Sustainable Chemical Technologies – Development Trends and Tools

Abstract

The development trends in chemical technologies undergoing fundamental change towards sustainability are described and discussed. The main tools of sustainable technological development and possible alternatives are identified and characterized. Some opinions and predictions are presented concerning the future progress in the development of advanced sustainable chemical technologies.

Impact of surface chemistry

“…To identify the molecular factors that control selectivity, it is required to monitor surface chemical processes under reaction conditions (15). Innovations in catalytic processes are playing a key role in green chemistry by reducing or eliminating the use and generation of hazardous substances in chemical conversion processes and in the development of renewable energy and chemical feedstocks (16,17). An example is the commercialization of the hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide process for making propylene oxide, a polyurethane raw material (18).…”

Selectivity Enhancement to the Exclusive Formation of Ethyltoluenes and Hydrogen During Dehydroalkylation of Toluene with Ethane

“…Whereas activity is a prerequisite for any catalyst, selectivity is a much more delicate parameter, and even small gains in selectivity are often very significant in successful processes. The selective activation of alkanes for environmentally sustainable development has been the focus of much research in homogeneous catalysis [2] as well as heterogeneous catalysis [3]. It is well known that high selectivities are generally obtained in homogeneous catalysis.…”

Sustainable Chemical Technologies in Production of Clean Fuels from Fossil Fuels

“…Recently, the basic trends and tools applied in the sustainable chemical technologies development have been discussed by me [18]. It is now clear that general changes towards sustainable -clean, green-chemical technologies tend towards: -Minimization of raw materials consumption due to the choice of the best available process and feedstock, optimization of the operating parameters, usage of highly selective catalysts, recirculation of by-products, etc.…”