January 16, 2025
Mohsen Nowrouzi

Mohsen Nowrouzi

Academic Rank: Associate professor
Address: Persian Gulf University
Degree: Ph.D in Environment - Environmental pollution
Phone: 09177827960
Faculty: Faculty of Nano and Biotechnology

Research

Title
Life Cycle Assessment and Energy Flow Analysis of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Extraction using SFE Method from Surface Sediments of the Persian Gulf
Type Thesis
Keywords
ارزيابي چرخۀ حيات، استخراج، هيدركربن هاي نفتي، SimaPro، روش ReCiPe
Researchers Elaheh Abbasi Meybodi (Student) , Akram Bemani (Primary advisor) , Mohsen Nowrouzi (Primary advisor)

Abstract

Petroleum hydrocarbons are considered common environmental pollutants. These contaminants enter aquatic ecosystems through accidental or intentional oil spills from oil platforms or ships. The use of various laboratory extraction methods to identify these compounds, without considering their life cycle assessment and the evaluation of their impacts on different environmental components, is not in line with the sustainable development approach. This highlights the necessity of conducting such studies. The present study aims to assess the life cycle of extraction methods for petroleum hydrocarbons in surface sediments along the Persian Gulf coasts. To achieve this, the input and output data of the system, which include materials, energy, and pollutants, were collected. These data encompass the amounts of solvents used in the extraction process, consumable materials such as silica gel, copper, glass wool, aluminum, internal and external standards, BOD, COD, pH, TSS, and the amount of energy consumed. For the analysis and evaluation of life cycle impacts, SimaPro software, the ReCiPe method, and the Ecoinvent database were utilized. The environmental impacts were assessed in 18 mid-level impact categories using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method and in 3 end-level impact categories using the ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H) method. Additionally, to calculate the energy consumption of the treatment system, the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) method was applied, and for estimating greenhouse gas emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology was utilized. In this study, a functional unit of 5 grams of dry sediment was considered. Environmental impacts were first quantified, and ultimately, data normalization was performed for the analysis and comparison of results. According to the results of the mid-level impact analysis, the highest environmental impacts from the extraction process were attributed to human carcinogenic toxicity (44.68%) and fossil r