Location: RER - Europe
This dataset represents the production of benzoic acid by oxidation of toluene. Benzoic acid is a white crystalline solid. The majority of benzoic acid is used to produce phenol. Benzoic acid is also used to produce sodium and potassium benzoate which are consumed in the food and beverage industry. Other major applications include benzoate plasticizers, alkyd resins and benzyl chloride.
This dataset is based on estimations using stoichiometry and expert judgement, as well as data from a large chemical plant (Gendorf 2016).
References:
Frischknecht R., Jungbluth N., Althaus H.-J., Doka G., Dones R., Heck T., Hellweg S., Hischier R., Nemecek T., Rebitzer G. and Spielmann M. (2007) Overview and Methodology. Final report ecoinvent v2.0 No. 1. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, CH, retrieved from: www.ecoinvent.org.
CAMEO Chemicals. Chemical Datasheet, Benzoic acid, https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/2585 (last accessed, 2017-01-06).
Gendorf (2016) Umwelterklärung 2015, Werk Gendorf Industriepark, www.gendorf.de.
Undefined unit processes (UPRs) are the unlinked, multi-product activity datasets that form the basis for all of the system models available in the ecoinvent database. This is the way the datasets are obtained and entered into the database by the data providers. These activity datasets are useful for investigating the environmental impacts of a specific activity (gate-to-gate), without regard to its upstream or downstream impacts.