Process intensification, industrial point

These two aspects are also reflected in the visions developed on this issue in the United States in the so-called Vision 2020 program (see Appendix 1). One can see that all aspects of introducing step-by-step changes are mentioned. And in the European Union many current activities are based on the topic of process intensification, reflected, for example, in the European-Supported Research Projects (see Appendix 2). On the industrial side, a lot of effort is being given to the topic of process intensification the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) has process intensification as one of its technology focus points in the so-called SUSTECH program (see Appendix 3). 

The overview in Table 1 holds, in principle, for any type of chemical industry. Additionally, different types of chemical industries may have different focuses, depending on their starting position and on their business requirements. Knowledge of the perspectives helps in determining the main cost drivers from the fist given in Table 1 and helps therefore in finding the starting points for process intensification studies. Table 2 presents an overview of some of the main types of chemical industries and the specific demands they posed on process intensification when applied in these industries. A distinction can thus be made between ... 

The introduction of membrane contactors in industrial cycles might represent an interesting way to realize the rationalization of chemical productions in the logic of the process intensification. Membrane contactors are, in fact, highly efficient systems for carrying out the mass transfer between phases and achieving high removals. They also present lower size than conventional apparatus. Commercial applications are already present (e.g., the electronics industry or bubble-free carbonation lines), however, some critical points must be still overcome and several are the research efforts needed for their further implementation at industrial level, as summarized below ... 

The present book reviews recent developments in modeling of process intensification. It is divided into eleven chapters. After an introduction and overview, Robert Franke from Degussa AG describes in Chapter 2 the efforts on PI from an industrial point of view in their project house . A special feature is the use... 

The historical aspects of heat and mass transfer enhancement, or intensification, are of interest for many reasons. We can examine some processes that were intensified some decades before the phrase process intensification became common in the process engineering (particularly chemical) literature. Some used electric fields, others employed centrifugal forces. The use of rotation to intensily heat and mass transfer has, as we wiU see, become one of the most spectacular tools in the armoury of the plant engineer in several unit operations, ranging from reactors to separators. However, it was in the area of heat transfer - in particular two-phase operation - that rotation was first exploited in industrial plants. The rotating boiler is an interesting starting point, and rotation forms the essence of PI within this chapter. 

It should be pointed out that many biphasic systems have found their way into the chemical industry, starting from PTC and continuous flow (CF) processes. The reasons are that efficiency can be increased (rates, selectivity, energy requirements, reaction intensification), making them more economic and often more environmentally compatible, in short, more sustainable. 

High concentrations of ethanol inhibit the fermentation process, ptirticularly when a fermentative medium with high suhstrate concentration is used, as is the case in the majority of the industrial processes. Considering this, Silva et al. [1] studied a process of fermentation combined with a flash vessel, which selectively extracts ethanol firom the medium as soon as it is produced. These authors have shown that this scheme presents many positive features and better performance than conventional industrial processes [2]. Cardona and Sanchez [3] point out that the reaction-separation integration is a particularly attractive alternative for the intensification of bioethanol production. When bioethanol is removed fiom the culture broth, its inhibition effect on the growth rate is diminished or neutralized. However, the performance of the whole process is significantly influenced by separation unit, and that means that thermod)mamic knowledge of the mixture is required. 

From the point of view of catalytic activity and in terms of selectivity and waste production, zeolites are the most traditional microporous catalysts with clear advantages over the conventionally used homogeneous acid catalysts. Zeolites find applications in the petrochemical and fine chemical industries, and also in gas separation, purification, and ion exchange [13-15] in addition, zeolites are used in pharmaceutical industry, sensing microsystems, nanotechnology, the intensification process, and green chemistry. 

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