Computer implementation method and system for digitally controlling and / or monitoring the industrial production of chemical products with specific environmental impacts.

Abstract

Computer implementation methods and systems for controlling and / or monitoring the production of chemical products having specific environmental impacts are disclosed, and the methods are - The step of receiving a request or order indicating the chemical product, the desired quantity of the chemical product, and the desired environmental impact of the chemical product, - A step of determining the domestic and / or foreign locations of one or more underlying chemical input materials necessary for the production of the required chemical product in order to meet the required quantity and desired environmental impact, - A step of collecting environmental impact attributes from a database that correspond to the desired environmental impacts required for the production of the requested chemical product, based on the determined domestic and / or international locations of the required chemical input materials. - The step of receiving the chemical inputs necessary for the production of the requested chemical product from a determined domestic and / or foreign location, -Includes the step of removing environmental impact attributes of chemical input materials received from domestic and / or foreign locations from the database.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Technical Field The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for digitally processing or controlling industrially produced products having specific environmental impacts.

Background Art

[0002] Background Art In many fields of industrial production, especially in the field of chemical production, environmental protection and corresponding sustainable production and consumption are important factors.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0003] Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the computer-implemented method disclosed herein for controlling and / or monitoring the production of chemical products having specific environmental impacts, the method comprises: - receiving a request or order indicating a chemical product, a desired quantity of the chemical product, and a desired environmental impact of the chemical product; - determining domestic and / or foreign locations of one or more underlying chemical input materials required for the production of the requested chemical product to meet the desired quantity and desired environmental impact of the request; - collecting, from a database, environmental impact attributes corresponding to the desired environmental impact required for the production of the requested chemical product, based on the determined domestic and / or foreign locations of the required chemical input materials; - receiving the chemical input materials required for the production of the requested chemical product from the determined domestic and / or foreign locations.

[0004] According to a further aspect of the method disclosed herein, the chemical product is produced based on the received chemical input materials associated with the collected environmental impact attributes.

[0005] According to another aspect of the method disclosed herein, the environmental impact attributes of chemical input materials received from domestic and / or foreign locations are then removed from the database.

[0006] According to further embodiments of the methods disclosed herein, the physical marking may be a barcode, a QR code (registered trademark), or any other visible marking, in particular a machine-readable marking.

[0007] In a further embodiment, the methods disclosed herein may include the step of determining the location of an underlying chemical input having a desired amount that satisfies a requirement, and further including determining potentially relevant waste-derived and / or non-waste-derived inputs required to achieve a desired environmental impact.

[0008] According to further embodiments of the methods disclosed herein, waste-derived inputs may be classified into at least one of the following waste-related environmental impact attributes: “recyclable” / “recycled”, “reusable” / “reused”, “regenerative” / “recycled”, “recoverable” / “recovered”, “disposable” / “discarded”, and non-waste-derived inputs may be classified into at least one of the following non-waste-related environmental impact attributes: “biomass-based”, “virgin raw material”, “bio-based”, or “fossil raw material”.

[0009] According to another aspect of the method disclosed herein, determining the location of an underlying chemical input material having a desired quantity may further include determining the energy sources potentially required to achieve the desired environmental impact, the energy sources may be classified into “non-renewable energy-based” and “renewable energy-based” energy-related environmental impact attributes.

[0010] According to further embodiments of the methods disclosed herein, the database may provide available environmental impact attributes for a number of chemical inputs required for the production of a chemical product, the environmental impact attributes for the number of chemical inputs may be assigned to inputs derived from and / or not derived from the waste mentioned, and / or to the energy sources mentioned.

[0011] According to further embodiments of the methods disclosed herein, a waste material-related data object may be provided which includes environmental impact attributes for each of a number of chemical input materials required for the production of a chemical product.

[0012] According to further embodiments of the methods disclosed herein, permission to access waste material-related data objects may be controlled by at least one permission rule associated with a unique identifier. Thus, at least one permission rule may be configured for reverse data tracking of waste-derived materials used in the production of a product.

[0013] Also disclosed herein is a computer-implemented method for producing chemical products having specific environmental impacts by any step of the aforementioned embodiment of the method disclosed herein.

[0014] A computer-implemented system for controlling and / or monitoring the production of a chemical product having a specific environmental impact is also disclosed, the system comprising a request or order processing unit for receiving requests indicating the chemical product, along with a desired quantity of the chemical product and a desired environmental impact of the chemical product, the request / order processing unit - Determine the domestic and / or international locations of the basic chemical input materials necessary for the production of the required chemical product in order to meet the desired quantity and environmental impact. - Based on the determined domestic and / or international locations of the required chemical inputs, collect from the database the environmental impact attributes corresponding to the desired environmental impacts necessary for the production of the requested chemical product. - It is set up to receive the chemical inputs necessary for the production of the requested chemical product from determined domestic and / or foreign locations.

