EP4453828A1

EP4453828A1 - Environmental attributes for chemical products being selected from alcohols, ethers, oxiranes, alkanes, aliphatic chlorides, organic phosphines, organic phosphates and sulfonic acids

Info

Publication number: EP4453828A1
Application number: EP22836218.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bastian GRUMBRECHT; Steffen Thomas KLOSTERHALFEN; Christian Krueger; Kurt WENZL; Ana Alba Perez; Christopher Alec ANDERLOHR; Martin Binder; Alessandro PISTILLO; Sina HARHAUSEN
Original assignee: BASF SE
Current assignee: BASF SE
Priority date: 2021-12-21
Filing date: 2022-12-19
Publication date: 2024-10-30

Abstract

Disclosed are systems for producing a specific chemical product associated with a digital asset,methods for producing a specific chemical product associated with a digital asset, apparatuses for generating a digital asset, computer-implemented methods for generating a chemical pass-port, computer program elements for generating a digital asset, uses of a specific chemical product associated with a digital asset, uses of a digital asset, products produced from the spe-cific chemical product and associated with a digital asset, a digital asset including one or more decentral identifier(s) and data related to the environmental impact data, apparatuses for pro-ducing a product associated with the digital asset and methods for producing a product associ-ated with the digital asset.

Description

ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES FOR CHEMICAL PRODUCTS BEING SELECTED FROM ALCOHOLS, ETHERS, OXIRANES, ALKANES, ALIPHATIC CHLORIDES, ORGANIC PHOSPHINES, ORGANIC PHOSPHATES AND SULFONIC ACIDS.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to systems for producing a specific chemical product being selected from alcohols, ethers, oxiranes alkanes, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic chlorides, organic phosphines, organic phosphates, and sulfonic acids (hereinafter referred to as “specific chemical product”) associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, methods for producing a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, apparatuses for generating a passport or digital asset associated with a specific chemical product, computer-implemented methods for generating a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, computer program elements for generating a specific chemical products passport or digital asset, uses of a specific chemical products associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, uses of a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, products produced from the specific chemical product and associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, a specific chemical product, a specific chemical product passport or digital asset including one or more decentral identifier(s) and data related to environmental impact data, apparatuses for producing a product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset and methods for producing a product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

In supply chains the environmental impact of each supply chain participants is of great interest. Specifically in the field of chemistry, specific chemical products are employed for a wide range of applications and are supplied to diverse value chains. In such complex systems transparency between value chain participants is hard to achieve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect disclosed is a system for producing a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or a digital asset, the system comprising:

- a chemical production network configured to produce the specific chemical product wherein the specific chemical product is produced from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of the chemical production network, wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s);

- a production operating apparatus configured to generate the specific chemical product passport or digital asset by providing a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and the one or more environmental attribute(s) of the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s); linking the decentral identifier and the environmental attribute(s);

- optionally the chemical production network or system configured to provide the produced specific chemical product in association with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset.

In another aspect disclosed is a system for producing a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, the system comprising:

- a chemical production network configured to produce the specific chemical product from one or more input material(s) through chemical process(s), wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s);

- a production operating apparatus configured to generate the specific chemical product passport or digital asset by providing and/or linking a decentral identifier associated with the specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the one or more input material(s) and/or the chemical process(s).

In another aspect disclosed is a method for producing a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, wherein the method comprises:

- producing the specific chemical product from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s);

- generating the specific chemical product passport or digital asset by providing a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the one or more input materials) and/or the one or more chemical process(s); linking the decentral identifier and the one or more environmental attribute(s);

- providing the produced specific chemical product in association with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset. In another aspect disclosed is a method for producing a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or a digital asset, wherein the method comprises:

- producing the specific chemical product from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s),

- generating the specific chemical product passport or digital asset by providing and/or linking a decentral identifier associated with the specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) of the one or more input material(s) and/or the chemical process(s).

In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for generating a passport or digital asset associated with a specific chemical product, wherein the specific chemical product is produced from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s), the apparatus comprising:

- a decentral identity provider configured to provide a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) of the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product;

- an assignor configured the decentral identifier and the environmental attribute(s);

- a passport provider configured to provide the specific chemical product passport or digital asset in association with the produced specific chemical product to a decentral network, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product is made accessible to a consumer of the specific chemical product through the specific chemical product passport or digital asset.

In another aspect disclosed is a method, e.g. a computer-implemented method, for generating a specific chemical product passport or digital asset associated with a specific chemical product, wherein the specific chemical product is produced from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s), the method comprising:

- providing a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) of the one or more input materials) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product; - linking the decentral identifier and the environmental attribute(s);

- providing the specific chemical product passport or digital asset in association with the produced specific chemical product to a decentral network, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product is made accessible to a user of the specific chemical product through the specific chemical product passport or digital asset.

In another aspect disclosed is a computer element, such as a computer readable storage medium, a computer program or a computer program product, comprising instructions, which when executed by a computing node or a computing system, direct the computing node or computing system to carry out the steps of the computer-implemented methods disclosed herein.

In another aspect disclosed is a computer element, such as a computer readable storage medium, a computer program or a computer program product, comprising instructions, which when executed by the apparatuses disclosed herein, direct the apparatuses to carry out steps the apparatuses disclosed herein are configured to execute.

In another aspect disclosed is a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or a digital asset as produced according to the methods disclosed herein. In another aspect disclosed is a specific chemical product associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset as produced according to the systems disclosed herein.

In another aspect disclosed is a specific chemical product |[CR1]associated with a specific chemical product passport or digital asset, wherein the specific chemical product is produced from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute(s), wherein the specific chemical product passport or digital asset includes a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and a link to environmental attribute(s) associated with one or more environmental attribute(s) of one or more input material(s) and/or one or more chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product.

In another aspect disclosed is a specific chemical product passport or digital asset as generated according to the methods disclosed herein. In another aspect disclosed is a specific chemical product passport or digital asset as generated according to the apparatuses disclosed herein. In another aspect disclosed is a production system for producing a product from the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset as provided according to the systems, apparatuses or methods disclosed herein. In another aspect disclosed is a production method for producing a product from the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset as provided according to the systems, apparatuses or methods disclosed herein.

In another aspect disclosed is a use of the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset as disclosed herein for producing a product from the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset.

In another aspect disclosed is a use of the specific chemical product passport or digital asset as disclosed herein for generating a product passport or digital asset associated with a product produced from the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset. In another aspect disclosed is a method for using the digital asset generated according to the methods disclosed herein in the production of a product produced from the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset.

In another aspect disclosed is a specific chemical product associated with a digital asset including a decentral identifier associated with the specific chemical product and linked to one or more environmental attribute(s) of the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product.

In another aspect disclosed is a use of the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset for producing a product from the specific chemical product and associating the specific chemical product passport or digital asset with the product produced from the specific chemical product. In another aspect disclosed is a use of the specific chemical product associated with the specific chemical product passport or digital asset for producing a product from the specific chemical product and deriving a product passport or digital asset from the specific chemical product passport or digital asset. In another aspect disclosed is a method for using the specific chemical product associated with the digital asset for producing a product from the specific chemical product as disclosed herein and deriving a digital asset associated with the product from the specific chemical product passport or digital asset. Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, the systems, chemical products, specific chemical product, specific chemical product passports or digital assets and the computer elements lined out above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples.

EMBODIMENTS

In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by ways of embodiments and/or example. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and/or examples.

