Process reducing environmental impact

The process starting from lignin has faced serious problems, such as reduced availabiUty and environmental impact. The availabiUty is reduced because the new process for making paper paste yields less Hquor. As a result, it is likely that the larger companies will not reinvest in new factories to process Hquors to meet demand. The process s environmental impact is also problematic because over 160 t of caustic waste are produced for every ton of vanillin manufactured. 

Are alternative processes available that would further reduce environmental impact on a technical and economic basis Identify potential opportunities. Identify the risk category. 

Compared with the volume of concentrate, the volume of cleaning solution is relatively small. To reduce environmental impacts, as well as costs associated with cleaning, the quantity of chemicals that are used can be reduced through an effective pre-treatment process. 

Paskall (25) has recently reviewed the various modifications to the Claus process that result in optimum sulfur recovery efficiency. Overall plant conversion efficiencies in the range of 97% were considered to be the upper limit at the beginning of the 1970 s (26). While this is a very respectable conversion efficiency for an industrial process the unrecovered 3% in a 2,000 tonne/d sulfur plant represents 60 tonnes/d of sulfur lost, mainly to atmosphere as 120 tonnes/d of SO2. Modifications to the four stage Claus converter train however, can raise overall conversions to over 98.5% thus halving the sulfur loss to the plant tail gas. This either reduces environmental impact or the load on tail gas desulfurization units that will be discussed later. 

Dematerialization. By scale, the reduction of material and energy intensity by process intensification should reduce environmental impact. 

The on-the-ground impact of the use of this metric has been to drive the idea and practice that many production processes can be improved to reduce environmental impact while improving profitability. A great deal of the value DuPont has created through environmental insight has been by profitably reducing the negative environmental footprint. 

Main focus was Green Chemistry , i.e. fundamental research towards the development of new sustainable chemical processes, starting from the idea that pollution and hazards have to be eliminated at the source, thus reducing environmental impact and costs, as opposed to end-of-pipe reme-iation. Green Chemistry incorporates all aspects of chemi si r that reduce impact on human health and on the environment. Its goal is to improve the quality of life and the competitiveness of industry, by developing safer and more eco-friendly chemistry. 

Process intensification (PI) offers several opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact [92]. Many chemical reactions currently carried out as batch processes in stirred tanks could be carried out in continuously operated, intensified reactors such as spinning disc or oscillatory baffle types. The plant used for separations can be made highly compact, and even for large-scale plants (nitric acid production) the concept of pocket-sized plant has been introduced to reduce energy needs in the process [93]. PI is thus a key element... 

Since 1952, the cumene process has been improved to a fairly impressive extent as its yields to acetone and phenol, based on both benzene and propene, are currently close to the stoichiometric ones. Nor are there problems in building huge plants 300 0001 yr capacity is a common size, while still having a quite reduced environmental impact. Thus, although some precautions are needed to ensure safe operations, the process is fully satisfactory in many aspects. 

Because of these issues, these processes can only be successfully started and controlled by operators with a lot of operational experience. Much variation can be found in the time necessary to achieve a stable production state. At the same time, production costs are mainly determined by the consumption of raw materials. Unfortunately, vulcanized rubber cannot be reused if the final profile does not conform to specification. Therefore, the primary goals of the research described here were to improve the work situation of the machine operators, especially their autonomy, and to reduce the time spent in producing off-spec products, thus saving money and reducing environmental impact. 

Process design the report gives several examples of products that reduce environmental impact. It also identifies that electricity is the principal component of the air separation process, and that we constantly strive to improve the energy efficiency of our plants . Even so a no score has been awarded since only one example of a process improvement is given (changing a cleaning system to reduce ozone emissions), while at the same time the report includes a number of examples where tail-end treatment has been used to reduce emissions. 

Process design there is an extensive list of solvent free and low volatility products, and others that are in some way environmentally friendly . Other product stewardship activities mentioned include gathering safety data, preparing material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and carrying out screening tests. A no score has, however, been awarded since the CER does not clearly recognise the need to improve existing and develop new processes to reduce environmental impact. 

A no score has been awarded since no particular approach has been identified, and there is no evidence of a strategy of reducing environmental impact through improved process design. 

Process design a yes has been awarded since the annual report includes an article on its Vision of Green Chemistry , and the CER contains the following examples of processes that have been improved to reduce environmental impact ... 

Process design Methanex is a one-product company, so discussion on the design of products having reduced environmental impact focuses mainly on future potential uses such as fuel cells. 

There is also some evidence of improvements to processes resulting in reduced environmental impact (e.g. the increasing use of bulk deliveries). 

Process design the short internet report goes into some detail on product stewardship, but there is also sufficient evidence from the environ mental statement of initiatives to reduce environmental impact by process improvement. This includes ... 

Process design the report discusses the development of a number of products specifically designed to reduce environmental impact. These include flocculating and chelating agents for water treatment chemicals to aid recycling paper, gels for land reclamation and more environmentally friendly pesticides. 

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