[0015] According to another aspect of the system disclosed herein, chemical products are produced based on received chemical inputs associated with collected environmental impact attributes.

[0016] According to further embodiments of the system disclosed herein, the environmental impact attributes of chemical input materials received from domestic and / or foreign locations are then removed from the database.

[0017] According to further embodiments of the system disclosed herein, the database may include location information relating to the actual domestic and / or foreign stocks of numerous chemical inputs required for the production of chemical products, as well as a virtual stock of available environmental impact attributes for numerous chemical inputs required for the production of chemical products. The database may also be located in a distributed network of nodes that share data with one another in order to store the available environmental impact attributes for numerous chemical inputs required for the production of chemical products.

[0018] According to further embodiments of the systems disclosed herein, available environmental impact attributes may be assigned to the aforementioned waste-derived inputs and / or non-waste-derived inputs, and / or the aforementioned energy sources.

[0019] In a further embodiment, the system disclosed herein may include a control unit for producing a chemical product having a desired quantity of the requested chemical product and a desired environmental impact of the requested chemical product, based on the method disclosed herein.

[0020] According to a further aspect of the system disclosed herein, waste material related data objects may be provided to assign removed environmental impact attributes to the required chemical products. Such data objects may be used by a requesting entity (e.g., a corporation or an individual) to prove the environmental impact of the requested / ordered chemical product to its customer or to a public authority such as a regulatory authority or an environmental agency.

[0021] Also disclosed herein is a software implementation product element that, when executed on a computer, can prove a chemical product with its assigned environmental impact attributes that may be included in the mentioned data objects.

[0022] The methods and systems disclosed herein enable automated processing, control, or monitoring of the industrial production of chemical products based on specific environmental impacts requested or ordered by a request / ordering entity.

[0023] "Chemical product" means any kind of chemical product to which a request, e.g., a customer request or order, may relate.

[0024] "Location of a chemical product" means the location where the chemical product is physically stored. The storage location may be a domestic location where it is produced or a foreign or remote location different from the domestic location, e.g., a domestic or foreign storage facility. A foreign location may be owned by a supplier from which a domestic producer purchases chemical products or basic chemical input materials required for the production of chemical products. Such products or input materials may be products required to achieve the required environmental impact attributes.

[0025] Exemplary environmental impact attributes in the field of chemical production include, but are not limited to, recycled content, renewable content, fossil content, or biomass content. Further included are any and all claims, credits, benefits, emission reductions, offsets, and payments having the right obtained from the fact that no gas, chemical, or other substance is emitted into the environment. Non-renewable material resources are mainly petroleum, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy, and petroleum, natural gas, and coal are collectively called fossil fuels.

[0026] More specifically, such attributes can be any avoided emissions of pollutants to air, soil, or water, such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and other pollutants, (2) any avoided emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and other greenhouse gases (GHGs).

[0027] It must be mentioned that the above environmental impacts can be combined with each other, for example, into "recycled content" and "carbon dioxide emissions".

[0028] The feature of "receiving a request indicating ~" may include "starting a production request for a desired amount of chemical product" to meet the request.

[0029] The database enables the storage of environmental impact attributes anywhere in the world (not centrally).

[0030] The feature of "offshore location" may also include situational means where the requested or ordered chemical product or the corresponding chemical input materials required for the production of the requested chemical product can be located at a specific distance, for example, 100 kilometers away from the production site or location of the requested chemical product. Thus, the term "offshore location" includes any necessary transportation of the requested chemical product or corresponding chemical input materials across national borders. This makes it possible to manage different (legal) regulations and different attributes that may be required when crossing regional or national borders.

[0031] On the other hand, the feature of "removing environmental impact attributes of underlying chemical inputs collected, received, or acquired from domestic and / or foreign locations in the database" relates to chemical products or underlying chemical inputs stored at a location less than 100 kilometers, preferably less than 10 kilometers, from where the chemical products to which the requirement pertains are stored.

[0032] The requested quantity and desired environmental impact attributes of the requested chemical product should take into account that product quality may depend on the desired environmental impact attributes. Therefore, this correlation may be communicated to the requester.

[0033] Permission to access waste material-related data objects may be based on one or more permission rules that can be associated with such unique identifiers and data related to the underlying chemical product data of the waste material or product. The permission rules may include instructions configured for reverse data tracking of the chemical materials or products used to produce the underlying waste material or product.

[0034] At least one authorization rule may relate to an instruction that, based on the event trigger described above, processes waste-related material property data specified by the authorization rule to generate and provide corresponding tracking data. The authorization rule may relate to or include such event triggers relating to the use of chemical products to produce the underlying waste material or product. The use of such waste-related data may include any processing of unique identifiers associated with the underlying chemical product and / or data related to the underlying chemical product. For example, the concatenation or linking of a unique identifier associated with a waste material or product produced based on the underlying chemical product with a unique identifier associated with the underlying chemical product and / or data related to the underlying chemical product may be an event trigger specified by the authorization rule.

