Sustainability: Introduction

Helen H. Lou
Department of Chemical Engineering
Lamar University
Beaumont, TX 77710
Definition of Sustainable Development

Society Economy

Environment

“... development that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”
(United Nation WCED,1987)
 The Challenges to Sustainability
• Climate change poses unknowable threats
− Caused by measured increases in CO2 and other
greenhouse gases
− Most probably due to human activity
• Resource depletion
− Mineral, timber, marine, water and energy resources
− Both quantity and quality
− Peak oil is imminent
• Population growth
• Environmental quality
• …
 Process Industry Growth
2000 2000-25 Growth 2025-50 Growth
Region Prod New Plant %Tot New Plant %Tot

North America 1.0 0.6 5 0.8 5

Latin America 0.4 1.1 9 1.6 10
Europe 1.1 1.1 9 0.5 4
Africa 0.2 1.5 12 3.2 21
Asia 1.4 8.2 65 9.3 60

World 4.1 12.6 15.4

(2000 North America = 1.0)

 Major Waste Generating and
Resource Consuming Industries
• Chemical and Petrochemical Industry
• Metal Finishing Industry
• Paper and Pulp Industry
• Semiconductor Manufacturing
Industry
• Mining
…
All Chemical Related Industries
 Sustainable Chemical Processes
• Attempt to satisfy…
− Investor demand for unprecedented capital
productivity
− Social demand for low present and future
environmental impact

• While producing…
− Highest quality products
− Minimum use of raw material
− Minimum use of energy
− Minimum waste

• In a socially responsible manner

Spatial and Temporal Scale
Sustainable Engineering
 Scope of Sustainability

Unit Process Plant Industry Ecosystem

Society

1970 1980 1990 2000 Time

 Sustainability Related Concepts,
Methodologies and Technologies
• Green Chemistry
• Green Engineering
• Environmentally Benign Manufacturing
• Inherently Safer Chemical Processes
• Design for Environment (DfE)
• Industrial Ecology (IE)
• Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
• Total cost analysis (TCA)
• …
 Green Chemistry Mission

“ To promote innovative chemical

technologies that reduce or eliminate
the use or generation of hazardous
substances in the design,
manufacturing, and use of chemical
products.”
-- EPA
 Green Chemical Engineering

“ To design, commercialize, and use

chemical processes and products,
which are feasible and economical
while minimizing 1) the generation of
pollution at the source and 2) the risk to
human health and the environment.”

-- EPA
 Implementing Green Engineering
Risk assessment: Risk = f (Hazard, Exposure)
Importance:
• Can estimate the environmental impacts of
specific chemicals on people and ecosystems
• Can prioritize chemicals that need to be
minimized or eliminated
• Can optimize design to avoid or reduce
environmental impacts
• Can assess feed and recycle streams based on
risk and not volume within a chemical process
• Can design "greener" products and processes
Environmentally Benign Chemical/Process Pathways:
from Raw Materials to products
Study on Develop
new EBM
molecular system and
bonds Identify operational
the safest strategy
media

Raw Mat.
(organic, Condition Process Product
Inorganic)

Chemists
Chemical Engineer
Industrial Environmental Protection

First 20 Years (1970’s to 1980’s)

• EPA established (1970)
• Ten EPA Regional Centers established (1980’s)
•Waste treatment, disposal, and landfill
•Hazardous waste management
Next 10 years (1990’s)
• Waste clean-up
• Continuous waste treatment
• Initiation of source reduction and recycling/ reuse
• Encouragement of zero discharge
Design for Environment (DfE) – Mid 90’s

• Promote integrating cleaner, cheaper,

and smarter solutions into everyday
business practices
• Support using "benign by design"
principles in the design, manufacturing,
and use of chemicals and chemical
processes
Proliferation of Environmental Laws and
Regulations
 Pollution and Regulation

NOx
CO2 Industrial Growth
SOx

Emission Limits
Time Today
Challenge – P2 and Profitability
Waste elimination
+ EPA permit
P3
Economic benefit ($)

technologies

Environmental
?? cleanness

Basic P2
tech.
New P2 tech.
--

(tech. change,
mat. substitution,
recovery/reuse,
pretreatment)
 Conventional P2 Nature: Passive
Major P2 Materials, Energy, Air, Water
Available
Technologies
In-plant
recycle
Waste Process
Treatment
End-of-
proc. waste

End-of-plant Product
waste waste
 P3: Profitable Pollution Prevention

Materials, Energy, Air, Water

P3
Technologies

In-plant
recycle
Wastewater
Treatment Process
End-of-
proc. waste

End-of-plant Product
waste
 P3 Classifications

• New chemistry
• New alternative chemicals, solvents, and
solutions
• New product structures
• New processing technologies
• New processes
 Performance Goal of CPI for 2020

