Environmental and Energy Management

EM6763

Lecture # 05

Course Teacher: Dr. Ghulam Asghar

 Today’s Lecture
 Introduction to Green Chemistry
 12 Principles of Green Chemistry
 Introduction to Science/Engineering
 12 Principles of Green Engineering
 Green Chemistry versus Green Engineering
 Introduction to Green Chemistry
 Green chemistry, also called “clean chemistry” refers to that field of chemistry
dealing with the synthesis, processing, and use of chemicals that reduce risks to
humans and the environment.
 Bishop defines that green chemistry involves a detailed study of the by-products
from the synthesis and the effects these by-products have. Green chemistry
concepts can also be used to evaluate the inputs to a synthesis pathway and
determine whether it is possible to reduce the use of endangered resources by
switching to more plentiful or renewable ones.
 It is also defined as the invention, design, and application of chemical products
and processes to reduce or to eliminate the use and generation of hazardous
substances.
 Based on this definition, Anastas offers the following four comments;
1. The concept of “invention” and “design” considers that the impacts of
chemical products and chemical processes are included as design criteria,
performance criteria are inseparably linked to hazard considerations in the
definition of green chemistry.
 Introduction to Green Chemistry
 Based on this definition, Anastas offers the following four comments;
2. The phrase “use and generation” includes all substances that are part of
the process, rather than focusing only on those undesirable substances
that might be unintentionally produced in a process. So green chemistry is
a tool for minimizing the negative impact of those procedures aimed at
optimizing efficiency.
3. Limiting the definition to deal with waste only would be addressing a part
of the problem. The major consequences of the use of hazardous
substances should also be addressed.
4. Green chemistry is a way of dealing with risk reduction and pollution
prevention by addressing the intrinsic hazards of the substances rather
than those circumstances and conditions of their use that might increase
their risk.
 Why is it important for green chemistry to adopt a risk-based approach? To
understand this, one must visit the concept of health risk.
 Risk, in its most fundamental terms, is a function of the health hazard and
exposure, as shown:
 Introduction to Green Chemistry
 Thus, industrial chemists can no longer concern themselves only with the
chemicals they are producing; they must also be mindful of the following:

1. Hazardous wastes that will be generated during product synthesis.

2. Toxic substances that will need to be handled by the workers making

the product.

3. Regulatory compliance issues to be followed in making the product.

4. Liability concerns arising from the manufacture of this type of product.

5. Waste treatment costs that will be incurred.

6. Energy considerations.

7. Alternative product synthesis pathways or processes that may be

available.
 Introduction to Green Chemistry
 Much has been accomplished in recent years to design products and chemical
processes that are more environmentally sound, enough has not been done.
 The Council for Chemical Research has put together a list of the most needy
research areas, which include;
1. Replace chromium in corrosion protection, which will require development
of new redox (transfer of electrons) reaction/chemistry.
2. Recycle rubber more effectively, which will require new ways to reverse
cross-linking and vulcanization.
3. Replace traditional acid and base catalysts in bulk processes by (perhaps)
using new zeolites.
4. Develop new water-based synthesis and processing methods to minimize use
of volatile organic solvents.
5. Develop new catalytic processes, based on light or catalytic antibodies, to
replace traditional heavy metal catalysts.
6. Devise better chelates to separate and recycle heavy metal catalysts.
 Computer programs are now being made available that have the potential for
proposing alternative reaction pathways that may subsequently be evaluated for
their relative risk and economic viability.
 Introduction to Green Science/Engineering
 Green engineering is similar to green chemistry in many respects,
according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

Green engineering is the design, commercialization, and use of processes

and products which are feasible and economical while minimizing the;

1. risk to human health and the environment, and

2. generation of pollution at the source.

 Green engineering embraces the concept that decisions to protect human

health and the environment can have the greatest impact and cost
effectiveness when applied in the very beginning or early in the design
and development phase of a process or product.

 Therefore, green engineering also supports incremental improvements in

materials, machine efficiencies, and energy use that can often be
implemented more quickly than novel design approaches.
Introduction to Green Science/Engineering
12 Principles of Green Engineering
12 Principles of Green Engineering
 Green Chemistry versus Green Engineering
 What is the difference between green engineering and green chemistry?
 From definitions of both terms, one could conclude that green engineering is
concerned with the design, commercialization, and use of all types of processes
and products, whereas green chemistry covers just a very small subset of this—
the early/initial design of chemical processes and products.
 Although green chemistry may be viewed as a subset of green engineering, it is a
very broad field, encompassing everything from improving energy efficiency in
manufacturing processes to developing plastics from renewable resources.
 One important aspect in this area is the development of mathematical based
tools that aid in decision making when faced with alternatives.
 Another is the discovery and development of new technology that makes the
design, commercialization, and use of processes and products that reduce or
eliminate pollution possible.
 In particular, one major focus of both green chemistry and green engineering is
developing alternatives to the volatile organic solvents used so extensively in
chemical and manufacturing processes, which was also addressed at a 2007 EPA
conference.
 Green Chemistry versus Green Engineering
 Solvents comprised 66% of all industrial emissions in 1997 in the U.S.
 The EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics reported that there had been
some progress from 1998 to 2002, including a 91% decrease in stack air pollutant
releases, 88% decrease in fugitive air pollutant releases, and 79% decrease in
water releases. It also reported that 50% of greenhouse gases were from
solvents.
 Efforts to address this pressing need of developing alternative solvents for
synthesis, separation, and processing are being studied.
 For example, supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) can be used to replace the
abundant amounts of organic and aqueous solvents used in the microelectronic
industries.
 One new supercritical fluid technology utilizes CO2 (derived from waste) as the
best solvent for chromatography. Also, CO2 presents unique technical advantages
in device fabrication.
 Other studies demonstrate how strong mineral acids can be eliminated by
choosing a solvent (either hot water or a CO2-expanded liquid), where the acid
catalyst can be produced reversibly in situ.
 Green Chemistry versus Green Engineering
 Some very pivotal steps that must be taken in the near future must include
implementing greatly improved technologies for harnessing the fossil and
nuclear fuels employed in order to ensure that their use, if continued, creates
much lower environmental and social impact; developing and deploying the
renewable energy sources on a much wider scale; and making major
improvements in the efficiency of energy conversion, distribution, and use.
 Green chemistry and green engineering are emerging issues that come under the
larger multifaceted spectrum of sustainable development.
 Sustainable development represents a change in consumption patterns toward
environmentally more benign products, and a change in investment patterns
toward augmenting environmental capital.
 Environmental concerns must also be properly integrated into economic policy
from the highest (macroeconomic) level to the most detailed (microeconomic)
level.
 The environment must be seen as a valuable, frequently essential input to
human well-being.
 Quiz No. 2
 Next time there would be a Quiz# 2 from
Lecture No. 3.
Thank You