[0035] At least one authorization rule may be associated with at least one event trigger relating to the use of a unique identifier associated with an underlying chemical product and / or data related to the underlying chemical product. An authorization rule may be associated with, or include, an instruction based on at least one event trigger. An event trigger for the reverse tracking of the underlying chemical product of the waste material or product may be associated with one or more processing steps relating to a unique identifier and / or chemical product data of the reverse-tracked chemical product. An event trigger may trigger or initialize an instruction that generates tracking data from product data to provide such tracking data.

[0036] Authorization rules may also relate to the designation of tracking data based on product data associated with waste materials or products produced using or based on underlying chemical products. Authorization rules may specify tracking data based on product data associated with waste materials or products produced using or based on chemical products. Authorization rules may specify tracking data as derived from product data associated with waste materials or products produced using or based on chemical products.

[0037] Brief explanation of the drawing The attached drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments and are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification. In the drawing, [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0038] [Figure 1] This figure shows the pyrolysis and cracking processes according to prior art. [Figure 2] This figure shows the modified forms of the pyrolysis-based system and process shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This diagram shows a block / flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of the methods and systems disclosed herein. [Figure 4]This figure illustrates how the waste material-related data objects disclosed herein may be implemented. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0039] Detailed explanation In most industrial production technology fields, particularly in chemical production, waste management is known to be based on different waste categories such as recyclable or recycled, reused, recycled, renewable, or reusable materials. In the chemical field, these materials may also include biomass-based materials or renewable energy-based materials.

[0040] In the field of chemical recycling, factors affecting the environmental impact of chemical materials or substances include their hydrocarbon content, heating value, heteroatom content adjacent to C and H, H2O content, biomass content, metal content, hydrocarbon molecular weight, composite material content (e.g., multilayer packaging or glass fiber-reinforced wind blades), overall density, material-specific density differences, particle size, material distribution, degree of poison cross-licking, or coloration.

[0041] In addition, such industrial waste can influence known "mass balance" approaches that allow for the determination of the use of chemically recycled or bio-based raw materials in the final product. In such mass balance approaches, both recycled and virgin raw materials or bio-based materials and fossil raw materials may be used in the manufacturing process.

[0042] More specifically, the mass balance approach makes it possible to determine the mass fraction of the main components of high-purity organic materials. Therefore, the mass balance approach is a transparent bookkeeping process, similar to the storage chain approach, which allows tracking the net amount of sustainable materials as they move through the production system or value chain or supply chain. Thus, the mass balance approach ensures that these materials are appropriately allocated to finished products based on auditable books (see, for example, Ellen MacArthur, White Paper 2019.pdf, MacArthur Foundation).

[0043] Furthermore, such industrial waste materials also have a strong impact on carbon footprint-based environmental treatment approaches and the associated management of CO2 certification.

[0044] In the chemical industry, the chemical recycling of waste streams is a well-known approach. For example, hydrocarbon-containing streams can be treated by different thermal methods, such as pyrolysis or gasification into liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. These intermediates can be substituted for fossil-based raw materials in refineries or petrochemical plants. Furthermore, in the field of chemical production, so-called "chemcycling" approaches are known, such as those based on pyrolysis or chemical production processes for treating naphtha and bio-based naphtha. However, chemical recycling does not necessarily have to be carried out using pyrolysis. Alternatively, other processes such as hydrothermal filtration, solvent decomposition, and catalysts can also be used, and to that extent, the following description with reference to Figures 1 and 2 is merely illustrative.

[0045] Today, production facilities and plants used in different industrial production areas, including underlying energy flows, underlying logistics, and given infrastructure, are intelligently networked together in a so-called "Verbund" system. In such a system, for example, a chemical process may be carried out in different production plants or facilities that are dispersed across different countries or regions, where the aforementioned cross-border issues are involved. In such a decentralized manner, the underlying chemical process may be carried out in a resource-efficient manner with lower energy consumption and higher yields.

[0046] In the case of a chemical verbund system, the complete value chain of such a verbund includes, for example, at least one steam cracker and a synthesis gas plant. The synthesis gas plant, as defined herein, is the core element of the verbund. In this value chain, the underlying chemical products can be further processed into numerous commercial products through further production process steps. The aim is that nothing is wasted throughout the entire production process, and any by-products from one facility can be useful as valuable input materials to another facility.

[0047] Known "Verbund production systems" can also include an efficient value chain ranging from basic chemicals to high-value-added products such as coatings or crop protection agents. Furthermore, in this scenario, by-products from one plant can be used as starting materials for another. In such a Verbund system, the underlying chemical processes consume less energy, produce higher product yields, and conserve resources. In this way, raw materials and energy are saved, emissions are minimized, logistics costs are reduced, and synergies related to production can be leveraged.