• Reduce feedstock losses to waste and

byproducts by 90%
• Reduce energy intensity by 30%
• Reduce emissions, including CO2 and
effluents by 30%
• Increase use of renewables by 13%
• Increase the number of new products and
applications annually by 15%
• Reduce production costs by 25%
 Some Key R&D Needs for the CPI
Reaction media Process Cross cutting
development
• Solvent-less • Alternative reactor • New catalysts for
processes for concepts (biomass reduced emission
polymerization and petrochemical) • Chemical synthesis
• Alternative processing • Low cost/better and process
media (e.g., performance synthesis
supercritical media, materials methodology
water, plasma) electrochemical • Fundamental
• Kinetics and processes processes controlling
thermodynamics of • Environmentally self-assembly
mass transport benign process • Comprehensive
processes integration characterization and
• Low emission, • Hybrid separation control of processing
continuous techs that combines chemicals
processing tech. for biological step
polymerization and
media
 R&D for Developing Enabling Tools
Early economic and Computational design Combinatorial
Environ. feasibility of alternatives techniques
screening of alt’s
• Develop models for: • Develop and validate • Develop techniques
−Early environmental models covering: for process options,
screening −Statistical mechanics alt. solvents
−For exploring the −Physics based including:
chemistry of alt’s method −General
early-on in the design −Complex fluids combinatorial tech.
process For catalyst
−Quantum mechanics
• Develop improved development
• Develop integrated
methods of life-cycle −Single-site
models at multiple scale architecture in
analysis for new vs.
existing processes • Predict macro- heterogeneous
properties of polymers catalysts
• Conduct life-cycle
from molecular • Combinatorial tech
analysis of major
properties applied to catalysts
polymers with regard
to economics and • Improve methods of and enzymes for
environmental impacts retro-design polymer design
Drastic Waste Reduction in Current Plants

Solution to EPA’s Request:

• To enhance in-plant waste treatment facility –
expensive
• To adopt cleaner manufacturing technology – not
matured, expensive
• To work on the current process through
environmentally cleaner design and control –
economically attractive, technically difficult, not
available at large
 Profitable Pollution Prevention

Strategy for reducing Strategy for

raw materials, energy, ensuring
Energy water, and chemicals product quality
chemicals
water
Process (Continuous/Batch/Hybrid)

Unit Unit Unit

Raw 1 2 N Product
Materials

Wastewater
Spent solution
Strategy for reducing Strategy for reducing Sludge
waste transferring waste generated in Air emission
among units each unit
 P3 Technologies Developed
• Technologies for electroplating plants
• Design technology for developing an optimal water
use and reuse network (10~35% reduction)
• A closed-loop electroplating system that
achieve near zero discharge
• Technologies for petrochemical plants
• Emission reduction of over 50%
 Industrial Ecosystem
• A viable approach for sustainable
development
• A symbiosis of different industries
interconnected through various mass and
energy exchanges
• Ultimate objective: to minimize the
material and energy consumption, and to
reduce or even eliminate waste disposal
through various recycle and reuse
mechanisms
Stand-alone Business vs. Industrial Ecology

From Stand-alone Business to Industrial Ecology Time & Space

Business-as-usual
Compliance with
regulation and Process oriented
Pollution prevention

EIA, Energy audits,

Envir. audits
Extended product
responsability
Eco-efficiency
Product oriented
Design for Environment
Life Cycle Assessment
LCA

Industrial Ecology
Creating loop-closing
industrial ecosystems Systems Oriented
Promoting waste exchanges
Cascading energy
utilization
 Challenges in Industrial Ecosystem
Development
• Lack of systematic approaches for the
analysis and design of industrial ecosystems
• Major obstacles
− Evaluating each dimension of the “triple bottom
line” of sustainability
− Handling the complex interdependency among
different members
− The need of a holistic decision-making method
across different scales from production unit to
the entire ecosystem
 Life Cycle Analysis
• Assesses the cumulative environmental
impacts of any product, process or service
Goal, Scope Definition

Inventory Analysis Interpretation

Impact Assessment

• Begins with the stage of gathering raw

materials from earth to create a product and
ends at the point when all the materials are
returned back to earth
 Scope of Environmental Impacts
Pre-Chemical Chemical Post-Chemical
Manufacturing Stages Manufacturing Process Manufacturing Stages
• Chemical reactions • Final product manufacture
• Extraction from the
• Separation operations • Product usage in commerce
environment
• Material storage • Reuse/recycle
• Transportation of materials
• Loading and unloading • Treatment/destruction
• Refining of raw materials
• Material conveyance • Disposal
• Storage and transportation
• Waste treatment processes • Environmental release
• Loading and unloading

• Airborne releases wastewater releases • Solid/hazardous waste • Toxic chemical releases

• Energy consumption • Resource depletion

Environmental/Health Impacts
• Global warming • Ozone layer depletion • Air quality – smog • Acidification • Ecotoxicity
• Human health effects, carcinogenic and non carcinogenic • Resource depletion