Process-Integrated Environmental Protection

The manufacturing processes need to take a holistic view of tlie total life cycle of products including tlieh manufactme and disposal (from factory and from patient). Tlie choice of chual syntheses, metabolically engineered cells, microreactors for optimized processes, and medical devices designed for function and recycling (and manufacturability) are key considerations to be applied early in the development process. 

Biofihii reactors are used in situations where the reactor capacity obtained by freely suspended organisms is limited by the biomass concentration and hydraulic residence time. 

Tlie main reactor types aie upflow sludge blankets, biofihii fluidized beds, expanded granular sludge blankets, and biofihii airlift suspension and internal circulation reactors. 

Reactor type Commercial names Flow pattern Liquid velocity Height to diameter Mixing Examples of application Refs in [419] 

EGSB BIOBED, Biothane (USA) Upflow 10-15 m h (upward) 4-5 Liquid, gas produced The production of formaldehyde from methanol 17-21 

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Process integrated environmental protection which means the invention of new processes or the modification of known processes in such a way that less or no waste is produced by the process, cf. Sect. 3. 

In chemical production processes wastewaters loaded with side products are often formed, and these must be cleaned in a wastewater-treatment plant before they are discharged into a body of water.The amount of wastewater can be reduced, for example, by recycling, recovery of ingredients, and by using low-water processes (integrated environmental protection) [Christ 1999]. In spite of these measures, more than 4 x 10 m a of wastewater is produced in Germany. 

Electrochemistry can offer much for solving or alleviating environmental problems. Over the past 15 years, electrochemical technology has been largely developed for its alternative use in wastewater remediation. The strategies include both the treatment of effluents and waste and the development of new processes or products with less harmful effects, often denoted as process-integrated environmental protection. Electrochemistry offers two options for the treatment of these pollutants with the aim of oxidizing... 

Scientific environmental monitoring systems are of particnlar importance. The aim must be to integrate environmental protection considerations into prod-nets and processes as early as possible in the development phase. 

For a detailed revietv of industrial recycling concepts and processes see Stein-hilper/Schneider (1996), Production- and Product-Integrated Environmental Protection in Manufacturing Engineering. 

End-of-pipe measures can be implement at short-term, need modest investment and do not imply process modifications. In contrast, production-integrated environmental protection necessitates longer-term policy and commitment towards sustainable development. 

In the today s economic and social environment, Chemical Process Industries are asked to discover innovative solutions that are not only economically efficient, but also sustainable. Production-integrated environmental protection implies that ecological issues are included in the conceptual design methodology. Besides economic efficiency, metrics for ecological and sustainability performance must be included in assessing the quality of a design solution. 

The chapter on Integrated Process Design presents the features of the systems approach and of systematic design methods. This chapter offers also the opportunity to discuss social issues as Sustainable Development and Production-integrated environmental protection. 

Improvement of plants and processes with a view to integrated environmental protection [Swodenk 1984, Christmann 1985, Zlokarnik 1989, Scharfe 1991, Dechema 1990, Christ 1999, 2000] ... 

Environmental protection in the chemical industry is divided into product related and production related areas. Environmental protection related to products covers the development and production of environmentally friendly products (e.g., paints, herbi-cides/pesticides, washing powder) and treatment of product wastes from processing and consumption (Chap. 4). Environmental protection related to production covers the concept of the production-integrated environmental protection and additive environmental protection. Additiv environmental protection is the German term for end-of-pipe technology. This further subdivision can be examined in Figure 4 [18]. 

Statistisches Bundesamt (German Federal Bureau of Statistics) [26]. The term integrated environmental protection is not used in statistics. Instead, distinction is made according to those parts of fixed assets that are concerned with environmental protection. The corresponding costs of a process change are also included in the statistics. 

Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI, Association of the German Chemical Industry) [30]. In integrated environmental protection, the aim is to devise a process that causes as little pollution of air, water, and soil as possible, and in which integrated production methods enable residues to be utilized as fer as possible. The technical and economic aims of the production process must nevertheless be fiilfilled. This definition is also used by the Swiss chemical industry [31]. 

The value of the stoichiometric yield of a process is of secondary importance for the productivity and thus the production-integrated environmental protection. The material planning quality BA, of a process is more important, because the aim of production-integrated environmental protection is an increase in the material planning productivity [58 a]. MFA as a computer based method allows systematic management via parametic studies. The main aim is the maximization of the output of the target... 

When integrating environmental protection into production processes, three main questions need to be asked for practical purposes [37] ... 

Process costs following process redesign and utilization of residues can be calculated in detail using MFA and KFA. Technically these measures can be seen in terms of environmental impact as integrated environmental protection. At present there is no... 

Production-integrated environmental protection, combined with maximum process reliability and safety, for products and humans, remains the top German standard. Rationalization of new and older technologies was, and still is, necessary for survival in global competition. [10, 13]... 

Although modern processing techniques that have integrated environmental protection aim to minimise waste, they still produce aqueous solutions containing high levels of contaminants that have to be treated chemically, thermally, physically, or biologically. 

If the PBR is less than unity, the oxide will be non-protective and oxidation will follow a linear rate law, governed by surface reaction kinetics. However, if the PBR is greater than unity, then a protective oxide scale may form and oxidation will follow a reaction rate law governed by the speed of transport of metal or environmental species through the scale. Then the degree of conversion of metal to oxide will be dependent upon the time for which the reaction is allowed to proceed. For a diffusion-controlled process, integration of Pick s First Law of Diffusion with respect to time yields the classic Tammann relationship commonly referred to as the Parabolic Rate Law ... 

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