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IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF CHEMICAL PROCESSES THROUGH THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Citation:
Barrett**, W M. AND R L. Smith*. IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF CHEMICAL PROCESSES THROUGH THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Presented at AIChE, Spring National Meeting, Information Technology Topical Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 27, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Efforts are currently underway at the USEPA to develop information technology applications to improve the environmental performance of the chemical process industry. These efforts include the use of genetic algorithms to optimize different process options for minimal environmental impact, the Waste Reduction (WAR) Algortihm to minimize the quantity the environmental impacts of process wastes. Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial (PARIS), and the Metal Finishing Facility Pollution Prevention Tool, which is a process simulator for determining the quantity of wastes generated in metal finishing facility and estimating the effects of process modifications on the amount of wastes generated. There is a widely held belief, supported by numerous case studies in the literature to support the fact that improved environmental performance and increased profitability are related. Indeed, from a strictly empirical standpoint, the factors leading to reducing environmental impacts and operational profitability are the same. One of the main obstacles to improving the environmental performance of chemical performance of chemical processes is the inability to identify and evaluate the cost effectiveness of process modifications designed to improve environmental performance. Current EPA research in the use of process simulation to improve environmental aspects of chemical processes involves the development of tools that can be adapted to chemical process simulations.