Environmentally-friendly

Thanks to this technology,films with a high quality,very robust and environmentally friendly have been designed. 

Colella C 1999 Natural zeolites in environmentally friendly processes and applications Stud. Surf. Sol. Catal. 125 641-55... 

Apart from using an environmentally friendly solvent, it is also important to clean up the chemical reactions themselves by reducing the number and amount of side-products formed. For this purpose catalysts are a versatile tool. Catalysts have been used for thousands of years in processes such as fermentation and their importance has grown ever since. In synthetic oiganic chemistry, catalysts have found wide applications. In the majority of these catalytic processes, organic solvents are used, but also here the use of water is becoming increasingly popular . 

In several important cases, new synthetic strategies have been developed into new production schemes. An outstanding example of this is the production of an entire family of terpene derivatives from a-pinene (29), the major component of most turpentines, via linalool (3) (12). Many of these materials had been produced from P-pinene, a lesser component of turpentine, via pyrolysis to myrcene and further chemical processing. The newer method offers greater manufacturing dexibiUty and better economics, and is environmentally friendly in that catalytic air oxidation is used to introduce functionality. 

M. Novotny, Environmentally Friendly Pigments, presented at Industrial Inorganic Chemicals Group, Royal Society of Chemistry, London, Jan. 12, 1994. 

Transesterification. There has been renewed interest in the transesterification process for preparation of polycarbonate because of the desire to transition technology to environmentally friendly processes. The transesterification process utilizes no solvent during polymerization, producing neat polymer direcdy and thus chlorinated solvents may be entirely eliminated. General Electric operates a polycarbonate plant in Chiba, Japan which produces BPA polycarbonate via this melt process. 

The threat of accidental misuse of quaternary ammonium compounds coupled with potential harmful effects to sensitive species of fish and invertebrates has prompted some concern. Industry has responded with an effort to replace the questionable compounds with those of a more environmentally friendly nature. Newer classes of quaternaries, eg, esters (206) and betaine esters (207), have been developed. These materials are more readily biodegraded. The mechanisms of antimicrobial activity and hydrolysis of these compounds have been studied (207). AppHcations as surface disinfectants, antimicrobials, and in vitro microbiocidals have also been reported. Examples of ester-type quaternaries are shown in Figure 1. 

Feedstock for Chemical Synthesis. It is estimated that <0.5% of the sucrose produced each year is used for nonfood purposes (41). An alternative appHcation, namely the production of chemicals, is an attractive option as the feedstock is plentiful, renewable, and of consistently high purity. Moreover, the biodegradabiUty of many sucrochemicals makes them environmentally friendly. 

Because sulfur suppHes, either as elemental sulfur or by-product sulfuric acid, have grown owiag to iacreased environmental awareness, demand for sulfur has decreased ia some consuming iadustries for the same reason. Industries such as titanium dioxide productions, which traditionally utilized sulfuric acid, have concerted to more environmentally friendly processes. In addition, many consumers who contiaue to use sulfuric acid are puttiag an emphasis on regenerating or recycling spent acid. 

In the CSIRO process, a reactive polyurethane prepolymer is appHed to a garment from perchloroethylene. The garment is then pressed and subsequendy steamed in an oven. A second polymer may sometimes be used in conjunction with the prepolymer. When this is employed, the process is termed the Serolan BAP Process (178). A number of alternative treatments are being investigated to achieve finishes that are more environmentally friendly (179). 

Furthermore, it is not tme that other plastics are more environmentally friendly than vinyl. A more recent study compared vinyl to a number of other packaging materials and found that vinyl consumed the least amount of energy, used the lowest level of fossil fuels, consumed the least amount of raw materials, and produced the lowest levels of carbon dioxide of any of the plastics studied (184). In fact, the Norwegian environmental group BeUona has concluded that a generally reduced use of vinyl plastics can lead to a worsening of the environmental situation (185). 

Some combing plants also produce shrink-resistant treated wool-top. The current process incorporates chlorination, and the appHcation of a shrinkproofing polymer. Chlorination is likely to be replaced soon by mote environmentally friendly treatments. 

With the renewed interest in environmentally friendly products, ceUulose esters are being re-evaluated as a natural source of biodegradable thermoplastics. CeUulose acetates are potentiaUy biodegradable (152). Films prepared from a ceUulose acetate with a DS of 2.5 were shown to require only a 10—12 day incubation period for extensive degradation in an in vitro enrichment assay. Similarly, films prepared from a ceUulose acetate with a DS of 1.7 saw 70% degradation in 27 days in a wastewater treatment facUity, whereas films prepared from a ceUulose acetate with a DS of 2.5 required approximately 10 weeks for similar degradation to occur. The results of this work demonstrate that ceUulose acetate fibers and films are potentiaUy environmentally nonpersistant. 

Contrary to proponents assumptions, natural dyes are not necessarily environmentally friendly. First, large amounts of plant waste would be produced because of the low dye content in plants, eg, 170 million t of waste to color the cotton volume. Also, in order to dye fabric with natural dyes, "mordants," which are usually based on heavy metals, have to be used. For example, madder is appHed with tin (Sn) or aluminum (Al). Weld is appHed with tin salts. Salts based on copper and iron can also be used. 

