Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

To prevent pollution in chemical manufacturing processes, concepts respectively for solvent selection and waste minimization have been developed and improved. The first concept selects solvents for a given process that exhibit good environmental behavior in addition to good performance. For the performance test, relative and absolute solubility calculations of solvent-solute combinations are performed, and reactivity is estimated. The acceptable solvents are tested for important environmental characteristics such as global warming, ozone depletion, risk of fire and explosion, BOD5, and toxicity. Estimations of the risk of fire and explosion were made by implementing a model for solvent storage in the calculation of Dow's F&E index. The second concept helps minimize waste during manufacturing. Steinbach's concept of the balance yield BA is slightly varied and set into software. Both concepts are applied via software to manufacturing processes for NMSM. They identify the solvent DMSO as the most suitable solvent for the new process and highlight the most productive process, as well as the weak points of each process. Copyright © 2002 American Chemical Society [accessed 2013 August 19th