Determining, generating includes initiating or causing to determine, generate. Providing includes “initiating or causing to access, determine, generate, send or receive”. “Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node to perform the respective action.

The methods, the systems, specific chemical products, specific chemical product passports or digital assets and the computer elements disclosed herein provide an efficient, secure and robust way for sharing or exchanging environmental impact data across different participant nodes in value chains. In particular, by providing specific chemical product specific data via the specific chemical product passport or digital asset, environmental impacts can be shared and made transparent from the specific chemical product to the product produced from such specific chemical product. The specific chemical product passport or digital asset enables secure data exchange, since data access can be controlled by the specific chemical product provider, e.g. the entity providing the specific chemical product. The exchanged data assets can be specific to the specific chemical product as produced and tailored to the needs of the consumer of the specific chemical product. This way an improved tracking and tracing of specific chemical products can be achieved by securely providing environmental impact data in diverse and highly complex value chains. The environmental impact of specific chemical product can hence be tracked leading to simpler, more efficient and sustainable handling of specific chemical product by value chain participants.

The specific chemical products associated with the specific chemical products passport or digital asset may be selected from alcohols, ethers, oxiranes alkanes, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic chlorides, organic phosphines, organic phosphates and sulfonic acids.

A mixture of specific chemical products is also possible. In the context of the present invention, the terms “aliphatic” and “cycloaliphatic” means any organic compound that is not aromatic. It is not limited to hydrocarbons but may comprise various functional groups. The term functional group is synonymous with the term comprising heteroatoms (i.e. an atom other than hydrogen and carbon) because any functional group involves the presence of at least one heteroatom. In the same way, an aromatic compound may also comprise heteroatoms.

Preferably, the specific chemical products do neither comprise any carbonyl group nor any nitrogen atom.

The term ether as used herein explicitly excludes any oxirane.

In a preferred embodiment the specific chemical product may be an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic mono alcohol having preferably 1 to 20, preferably 2 to 15 carbon atoms. Besides the one alcohol group, such aliphatic or cycloaliphatic mono alcohol may have additional functional groups like for example a mercaptan group or an ether group.

Preferred mono alcohols are methanol, octanol, 1-ethynyl-1 -cyclohexanol, 2-mercaptoethanol, 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol, 3,7,11-trimethyldodecyn-3-ol, 3-butyne-2-ol, propargyl alcohol, tert.-amyl alcohol, 3-methyl-pentyn-1-ol-3 and butan-2-ol (in particular (S)-butan-2-ol).

In another preferred embodiment the specific chemical product may be an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic diol having preferably 2 to 20, preferably 4 to 15 carbon atoms. Besides the two alcohol groups, such aliphatic or cycloaliphatic mono alcohol may have additional functional groups like for example a mercaptan group, an ether group or an ester group.

Preferred Diols are 1 ,2-pentanediol, 1 ,4-butanediol, Butane-2,3-diol, 1 ,5-pentanediol, 2, 4,7,9- tetramethyl-5-decindiol, 2-butin-1 ,4-diol, 3-hexin-2,5-diol, 1 ,6-hexanediol, hydroxypivalic acid neopentylglycolester, 2,2'-thiobisethanol and 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-hexanediol, tetramethylcyclobu- tandiol, and isosorbide.

In another preferred embodiment the oxygen containing compound may be polymeric diol or triol such as a polyester or polyether.

A preferred polyester is for example a polycaprolactones having preferably a number average molecular weight in the range of from 400 to 3000, preferably 500 to 2200 g/mol. Preferred polycaprolactones are selected from polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2-dimethyl-1 ,3-propanediol having a number average molecular weight of 900 to 1100 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2- dimethyl-1 ,3-propanediol having a number average molecular weight of 1900 to 2100 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2'- oxydiethanol having a number average molecular weight of 450 to 650 g/mol, and polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with propylidynetrimethanol having a number average molecular weight of 450 to 650 g/mol.

In another preferred embodiment the oxygen containing compound may be a polymeric alcohol which is obtainable by polymerization of ethyne with 4-(1 ,1-dimethylethyl)-phenol.

A preferred polyether is for example a polytetrahydrofuran having preferably a number average molecular weight in the range of from 200 to 3000 g/mol.

In another preferred embodiment specific chemical product may be an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic polyol (i.e. an alcohol having more than two alcohol groups) having preferably 2 to 20, preferably 4 to 15 carbon atoms. Besides the more than two alcohol groups, such aliphatic or cycloaliphatic polyol may have additional functional groups like for example a mercaptan group, an ether group or an ester group. Preferably it does not have any further functional groups.

Preferred polyols are for example neopentylglycol and trimethylolpropane.

In another preferred embodiment the specific chemical product may be an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic oxirane having preferably 2 to 10, preferably 3 to 6 carbon atoms.

Preferred oxiranes are propylene oxide and isobutylene oxide.

In another preferred embodiment the specific chemical product may be an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic ether having preferably 2 to 20, preferably 2 to 4 carbon atoms. A compound having one ether group is preferred. Such aliphatic or cycloaliphatic ether may comprise heteroatoms, in particular chlorine. Preferably, it either comprises chlorine or no heteroatoms. Preferred ethers are tetrahydrofuran, 2,2'-dichlorodiethylether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane and 1,4- dioxane, 1 ,3-dioxolane.

In a preferred embodiment the specific chemical products may be selected from alkanes having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, preferably 3 to 5 carbon atoms or any mixture thereof.

Preferred alkanes are selected from isobutane, undecane, tridecane.

In another preferred embodiment the specific chemical products may be selected from aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic phosphines, preferably aromatic phosphines. Such aromatic phosphines preferably have 6 to 30, more preferably 6 to 20 carbon atoms.

Preferred organic phosphines are dichlorophenylphosphine, diphenylchlorphosphine and triphenyl phosphine.

In another preferred embodiment the specific chemical products may be selected from aliphatic or cycloaliphatic chlorides, having preferably 2 to 20, more preferably 4 to 15 carbon atoms. It may have one or more chloride atoms, preferably one or two chloride atoms. Preferably, it does not have any heteroatoms apart from the chloride(s).

Preferred aliphatic or cycloaliphatic chlorides are 2-ethylhexylchloride, 1 -chloroctane and 1,6- dichlorohexane.

In another preferred embodiment the specific chemical products may be selected from sulfonic acids having the following formula: wherein R is an organic residue.

Preferred sulfonic acids are methane sulfonic acid and hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid.

A preferred organic phosphate is triisobutyl phosphate.

The chemical production network may include one or more one or more chemical and/or mechanical process(es). The chemical production network may produce one or more output mate- rial(s) through chemical and/or mechanical processing. The chemical production network may include multiple types of production processes for producing one or more output material(s) from one or more input material(s). The chemical production network may produce one or more output material(s) from input material(s) provided to the chemical production network. The chemical production network may include a complex production network producing multiple chemical products via multiple production process(es). The chemical production network may include connected, interconnected and/or non-connected production process(es). The chemical production network may include a composite or Verbund network.

The chemical production network may include identity preserving or segregated production processes). Identity preserving or segregated in this context may refer to environmental attribute^) of input material(s) being preserved or segregated in the production process(es). Examples are non-fossil, e.g. renewable or recycled, input materials used to produce the one or more specific chemical product(s) without fossil content. Further examples are fossil input material(s) used to produce the one or more specific chemical product(s) with fossil content. Chemical production networks may include non-identity preserving or non-segregated production processes). Non-identity preserving or non-segregated in this context may refer to non-fossil input material(s) being mixed with fossil input material(s) to produce the specific chemical product(s). For example, fossil and renewable input materials may be mixed to produce the specific chemical product(s) with fossil and renewable content.

