Process Involving Recycle

Tartaric acid production was accompanied by a process involving recycling of C6 of ascorbic acid into sugars and polysaccharides. When leaves were labeled with l-[ 6-ascorbic acid before anthesis, about 70% of the appeared in soluble (sugar) or residual (polysaccharide) fractions (Table II), a quantity comparable to that found in tartaric acid when the source of label was l-[1- C] ascorbic acid. The bulk of the label in the solution fraction was sucrose, glucose, and fructose while... 

SNOWBALL EFFECTS IN THE CONTROL OF PROCESSES INVOLVING RECYCLE... 

Example 7.3 illustrated the technique of working forwards through a process, solving balance equations unit by unit. This is usually possible for processes without recycle streams provided that the feed is specified. If no individual balance yields enough equations it is necessary to solve simultaneously equations arising from balances on two or more units. Most multiple unit processes involve recycle streams but the treatment of these will be postponed until section 7.2.S.3. 

Cavett, R.H. (1963) Application of numerical methods to the convergence of simulated processes involving recycle loops. American Petroleum Institute Report No. 04-63. 

Despite the urgency of the problem, so far virtually no study has been made of the theory of recycle processes and methods for applying it to the solution of practical problems, either in the U.S.R.R. or in other countries, if we exclude a small number of works relating to elementary processes involving recycling in single-reactor systems. 

British Coal Corp. is developing a gasoline-from-coal process at a faciUty at Point of Ayr (Scotiand). This process involves treatment with Hquid recycle solvents, digestion at 450—500°C, filtration to separate unconverted residues, and separation into two fractions. The lighter fraction is mildly hydrotreated, and the heavier one is hydrocracked (56). 

Refuse-Derived Fuel. Many processing faciUties divert a portion of the material that is not recovered for recycling to waste-to-energy plants, also referred to as resource recovery faciUties, where the material is employed as fuel. The processes involved in the production of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) are outlined in Figure 4 (23). Nine different RDFs have been defined, as Hsted in Table 3 (24). There are several ways to prepare RDF-3, which is perhaps the most popular form and is the feed used in the preparation of densified refuse-derived fuel (d-RDF). AH forms of RDF are part of the broader set of waste-derived fuels (WDF), which includes various waste biomass, eg, from silvaculture or agriculture (see Fuels frombiomass Fuels fromwaste). 

Various processes involve acetic acid or hydrocarbons as solvents for either acetylation or washing. Normal operation involves the recovery or recycle of acetic acid, any solvent, and the mother Hquor. Other methods of preparing aspirin, which are not of commercial significance, involve acetyl chloride and saHcyHc acid, saHcyHc acid and acetic anhydride with sulfuric acid as the catalyst, reaction of saHcyHc acid and ketene, and the reaction of sodium saHcylate with acetyl chloride or acetic anhydride. 

Another process involves a one-step reaction of isobutylene with formaldehyde and acetone under high temperature and pressure (eq. 2) (20). a-MethyUieptenone (2) (6-methyIhept-6-en-2-one [10408-15-8]) is the product, but it is easily catalyticaHy isomerized to P-methyUieptenone (21,22). Unconverted isobutylene and acetone can be recycled to the process, thus making it commercially viable (23,24). Variations of this process have also been described in the Hterature (25—28). 

In comparison with classical processes involving thermal separation, biphasic techniques offer simplified process schemes and no thermal stress for the organometal-lic catalyst. The concept requires that the catalyst and the product phases separate rapidly, to achieve a practical approach to the recovery and recycling of the catalyst. Thanks to their tunable solubility characteristics, ionic liquids have proven to be good candidates for multiphasic techniques. They extend the applications of aqueous biphasic systems to a broader range of organic hydrophobic substrates and water-sensitive catalysts [48-50]. 

Dissolution/reprecipitation processes were evaluated for the recycling of poly-epsilon-caprolactam (PA6) and polyhexamethyleneadipamide (PA66). The process involved solution of the polyamide in an appropriate solvent, precipitation by the addition of a non-solvent, and recovery of the polymer by washing and drying. Dimethylsulphoxide was used as the solvent for PA6, and formic acid for PA66, and methylethylketone was used as the non-solvent for both polymers. The recycled polymers were evaluated by determination of molecular weight, crystallinity and grain size. Excellent recoveries were achieved, with no deterioration in the polymer properties. 33 refs. 

Material balance calculations on processes with by-pass streams are similar to those involving recycle, except that the stream is fed forward instead of backward. This usually makes the calculations easier than with recycle. 

Shredded circuit boards. Circuit boards are metal boards that hold computer chips, thermostats, batteries, and other electronic components. Circuit boards can be found in computers, televisions, radios, and other electronic equipment. When this equipment is thrown away, these boards can be removed and recycled. Whole circuit boards meet the definition of scrap metal, and are therefore exempt from hazardous waste regulation when recycled. On the other hand, some recycling processes involve shredding the board. Such shredded boards do not meet the exclusion for recycled scrap metal. In order to facilitate the recycling of such materials, U.S. EPA excluded recycled shredded circuit boards from the definition of solid waste, provided that they are stored in containers sufficient to prevent release to the environment, and are free of potentially dangerous components, such as mercury switches, mercury relays, nickel-cadmium batteries, and lithium batteries. 

Another process involving the use of both air stripping and activated carbon adsorption has been developed by Wang and colleagues.29 This process purifies and recycles the emitted gas, thus not creating an air pollution problem. Also, the spent GAC can be automatically regenerated for reuse. 

Sodium hydrosulfite is produced through the Formate process where sodium formate solution, sodium hydroxide, and liquid sulfur dioxide reacted in the presence of a recycled stream of methanol solvent. Other products are sodium sulfite, sodium bicarbonate, and carbon monoxide. In the reactor, sodium hydrosulfite is precipitated to form a slurry of sodium hydrosulfite in the solution of methanol, methyl formate, and other coproducts. The mixture is sent to a pressurized filter system to recover sodium hydrosulfite crystals that are dried in a steam-heated rotary drier before being packaged. Heat supply in this process is highly monitored in order not to decompose sodium hydrosulfite to sulfite. Purging is periodically carried out on the recycle stream, particularly those involving methanol, to avoid excessive buildup of impurities. Also, vaporized methanol from the drying process and liquors from the filtration process are recycled to the solvent recovery system to improve the efficiency of the plant. 

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