Reactive Pressure-Swing Distillation toward Sustainable Process of Novel Continuous Ultra-High-Purity Electronic-Grade Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate Manufacture

Abstract

Ultra-high-purity propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA) is required as an electronic-grade solvent to meet the stringent requirements of the rapidly developing semiconductor industry. The high demand for ultra-high-purity PGMEA has created the need for an efficient sustainable process for reducing energy consumption as well as satisfying tight waste management regulations. Here, a potentially sustainable and novel process for efficient continuous electronic-grade PGMEA manufacturing is presented. This study covers the extensive design of the novel PGMEA manufacturing process and its intensification from the conceptual level to rigorous simulation. The base case of the proposed PGMEA manufacturing process highlights the feasibility of renewable resource use, single ultra-high-purity PGMEA, nonrequirement of an additional solvent, less waste generation, and reduction in the usage of raw materials. The advanced intensification of PGMEA manufacturing by exploiting reactive pressure-swing distillation achieves total reduction in energy, cost, and CO2 emissions of approximately 38.65, 35.05, and 36.25%, respectively, compared to the base case with rigorous optimal reactive distillation and pressure-swing distillation. Furthermore, heat integration of intensified case reduced the total heat utility by 47.27%.

Green Nanofabrication Opportunities in the Semiconductor Industry: A Life Cycle Perspective

“…PGMEA is one of the most important solvents for photoresist processing in the semiconductor industry. It has relatively low environmental toxicity but all of the reactants required in its manufacture are from non-renewable sources [ 151 ]. Carcinogens used in photoresists (PR) products include cyclohexanone, ethylbenzene, pyridine, and 1,4 dioxane [ 34 ].…”

Pressure Swing-Based Reactive Distillation and Dividing Wall Column for Improving Manufacture of Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate

“…Recently, an attempt toward a sustainable process of continuous PGMEA production was reported [7]. First, a base-catalyzed reaction between propylene oxide (PO) and methanol (MeOH) was used to synthesize PGME.…”

“…At the top RD product, the more volatile mixture, MeAc and MeOH, as a binary azeotrope, was introduced into the low pressure distillation column section. Figure 1 presents a schematic diagram of the novel PGMEA production process [7]. That study showed that intensified RD and pressure swing distillation (PSD) techniques could increase the PGMEA conversion; thus, the energy requirement was significantly decreased compared to that of the traditional process [7].…”

“…Figure 1 presents a schematic diagram of the novel PGMEA production process [7]. That study showed that intensified RD and pressure swing distillation (PSD) techniques could increase the PGMEA conversion; thus, the energy requirement was significantly decreased compared to that of the traditional process [7]. However, that study focused only on enhancing the performance of the RD and PSD, whereas the energy-intensive distillation unit was not considered.…”

“…However, that study focused only on enhancing the performance of the RD and PSD, whereas the energy-intensive distillation unit was not considered. In fact, C1 and C2 (Figure 1) consumed 71.1% of the total energy required for the PGMEA process [7]. in RD column has two major drawbacks.…”