[0048] Therefore, a production "Verbund" (or network) ensures a competitive supply of key products to all segments that have a value chain rooted in the Verbund. This distinguishes between "Technology Verbunds" and "Digital Verbunds." A "Technology Verbund" leverages technological advantages across all segments through broad, impactful, best-in-class expertise in areas such as biotechnology science, catalysts, and formulation platforms. A "Digital Verbund" systematically uses and reaps the significant benefits and possibilities brought about by digitalization throughout the entire production Verbund network, such as in data management, scaling, and artificial intelligence.

[0049] Referring here to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022 / 0402860A1 shown in Figure 1, the pyrolysis and cracker processes mentioned are described in more detail. In this chemical production scenario, alkanolamines are produced after cracking 20, such as in a cracking furnace, and separated accordingly by a solid separator or fractionator 30. More specifically, Figure 1 shows a method for converting one or more recycled content compositions into r-compositions using recycled content pyrolysis oil compositions (r-PyOil). Naturally, this specification shows only one of many products that can then be manufactured. Furthermore, it should be noted that the shown mixed raw materials may be supplied simultaneously into a cracker and / or pre-mixed (see, for example, Figure 5) and then supplied as mixed raw materials.

[0050] One or more recycled content compositions, i.e., the “r-compositions” mentioned, may be ethylene, propylene, butadiene, hydrogen, and / or pyrolysis gasoline. Recycled waste may be subjected to pyrolysis in the pyrolysis unit 10 to produce pyrolysis products or waste liquid containing recycled content pyrolysis oil compositions ("r-PyOil"). r-PyOil may be fed to the cracking unit 20 together with non-recycled cracking feed, such as propone, ethane, and / or natural gasoline. Recycled content cracking waste liquid ("r-cracking waste liquid") may be produced from the cracker and then subjected to separation in a separation train, such as a solids separator or fractionator 30.

[0051] At least a portion of the composition may be obtained from recycled waste, such as waste plastics or the thermal decomposition of waste streams. "r-ethylene" may be ethylene obtained from the decomposition of a decomposition feed containing r-PyOil, or a composition containing ethylene having a recyclable content value at least a portion of the ethylene. "r-propylene" may be propylene obtained from the decomposition of a decomposition feed containing r-PyOil, or a composition containing propylene having a recyclable content value at least a portion of the propylene.

[0052] The corresponding values, "Recycling Content Value" and "r-value," represent the actual units of measurement that express the actual amount of material originating in the recycled waste. The r-value may originate in any type of recycled waste processed in any type of process.

[0053] The values ​​"pyrolysis recycling content value" and "pr value" refer to the actual units of measurement that represent the actual amount of material whose origin lies in the pyrolysis of recycled waste. The pr value is a specific subset / type of the aforementioned r value that is linked to the pyrolysis of recycled waste. Therefore, the term r value encompasses but is not mandatory for the pr value.

[0054] A specific recyclability value, i.e., the r-value or pr-value, may be calculated or determined by mass, percentage, or any other unit of measurement, and may be determined according to a standard system for tracking, allocating, and / or crediting the actual recyclability between various compositions. The recyclability value may be deducted from the actual recyclability inventory and may be applied to a product or composition to attribute the recyclability to that product or composition.

[0055] The values ​​“pyrolysis recyclable content distribution” and “pyrolysis distribution” or “pr value” refer to the actual pyrolysis recyclable content transferred from the original composition, e.g., compounds, polymers, raw materials, products, or streams obtained from the pyrolysis of recyclable waste. In the latter case, the recyclable content value or at least a portion thereof may originate from the pyrolysis of recyclable waste.

[0056] Referring again to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022 / 0402860A1, Figure 2 shows a simplified variant of the pyrolysis-based system and process shown in Figure 1, in which "purification" is used instead of "hydrogenation," and one or more recycled wastes, particularly recycled plastic waste, are converted at least partially into various useful products.

[0057] The exemplary pyrolysis system 110 shown in Figure 2 can be used to convert one or more recyclable wastes, particularly recyclable plastic waste, into a variety of useful pyrolysis-derived products, at least partially. The pyrolysis system 110 may include a waste plastic source 112 for supplying one or more waste plastics to the system 110. The plastic source 112 may be, for example, a hopper, a storage bin, a railcar, a long-distance trailer, or any other device capable of holding or storing waste plastics. The waste plastic supplied by the plastic source 112 may be in the form of solid particles such as chips, flakes, or powder. The waste plastic may include one or more consumed waste plastics, such as high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, other polyolefins, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, poly(methyl methacrylate), polytetrafluoroethylene, or a combination thereof. The waste plastic may also include high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, or a combination thereof. Plastic waste may also contain 1 to 25 percent by weight or less of polyvinyl chloride and / or polyethylene terephthalate.

