Environmental Impact Assessment of Asaluyeh Gas Refinery Products Based on Blue Water Footprint Measurement

Background: The current state of water resources in Iran and the process of governing them in recent years indicate the importance of demand management and water consumption reduction in all fields, such as agriculture, industry, service, and domestic. Suppose water consumption reduction or demand management are not applied, or accurate knowledge of freshwater consumption assessment is not acquired in various environmental fields due to dwindling water resources. In that case, it will be difficult or uneconomical for industrial production to provide fresh water in the near future. Furthermore, the adverse environmental impact of freshwater consumption on various industries and its recurrence will inevitably cause an imbalance in the ecosystem and result in many problems. Methods: This study analyzed eight parameters of environmental impact assessment through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) after apprising blue water footprints in the production of methane, ethane, propane, butane, gas condensate, and sulfur at the processing units of Asalouyeh Gas Refinery by taking the essential items into account (consumed blue water, electricity consumption, and consumption of common and widely used chemicals in the production process). Results: The results of the environmental impact assessment of producing each ton of the aforementioned products are as follows: Environmental impact of acidification: The greatest impact was left by gas condensate, which produced 5.086 kg of SO2, whereas the smallest impact was made by sulfur production with 0.813 kg. Environmental impact of eutrophication: The greatest impact with 0.476 kg of PO4-- was left by methane production, whereas the smallest impact was made by sulfur production with 0.147kg of PO4--. Environmental impact of global warming: The greatest impact was made by gas condensate, which produced 1140.161 kg of CO2, whereas the smallest impact was made by sulfur production, which produced 182.425 kg. Environmental impact of photochemical oxidation: The greatest impact was left by gas condensate, which produced 4.313kg of NMVOC, whereas the smallest impact was made by sulfur production, which produced 0.69 kg of NMVOC. Environmental impact of abiotic element depletion: This parameter is considered because of the very small quantities of software in all gas refinery products. Environmental impact of fossil fuel depletion: The greatest impact was left by gas condensate, which produced 85137.066 kg of MJ, whereas the smallest impact was made by sulfur production, which produced 13621.928 kg of MJ. Environmental impact of water scarcity: The greatest impact was left by gas condensate with 15906.544 m3, whereas the smallest impact was left by sulfur production with 2545.046 m3. Environmental impact of ozone layer depletion: The greatest impact was made by sulfur, which produced 8.121 kg of CFC11, whereas the smallest environmental impact, with a large difference from sulfur and a small difference in numerical values, was left by other refinery products. Conclusions: The results of measuring the blue water footprints in the production process revealed that gas condensate consumed the largest amount of water and sulfur consumed the smallest.