Reactive distillation is an excellent example of recent advances in process intensification. It combines reaction and separation operations in one piece of equipment. This paper studies the steady-state economic optimum design of a chemical process with a generic exothermic reversible reaction A+B↔C+D for two different process flowsheets: a conventional multi-unit reactor/separator/recycle stru...

Various approaches to solvent recovery have been studied for the manufacturing process of celecoxib, the active ingredient in Celebrex. A design case study has been performed by Rowan University with Pfizer through a green engineering partnership program. The manufacturing operation at Barceloneta, Puerto Rico was evaluated and several green engineering alternatives for the purification and rec...

Distillation is the most widely used separation technique in the chemical process industries. Not all liquid mixtures can be separated by ordinary fractional distillation, however. When the components to be separated of system have relative volatilities of close to 1.00 (i.e. close boiling mixture), separation becomes difficult and expensive because a large number of trays and a high reflux rat...

The analysis of the history of structured packings allows the conclusion that the innovation cycle will become faster. Based on the separation power as an alternative way to represent the performance characteristics an estimate of the next level of what might be the ultimative separation power is given. Regarding the column internals like distributors only slight improvements are expected, typi...

Technologies to collect and reuse sulfuric acid waste is attracting attention to reduce industrial waste in semiconductor manufacturing plants. Reusing sulfuric acid has a high economic value. By using sulfuric acid recycling equipment based on an atmospheric distillation method, we evaluated the recovery percentage of sulfuric acid, the concentration and quality of recycled sulfuric acid, and ...

Distillation is a method of separating chemicals based on differences in the speed or ease evaporation (volatility) material distillation, mixture substances boiled so that it evaporates, and this vapor then cooled back into form liquid. The condenser heat exchanger functions as medium for condensation process. Cooling towers are able to lower water temperature more than equipment only uses air...

Cost-effective methods are needed to identify the presence and distribution of tritium near radioactive waste disposal and other contaminated sites. The objectives of this study were to (i) develop a simplified sample preparation method for determining tritium contamination in plants and (ii) determine if plant data could be used as an indicator of soil contamination. The method entailed collec...

Membrane distillation (MD), which can utilize low-grade thermal energy, has been extensively studied for desalination. By incorporating solar thermal energy, the solar membrane distillation desalination system (SMDDS) is a potential technology for resolving energy and water resource problems. Small-scale SMDDS (s-SMDDS) is an attractive and viable option for the production of fresh water for sm...

Internally heat-integrated distillation columns (HIDiC) are a new design option to provide a sustainable separation system. Although significant energy savings can be achieved using this setup, a considerable increase in investment cost penalizes the application. One major cost driver is the compressor cost, which depends on the relative volatility of the mixture to be separated. While mixtures...