School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Engineering Optimization Research Gr., College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Mar;28(12):15305-15319. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-10789-x. Epub 2020 Nov 24.
Petroleum refinery industry (PRI) projects are inherently unsustainable for the most part, because of their environmentally and socially negative potential effects; nonetheless, their development is inevitable due to their deep positive impact on economic development for stakeholders and the society at large. With these competing realities, it is extremely important to develop tools that can quantify the level of sustainability of various alternatives, so managers can make informed decisions about how to go forward with these projects. Due to the complexity of life cycle and sustainability assessment of PRI projects, in addition to their complicated multidisciplinary nature, indicator-based approaches are used oftentimes as sustainability assessment tools. In this paper, an indicator-based sustainability framework is proposed based on the literature review at the qualitative level to cover the pillars of sustainability (which is social, economic, and environmental). Then, a quantitative set of sustainability assessment factors is developed which tries to address global sustainability concerns and to reinforce the understanding of sustainability by utilizing quantitative means. UN sustainability indicators were used as the basis for the study, and the framework was developed further to reflect the specifics of PRI projects; the result of this step is 140 quantitative sustainability factors. To realize the highly relevant global concerns regarding sustainability assessment factors to be applied to PRI projects, the screening process has been done by Delphi technique in combination with Fuzzy set theory, to select the most important as well as relevant indicators which results in 101 relevant quantitative sustainability factors; then, a panel of experts has converted the screened quantitative factors to meaningful ones for PRI projects. The expert panel has then interpreted the list of factors, according to expert judgments. Finally, a comparative study has been done to see how the results will compare with those of frequently used systems. The results of the study are of primary importance due to their applicability in sustainable decision-making, as well as for future studies. The reinforced indicator-based sustainability framework will make a core, not only to assess existing plants with various characteristics but also for new refineries that are going to be developed based on sustainability principles.
炼油工业（PRI）项目在很大程度上是不可持续的，因为它们具有潜在的环境和社会负面影响；然而，由于它们对利益相关者和整个社会的经济发展产生了深远的积极影响，因此它们的发展是不可避免的。鉴于这些相互竞争的现实，开发能够量化各种替代方案可持续性水平的工具非常重要，以便管理人员能够就如何推进这些项目做出明智的决策。由于 PRI 项目的生命周期和可持续性评估的复杂性，以及它们复杂的多学科性质，基于指标的方法通常被用作可持续性评估工具。在本文中，基于定性文献综述提出了一个基于指标的可持续性框架，以涵盖可持续性的支柱（社会、经济和环境）。然后，开发了一套定量的可持续性评估因素，试图通过利用定量手段解决全球可持续性问题，并加强对可持续性的理解。联合国可持续性指标被用作研究的基础，该框架进一步发展以反映 PRI 项目的具体情况；这一步的结果是 140 个定量可持续性因素。为了实现与 PRI 项目相关的高度相关的全球可持续性评估因素的相关问题，采用 Delphi 技术与模糊集理论相结合的筛选过程，选择最重要和最相关的指标，从而得出 101 个相关的定量可持续性因素；然后，专家组将筛选出的定量因素转化为对 PRI 项目有意义的因素。专家组根据专家判断对因素列表进行了解释。最后，进行了一项比较研究，以了解结果与常用系统的结果相比如何。由于其在可持续决策中的适用性以及对未来研究的重要性，该研究的结果非常重要。强化的基于指标的可持续性框架不仅将成为评估具有各种特点的现有工厂的核心，也将成为基于可持续性原则开发的新炼油厂的核心。
