GREEN CHEMISTRY AND ENGINEERING

R.KUMARAN
16BME133
GREEN CHEMISTRY AND ENGINEERING
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
OVERVIEW OF GREEN CHEMISTRY
 Green Chemistry was first introduced by Paul T. Anastas in 1991. He is also called as father
of green chemistry.
 Green Chemistry is defined as the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or
eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.
 Green Chemistry is also called as sustainable chemistry. Green chemistry is commonly
presented set of twelve principles proposed by Paul T. Anastas and Warner.
 Green Chemistry has impacts over many fields such as industrial, chemical, agricultural, etc.
Reduces the negative impacts of chemical products and processes on human health and the
environment. It sometimes eliminates hazard from existing products and processes.
 PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED
 Solvent Hazards :
 Many common solvents may be hazardous wastes when they are spent, or can no longer be
used. Also, many commercial chemical products are solvents that are considered a hazardous
waste if they are unused when discarded.
 Potential harmful solvents includes ethyl acetate, xylene, white spirit and acetone. Certain
tasks such as spraying can also produce very high exposures.
 Organic solvent hazards are one of the most common solvents that causes hazards to the
human health and the environments. They are
 Flammable – ability of a chemical to burn or ignite causes fire or combusion (almost all
except chlorinated solvents).
 Carcinogenic – ability of a specific chemical or physical agent that causes cancer in living
tissues (chlorinated solvents and aromatics).
 Narcotics – a drug or other chemical substance that affects the mood or behaviour of a human
beings and plants in illegal ways (ether, chloroform).
 Toxic – degree to which a chemical substance or a some mixtures of substance can cause
damage to the living organism (MeOH, CS2).
 HAZARDS CHEMICAL SOLVENTS AND ITS ALTERNATIVES
Avoid using Structure TLV Why it is bad Alternative Structure
Benzene 0.5 Carcinogen, low TLV, Toulene
Classified as a hazardous
airborne pollutant

Carbon tetrachloride 5 Carcinogen, toxic, Dichloromethane

depletes ozone,
Classified as a hazardous
airborne pollutant
Chloroform 10 Classified as a hazardous Dichloromethane
airborne pollutant,
carcinogen

Hexane 50 More toxic than Heptane

alternative

Diethyl ether 400 Low flash point Tert-butyl methyl

ether

Dimethyl acetamide 10** Toxic Acetonitrile

 TLV = Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological
Exposure Indices. It is also defined as the substance at which level to a worker can exposed
day after day for a working without adverse effects.
 The maximum concentration of a chemical allowable for repeated exposure without
producing adverse health effects. TLV is a reserved term of the ACGIH (American
Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists).
 Thershold Limit Value - Time-Weighted Average (TWA) represents the concentration of a
toxic substance over a normal 8-h workday and 40-h workweek, to which nearly all workers
may be repeatedly exposed, every day, without adverse effects.
 Calculation for TLV :
 The units of the Threshold Limit Values are measured in parts per million (ppm) for gases
and in milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m³) for subatomic particles such as smoke, dust and
mist. The esteemed formula for converting between ppm and mg/m³ for gases is ppm =
(mg/m^3) * 24.45 / molecular weight.
 - Safer
 - Dangerous
 - Okay
 SOLUTIONS
 Choose the safest solution available for given step and minimize the amount of solvents and
substances that used to make large percentage of total waste created.
 We must store some hazards solvents in strong, sealed containers to avoid the damage of the
human health and environment can be reduced.
 Water is universal and greenest solvent is pure state, it has zero effect on environment. The
use of water as a solvent has tremendous benefits as a green extraction solvent because it is
not only inexpensive and environmentally benign. But it is also non-flammable, nontoxic,
providing opportunities for clean processing and pollution prevention.
 We can use safer environmental and polar solvents such as ethanol, 1-propanol, acetone,
acetonitrile, 2-propanol, and methanol. The best solvent for any process step is bad for the
subsequent step.
 Super critical fluid possesses properties of gases and liquids in an intriguing manner, which
could offer range of applications and possibilities in both synthetic and analytical chemistry.
 Solvent-based extractions more often include the application of bio-based organic solvents,
such as esters, alcohols or terpenes.
 INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY TO
CONSERVE THE ENVIRONMENT
 Follow all established procedures and to work precisely as you have been trained.
 Be cautious and plan ahead. Think about what could go wrong and pay close attention to
what you are doing while you work.
 Make sure that all containers are properly labeled and that the material is contained in an
appropriate container. Don’t use any material not contained or labeled properly. Report any
damaged containers or illegible labels to your supervisor right away.
 Read the label and the safety data sheet (SDS) before using any material to make sure you
understand hazards and precautions.
 Use all materials solely for their intended purpose. Don’t, for example, use solvents to clean
your hands, or gasoline to wipe down equipment.
 Know emergency procedures and equipment. Store all materials properly, separate
incompatibles, and store in ventilated, dry, cool areas.
 CONCLUSION
 Past and present solvent selection guides for general use have been reviewed with the aim of
clarifying the advantages and limitations of each.
 Green Chemistry also demonstrate that the implementation of the concept of solvents used in
the chemicals and chemical products requires that chemicals processing must be both
environmentally and commercially sustainable.
 We must use the solvents and substances to enhance the developments and increasing the
environmental resources not to destroy the environment.
 No solvent is perfectly green. The nonconventional solvents are more exciting, but it’s the
conventional ones that are greening the industry.
 The future of solvent selection will inevitably require a greater sophistication in how solvents
are chosen on the basis of a sustainable supply chain, and more work is needed in the area of
application specific tools and life cycle assessments.
 REFERENCES
 Fact Sheet : Solvent Alternatives.
 Working safely with solvents
 Green Solvents - an overview.
THANK YOU