The chemical production network may include one or more production process(es) with multiple production steps. The production steps included in the chemical network may be defined by the physical system boundary of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by location and/or control over production processes or steps. The system boundary may be defined by a site of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by production process(es) or step(s) controlled by one entity or multiple entities jointly. The system boundary may be defined by the value chain with staggered production process(es) or step(s) to the chemical end product, which may be controlled by multiple entities jointly or separately. The chemical production network may include a waste collection, a sorting step, a recycling step such as pyrolysis, a cracking step such as steam cracking, a separation step to separate intermediates of one process step and further processing steps to convert such intermediates to output material(s), in particular the produced specific chemical product(s) leaving the system boundary of the chemical production network. The input material(s) may enter the physical system boundary of the chemical production network. The entry point(s) of the chemical production network may be marked by the entry of input material(s) to the chemical production network or the system boundary of the chemical network. The output material(s), in particular the produced specific chemical product(s), may leave the physical system boundary of the chemical production network. The exit point(s) of the chemical production network may be marked by the exit of output material(s), in particular the produced specific chemical product(s), from the chemical production network or the system boundary of the chemical network.

The chemical production network may include one or more production chain(s) for the production of specific chemical products. The production chain(s) for the production of specific chemical products may be interconnected. The production chain(s) for the production of specific chemical products may be interconnected with production chain(s) for the production of other output material(s). The production chain(s) for the production of specific chemical products may include production chain(s) for the production of intermediates used to produce specific chemical products. The production chain(s) for the production of specific chemical products may use input material(s) provided by chemical network(s) for the production of intermediates usable to produce specific chemical products.

One or more input material(s) may be provided to the chemical production network for producing one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s). The output materials), in particular specific chemical product(s), may be produced from one or more input materials) through one or more chemical process(s) of the chemical production network. The input material may comprise any input material entering the chemical production network at any entry point. The input material may include organic or inorganic input material(s). The input material may be a pre-cursor product, an intermediate material, a feedstock or a raw material used to produce one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s). The input material may be fed to the chemical production network to produce one or more output materials), in particular specific chemical product(s). The input material may be fed to chemical production network including one or more production process(es) with multiple process steps. The input material may be fed to the chemical production network at the start of the production process or at any intermediate stage of the production process. The input materials entering the chemical production network may be used to produce one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s).

The input material may be associated with an input material identifier. The input material identifier may comprise any identifier uniquely associated with the input material. The input material identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the input material. The input material identifier may be associated with a single batch of input material. The input material identifier may be associated with a group of input materials. The identifier may be associated with multiple physical entities of the input material. The input material identifier may be associated with continuous or semi-continuous stream of input material. The input material identifier may be associated with a stream of the input material e.g. over a certain time period or from a certain supplier. The input material identifier may be linked or connected to one or more environmental attribute(s).

Environmental attribute may refer to a property related to the environmental impact. Such property may be the property of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production networks) and/or specific chemical product(s). The environmental attribute may indicate an environmental performance of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production networks) and/or specific chemical product(s). The environmental attribute may be derived from properties of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production network(s) and/or specific chemical product(s). The environmental attribute may be associated with the environmental impact of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production network(s) and/or specific chemical product(s) at any stage of the lifecycle of the input material(s) and/or specific chemical product(s). The stages may include providing raw material, providing feedstock, producing chemical products, such as intermediate products or end products, producing discrete products by using the chemical products, using chemical products or discrete products, treating end-of-life products, recycling end-of-life products, disposing end-of-life products, reusing components from end-of-life products or any subset of stages. The environmental attribute may be specified or may be derived from any activity of one or more entities participating at any stage of the lifecycle of one or more material(s) or product(s).

The environmental attribute may include one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to environmental impact of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production network(s) and/or specific chemical product(s). The environmental attribute may include environmental, technical, recyclability or circularity characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production network(s) and/or specific chemical product(s).

The environmental attribute may include one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to the environmental impact of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production network(s) and/or specific chemical product(s). The environmental attribute may include environmental, technical, recyclability or circularity characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of input material(s), chemical process(es), chemical production network(s) and/or specific chemical product(s). The one or more environmental attribute(s) may be attributable to the environmental impact of the specific chemical product. The one or more environmental attribute(s) may relate to environmental, technical, recyclability, circularity and/or complementary risk characteristics) of the specific chemical product.

Environmental characteristic(s) may specify or quantify ecological criteria associated with environmental impact. Environmental characteristic(s) may be or may be derived from measurements taken during the lifecycle. Environmental characteristics may be determined at any stage of the lifecycle and may characterize the environmental impact for such stage or up to such stage. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, resource usage, air emissions, ozone depletion potential, water pollution, noise pollution, energy consumption, waste reduction, or eutrophication potential. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include product characteristics related to the production of the product like bio based, vegetable based, animal based, halogen-free, fluorine-free, vegan, halal, kosher, palm oil-free, natural , tox-fee, volatile organic compounds-free or any combinations thereof.

Technical characteristic(s) may specify or quantify performance at least indirectly associated with the environmental impact. Technical characteristic(s) may be or may be derived from measurements taken during the lifecycle. Technical characteristics may be determined at any stage of the lifecycle and may characterize the performance for such stage or up to such stage. Technical characteristic(s) may for example include chemical composition data, raw material composition such as bio-based or recycled input material content specifying e.g. x% non fossil and y% fossil content, bill of materials, product specification data such as product purity, product form (as indication to their impact on dust formation/release), safety data, product extractability, migration data, toxicological data or ecotoxicological data, product component data, safety data, application property data, application instructions, quality data or any combinations thereof.

Circularity characteristic(s) may specify or quantify the life cycle characteristics associated with circular uses. Circularity characteristic(s) may be or may be derived from measurements taken during the lifecycle. Circularity characteristic(s) may be or may be derived from circular data recorded in one or more prior lifecycle(s) including reuse. Circularity characteristic(s) may be determined at any stage of the lifecycle and may characterize the reuse or recycling performance for such stage or up to such stage. Circularity characteristic(s) may for example include recycling data, reuse rate, recycling rate, recycling loops, reuse performance, reused quality or any combinations thereof. Recyclability characteristic(s) may specify or quantify life cycle characteristics associated with recycling uses. Recyclability characteristic(s) may include the composition of the material including specifically tailored constituents making the material suitable for recycling. Recyclability characteristic(s) may be or may be derived from measurements taken during the lifecycle. Recyclability characteristic(s) may be or may be derived from recycling data recorded in one or more prior lifecycle(s). Recyclability characteristics may be determined at any stage of the lifecycle and may characterize the recycling performance for such stage or up to such stage. Recyclability characteristic(s) may for example include recycling data, number of reuses, recy- clate composition, recyclate quality, waste stream composition, waste stream quality or any combinations thereof.

