A life cycle analysis comparing coal liquefaction techniques: A health-based assessment in China

Abstract As an emerging coal chemical industry, explorations on the feasibility and benefits of coal-to-liquid (CTL) have attracted the attention of researchers. However, there is no specialized research discussing occupational health damage in this field, which is our concern. To fill this gap and compare three conventional liquefaction routes from health damage, three demonstration projects in China are discussed. Using life cycle assessment (LCA), technical routes of CTL are divided into several substages at first, then a health-based assessment model is established to estimate and monetize the health burden of various harmful factors, which could help to grasp production stages with greater pollution, and provide reference for stakeholders to select the best technical option with economic indicator. Results show that the “willingness to pay” (WTP) for the three routes, i.e., indirect liquefaction (ICL), direct liquefaction (DCL), and coal-oil coprocessing (COCP), was CNY 1.27E+11, 4.76E+10, and 7.29E+09, respectively. Severe health damage in this industry is mainly due to toxic and harmful gases, namely, SO2 and NO2, with the percentage of 97%, and they are mostly produced during coal mining and processing. Finally, some practical suggestions are proposed aiming to attract the attraction of enterprises and governments for further implementation in CTL industry.