Future environmental demands

The system described here also includes consideration of environmental concerns other than water pollution control, namely, the use of wastewater for air and thermal pollution control functions and waste residue usage for heat and power production and/or water treatment (ash and sludges). However, even an ideal plant system will have a net discharge of some waste material. The system described in Fig. 3.14 includes excess ash from thermal power production and wastewater blowdown of high salinity, hardness, and toxicity. These wastes may be blended for some beneficial purpose, to ease proper handling, or for controlled assimilation by the environment in appropriate disposal sites. These concerns will have to be given consideration as industry proceeds to meet future environmental demands. 

Another area of environmental concern is the products themselves. Petroleum refining in the last 10 years has been driven by requirements for the composition of gasoline and diesel fuel that are continuously changed by environmental demands. Such considerations will have even stronger impact in the future. There are similar problems in the chemical process industries. The search for an environmentally acceptable substitute for Freon is a prominent present example. Another problem is polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which causes difficulties in incinerators. The question is, should we continue to produce PVC or should we find a substitute that is easier to dispose of Can we modify polymers in such a way that they cause fewer problems of pollution than they cause now These are major challenges for the profession, in both academia and industry. 

Coal, as a low-price and abundant energy source, is an excellent choice for the production of electric power. The coal-fueled IGCC is one of the most promising technologies to convert coal to electricity with not only superior efficiency than PC boiler plants, but also the ability to meet the ever-demanding future environmental regulations including C02 emissions. 

The environmental demands in the two scenarios can also be very different. The greenfield project will need to allocate more resources to activities like environmental permitting which the brownfield owner may be able to deal with in a matter of hours or days. Months may be spent on presentations to investors, governments and future neighbours to explain the impacts of the project on them and to assure them that the emission control equipment at the new plant will be the best in the world. A detailed environmental impact study and the necessary land use permits can take months or years to put in place. The impact of these activities on the project schedule cannot be ignored. 

Tetrahydrofuran (THF) is produced by decarbonylation of furfural to furan followed by catalytic hydrogenation. THF is applied as a solvent for resins and plastics, film castings and adhesives. THF also acts as a solvent in different fine organic syntheses on a commercial scale and as a chemical intermediate. Environmental demands increase the THF application cost because THF users must install solvent recovery systems. A high price and environmental considerations will limit the future growth of THF market. 

Safety in water supply is defined as a state of water management that enables to cover the current and future water demand, in a technically and economically justified way, by the requirements of environmental protection (Berg et al. 2010, Ezell et al. 2000, Kolowrocki 2001, Li et al. 2009, Mays 1989, Rak 2009, Tchorzewska-Cieslak 2011, Tchorzewska-Cieslak 2011 et al. 2012). The basic and primary entity to which the water safety concept is directed is water consumer. The secondary is water supplier—water manufacturer. That is why... 

Furthermore, management needs to evaluate if the suggested changes are realistic and make sense, given the current supplier network and customer base. If changes are made because of future consumer demand or to mitigate political, regulatory, or environmental risk, then will suppliers and customers adapt as well ... 

Current and future environmental standards for wastewater discharges are expected to increase the pressure on industry to reduce both the pollution discharge loads and the magnitude of effluent volumes in order to minimize environmental impact. Industrial water-quality requirements for reuse are less demanding, as a general rule, than are municipal requirements. Accordingly, industrial water reuse should be technically and economically achievable earlier than comparable municipal water reuse systems. 

The environmental demands have led to a nationwide program to limit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The volatile organic compounds of a paint are calculated as pounds of solvents per gallon of paint. Prior to 1970, the VOC content of most paints was well above 5 Ib/gal. Current major industrial paints now are limited to approximately 3.5 Ib/gal of VOC because of imposed environmental pressures. Stricter legislation in the future, however, will place requirements of less than 3.0 Ib/gal of VOC on most markets. 

Future technology developments in paraffin alkylation will be greatly influenced by environmental considerations. The demand for alkylate product will continue to increase because alkylate is one of the most desirable components in modern low emission gasoline formulations. Increased attention will be focused on improving process safety, reducing waste disposal requirements, and limiting the environmental consequences of any process emissions. 

Increased environmental awareness contiaues to create new challenges as well as a variety of new market opportunities for sulfur producers. Further pollution reduction requirements contiaue to iacrease gradually aoadiscretioaary suppHes of sulfur and sulfur products. At the same time, recycling and reengineering have caused slight decreases ia demand. These trends are likely to contiaue ia the future. 

Many academic texts are available to teach chemists the fundamental tools of their trade, but few books are designed to give future industrial research and development chemists the knowledge they need to contribute, with confidence and relevance, to the development of new environmentally benign chemical technology. This book aims to be a handbook for those chemists attempting to develop new processes and products for the twenty-first century, which meet the evermore stringent demands of a society that wants new products with improved performance, and with a lower financial and environmental price tag. 

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