In one embodiment the specific chemical products passport or digital asset associated with the specific chemical product may include mass balanced environmental attributes related to the input material. Mass balanced environmental attributes may include environmental attributes of the input material(s) used to produce the specific chemical product, which are tracked and by mass attributable to the specific chemical product. The environmental impact of input material(s) may be determined based on input material(s) used in the chemical process(s) to produce the specific chemical product. For example, bio-based, renewable and/or recycled content of input material(s) used to produce the specific chemical product may be tracked. Further for example, castor oil or palm oil content of input material(s) used to produce the specific chemical product may be tracked. Further for example, properties related to the environmental impact of the input material include RSPO palm oil, palm oil free or castor oil may be tracked. Further for example, properties of the chemical process(es) used to produce the specific chemical product may be tracked. Examples of tracked process properties related to the environmental impact include water consumption, CO2 emissions and/or Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, amount of waste generation, mixed material generation, design for recycling, energy consumption, processing properties such as less waste or less loss of properties. The properties may be tracked based on a certificate from a certifying agency. The properties may be tracked based on inherent physical properties derived from measurements.

In one embodiment the produced specific chemical product is connected to the decentral identifier physically identifying the produced specific chemical product. The production operating apparatus may be configured to provide the decentral identifier associated with a physical entity of the produced specific chemical product. The production operating apparatus may be configured to link the decentral identifier to a physical identifier of the produced specific chemical product. The production operating apparatus may be configured to assign the decentral identifier to the physical identifier connected to the produced specific chemical product. The production operat- ing apparatus may be configured to assign the decentral identifier to the physical identifier physically connected to the produced specific chemical product.

In one embodiment the decentral identifier relates to data associated with at least one product produced from the specific chemical product, wherein the one or more environmental attribute^) associated with the at least one product is derived from one or more environmental attribute^) associated with the specific chemical product. The one or more environmental attribute^) associated with the specific chemical product may be associated with the one or more input material(s) and/or the chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may relate to any identifier uniquely associated with the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may refer to a single batch of specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may be associated with a group of specific chemical products. The identifier may refer to multiple physical entities of the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may be associated with continuous or semi-continuous stream of specific chemical product. The identifier may refer to a stream of the specific chemical product e.g. over a certain time period or from a certain supplier.

In one embodiment the one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product(s) are provided from at least one balancing account configured to store environmental attribute(s) associated with input material(s). The balancing account may relate to storage structure associated with metadata, such as an environmental attribute type. For instance, the balancing account may be associated with metadata indicating the environmental attribute type to be recycled-content or bio-based. An inbound allocator may be configured to allocate the one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with input material(s) to at least one balancing account e.g. on entry of the input material to the chemical production network. The balancing account may be associated with the respective environmental attribute type. An outbound assignor may be configured to assign at least one environmental attribute from the at least one balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute to the decentral identifier. One or more environmental attribute(s) may be assigned to the at least one decentral identifier. Assignment may include de-allocation of the one or more environmental attributes from the balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute type. By using the balancing accounts environmental attributes of input materials can be reliably tracked and assigned to specific chemical products. In one embodiment the one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product(s) are provided from at least one balancing account configured to store environmental attribute(s) associated with input material(s). An inbound allocator may be configured to allocate the one or more environmental attribute(s) to at least one balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute, e.g. on input material entering the chemical production network. The balancing account may be associated with the respective environmental attribute type. The one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the input materials may be allocated to the balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute type. An outbound assignor may be configured to assign or link at least one environmental attribute from the at least one balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute type to the decentral identifier. This may include de-allocation of the one or more environmental attribute(es) from the balancing account associated with the respective environmental attribute type. By using the balancing accounts environmental attributes can be tacked through the chemical production network. This way the environmental attributes may be detached from the material flow. Attribution of environmental attribute(s) may be conducted on a mass balance basis for the chemical production network. In such approach the total mass of input materials and specific chemical products as well as the attribution of respective environmental attribute(s) associated with input materials and specific chemical products are balanced.

In one embodiment the one or more environmental attribute(s) are associated with at least one property related to the environmental impact of the one or more input material(s) and/or the chemical process(s). The one or more environmental attribute(s) may specify environmental properties of the input material(s) used to produce the specific chemical product and/or the one or more environmental attribute(s) may specify environmental properties of the chemical processes) used to produce the specific chemical product. The one or more environmental attribute^) may be generated from environmental properties of the input material(s) used to produce the specific chemical product, process data associated with the chemical processing of the input material(s) and/or energy data associated with the energy consumption of the chemical processing. The one or more environmental attribute(s) may include a recycled content associated with the input material(s) and allocated or allocatable to the specific chemical product(s), a renewable content associated with the input material(s) and allocated or allocatable to the specific chemical product(s), and/or a product carbon footprint associated with the specific chemical product(s).

In one embodiment the production operating apparatus is configured to gather environmental attributes associated with the produced specific chemical product before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network. The environ- mental attributes associated with the produced specific chemical product may relate to input material(s). The environmental attributes associated with input materials may be provided before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network. The environmental attributes associated with input materials may be allocated to at least one balancing account before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network. The environmental attributes associated with the produced specific chemical product may relate to environmental properties generated from process data associated with the chemical processing of the input material(s) and/or energy data associated with the energy consumption of the chemical processing. The environmental attributes associated with the produced specific chemical product may be generated before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network. The process data associated with the chemical processing of the input material(s) and/or energy data associated with the energy consumption of the chemical processing may be gathered prior, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product.

In one embodiment the specific chemical product passport or the digital asset may include the decentral identifier associated with the specific chemical product and the one or more environmental attribute(s) linked to the decentral identifier. The one or more environmental attribute(s) may be linked to the decentral identifier included in the specific chemical product passport or the digital asset. The one or more environmental attribute(s) may be stored in a data base associated with or of the specific chemical product producer for access by any consumer of the specific chemical product. The one or more environmental attribute(s) may be stored in a data base associated with or of the specific chemical product producer for transfer to a consume of the specific chemical product e.g. when accessed or on providing the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may comprise any unique identifier uniquely associated with the specific chemical product producer and specific chemical product data such as the environmental attributes. The decentral identifier may include a Universally Unique I Dentifier (UUID) or a Digital I Dentifier (DID). The decentral identifier may be issued by a central or decentral identity issuer. The decentral identifier may be linked to authentication and/or authorization information. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the specific chemical product producer and specific chemical product data, such as the environmental attributes, access to the specific chemical product data may be controlled by the specific chemical product producer. This contrasts with central authority schemes, where identifiers are provided by such central authority and access to data is controlled by such central authority. Decentral in this context refers to the usage of the identifier in implementation as controlled by the data owner, such as the specific chemical product producer. The decentral identifier may be uniquely associated with the specific chemical product or the physical entity of the specific chemical product, e.g. as packaged for transportation to the consumer of the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may be uniquely to the one or more environmental attribute(s). The specific chemical product passport or the digital asset may include one or more digital representation(s) pointing to specific chemical product data including the environmental attribute(s) or parts thereof including the environmental attribute(s). The digital representation may comprise at least one interface to a data providing service. It may further include at least one interface to a data consuming service. It may include an endpoint for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoint) or an endpoint for service interaction (service endpoint), that is uniquely identified via a communication protocol. The digital representation(s) pointing to specific chemical product data or parts thereof may be uniquely associated with the decentral identifier.

The specific chemical product passport or the digital asset may comprise or be connected to a digital representation of specific chemical product data, such as environmental attribute(s). The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the specific chemical product data, such as environmental attribute(s) or part thereof. The digital representation may include a representation of specific chemical product data, such as environmental attribute(s). The specific chemical product passport or the digital asset may include or be connected to data related to the specific chemical product data, such as environmental attribute(s), the authentication information and the decentral identifier. The data related to the specific chemical product data, such as environmental attribute(s), may include the digital representation of the specific chemical product data, such as environmental attribute(s).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures:

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically an example of a chemical production network producing one or more output material(s) from one or more input material(s) in connection with a production operating system including an attribute management system.

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically an example of attributing environmental attributes of input materials to output materials of the chemical production network. Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of attributing environmental attributes of input materials and chemical processes to an output material of the chemical production network.

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically another example of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes associated with output materials to a material user as data consumer via a decentral network.

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes of output materials across value chains via the decentral network.

Fig. 6 illustrates schematically an example of a chemical production network for producing specific chemical products associated with the digital asset.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a chemical production network 102 producing one or more output material, in particular specific chemical product(s) 104 from one or more input material(s) 100 in connection with a production operating system 106 including an attribute management system.

For producing one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s)104 different input materials 100 may be provided as physical inputs to the chemical production network 102. The physical input material(s) 100 and output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 may be associated with one or more properties related to environmental impact. The properties related to environmental impact may be digitalized in the form of environmental attributes such as recycled or bio-based content of the input materials. The production operating system 106 may be configured to ingest such environmental attributes and to track the environmental attributes across the chemical production network 102 from input materials 100 to output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104.

The chemical production network 102 may include multiple interlinked processing steps. The chemical production network 102 may be an integrated chemical production network 102 with interrelated production chains. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple different production chains that have at least one intermediate product in common. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple stages of the chemical value chain. The chemical production network 102 may include the producing, refining, processing and/or purification of gas or crude oil. The chemical production network 102 may include a stream cracker, or a syngas plant connected to multiple production chains that output products 104 from the effluent of such plants. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple production chains that output from one or more input material(s) 100 one or more output material(s), in particular spe- cific chemical product(s), 104. The chemical production network 102 may include multiple tiers of a chemical value chain. The chemical production network 102 may include a physically interconnected arrangement of production sites. The production sites may be at the same location or at different locations. In the latter case the production sites may be interconnected by means of dedicated transportation systems such as pipelines, supply chain vehicles, like trucks, supply chain ships or other cargo transportation means.

The chemical production network 102 may chemically convert input materials 100 to one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104. The chemical production network 102 may convert input materials 100 by way of chemical conversion to one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104.

The input materials 100 may be fed to the chemical production network 102 at any entry point. The input materials 100 may be fed to the chemical production network 102 at the start of the chemical production network 102. Input materials 100 may for example make up the feedstock of a steam cracker. The input material 100 may include non-fossil input material, such as biobased or recycled material, and/or fossil input material for the manufacture of chemical intermediates and chemical output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104.

The chemical production network 102 may include multiple production steps. The production steps included in the chemical production network 102 may be defined by the system boundary of the chemical production network 102. The system boundary may be defined by location or control over production processes. The system boundary may be defined by the site of the chemical production network 102. The system boundary may be defined by production processes controlled by one entity or multiple entities jointly. The system boundary may be defined by value chain with staggered production processes to an end product, which may be controlled by multiple entities separately. The chemical production network 102 may include a waste collection and sorting step, a recycling step such as pyrolysis, a cracking step such as steam cracking, a separation step to separate intermediates of one process step and further processing steps to convert such intermediates to output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 leaving the system boundary of the chemical production network 102.

The production operating system 106 of the chemical production network 102 may be configured to monitor and/or control the chemical production network 102 based on operating parameters of the different processes. One process step monitored and/or controlled may be the feed of input materials 100 or the release of output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104. Another process step monitored and/or controlled may be the registration of environmental attributes associated with input materials 100 entering the system boundary of the chemical production network 102. Yet another process step monitored and/or controlled may be the attribution of environmental attributes to output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 produced via the chemical production network 102. Yet another process step monitored and/or controlled may be the management of environmental attributes associated with input materials 100 and output material(s), in particular specific chemical produces), 104 of the chemical production network 102.

The production operating system 106 may be configured to register inbound environmental attributes and to assign outbound environmental attributes. The production operating system 106 may be configured to access data related the inputs materials 100, the processes and/or the output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 used in the chemical production network 102. For example, the production operating system 106 may be configured to register a recycled or bio-based content of the one or more input material(s) 100 used in the chemical production network 102 as environmental attribute. The production operating system 106 may be configured to allocate the environmental attribute to at least one balancing account associated with the recycled or bio-based content of the input materials 100. The production operating system 106 may be configured to allocate at least a part of the environmental attributes from the at least one balancing account to the at least one output material(s), in particular to the specific chemical product(s), 104.

The production operating system 102 may be configured to handle environmental attributes related to the input materials 100 and output material(s), in particular specific chemical produces), 104 of the chemical production network 102. For example, the production operating system 106 may be configured to determine environmental attributes associated with the use of input materials 100 impacting the environmental property of the chemical production network 102 and the output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) 104 produced by the chemical production network 102. Further in particular, the production operating system 102 may be configured to determine environmental attributes associated with the output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) 104. This way the production operating system 102 may be configured to store environmental attributes in balancing accounts or to withdraw environmental attributes from the balancing accounts. The environmental attributes may hence be viewed as a credit that may be deposited in an account or deducted from an account related to the input and output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), of the chemical production network 102. This way the environmental impact of the production may be tracked and/or traced. In chemical production networks 102 multiple value chains may be linked. Additionally different input materials 100 or chemical processes impacting the environmental property of output materials), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 produced by the chemical production network 102 may be used. Examples of input materials 100 impacting at least one environmental property of output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) 104 produced from such input materials 100 are recycled, renewable or bio-based input materials 104. Examples of chemical processes impacting the environmental property include chemical processes using environmentally friendly technology such as carbon capture, carbon utilization or heat pumps.

Owing to the processing of chemicals in continuous or semi-continuous production and the complexity of chemical production networks 102, traceability of the input materials through the network may be hampered. In such scenarios, an equivalent environmental attribute signifying the impact on the environmental property of output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) 104 produced by the chemical production network may be allocated to balancing accounts and assigned to one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical produces), 104 of the chemical production network 102. The environmental attributes may hence be decoupled from the physical material flow inside the chemical production network 102. Decoupling may be based on the mass balance model in that the equivalent amount assigned to the one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) may not exceed the equivalent amount provided by input materials or processes. If an equivalent amount has been allocated to the virtual account of one environmental attribute type, it may not be allocated a second time to another virtual account of the one environmental attribute type. Environmental attribute types may be recycled, bio-based, renewable or the like. Environmental attributes may be provided in the form of digital assets or specific chemical product passports attached to the physical entity of the specific chemical product.

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically an example of attributing environmental attributes associated with input materials 100 to output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) 104 of the chemical production network 102.

As shown in Fig. 1 the chemical production network 102 and operations of the chemical production network 102 may be monitored and/or controlled by a production operating system 106.

The production operating system 106 may be configured to track environmental attributes from input materials 100 fed to the chemical production network 102 to output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 produced by the chemical production network 102. For tracking the operating system 106 may be configured to register environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100 provided to the chemical production network 102 and to at- tribute environmental attributes to output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 produced by the chemical production network 102.

The input materials 100 such as pyrolysis oil, bio-naphtha or bio-gas (in particular biomethane) may be provided to the chemical production network 102. The input materials 100 may enter the chemical production network 104 at the entry point, such as a such as a steam cracker or a syngas plant. The input materials 100 may be used in the chemical production network 102 to produce one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 from the input materials 100. output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s), 104 may be provided at exit points of the chemical production network 102. Further output material(s) may be MDI, TDI, PA6, EPS, PC, Polyols, Caprolactam, adipic acid, HMD, Polyamides.

