Environmental and Preliminary Economic Assessment of Integrated Resource Recovery from Spent Fluid Catalytic Cracking Catalysts
- 1Beijing University of Technology , , ,
- 2Chongqing University , , ,
Abstract
This study evaluates an integrated resource-recovery route for spent fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts, consisting of alkaline roasting, water leaching, adsorption/desorption, precipitation recovery, and leaching-residue valorization. Using the treatment of 1 t of spent FCC catalyst as the functional unit, environmental impacts were assessed in SimaPro 10.1 using Environmental Footprint 3.1 (adapted) as the primary life-cycle impact assessment method, complemented by an operating-level cost assessment, sensitivity analysis, and scenario analysis. Before product-substitution credits, the climate-change impacts of the wet-recovery and leaching-residue-valorization stages were 1,536.56 and 1,940.11 kg CO2-eq, respectively. After system expansion, all 16 main impact categories showed net environmental benefits under the adopted substitution assumptions; when the two freshwater-ecotoxicity subindicators are included, all 18 displayed results were also net negative. The net climate-change impact was – 2,257.14 kg CO2-eq, while resource use for minerals and metals and fossil resources showed net reductions of 0.817 kg Sb-eq and 37,306.47 MJ, respectively. The estimated operating cost was 5,763.35 Chinese yuan (CNY) per t of spent catalyst, while the potential product revenue was 53,254.45 CNY/t under the adopted market-price assumptions. These results indicate favorable operating-level economic potential but should not be interpreted as evidence of industrial profitability. Electricity consumption is the dominant driver of energy- and atmosphere-related impacts, whereas CuSO4·5H2O and ammonium-containing reagents are important contributors to several toxicity- and eutrophication-related impacts. The results therefore support a coordinated optimization strategy combining energy-efficiency improvement, low-carbon electricity, and reduction or substitution of high-impact reagents.
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BibTeX
@article{xue2026environmental,
title = {{Environmental and Preliminary Economic Assessment of Integrated Resource Recovery from Spent Fluid Catalytic Cracking Catalysts}},
author = {Yao Xue and Jianying Zhao and Zhe Tan and De’an Pan and Xiaoguang Zhang},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c06836},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/63340/5446665/Environmental-and-Preliminary-Economic-Assessment},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Environmental and Preliminary Economic Assessment of Integrated Resource Recovery from Spent Fluid Catalytic Cracking Catalysts
AU - Yao Xue
AU - Jianying Zhao
AU - Zhe Tan
AU - De’an Pan
AU - Xiaoguang Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c06836
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/63340/5446665/Environmental-and-Preliminary-Economic-Assessment
AB - This study evaluates an integrated resource-recovery route for spent fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts, consisting of alkaline roasting, water leaching, adsorption/desorption, precipitation recovery, and leaching-residue valorization. Using the treatment of 1 t of spent FCC catalyst as the functional unit, environmental impacts were assessed in SimaPro 10.1 using Environmental Footprint 3.1 (adapted) as the primary life-cycle impact assessment method, complemented by an operating-level cost assessment, sensitivity analysis, and scenario analysis. Before product-substitution credits, the climate-change impacts of the wet-recovery and leaching-residue-valorization stages were 1,536.56 and 1,940.11 kg CO2-eq, respectively. After system expansion, all 16 main impact categories showed net environmental benefits under the adopted substitution assumptions; when the two freshwater-ecotoxicity subindicators are included, all 18 displayed results were also net negative. The net climate-change impact was – 2,257.14 kg CO2-eq, while resource use for minerals and metals and fossil resources showed net reductions of 0.817 kg Sb-eq and 37,306.47 MJ, respectively. The estimated operating cost was 5,763.35 Chinese yuan (CNY) per t of spent catalyst, while the potential product revenue was 53,254.45 CNY/t under the adopted market-price assumptions. These results indicate favorable operating-level economic potential but should not be interpreted as evidence of industrial profitability. Electricity consumption is the dominant driver of energy- and atmosphere-related impacts, whereas CuSO4·5H2O and ammonium-containing reagents are important contributors to several toxicity- and eutrophication-related impacts. The results therefore support a coordinated optimization strategy combining energy-efficiency improvement, low-carbon electricity, and reduction or substitution of high-impact reagents.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -