BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

1st Semester 2010-2011
Course Title: Environmental Management Systems (CHE G513)
Comprehensive Examination (Closed Book)
Marks: 20
Date: 09/12/2010
Time: 1 h 15 min
Note: Answer all questions in sequence (1 to 4).
1. (1+1+1+1+2+2= 8 Marks)
a. What are the pretreatment programs enforced by the POTW for industrial
discharges?
b. Differentiate between the actual vs. potential emissions.
c. What are the characteristics of environmental indicators?
d. To what extent does the adoption of an EMS change a facilitys use of advanced
environmental and materials accounting techniques?
e. How should you take into account the conditions of the environment when
developing your objectives and targets or measuring and monitoring procedure?
f. Describe the Dose-Response Curves. How is it helpful in risk assessments of
chemical agents?
2. (1+3 = 4 marks)
Boeing has converted fifteen waterwash paint booths to dry filters for particulate control
to facilitate compliance with the inorganic MACT standards of the Aerospace NESHAP.
Cross-functional coordination of MACT requirements has been critical not only for
ensuring compliance with those requirements, but also for identifying and implementing
suitable alternatives not subject to any MACT standards. For instance, the applicability of
the Chromium MACT standard at the Boeing Philadelphia facility was eliminated by
replacing a chromic acid anodizing process with a boric/sulfuric acid anodizing process
in 1998. Ongoing research and development efforts seek alternatives to the two
remaining trichloroethylene vapor degreasers on site. Viable alternatives will not utilize
halogenated solvent cleaners subject to the Subpart T NESHAP. Currently, the majority
of the batch cleaning is performed using either spray or immersion aqueous cleaning.
a. Under which act of EPA, MACT standards were developed?
b. Explain the applicability of MACT in case of aerospace world.
3. (2+2 = 4 marks)
An unhealthy body of water is said to be impaired, meaning it fails to meet state
water quality standards. This pollution commonly takes the form of excessive
amounts of sediment, organic matter, or fertilizer, which makes the water cloudy, or
green, and unable to support aquatic life such as fish. TMDL projects are usually led
by local government organizations, often a partnership between soil and water
conservation districts, cities, counties, and others. These organizations are called
Local Project Sponsors. The municipal corporations plays a key role in facilitating
and funding this project
a. What is the purpose of TMDL in river based projects?
b. What kind of information is obtained by carrying out TMDL based calculations?

4. (4 marks)
Consider the reactor system as shown in the figure below. The reaction is exothermic.
A cooling system is provided to remove the excess energy of reaction. In the event the
cooling function is lost, the temperature of the reactor would increase. This would
lead to an increase in reaction rate leading to the additional energy release. The result
could be a runaway reaction with pressures exceeding the bursting pressure of the
reactor. The temperature with in the reactor is measured and is used to control the
cooling water flow rate by a valve.
Perform a HAZOP on this unit to improve the safety of the process.

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BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
1st Semester 2010-2011
Course Title: Environmental Management Systems (CHE G513)
Comprehensive Examination (Open book)
Marks: 20
Date: 09/12/2010
Time: 1 h 45 min
1. (8 Marks)
Given below is the flow chart (Fig.1 & Fig. 2) for two techniques for the production
of bio-fuel. Compare the feasibility of both the techniques by carrying out LCIA and
answer w.r.t its feasibility in Indian scenario. Also explain briefly the purpose of each
of the unit operation in both the cases. The functional unit can be in terms of bio-fuel
produced.
Case1: Ethanol production from woody biomass including wastage from grains
Ethanol is produced by using various lignocellulosic based biomass such as wheat,
corn, barley, etc and undergo various unit operations. The acid hydrolysis is carried
out to convert starch to sugar form and pH is maintained in the range between 4.8 to
5.0. CO2 is also produced during fermentation step along with the ethanol production.

Fig. 1 Conversion process scheme for ethanol production from grain

Case 2: Pyrolysis oil production from biomass
Flash pyrolysis is carried out at high temperatures around 700 to 10000 C. The reactor
is used to convert biomass into a liquid fuel as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Flash pyrolysis scheme for production of pyrolysis oil

2. (7 Marks)
3

The given below figure represents the process chain for the conventional syngas
production by catalytic steam reforming of natural gas. Carefully study the flow sheet
and use the Matrix method for the estimation of environmental impacts for the
emissions during the various steps involved during the entire process.

Note: Mass balance is normalized for the production of 0.527 kg

syngas with a H2/CO molar ratio of 2.

The reaction-1 shows the steam reforming of natural gas

CH 4 H 2 O CO 3H 2

(Reaction-1)
The H2 to CO ratio can be adjusted by help of the water-gas shift reaction given by
reaction-2.
CO H 2 O CO2 H 2
(Reaction- 2)
3. (5 Marks)
Data for air emission is given below for different actions occurred in electricity
generation plant. All emission data are based on the 1 MWh electricity produced. Put
all actions in decreasing order of environmental impact.

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