The two fluids most often studied in supercritical fluid technology, carbon dioxide and water, are the two least expensive of all solvents. Carbon dioxide is nontoxic, nonflammable, and has a near-ambient critical temperature of 31.1°C. CO9 is an environmentally friendly substitute for organic solvents including chlorocarbons and chloroflu-orocarbons. Supercritical water (T = 374°C) is of interest as a substitute for organic solvents to minimize waste in extraction and reaction processes. Additionally, it is used for hydrothermal oxidation of hazardous organic wastes (also called supercritical water oxidation) and hydrothermal synthesis. 

Lacl<. of markets. The implementation of pollution-prevention processes and the production of environmentally friendly products will be of no avail if markets do not exist for such goods. As an example, the recychng of newspaper in the United States has resulted in an overabundance of waste paper without markets prepared to take advantage of this raw material. 

A solvent free, fast and environmentally friendly near infrared-based methodology was developed for the determination and quality control of 11 pesticides in commercially available formulations. This methodology was based on the direct measurement of the diffuse reflectance spectra of solid samples inside glass vials and a multivariate calibration model to determine the active principle concentration in agrochemicals. The proposed PLS model was made using 11 known commercial and 22 doped samples (11 under and 11 over dosed) for calibration and 22 different formulations as the validation set. For Buprofezin, Chlorsulfuron, Cyromazine, Daminozide, Diuron and Iprodione determination, the information in the spectral range between 1618 and 2630 nm of the reflectance spectra was employed. On the other hand, for Bensulfuron, Fenoxycarb, Metalaxyl, Procymidone and Tricyclazole determination, the first order derivative spectra in the range between 1618 and 2630 nm was used. In both cases, a linear remove correction was applied. Mean accuracy errors between 0.5 and 3.1% were obtained for the validation set. 

TRANSMITTANCE-NIR AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY TOOL FOR QUALITY CONTROL AT PESTICIDE INDUSTRY... 

An easy, rapid and environmentally friendly methodology was developed for the extraetion of pyrethroid inseetieide residues from semi permeable membrane deviees (SPMD), based in a mierowave-assisted extraetion, in front of a dialysis method nowadays widely employed. Several solvent sueh as hexane, toluene, aeetonitrile, eyelohexane and ethyl aeetate were tested as mierowave-assisted extraetion solvent. Mixtures of hexane and toluene with aeetone were also assayed and provide better results than single solvents. 

Corporate environmentalism is an evolving concept for environmental protection. In this case, business takes a pro-active stance independent of regulatory authorities. This can be in recognition of social responsibilities, but is more successful when compelled by competition in the market place. Thus, a hrm can conscientiously target environmentally aware consumers (through marketing environmentally friendly products or processes) or can be better placed for hnancial support from ethical investment funding bodies. 

Volume 125 Porous Materials in Environmentally Friendly Processes... 

NOx Emissions. The amount NO emissions is very eritieal in most regions where gas turbines are being utilized for power generation. The present eap is about 22 ppm the aim is to go down to as low as 9 ppm. The teehniques offered here all are NOx emission friendly, in that they do not inerease the present levels of NOx, in faet in the ease of the injeetion systems, both steam, and heated and humidified eompressed air will lower the NOx emissions making the plant even more environmentally friendly, espeeially in this eritieal loea-tion. 

The best sub-atmospheric refrigerant is water. Unfortunately it is not strongly adsorbed by carbons, but refrigerators and heat pumps based on water - zeolite pairs have been built and tested in research laboratories. Methanol is adsorbed well by carbons and a solar refrigerator based on a carbon - methanol pair was marketed by Brissoneau et Lotz Marine in France. Methanol is environmentally friendly, but deeomposes at temperatures around 150°C and so camiot be used for very high temperature cycles. 

Throughout the 1990s a large portion of the research and development effort for hot melt adhesives focused on developing adhesives that are either environmentally friendly or functional [69,81,82]. Environmentally friendly attributes include biodegradability, water dispersibility (repulpability), renewability, and water releasability. Biodegradable adhesives have been developed based on starch esters [83-86] and polyesters such as poly (hydroxy butyrate/hydroxy valerate) [87], poly(lactide) [88-91], and poly(hydroxy ether esters) [92-94]. All but the... 

Finally, an equally pressing need is for processes that are more environmentally friendly than those that currently use chromates, volatile solvents, etc. This is an area where the recently developed scientific tools described in this and other chapters will play a major role in assuring that the results are not only greener but are also just as effective or more so than currently used methods. 

The most important factor of a landfill is to build it properly so that the environment is not disturbed in any fashion. There are several components to the design of a environmentally friendly landfill. These components are that the landfill should be placed on a compacted low permeable medium, preferably a clay layer. This layer is then covered by a impermeable membrane which is then covered by a granular substance to act as a secondary drainage system. Layers upon layers are built up, while each layer is separated by a granular membrane. This is done over and over again until the entire... 

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