POLLUTION PREVENTION FOR PRODUCTION SYSTEMS OF ENERGETIC MATERIALS

The Batch Design-Kit (BDK) environment is a software system for the de velopment of batch manufacturing processes. Given a set of reaction pa thways, BDK enables chemists and chemical engineers to investigate pos sible production routes, refine promising candidates and develop a det ailed chemical recipe in an interactive manner. Automatic facility all ocation of equipment for these conceptual recipes help determine the f easibility and effciency of the processing idea at existing manufactur ing sites. Material assessment reveals the environmental impact caused by the utilized chemical compounds and process mixtures. Automatic wa ste treatment synthesis generates efficient treatment strategies for a ll process wastes and calculates the residuals emitted to the environm ent. With process analysis based on the facility allocation, material assessment and treatment selection, alternative processing schemes can be ranked and potential problems, such as examination of equipment co sts, regulatory compliance and expenditures for waste treatment, can b e identified at an early stage of the process development. Through its material-centered design concept, BDK maintains a cause-effect relati onship between process mixtures, operations and their economic and env ironmental performance. In that way, process improvement can be focuse d specifically on the replacement of offending chemicals and/or the im provement or modification of problematic operations or operation seque nces. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.