Solvent Replacement for Green Processing

Abstract

The implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the Clean Air Act, and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 has resulted in increased awareness of organic solvent use in chemical processing. The advances made in the search to find "green" replacements for traditional solvents are reviewed, with reference to solvent alternatives for cleaning, coatings, and chemical reaction and separation processes. The development of solvent databases and computational methods that aid in the selection and/or design of feasible or optimal environmentally benign solvent alternatives for specific applications is also discussed. -Environ Health Perspect 106(Suppl 1):253-271 (1998). http.//ehpnetl.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1998/Suppl-1/253-271sherman/abstract.html

Macro-level environmental comparison of near-dry machining and flood machining

“…The cutting fluids are another important part of machining, both in terms of operation and in terms of environmental impact (Becket, 1994;Rossmore and Rossmore, 1994;Childers, 1994;Sherman et al, 1998). Given the estimations of the metalworking fluids use along with a work scenario (i.e., 52 work weeks/year, with 5 work days/ week), the values for the amount of concentrated metalworking fluid and water used per machine per day can be obtained.…”

“…Typically LCA includes four different stages: the raw material acquisition, the manufacturing, the use/maintenance, the recycle/ waste management (Ekvall, 2002;Hermann et al, 2007;Sherman et al, 1998). The system boundary covers all inputs in terms of the material and the energy going into the machining process and outputs in terms of the emissions.…”

Polyethylene glycol-water and polypropylene glycol-water solutionsas benign reaction solvents

“…The Montreal Protocol, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, and others are designed to reduce the waste emissions to the environment (Sherman et al, 1998;Kirschner, 1994). Other regulations, such as those established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers from exposure to harmful solvents, have also increased the demand for safe solvents (Sherman et al, 1998). All of this has significant economic ramifications.…”

Effect of the ethoxy groups distribution on the phase behaviour of the binary systems carbon dioxide CO2 with industrial non-ionic surfactants (CiEOj)

“…It is therefore important to explore new and more environmentally friendly solvents. The literature shows more than a few alternatives that could replace perc, such as hydrocarbons [5][6][7], silicone oils and liquid carbon dioxide [8] that have been proposed as attractive and competitive alternatives to chlorinated compounds like perc [9,10]. In this work, we have chosen carbon dioxide due its numerous toxicological advantages, harmless to humans that are in contact with it, like dry-cleaning workers or dry-cleaning customers.…”