On entry of the input material 100, input material data 108 may be provided via a communication network to a computing interface of the production operating system 106. A data provider, such as a QR code reader, may be configured to provide material data 108 related to the one or more input material(s) 100 and respective environmental attributes 108 to a computing interface configured to allocate the environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100. The material data 108 may include the input material identifier and environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100. The input material identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the input material 100 entering the chemical production network 102. The material data may be provided on, prior or after providing of the one or more input material(s) at entry points to the chemical production network 102.

The input material identifier may be linked to the environmental attribute(s) associated with the respective input material(s) 100, the amount of input material 100 and the certificate certifying the environmental attribute(s). The amount of input material may be a measured amount of input material 100 fed to a plant or storage of the chemical production network 102 for producing one or more output material(s), in particular specific chemical product(s) 104 from the input materials) 100. The input material identifier associated with the respective input material 100, the environmental attribute(s) associated with the respective input material(s) 100 and the amount of input material(s) 100 provided to the chemical production network 102 may be provided to the production operating system 106. Such data may be provided via a communication network on entry to chemical production network 102, or the data may be transferred from a computing system to the production operating system 106.

An inbound allocator 110 may be configured to allocate the one or more environmental attribute^) to at least one balancing account 112 associated with the respective environmental at- tribute. For example, one balancing account 112 may relate to environmental attributes from recycled material and another balancing account 112 may relate to environmental attributes from bio-based material. The balancing account may be associated with the respective environmental attribute type, such as bio-based or recycled. Based on such association the balancing account associated with the environmental attribute type of the respective input material 100 may be selected. The environmental attributes may be allocated to the selected balancing account. For example, the account 112 for recycled material may be selected and the environmental attribute may be allocated to such account 122.

To allocate, the one or more environmental attribute(s) may be converted to balancing units and the balancing units may be allocated to the balancing account 122. The conversion may be based on a conversion factor such as mass, weight, carbon atoms, hydrogen atoms, methane equivalents or any other suitable measure for quantifying the environmental impact of the environmental attribute. The conversion factor may hence take into account the difference between producing chemical products from conventional input material(s) and producing chemical products from non-conventional input material(s) or producing chemical products from a mix of conventional and non-conventional input materials. The conversion factor may relate to differences in chemical and/or physical properties of conventional and non-conventional input material(s).

By using the balancing accounts 112 it can be ensured that environmental attributes of input materials 100 are only used once for assignment to specific chemical products 104. This way double counting on input or output is avoided to ensure positive environmental impact can be reliable tracked and assigned to specific chemical products 104.

An identifier provider 116 may be configured to provide the specific chemical product identifier associated with the specific chemical product produced by the chemical production network 102 and provided at the exit point from the chemical production network 102.

An outbound assignor 114 may be configured to assign at least one environmental attribute from the at least one balancing account 112 associated with the respective environmental attribute to the specific chemical product identifier ID2. One or more environmental attribute(s) may be assigned to the at least one specific chemical product identifier ID2. Assignment may include de-allocation of the one or more environmental attributes from the balancing account 112 associated with the respective environmental attribute type. Assignment may include converting one or more balancing unit(s) to one or more environmental attribute(s). Assigning at least one environmental attribute associated with input material(s) to specific chemical product(s) may include the linking of the specific chemical products identifier ID2 with the environmental attribute. The specific chemical product identifier ID2 may be associated with the physical entity of the specific chemical product. This way the virtual identifier of a material may be uniquely linked to the physical material. Such linking may include a physical or virtual link of identifiers uniquely associated with the physical material. For physical linking a tag or code may be physically connected to the material, e.g., by printing a QR code on the packaging. For virtual linking different identifiers associated with the physical material may be linked. For example, an order number, a batch number, LOT number or a combination thereof may be linked.

The outbound assignor 114 may be configured to provide the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product to a data consumer, such as a system associated with a user of the specific chemical product. The outbound assignor 114 may be configured to provide the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product to a decentral network as will be described in the example of Fig. 4. Environmental attributes may be provided via the above ID based schema in the form of digital assets or specific chemical product passports associated with the physical entity of the specific chemical product.

Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of attributing environmental attributes of input materials 100 and chemical processes to the specific chemical product 104 of the chemical production network 102.

As described in the context of Figs. 1 and 2 the chemical production network 102 and operations of the chemical production network 102 may be monitored and/or controlled by a production operating system 106. Input materials 100 such as pyrolysis oil, bio-naphtha or bio-gas (in particular biomethane) may be provided to the chemical production network 102. The input materials 100 may be used in the chemical production network 102 to produce one or more specific chemical product(s) 104 from the input materials 100.

On entry of the input material 100, input material data 108 may be provided via a communication network to a computing interface of the production operating system 106. A data provider, such as a QR code reader, may be configured to provide material data 108 related to the one or more input material(s) 100 and respective environmental attributes 108 to a computing interface configured to allocate the environmental attributes associated with the input materials 100. The material data 108 may include the input material identifier and environmental attributes associ- ated with the input materials 100. The input material identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the input material 100 entering the chemical production network 102. The input material identifier may be linked to the carbon footprint of the input material 100 as environmental attribute. The material data may be provided on, prior or after providing of the one or more input material(s) at entry points to the chemical production network 102.

The inbound allocator 110 may be configured to retrieve the one or more environmental attribute^) and to provide such attributes to the carbon footprint (CF) generator 120. A process data provider 122 may be configured to gather process data associated with the chemical processing of the input material(s) 100 to produce the specific chemical product(s) 104. The process data provider 122 may be configured to gather energy data associated with the energy consumption of the chemical processing. The process data provider 122 may be configured to provide the process data and the energy data to the CF generator 120.

The CF generator 120 may be configured to determine the carbon footprint of the specific chemical product produced by the chemical production network. The carbon footprint of the of the specific chemical product may be determined based on the process data, the energy data and the carbon footprint of the input material(s) 100 used to produce the specific chemical product.

An outbound assignor 114 may be configured to assign the determined carbon footprint to the specific chemical product identifier ID2. One or more environmental attribute(s) may be assigned to the at least one specific chemical product identifier ID2, such as described in the context of Fig. 2.

The outbound assignor 114 may be configured to provide the environmental attributes, in particular the carbon footprint, associated with the specific chemical product to a data consumer, such as a system associated with a user of the specific chemical product. The outbound assignor 114 may be configured to provide the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product to a decentral network as will be described in the example of Fig. 4. Environmental attributes may be provided via the above ID based schema in the form of digital assets or specific chemical product passports associated with the physical entity of the specific chemical product.

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes associated with specific chemical products to a material user as data consumer via a decentral network.

The specific chemical product 104 as produced by the chemical production network 102 may be provided in association with the digital asset as described in the context of Figs. 2 and 3. The digital asset may include the specific chemical product identifier. The digital asset may include one or more environmental attribute(s) such as the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content. The digital asset may relate to one or more environmental attribute(s) such as the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content. The digital asset may include a digital representation of one or more environmental attribute(s) such as the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content.

The digital asset may further include or relate to authentication and/or authorization information linked to the specific chemical product identifier. The authentication and/or authorization information may be provided for authentication and/or authorization of a data providing service 208 and/or data consuming service 210. The specific chemical product identifier may include or relate to a decentral identifier, that is uniquely associated with the specific chemical product. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the environmental attributes. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the environmental attributes or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include a Universally Unique I Dentifier (UUID) or a Digital I Dentifier (DID). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with a data owner and/or specific chemical product. The data owner may be the producer of the specific chemical product. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the data owner and/or specific chemical product access to the material configuration data may be controlled by the data owner.

