Water Use in the Industrial Sector Based on the Ipac Model Under the Carbon Neutral Transformation Path

Abstract

In order to actively respond to the challenges brought by climate change, we explore the changes in water use in industrial sectors under the carbon neutral transformation path. The industrial sectors involved include steel, chemicals, food processing, papermaking, textiles and non-ferrous metals. By constructing the IPAC-Tech Water model and combining 3 different water consumption scenarios (HWC, BSP, LWC) and 54 different advanced water-saving technologies, the water consumption of the involved industrial sectors was quantitatively studied. The research results show that: 1. The promotion of water-saving technology has greatly reduced water consumption in high-water-consuming industries, especially in the papermaking and textile industries. Zero-discharge technology plays a crucial role, but future new water-saving technologies will be affected by the scale of production. The water-saving potential of water technologies does not significantly reduce water demand. 2. With the promotion of hydrogen-based technology, the water demand of traditional high-water-consuming industrial sectors (steel, ammonia, ethylene, methanol, etc.) has been greatly reduced. In 2050, the water consumption of the BSP scenario and the LWC scenario will be close, and water-saving technology will no longer has significant water saving effect. 3. In 2050, the water consumption of steel will be reduced to 985.929 million tons, that of ethylene will be 59.11 million tons, that of synthetic ammonia will be 242.4 million tons, and that of methanol will be 268.29 million tons.

Keywords: Carbon neutrality, Industrial water, Water-Saving technology, Hydrogen-Based technology, Steel, Chemical industry