(11b) Incorporating Environmental Impact Assessment into Conceptual Process Design (Webcast Not Available)
AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety
2009
2009 Spring Meeting & 5th Global Congress on Process Safety
Sustainability: Lessons, Actions and Outlook
Sustainable Energy I
Monday, April 27, 2009 - 8:30am to 9:00am
The purpose of this contribution is to present a case study illustrating how environmental impact assessment using the U.S. EPA Waste Reduction Algorithm has been incorporated into conceptual process design. This will be achieved via the introduction of a simple methodology for integrating environmental impact assessment into the standard heuristics of conceptual process design to ensure that environmental and sustainability goals are met while maintaining economic viability. The case study presented to illustrate the methodology is based on a process to manufacture industrially important C3 compounds from the dehydration of bio-based glycerol. The selected case study is important from the perspective of sustainability since glycerol is produced as a byproduct of the manufacture of biodiesel from vegetable oils.