OPTIMAL SOLVENT DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT MINIMIZATION

A systematic procedure to select solvents in mass separating agent (MS A) driven technologies so as to account for plant-wide point source or post-release environmental interactions is presented in this paper. A three step procedure is proposed involving identification of all agen t-based operations within the process of interest, determination of a list of candidate solvents satisfying separation task operational and environmental constraints, and selection of an optimal solvent candida te based on global plant-wide process and environmental constraints. E nvironmental impact assessment techniques including post-release envir onmental damage are also incorporated in the solvent selection framewo rk. Two examples are presented to illustrate the viability of the appr oach; trade-offs are discussed regarding cost and environmental impact objectives. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.