[0058] The waste plastic-containing supply may contain at least 30% to 99% by weight of one or more different types of waste plastics. The waste plastic-containing supply may also contain one or more types of plasticizers.

[0059] As shown in Figure 2, a solid waste plastic feed from the plastic source 112 can be fed into the raw material pretreatment unit 114. While in the raw material pretreatment unit 114, the introduced waste plastic can undergo several pretreatments to facilitate the subsequent pyrolysis reaction. Such pretreatments may include, for example, washing, mechanical stirring, flotation, sizing, or any combination thereof. The introduced plastic waste can be subjected to mechanical stirring or sizing operations to reduce the particle size of the plastic waste. Such mechanical stirring can be carried out by any mixing, shearing, or grinding device known in the prior art, which can reduce the average particle size of the introduced plastic by a value of 10 to 75 percent.

[0060] Next, the pre-treated plastic feed can be introduced into a plastic feeding system 116. The plastic feeding system 116 may be configured to introduce the plastic feed into a pyrolysis reactor 118. The plastic feeding system 116 may include any system known in the prior art that can supply a solid plastic feed into the pyrolysis reactor 118. The plastic feeding system 116 may comprise a screw feeder, a hopper, a pneumatic conveying system, a mechanical metal train or chain, or a combination thereof.

[0061] While inside the pyrolysis reactor 118, at least a portion of the plastic feed can undergo a pyrolysis reaction that produces pyrolysis oil, e.g., r-PyOil, and pyrolysis wastewater, e.g., r-pyrolysis gas. The pyrolysis reactor 118 may be an extruder, a tubular reactor, a tank, a stirred-tank reactor, a riser reactor, a fixed-bed reactor, a fluidized-bed reactor, a rotary kiln, a vacuum reactor, a microwave reactor, an ultrasonic or supersonic reactor, or an autoclave, or a combination thereof.

[0062] More generally, pyrolysis is a process involving the chemical and thermal decomposition of an introduced feedstock. While all pyrolysis processes can generally be characterized by a substantially oxygen-free reaction environment, pyrolysis processes can be further defined, for example, by the pyrolysis reaction temperature in the reactor, the residence time in the pyrolysis reactor, the type of reactor, the pressure in the pyrolysis reactor, and the presence or absence of a pyrolysis catalyst. The pyrolysis reaction may involve heating and converting a plastic feedstock in a substantially oxygen-free atmosphere or in an atmosphere with less oxygen than the ambient air. The atmosphere in the pyrolysis reactor 118 may contain 0.5 to 5 weight percent or less of oxygen gas. The pyrolysis process may be carried out in the presence of an inert gas such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and / or steam. The pyrolysis process may also be carried out in the presence of a reducing gas such as hydrogen and / or carbon monoxide.

[0063] Subsequently, the temperature in the pyrolysis reactor 118 can be adjusted to facilitate the production of a specific final product. The pyrolysis temperature in the pyrolysis reactor 118 can be 325°C to 1100°C, including specific smaller ranges such as 350-900°C, 350-700°C, 350-550°C, 350-475°C, 500-1100°C, 600-1100°C, and 650-1000°C. However, the pyrolysis temperature in the pyrolysis reactor 118 should be 1100°C or lower. It should be noted that if the target product is oil, the corresponding temperature window is 300°C to 600°C. Above that temperature range, between 600°C and 800°C, olefins tend to be the target product. Above 800°C, mainly gaseous products are obtained.

[0064] Referring again to Figure 2, the pyrolysis waste liquid 120 exiting the pyrolysis reactor 118 generally contains pyrolysis gas, pyrolysis vapor, and residual solid. The conversion waste liquid 120 from the pyrolysis reactor 118 may be introduced into a solid separator 122. The solid separator 122 may be any conventional device capable of separating solids from gases and vapors, such as a cyclone separator or a gas filter or a combination thereof. The solid separator 122 removes a substantial portion of the solids from the conversion waste liquid 120. At least a portion of the solid particles 24 recovered in the solid separator 122 may be introduced into an optional regenerator 126, generally for regeneration by combustion. After regeneration, at least a portion of the high-temperature regenerated solids 128 may be introduced directly into the pyrolysis reactor 118. At least a portion of the solid particles 124 recovered in the solid separator 122 may be introduced directly into the pyrolysis reactor 118 and returned, especially if the solid particles 124 contain a significant amount of unconverted plastic waste. The solid can be removed from the regenerator 126 through line 145 and discharged outside the system.

