Abstract: The carbon footprint assessment for the products from catalytic reforming unit is of great significance for constructing carbon footprint system for the refining industry and the economy and society. As the energy utilization status of the petrochemical process unit is an important factor affecting carbon emissions, the carbon footprint assessment based on the energy status evolution of product materials in the process of catalytic reforming unit was studied. The assessment method which includes building a process flow, establishing an emission source list, analyzing material balance, emission distribution, and carbon footprint calculation was proposed. The products carbon footprint was calculated by taking a 1.0 Mt/a catalytic reforming unit as a case study. Due to the different processing flow for different products, their carbon footprint will vary greatly. Among them, the by-product hydrogen has a higher carbon footprint of 1613.079 kg/t, while benzene and toluene have carbon footprints of 359.957 kg/t and 428.924 kg/t, respectively; meanwhile, the carbon emissions calculated from the product carbon footprint have good consistency with that calculated from the emission source inventory.

Key words: catalytic reforming, carbon footprint, by-product hydrogen, emission source inventory, xylenes