Adipic acid
Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
N2O EMISSIONS FROM ADIPIC ACID
AND NITRIC ACID PRODUCTION
A C K N O WL E D G E M E N T S
This paper was written by Heike Mainhardt (ICF Incorporated) and reviewed by Dina Kruger (USEPA).
ABSTRACT
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is generated as a by-product during the production of adipic acid and nitric acid. The main use for adipic acid is as a component of nylon-6/6; thus production trends are closely correlated with nylon consumption trends. Worldwide, there are very few adipic acid plants. The U.S. is a major producer with three companies in four locations accounting for approximately forty percent of world production. Other producing countries include Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Ukraine, and United
Kingdom. Most of these countries have only one adipic acid plant. Nitric acid is used primarily to make synthetic commercial fertiliser. Worldwide, the number of nitric acid plants is somewhat uncertain. Estimates range from
255 to 600 plants (Choe et al., 1993; Bockman and Granli, 1994). In 1990, adipic acid production was the largest source of industrial N2O emissions. As of 1999, industrial sources report that all major adipic acid producers have implemented N2O abatement technologies (Reimer, 1999). As a result, nitric acid production is currently believed to be the largest industrial source of N2O emissions.
The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC Guidelines) outline a straightforward method for estimating emissions from both adipic acid and nitric acid, in which an emission factor is multiplied by production data. Thus, the key factors regarding the accuracy of the estimate will be the quality of the emission factor and activity data used.
The accuracy and precision of N2O emission factors are directly correlated with the number of samples and the frequency of sample
N2O EMISSIONS FROM ADIPIC ACID
AND NITRIC ACID PRODUCTION
A C K N O WL E D G E M E N T S
This paper was written by Heike Mainhardt (ICF Incorporated) and reviewed by Dina Kruger (USEPA).
ABSTRACT
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is generated as a by-product during the production of adipic acid and nitric acid. The main use for adipic acid is as a component of nylon-6/6; thus production trends are closely correlated with nylon consumption trends. Worldwide, there are very few adipic acid plants. The U.S. is a major producer with three companies in four locations accounting for approximately forty percent of world production. Other producing countries include Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Ukraine, and United
Kingdom. Most of these countries have only one adipic acid plant. Nitric acid is used primarily to make synthetic commercial fertiliser. Worldwide, the number of nitric acid plants is somewhat uncertain. Estimates range from
255 to 600 plants (Choe et al., 1993; Bockman and Granli, 1994). In 1990, adipic acid production was the largest source of industrial N2O emissions. As of 1999, industrial sources report that all major adipic acid producers have implemented N2O abatement technologies (Reimer, 1999). As a result, nitric acid production is currently believed to be the largest industrial source of N2O emissions.
The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC Guidelines) outline a straightforward method for estimating emissions from both adipic acid and nitric acid, in which an emission factor is multiplied by production data. Thus, the key factors regarding the accuracy of the estimate will be the quality of the emission factor and activity data used.
The accuracy and precision of N2O emission factors are directly correlated with the number of samples and the frequency of sample