[0065] Returning to Figure 2, the remaining gas and vapor conversion products 130 from the solid separator 122 may be introduced into a fractional distiller 132. In the fractional distiller 132, at least a portion of the pyrolysis oil vapor may be separated from the pyrolysis gas, thereby forming a pyrolysis gas product stream 134 and a pyrolysis oil vapor stream 136. Suitable systems to be used as the fractional distiller 132 include, for example, a distillation column, a membrane separation unit, a quenching column, a condenser, or any other known separation unit known in the art. The residual solids 146 accumulated in the fractional distiller 132 may also be introduced into an optional regenerator 126 for further processing.

[0066] At least a portion of the pyrolysis oil vapor stream 136 may be introduced into a quenching unit 138 to at least partially quench the pyrolysis vapors into their liquid form (i.e., pyrolysis oil). The quenching unit 138 may include any suitable quenching system known in the art, such as a quenching tower. The resulting liquid pyrolysis oil stream 140 may be removed from the system 110 and used for other downstream applications described herein. The liquid pyrolysis oil stream 140 may not undergo any additional treatment, such as hydrotreatment and / or hydrogenation, before being used for any of the downstream applications described herein.

[0067] At least a portion of the pyrolysis oil vapor stream 136 may also be introduced into a hydrotreatment unit 142 for further improvement. The hydrotreatment unit 142 may include a hydrocracker, a catalytic cracker operating on a hydrogen supply stream, a hydrotreatment unit, and / or a hydrotreatment unit. While in the hydrotreatment unit 142, the pyrolysis oil vapor stream 136 may be treated with hydrogen and / or other reducing gases to further saturate the hydrocarbons in the pyrolysis oil and remove undesirable by-products from the pyrolysis oil. The resulting hydrotreated pyrolysis oil vapor stream 144 may be removed and introduced into a quenching unit 138.

[0068] Alternatively, the pyrolysis oil vapor may be cooled, liquefied, and then treated with hydrogen and / or other reducing gases to further saturate the hydrocarbons in the pyrolysis oil. In this case, the hydrogenation or hydrotreatment is carried out in the liquid phase pyrolysis oil. In this embodiment, a post-hydrogenation or post-hydrotreatment quenching step is not required.

[0069] Figure 3 shows one embodiment of the methods and systems disclosed herein for controlling the production of a chemical product having a specific environmental impact.

[0070] The method begins with an underlying order, for example, an indicated electronic or paper document 305, or a suitable electronic order file, to request a specific chemical product 310 in a specific quantity 315. In addition, the order includes the requested environmental impact 320 of the ordered chemical product 310, for example, a specific percentage of waste-derived input materials that will be used or are used in the production of the ordered product 310, for example, recycled, reused, or regenerated input materials.

[0071] Alternatively or additionally, the requested environmental impact 320 of the ordered chemical product 310 may be a certain proportion of non-waste-derived inputs, for example, biomass-based or bio-based inputs that will be used or are used in the production of the ordered product 310. Alternatively or additionally, the requested environmental impact 320 of the ordered chemical product 310 may be a certain proportion of “green” inputs or energy sources used for the production process, or a certain proportion of the underlying carbon footprint of the chemical product, which may also include the carbon footprint of the underlying production process steps. It should be noted that the term “waste” as used herein, particularly for “chemcycling,” primarily refers to “post-consumer” waste as inputs for chemical production processes. However, “post-industrial” waste as such inputs is also conceivable.

[0072] Document / file 305 is provided to a computer-implemented order processing unit 300 in the first process step 322, which determines which input materials are necessary for the production of the ordered chemical product. This process step 322 may be performed either domestically by the order processing unit 300 of the underlying product manufacturer, or using an underlying chemical library or corresponding expert system provided in the cloud 340.

[0073] In the next process step 324, it is determined whether any domestic or external material providers or storage locations, such as the exemplary locations shown 350 and 355, can provide the input materials determined in process step 322.

[0074] In this embodiment, the cloud 340 is further provided with a database 342 containing chemical inputs (see exemplary “Input 1” and “Input 2”) and available environmental impact attributes (“EIA” in Figure 3) for the aforementioned environmental impacts of these materials. In the subsequent process step 326, for the determined inputs 322, copies of all available environmental impact attributes are collected or downloaded to the order processing unit 300 (345). Based on the collected collection of environmental impact attributes (copies thereof), in the next process step 328, it is determined which inputs can be ordered from which material storage locations (e.g., locations 350 and 355) in order to satisfy or fulfill the requested (305) environmental impacts 320 of the ordered final product.

[0075] In the field of chemical recycling, EIAs may be divided or assigned to the following three exemplary material or substance categories A) to C), corresponding to the waste-related environmental impact attributes disclosed herein.

[0076] A) Materials that are suitable for chemical recycling, i.e., materials that have a positive environmental impact, i.e., Polymers, such as polyethylene (HPDE, LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (EPS), and materials rich in solid hydrocarbons such as polyisoprene, polyisobutylene, and polybutadiene.

