ether, triethylene glycol divinyl ether, butanediol divinyl ether, 1,3-divinylimidazolidin-2-one, trivinylcyclohexane, 1,5,9-cyclododecatriene, cyclohexanedimethanol monovinyl ether, ethynylcyclohexane, 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran, or any mixture thereof.

13. 1. A method for generating digital assets related to unsaturated compounds, the unsaturated compounds being produced from one or more input materials through one or more chemical processes in a chemical manufacturing network, the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes being associated with environmental attributes, the method comprising: - providing a distributed identifier associated with the produced unsaturated compound and one or more environmental attributes of the one or more input materials and / or the one or more chemical processes used to produce the unsaturated compound; - linking said decentralized identifier with said environmental attributes; providing the digital asset in association with the manufactured unsaturated compound, wherein the environmental attributes associated with the unsaturated compound are made accessible to a user of the unsaturated compound through the digital asset; method.

14. 14. A digital asset generated according to the method of claim 13.

15. 14. A method for using the digital asset generated according to the method of claim 13 in the manufacture of a product made from the unsaturated compound associated with the digital asset, or a method for using the unsaturated compound of either claim 11 or 12 associated with the digital asset to manufacture a product from the unsaturated compound and derive a digital asset associated with the product from the unsaturated compound digital asset.

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