Carbon footprint analysis and carbon reduction path research of silicon carbide-mullite bricks based on life cycle assessment
Accounting the carbon footprint of silicon carbide-mullite bricks,which support the high-quality development of the cement industry,is of great significance to promote the low-carbon development of re-fractory production enterprises,and help the energy conservation and emission reduction,and low-carbon transformation of downstream cement enterprises.Taking a typical enterprise as an example,based on the life cycle assessment method,a life cycle assessment model for silicon carbide-mullite bricks through Simapro 9.5 software was built,the carbon footprint of silicon carbide-mullite bricks"from cradle to gate"was quantified,and a carbon reduction path for silicon carbide-mullite bricks was proposed.The results show that the carbon footprint of producing 1 ton silicon carbide-mullite bricks is 1 795.14 kgCO2eq,of which the raw material and fuel acquisition stage and the production stage contribute 89.7%and 10.3%,respectively to greenhouse gas emissions within the system boundary.The main sources of greenhouse gas are the upstream silicon carbide production process,the high-temperature sintering process of bauxite(clinker),and silicon carbide-mullite bricks production.The carbon footprint of silicon carbide-mullite bricks can be effectively reduced by developing highly active silicon carbide production catalysts,increas-ing the proportion of green electricity application,minimizing the use of raw materials with high carbon emissions,and vigorously promoting the fuel substitution and application of oxygen-rich combustion tech-nology.