Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Coke Production from Delayed Coking Process

Life cycle cost (LCC) analysis was performed for a 1.6 million tons per year (30,000 BPD) delayed coking unit. The results show that the LCC of coke production is higher than the price of coke and profits are obtained at the expense of environmental costs. The feedstock cost accounts for a majority of LCC. The variability impacts of processing expenses and carbon dioxide (CO2) price on LCC are relative similar. This suggests that if a higher CO2 price is imposed on coke production, it is unlikely that the producer will make any effort to reduce the CO2 emissions either by improving the efficiency of coking process or implement CO2 remediation initiatives. The CO2 price increase will be considered as a processing cost increase. The green factor (GF) is predominantly dependent on coke price; an increased coke price improves the GF significantly. Increased CO2 price has a negative impact on GF, but the relative incremental impact of CO2 price on GF is less at high CO2 prices. Hence, there is little can be done to improve the GF of coke production, since the coke price is beyond the control of coke producer.