# What are the main emission sources in acrylonitrile production?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/acrylonitrile-plant-emissions-per-tonne

Acrylonitrile is made by reacting propylene, ammonia and air over a catalyst. Part of the carbon leaves as CO2 and as by-products such as hydrogen cyanide and acetonitrile, which are often burned. Count that process and off-gas CO2 with fuel in Scope 1.

## Scope 1

- CO2 formed in the reactor and vented from the absorber.
- By-products and off-gas burned in an incinerator or boiler.
- Fuel for any supplementary firing.

## Steam export

The reaction gives off heat, and many plants export steam. Report the steam sent out as a separate figure; do not subtract it from your Scope 1.

## Upstream

Propylene and ammonia are bought in and sit in Scope 3 Category 1. IPCC 2006 Volume 3 covers acrylonitrile under petrochemicals.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads bills, fuel invoices and production records into dated, fingerprinted records, so the figure you send a buyer can be traced to its documents.

- [Acrylic sweater footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/acrylic-sweater-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Sulphuric acid steam export](https://senseible.earth/answers/sulphuric-acid-plant-emissions-steam-export)
- [Styrene monomer CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/styrene-monomer-co2-per-tonne)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.