A simplified early stage assessment of process intensification: glycidol as a value-added product from epichlorohydrin industry wastes

Abstract

The present work deals with the production of glycidol through a new synthetic approach based on the conversion of 2-chloro-1,3-propanediol (β-MCH), a by-product in the epichlorohydrin production plant.

Glycidol, a Valuable Substrate for the Synthesis of Monoalkyl Glyceryl Ethers: A Simplified Life Cycle Approach

“…Figure 5d epictsthe main results of the simplified LCA analysis for the two routes to MAGEs:t he conventional route from glycerol( green bars), normalized to 100 %a si ti dentifies the current situation, and the glycidol-based route (dashed red and blue lines), which has never been developed and therefore is novel, to the best of our knowledge. [17] As is shown in Figure 5, the scores achieved are really interesting, as ac onsiderable reduction was obtained for all impact categories considered in the analysis (with the exception of ionizing radiation, agricultural land occupation, and metal depletion). [17] As is shown in Figure 5, the scores achieved are really interesting, as ac onsiderable reduction was obtained for all impact categories considered in the analysis (with the exception of ionizing radiation, agricultural land occupation, and metal depletion).…”

“…Several approaches have already been set. This way of analysis,u sually called "at early stage", [17] helps re-searchersa nd companies duringt he R&D phase since it is essentialt ov erify the environmental sustainability of an innovative chemical process before its commercialization (e.g.,n ew biobased process). Thus, further examination of the severali ndexes of performance that are already available should be considered but is beyondt he scope of our manuscript.…”

“…Thankst oi ts great flexibility,L CA is widely used to evaluate viable solutionse ither for small communities, for example, the efficient exploitation of the regionals upply chain [35] or the smart use of wood prunes, [36] or to investigate international topics (such as the use of biofuelsint ransportation). Several areas have been investigated, such as:t he biobased industry and biorefinery, [6,17,[40][41][42] petrochemicals and solvents, [43][44][45][46] nanomaterials, [47][48][49] pharmaceuticals, [50][51][52] etc. Several areas have been investigated, such as:t he biobased industry and biorefinery, [6,17,[40][41][42] petrochemicals and solvents, [43][44][45][46] nanomaterials, [47][48][49] pharmaceuticals, [50][51][52] etc.…”

“…. [6,17] [54] to estimate the energy requirements: the powervalue for ageneric laboratory hot-plate (800 W) was multiplied by the time neededt oc ompletet he reaction( 24 hf or glycerola nd 1hfor glycidol).…”

“…[15] On the other hand, the reactiono fE CH with alcohol in basic or acid conditions gives the desired product withoutt he formation of byproducts, butafurther step is required. [17] This approach, based on the adoption of the benign-by-design criteria, [18] was formulated followingt he principles of green chemistry, [4] which promote the minimization of waste, the increase of atom economy as wella si ts renewability.I nf act, biobased ECH from glycerol has been produced by SolvayS .A. [17] This approach, based on the adoption of the benign-by-design criteria, [18] was formulated followingt he principles of green chemistry, [4] which promote the minimization of waste, the increase of atom economy as wella si ts renewability.I nf act, biobased ECH from glycerol has been produced by SolvayS .A.…”