The digital asset including the digital representation of one or more environmental attribute(s) such as the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content may be stored in a decentral data base 200. The one or more environmental attribute(s) such as the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content may be stored in a data base 202 associated with the data owner, such as the producer of the specific chemical product 104.

The specific chemical product 104 may be physically delivered to a user of the specific chemical product. The specific chemical product may be connected with a QR-code having encoded the specific chemical product identifier. The user of the specific chemical product may read the QR- code through a QR-code reader 206. The specific chemical product identifier may be provided to a data base 208 associated with the consumer of the specific chemical product 104. In other embodiments the consumer of the specific chemical product may retrieve the specific chemical product identifier through the decentral data base 200.

The data owner in this example may be the input material producer, the output material producer, the output material user, the end product producer. The data owner may comprise any entity generating data. The data generating node may be coupled to the data owner or the entity owning or producing physical products from or for which data is generated. The data may be generated by a third-party entity on behalf of the entity owning physical products from or for which data is generated.

The data consuming service 210 may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and/or processing data, such as specific chemical product data, associated with the data owner. The data providing service 210 may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and/or processing data, such as specific chemical product data, associated with the data owner for accessing and/or processing by the data consuming service 214.

Based on the received specific chemical product identifier a request to access the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product identifier may be triggered by the data consuming service 210 as signified by arrow 212. The specific chemical product identifier may be provided to the data providing service 214 associated with or of the producer of the specific chemical product 104. In addition, authentication and/or authorization information may be provided.

The request may be authenticated and/or authorized to access the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product identifier. Based on successful authorization and/or authentication access to the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product identifier may be granted.

For access the specific chemical product identifier may be provided to the data providing service 214 as signified by arrow 212. The data providing service 214 may use the received specific chemical product identifier to retrieve the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product 104 as signified by arrows 218 and 220. The environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product 104 provided to the data providing service 214 may be provided to the data consuming service 210 as signified by arrow 216. The environmental at- tributes associated with the specific chemical product 104 may be stored in the data base 208 associated with the user of the specific chemical product 104 as signified by arrow 220.

Through the output identifier or decentral identifier, the environmental attributes can be uniquely associated with the specific chemical product. Through the decentral network the environmental attributes may be transferred between the producer of the specific chemical product and the user of the specific chemical product. This way the environmental attributes can be shared with unique association to the specific chemical product and without central intermediary directly between the value chain players. This allows for transparency of environmental attributes across the value chain and positive environmental impacts from specific chemical products produced by the chemical production network 102 can be tracked through the value chain.

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes associated with specific chemical products across value chains via the decentral network.

In the example of Fig. 5 a fully connected value chain including the chemical production network is illustrated. In the example, the input material provider, the specific chemical product producer, the specific chemical product user and the end product producer may be connected to the decentral network as described in the context of Fig. 4. Environmental attributes may be provided via the ID based schema described in the context of Figs. 2-4 in the form of digital assets or specific chemical product passports associated with the physical entity of the input material, the specific chemical product, any intermediate product or the end product.

The input material provider may provide the input materials such as bio-gas or pyrolysis oil. The environmental attributes of the input material may be provided through the data providing service connected to the decentral network as described in the context of Fig. 4. The specific chemical product producer may produce the specific chemical product from the input material(s) provided to the chemical production network. The specific chemical product producer may access the environmental attributes associated with the input material through a data consuming service connected to the decentral network as described in the context of Fig. 4. The specific chemical product producer may manage the environmental attributes via the production operating system as described in the context of Figs. 1 to 3. The specific chemical product producer may assign the environmental attributes associated with the input materials or environmental attributes associated with the chemical production network such as the carbon footprint, to the specific chemical products as described in the context of Figs. 1 to 3. The specific chemical product producer may provide the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemi- cal product through the data providing service connected to the decentral network as described in the context of Fig. 4. The specific chemical product user or the end product producer may access the environmental attributes associated with the specific chemical product through the data consuming service connected to the decentral network as described in the context of Fig.

4.

The respective data owners in this example may be the input material producer, the output material producer, the output material user, the end product producer. The data owner may comprise any entity generating data. The data generating node may be coupled to the data owner or the entity owning or producing physical products from or for which data is generated. The data may be generated by a third-party entity on behalf of the entity owning physical products from or for which data is generated.

The data consuming service may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and/or processing data, such as specific chemical product data, associated with the data owner. The data providing service may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and/or processing data, such as specific chemical product data, associated with the data owner for accessing and/or processing by the data consuming service.

In the example of Fig. 5 the decentral identifier may relate to the end product. Such decentral identifier may be provided to the value chain participants. Via the end product specific decentral identifier data associated with the end product produced from the specific chemical product may be gathered across the production chain and assigned to the end product specific decentral identifier. For example, the one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the end product may be derived from the environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product, the input material or any other product entity present in the value chain of the end product.

This way the environmental attributes of input materials, specific chemical products and any products produced from specific chemical products may be tracked through the value chain up to the end product. By tracking the environmental attributes of materials in such way the information can be made transparent across the value chain while the information flow can be controlled by the participants in the supply chain. In addition, the environmental attributes can be handled according to the individual participants needs by production operating systems as described in the context of Figs. 1 to 3. Overall, such tracking enables tracking of positive environmental impact by individual supply chain participants, which makes positive environmental impacts transparent and attributable to individual supply chain participants. Fig. 6 illustrates schematically an example of a chemical production network for producing 1,4- butanediol associated with the digital asset. The example of Fig. 6 is an illustrative example and should not be considered limiting.

In the example of Fig. 6 biomethane and natural gas (fossil methane) may be provided to the chemical production network for producing as an example 1 ,4-butanediol. Biomethane and natural gas (fossil methane) may be the input materials in this example as mixed feedstock. From biomethane and natural gas ethyne and other intermediate materials may be produced. From ethyne and formaldehyde 1,4-butanediol and other products, such as intermediate materials or output materials, may be produced.

In the example of Fig. 6 the bio-based content of biomethane as non-fossil input material may be tracked. As described in the context of Fig. 2, the bio-based content of biomethane at the start of the 1,4-butanediol production chain may be registered via the production operating system 106. Here the bio-based content of biomethane may be allocated to the balancing account 112 for bio-based content. The environmental attribute of bio-based content of biomethane is hence detached from the mass flows of the chemical processing in the chemical production network 102 as illustrated in Fig. 6.

For attribution of the bio-based content of biomethane used to produce the 1,4-butanediol, the bio-based content of biomethane may be determined. The bio-based content of biomethane attributable to 1,4-butanediol production may be based on mass conservation attributable to the produced 1 ,4-butanediol. For example, only half of the bio-based content of biomethane may be attributable to the 1 ,4-butanediol and the other half may be attributable to other output products resulting from the biomethane as input material. The environmental attribute bio-based content may be attributed to such extend to the 1 ,4-butanediol.

In the system shown in Fig. 2, the environmental attribute associated with the production of 1 ,4- butanediol may be attributed to the produced 1,4-butanediol by associating the decentral ID to the 1,4-butanediol and assigning the environmental attribute to the decentral ID. By linking the ID and the environmental attribute, the environmental attribute may be uniquely linked to the produced 1 ,4-butanediol. The 1,4-butanediol may be delivered to the 1,4-butanediol user. The packaging such as lose bags with 1,4-butanediol may include a QR-code. The decentral ID may be included or encoded to the QR code. This way the 1,4-butanediol user may access the environmental attributes associated to the 1 ,4-butanediol via the ID based protocol described in the context of Figs. 4 and 5. Similarly to this example the chemical production network for producing 1 ,4-butanediol1 ,4- butanediol associated with the digital asset may be based on the method illustrated in Fig. 3 for carbon footprints.