[0077] B) Materials that are not very suitable for chemical recycling, i.e., materials with a moderate environmental impact, i.e., Materials containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyester (PES), polyamide (PA), such as nylon, Nylon 6 and Nylon 6.6, polyurethane (PU), epoxy resin, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethacrylate (PMMA), polylactic acid (PLA), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and hydrocarbons derived from wood, agricultural products, and algae.

[0078] C) Materials that are completely undesirable for chemical recycling, i.e., materials that have no environmental impact or do not have a negative impact on the environment, i.e., For example, Teflon (PTFE), silicone, glass, pigments, metals, and metal-containing materials such as (Pb, Hg, As, Zn, Si, Na, K, Mg, Ni, Cu, etc.).

[0079] In process step 330, the input materials determined in process step 328 are physically collected, i.e., transported or delivered, from each of the two locations 350 and 355 to the underlying producers using the order processing unit 300 (352, 357). In this embodiment, in the final process step 332, the original instances stored in database 342 for the environmental impact attributes actually used in the production of the ordered chemical product are removed from or deleted from the aforementioned (external) library.

[0080] One reason for performing the final process step 332 is that the EIA may be handled by waste material-related data objects that include environmental impact attributes for each of the numerous chemical inputs required for the production of chemical products. Therefore, the underlying producer needs to purchase such an EIA, and when the producer uses such an EIA in the production of chemical products, the underlying EIA is consumed and therefore no longer available. To that extent, such used EIAs need to be deleted from database 342.

[0081] Referring here to Figure 4, the waste material-related data objects described herein may be implemented in relation to the underlying waste-derived materials / products within the distributed and cross-border chemical production network 400 mentioned.

[0082] This implies that the chemical production network 400 produces chemical products in production facilities 404, where several waste materials 402, 402', etc., are produced during the production process. Furthermore, it is assumed that the generated waste materials 402, 402' are transported or shipped (403) within the chemical production network 400, while also entering the relevant boundary 401 of the chemical production network 400 between two regions having different technical requirements regarding the possible treatment of waste-derived materials.

[0083] When chemical products are produced in the production facility 404, waste material-related data objects 417 are generated for the generated waste or waste-derived materials 402, 402'. For this purpose, the apparatus 410 is configured to generate waste material-related data objects 417.

[0084] A requester 408, which is required to first obtain a corresponding unique identifier 409 stored in this embodiment distributed within a cloud computing environment ("cloud") 411, requests to obtain or obtain one or more of the wastes 402, 402', which need to obtain access to the contents of the waste material-related data object 417 for the purposes described above. For this process step or task, the requester 408 is also configured to generate a corresponding request 413 for the unique identifier 409. Such a request 413 may be automatically generated or triggered by a labeling system such as a QR code generator. The request 413 providing the unique identifier 409 is provided to an identifier generator 412 configured to eccentrically generate the unique identifier 409. In this embodiment, the identifier generator 412 then provides the generated unique identifier 409 to an identifier provider 414.

[0085] The identifier provider 414 then provides the unique identifier 409 to the requester 408 in order to associate the unique identifier 409 with the requested waste materials 402, 402' (415). This association may include encoding the unique identifier into a QR code and providing the waste materials 402, 402' with QR codes for labeling. In this way, based on the unique identifier 409, a physical identifier 417 is also provided that is associated with the underlying (actual) physical entities 402, 402' of the waste materials.

[0086] The identifier generator 412 also provides the unique identifier 409 to a data generator 416 configured to generate a waste material-related data object 417 for the waste materials 402, 402'. The generated waste material-related data object 417 includes the previously described unique identifier 409 and underlying data, for example, regarding the origin and history and chemical properties of the waste-derived materials 402, 402'. This data further includes a digital representation pointing to the underlying waste material data or a portion thereof. The waste material-related data object 417 further includes, or relates to, the unique identifier 409 and the authorization mechanism associated with the mentioned chemical data of the waste-derived materials 402, 402'.

[0087] In this embodiment, the waste material-related data object 417 is provided to the corresponding data provider 418 (421). The data provider 418 is configured to provide the waste material-related data object 417 and the chemical waste material-related data associated with the waste material-related data object 417 to the chemical production network 400 (420), in which waste materials 402, 402' are transported or shipped between the technical regulatory boundaries 401 of the chemical production network, from the left side having the production facility 404 (i.e., the source area) to the right side (i.e., the target area) 422.

[0088] Referring again to Figure 1, with respect to the waste-derived input materials described herein, in the pyrolysis treatment step 10 of the underlying production process, the further values ​​“pyrolysis recyclability value” and “pr value” (provided in pyrolysis 20) are related to the actual amount that originates from the pyrolysis of recyclable waste, since it is the input material for pyrolysis 10 having the described “r value”. The pr value is a subset of the r value that is linked to the pyrolysis of recyclable waste. The r value or pr value may be calculated by mass or percentage, where the recyclability value may be subtracted from the actual recyclability inventory and applied to the product or composition in order to attribute the recyclability to the product or composition.

