Green Engineering for a Sustainable Environment

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• Green Engineering for a Sustainable Environment
• November 1999

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• OPPT / EETD / CEB
• (Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics,
  Economic, Exposure Technology Division,
  Chemical Engineering Branch)
• Presenters
• Fred Arnold - Chemical Engineer

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What is Green Engineering??

• Green Engineering is the design and optimization
  of processes and products that are feasible and
  economical while minimizing
• Generation of pollution at the source
• Risk to human health and the environment

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Bleach Pulp Storage
Traditional Bleach Process for Lignin Removal
from Wood (Delignification)
Washwater Input
78 Lignin Removal
Brown Pulp Lignin
Chlorine Dioxide Delignification/ Bleach Tower (D)
Sodium Hydroxide Extraction (E)
O2 and Peroxide
E Filtrate
D Filtrate
High pH Effluents with Lignin
Low pH Effluents with Lignin
Effluent Flows 20m3/ton Composition AOX,
Organics
Effluent Components Solids 1,000s Color Coffee
/Tea Treatment 1º, 2º, 3º
Bleached Pulp Storage Tank
Brown Pulp Storage Tank
Green Process for Lignin Removal from Wood via
Polyoxometalates (POM)
Bleach Pulp Storage
Brown Pulp Lignin
POM Bleach Tower (D)
78 Lignin Removal
CO2 Vent
(Lignin converted to CO2)
Oxidated POM
Wet Oxidation Reactor
Lignin Mineralized (organic to inorganic state)
Steam
Washwater Recycle
Washwater Removal
Reduced POM with Oxidized Lignin
O2
Effluent Components Solids 0 Color Clear Treatme
nt None
Effluent Flows 0.2m3/ton Composition Evaporator
Condensate
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What is Green Engineering??

• Green Engineering is the design and optimization
  of processes and products that are feasible and
  economical while minimizing
• Generation of pollution at the source
• Risk to human health and the environment

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• Requires manual dumping of bags
• Results in exposure of particulates
• Requires use of respirators
• No special ventilation

To Suction and Ventilation
Mixer
Water

• No manual dumping of bags
• Substantially reduces dust levels and exposure to
  workers with use of engineering controls
• No respirators required

To Process
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GOAL OF THE GE PROGRAM

• The goal of the Green Engineering Program is to
  institutionalize green thinking in the academic
  and industrial communities regarding the design
  and commercialization of chemical processes and
  products.

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GE PROGRAM BACKGROUND

• Program initiated 2 years ago
• Input from academia Session at AIChE March 98
  (New Orleans)
• Current courses do not have a risk component
• No standardized text or course
• Textbook development started in summer of 98

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PROGRAM COMPONENTS

• Education
• Software
• Incentives
• Collaboration / Grants .Outreach

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EDUCATION

• GE Textbook to be used as the primary source of
  GE information
• GE Modules to facilitate incorporation of GE
  Materials into engineering curriculum
• Academic Workshops for professors and students

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GE Textbook

• Part I A Chemical Engineers Guide to
  Environmental Issues and Regulations
• Part II Environmental Risk Reduction for
  Chemical Processes
• Part III Moving Beyond the Plant Boundary
• Chapter 13 - Life cycle assessment (Product
  stewardship)
• Chapter 14 - Industrial Ecology (Material and
  energy flows in industrial networks)

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Part I A Chemical Engineers Guide to
Environmental Issues and Regulations

• Chapter 1 An introduction to environmental
  issues (issues range from global to local and
  include global warming, stratospheric ozone
  depletion, smog formation, hazardous waste
  generation and others)
• Chapter 2 Environmental risk (An overview of
  risk assessment and risk management)
• Chapter 3 Environmental regulations (An
  overview of federal regulations)
• Chapter 4 The roles and responsibilities of
  chemical engineers (ethics, inherently safer
  design)

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Part II Environmental Risk Reduction for
Chemical Processes

• Begin at molecular level (molecular properties
  relevant to risk, designing chemical pathways)
• Chapter 5 Evaluating the environmental fate of
  chemicals
• Chapter 6 Evaluating chemical exposures and
  risk
• Chapter 7 Green Chemistry - Designing reaction
  pathways
• Transition from molecular level to a process
  level
• Chapter 8 Conceptual design of chemical
  processes and evaluating environmental
  performance throughout the design process

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Part II Environmental Risk Reduction for
Chemical Processes (Cont.)

• Primarily focused on process flowsheets
• Chapter 9 Designing chemical processes with
  improved environmental performance - Unit
  Operations
• Chapter 10 Designing chemical processes with
  improved environmental performance - Flowsheets
• Chapter 11 Detailed environmental performance
  evaluations of flowsheets
• Chapter 12 Coupled economic and environmental
  evaluation of flowsheets

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GE Textbook Progress to Date

• All draft chapters completed
• Manuscript under internal/ external peer review
• Interest to publish by prominent textbook
  publishers
• Professors already receiving and utilizing draft
  chapters in the classroom
• Developing case studies

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EDUCATION - Modules
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Modules 1-6

• Module 1 Screening chemical based on
  environmental fate (Chapter 5)
• Module 2 Premanufacture Notification (PMN)
  process (Chapters 5 6)
• Module 3 Assessing the environmental
  performance of flowsheets (Chapter 11)
• Module 4 Improving the environmental
  performance of unit operations and flowsheets
  (Chapters 9 10)
• Module 5 Assessing the economic performance of
  environmental improvements (Chapter 12)
• Module 6 Life Cycle Assessment (Chapter 13)

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• EDUCATION -
• Educator Workshops
• Where we utilize the modules
• For dissemination of GE materials to professors

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Workshop Statistics
Utilizing Green Engineering
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Educator Workshops - Progress to Date

• Utilized modules and software in workshop
• ASEE, through a grant from EPA, will conduct
  additional workshops - both regionally and
  nationally
• Focus on academic, future goal is to develop
  workshops for the practicing engineer via AIChE

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SOFTWARE
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SOFTWARE

• GOAL
• To provide chemical engineers with a risk based
  suite of tools for process design and retrofits.
• Progress to Date
• Preliminary survey of available software
  completed
• Process evaluation
• Risk based and P2
• Current focus on linking of tools

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INCENTIVE PROGRAM
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INCENTIVES PROGRAM

• Grant to manage incentive program with ASEE
• Provide incentives to students to develop green
  engineering case studies
• Provide incentives for professors and schools
  to incorporate green engineering materials into
  curriculum

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GRANTS/ Collaborations
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Research Collaboration/ Grants

• Joint NSF and EPA grants given to develop new
  GE ideas
• Partnering with academia and industry to
  promote green engineering concepts

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• OUTREACH Goals
• To promote and disseminate green engineering
• approaches to academia and industry
• To develop forum for a free flow of information
  and ideas for new courses, case studies,
  approaches, etc.

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WEBSITE

• Designed to get new information to professors
  and students
• Designed so professors students can give
  feedback on utilizing GE approaches
• Place to post newly developed case studies

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• Contact Information
• Nhan Nguyen - Branch Chief, Chemical Engineering
• Phone [phone] e-mail
  Nguyen.Nhan_at_epa.gov
• Sharon Austin - Green Engineering Coordinator
• Phone [phone] e-mail Austin.Sharon_at_epa.go
  v
• Fred Arnold - Chemical Engineer
• Phone [phone] e-mail arnold.fred_at_epa.gov