The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims.

Any steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a specific order of these steps. It is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or in a certain computing node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at different computing nodes using different equipment/data processing.

As used herein ..determining" also includes ..initiating or causing to determine", “generating" also includes ..initiating and/or causing to generate" and “providing” also includes “initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send and/or receive”. “Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.

Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, the systems, devices, the computer program element lined out above and vice versa. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples and vice versa.

All terms and definitions used herein are understood broadly and have their general meaning.

Claims

33 Claims

1 . A system for producing a specific chemical product being selected from alcohols, ethers oxiranes, alkanes, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic chlorides, organic phosphines, organic phosphates, and sulfonic acids (specific chemical product) associated with a digital asset, the system comprising:

- a production operating apparatus configured to generate the digital asset by providing a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and linking the decentral identifier to the environmental attribute(s).

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the specific chemical product associated with the digital asset is selected from methanol, 1-ethynyl-1 -cyclohexanol, 2-mercaptoethanol, 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol, 3,7,11-trimethyldodecyn-3-ol, 3-butyne-2-ol, propargyl alcohol, tert.-amyl alcohol, 3-methyl- pentyn-1-ol-3, butan-2-ol (in particular (S)-butan-2-ol), 1 ,2-pentanediol, 1 ,4-butanediol, Butane- 2,3-diol, 1 ,5-pentanediol, 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decindiol, 2-butin-1 ,4-diol, 3-hexin-2,5-diol, 1 ,6- hexanediol, hydroxypivalic acid neopentylglycolester, 2,2'-thiobisethanol, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5- hexanediol, neopentylglycol, trimethylolpropane, propylene oxide, isobutylene oxide, tetrahydrofuran, 2,2'-dichlorodiethylether, 1 ,4-dioxane, isobutane, dichlorophenylphosphine, diphenylchlorphosphine, triphenyl phosphine, triisobutyl phosphate, 2-ethylhexylchloride, 1 ,6- dichlorohexane, methane sulfonic acid, hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2-dimethyl-1 ,3- propanediol having a number average molecular weight of 900 to 1100 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2-dimethyl-1 ,3- propanediol having a number average molecular weight of 1900 to 2100 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2'-oxydiethanol having a number average molecular weight of 450 to 650 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with propylidynetrimethanolhaving a number average molecular weight of 450 to 650 g/mol, polytetrahydrofuran having a number average molecular weight in the range of from 200 to 3000 g/mol, tetramethylcyclobutanediol, isosorbide, undecane, tridecane, 1 -chloroctane, octanol, polymeric alcohol which is obtainable by polymerization of ethyne with 4-(1 ,1-dimethylethyl)-phenol, dimethoxyethane, 1 ,3-dioxolane or mixtures thereof. 34

3. The system of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the digital asset of the specific chemical product includes mass balanced environmental attributes related to the input material(s).

4. The system of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product are provided from at least one balancing account configured to store environmental attribute(s) associated with input material(s).

5. The system of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the one or more environmental attribute(s) are associated with at least one property related to the environmental impact of the one or more input material(s) and/or the chemical process(s).

6. The system of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the production operating apparatus is configured to gather environmental attributes associated with the produced specific chemical product before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network.

7. The system of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product produced through chemical processes from one or more input materials) provided to the chemical production network include the environmental attribute(s) associated with the input material(s), the chemical process(es) and/or the chemical production networks).

8. The system of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with input material(s) are provided before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with input material(s) are allocated to at least one balancing account before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network.

9. The system of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with the produced specific chemical product relate to environmental properties generated from process data associated with the chemical processing of the input material(s) and/or energy data associated with the energy consumption of the chemical processing, wherein the environmental attribute^) associated with the produced specific chemical product are generated before, during and/or after production of the specific chemical product by the chemical production network.

10. A method for producing a specific chemical product associated with a digital asset, wherein the method comprises:

- generating the digital asset by providing a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) associated with the one or more input materials) and/or the one or more chemical process(s); linking the decentral identifier and the one or more environmental attribute(s);

- providing the produced specific chemical product in association with the digital asset.

11. A specific chemical product associated with a digital asset including a decentral identifier associated with the specific chemical product and linked to one or more environmental attribute^) of the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product.

12. The specific chemical product of claim 11 , wherein the specific chemical product is selected from methanol, 1-ethynyl-1 -cyclohexanol, 2-mercaptoethanol, 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol, 3,7,11- trimethyldodecyn-3-ol, 3-butyne-2-ol, propargyl alcohol, tert.-amyl alcohol, 3-methyl-pentyn-1-ol- 3, butan-2-ol (in particular (S)-butan-2-ol), 1 ,2-pentanediol, 1 ,4-butanediol, Butane-2,3-diol, 1 ,5- pentanediol, 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decindiol, 2-butin-1 ,4-diol, 3-hexin-2,5-diol, 1 ,6-hexanediol, hydroxypivalic acid neopentylglycolester, 2,2'-thiobisethanol, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-hexanediol, neopentylglycol, trimethylolpropane, propylene oxide, isobutylene oxide, tetrahydrofuran, 2,2'- dichlorodiethylether, 1 ,4-dioxane, isobutane, dichlorophenylphosphine, diphenylchlorphosphine, triphenyl phosphine, triisobutyl phosphate, 2-ethylhexylchloride, 1 ,6-dichlorohexane, methane sulfonic acid, hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2-dimethyl-1 ,3-propanediol having a number average molecular weight of 900 to 1100 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2-dimethyl-1 ,3-propanediol having a number average molecular weight of 1900 to 2100 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with 2,2'-oxydiethanol having a number average molecular weight of 450 to 650 g/mol, polycaprolactones obtainable by ring opening polymerization of epsilon caprolactone with propylidynetrimethanolhaving a number average molecular weight of 450 to 650 g/mol, polytetrahydrofuran having a number average molecular weight in the range of from 200 to 3000 g/mol, tetramethylcyclobutanediol, isosorbide, undecane, tridecane, 1- chloroctane, octanol, polymeric alcohol which is obtainable by polymerization of ethyne with 4- (1 ,1-dimethylethyl)-phenol, dimethoxyethane, 1 ,3-dioxolane or mixtures thereof.

13. A method for generating a digital asset associated with a specific chemical product, wherein the specific chemical product is produced from one or more input material(s) through one or more chemical process(s) of a chemical production network, wherein the one or more input materials) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) are associated with environmental attribute^), the method comprising:

- providing a decentral identifier associated with the produced specific chemical product and one or more environmental attribute(s) of the one or more input material(s) and/or the one or more chemical process(s) used to produce the specific chemical product;

- linking the decentral identifier and the environmental attribute(s);

- providing the digital asset in association with the produced specific chemical product, wherein the environmental attribute(s) associated with the specific chemical product is made accessible to a user of the specific chemical product through the digital asset.

14. A digital asset as generated according to the method of claim 13.

15. A method for using the digital asset generated according to the method of claim 13 in production of a product produced from the specific chemical product associated with the digital asset or a method for using the specific chemical product of any of claims 11 or 12 associated with the digital asset for producing a product from the specific chemical product and deriving a digital asset associated with the product from the specific chemical product digital asset.