Claims

1. A computer implementation method for controlling and / or monitoring the production of chemical products having specific environmental impacts, - A step of receiving a request or order indicating a chemical product, a desired quantity of the chemical product, and the desired environmental impact of the chemical product, - A step of determining the domestic and / or foreign locations of one or more underlying chemical input materials necessary for the production of the requested chemical product in order to satisfy the requested quantity and the requested environmental impact of the request, - A step of collecting from a database environmental impact attributes corresponding to the desired environmental impacts necessary for the production of the requested chemical product, based on the determined domestic and / or foreign locations of the required chemical input materials, - A step of receiving the chemical inputs necessary for the production of the requested chemical product from the determined domestic and / or foreign locations, wherein the received chemical inputs are associated with the collected environmental impact attributes, Computer implementation methods, including those mentioned above.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chemical product is produced based on the received chemical input materials associated with the collected environmental impact attributes.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the environmental impact attributes of the chemical input material received from the domestic and / or foreign locations are removed from the database.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the received chemical input material is associated with the collected environmental impact attributes using physical marking.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of determining the location of the chemical input material having the desired amount that satisfies the requirement includes determining potentially relevant waste-derived input material and / or non-waste-derived input material that is required to achieve the desired environmental impact.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the input material derived from waste is classified into at least one of the waste material-related environmental impact attributes: "recyclable" / "recycled", "reusable" / "reused", "regenerative" / "recycled", "recoverable" / "recovered", "disposable" / "discarded", and the input material not derived from waste is classified into at least one of the non-waste material-related environmental impact attributes: "biomass-based", "virgin raw material", "bio-based", or "fossil raw material".

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the environmental impact attribute includes the hydrocarbon content of the waste-derived input material.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the step of determining the location of the chemical input material having the desired amount that satisfies the requirements further includes determining the energy sources potentially required to achieve the desired environmental impact, wherein the energy sources are classified as “non-renewable energy-based” and “renewable energy-based” energy-related environmental impact attributes.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the database provides available environmental impact attributes for a number of chemical inputs necessary for the production of a chemical product, and the environmental impact attributes of the number of chemical inputs are assigned to the waste-derived inputs and / or non-waste-derived inputs described in claim 5, and / or the energy sources described in claim 8.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein providing waste material-related data objects includes environmental impact attributes already used for each of the numerous chemical input materials necessary for the production of a chemical product.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein permission to access the waste material-related data object is controlled by at least one permission rule associated with a unique identifier.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the at least one permission rule is configured for reverse data tracking of the waste-derived materials used in the production of the product.

13. A computer-implemented method for producing a chemical product having a specific environmental impact, by the steps described in any one of the preceding claims.

14. A computer-implemented system for controlling and / or monitoring the production of chemical products having specific environmental impacts, comprising a request or order processing unit for receiving requests indicating the chemical product, along with a desired quantity of the chemical product and a desired environmental impact of the chemical product, wherein the request / order processing unit - Determine the domestic and / or foreign locations of the basic chemical input materials necessary for the production of the requested chemical product in order to satisfy the desired quantity and the desired environmental impact. - Based on the determined domestic and / or international locations of the required chemical input materials, collect from the database the environmental impact attributes corresponding to the desired environmental impacts necessary for the production of the requested chemical product. - Receiving the chemical inputs necessary for the production of the requested chemical product from the determined domestic and / or foreign locations, A computer-implemented system that is set up in such a way.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the chemical product is produced based on the received chemical input materials associated with the collected environmental impact attributes.

16. The system according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the environmental impact attributes of the chemical input materials received from the domestic and / or foreign locations are removed from the database.

17. The system according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the database includes location information relating to the actual domestic and / or foreign stocks of a large number of chemical inputs necessary for the production of chemical products, and to a virtual stock of available environmental impact attributes for the said large number of chemical inputs necessary for the production of chemical products.

18. The system according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the database is located in a distributed network of nodes that share data with one another in order to store available environmental impact attributes for a large number of chemical input materials required for the production of chemical products.

19. The system according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein the available environmental impact attributes are assigned to the waste-derived input material and / or non-waste-derived input material according to claim 5 and / or 6, and / or the energy source according to claim 8.

20. The system according to any one of claims 14 to 19, comprising a control unit for producing the requested chemical product having the desired amount of the requested chemical product and the desired environmental impact of the requested chemical product, based on the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

21. The system according to any one of claims 16 to 20, providing waste material-related data objects for assigning the removed environmental impact attributes to the requested chemical product.

22. Software implementation product elements, when executed on a computer, for demonstrating chemical products along with their assigned environmental impact attributes.

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