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8 Solvent recovery and recycling

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Sustainable Process Engineering
This chapter is in the book Sustainable Process Engineering
8 Solvent recovery and recyclingDiana Gulyas Oldal, Gyorgy SzekelySolvents play an essential role in every stage of chemical production. Thus, there is anincreasing amount of organic solvent waste to handle each year. The vast majority ofthe world’s solvent production eventually ends up being disposed of through incinera-tion or dispersal into the biosphere [1]. There is a negligible accumulation of solventsin long-term artifacts, and thus the annual discharge of solvents closely matches theirproduction rate. The conventional step-by-step approach for solvent recovery isshown in Figure 8.1, which includes four stages: solid removal, recovery, purification,and refinement. The role of solvents in sustainable chemical production is explainedin Chapter 3.Lonza Engineering introduced a saving-potential ranking for various solvent handlingapproaches, ranging from off-site incineration toin siturecycling (Figure 8.2) [3]. Thedisposal of solvent waste via on-site or off-site incineration is expensive and ulti-mately significantly impacts a company’s carbon footprint [4]. Consequently, the sol-vents should be recycled on-site, specific to the process. When the solvent is purifiedand recirculated within the same process, it is often referred to asin situsolvent recy-cling, which has the highest saving potential and the smallest environmental foot-print. Figure 8.3 compares the different solvent recovery and recycling routes from aprocess engineering point of view. Keep in mind that each solvent storage, includingspent and recovered solvents, needs logistics, risk assessment, safety precautions, andquality control, all of which have a significant physical footprint in a manufacturingplant. These measures are considerably less forin situsolvent recycling. Therefore, itshould be the first option to consider by process engineers. The most prevalent tech-nologies for solvent recovery and recycling are distillation (such as pressure swing,azeotropic and extractive distillations), adsorption, and membrane processes (includ-ing organic solvent nanofiltration and organophilic pervaporation) [4]. These are fur-ther explained in the following sections. Follow the QR code on this page to watch aFigure 8.1:Conventional step-by-step approach for solvent recovery and the common techniques for eachstage. Adapted from [2].https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111028163-008
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

8 Solvent recovery and recyclingDiana Gulyas Oldal, Gyorgy SzekelySolvents play an essential role in every stage of chemical production. Thus, there is anincreasing amount of organic solvent waste to handle each year. The vast majority ofthe world’s solvent production eventually ends up being disposed of through incinera-tion or dispersal into the biosphere [1]. There is a negligible accumulation of solventsin long-term artifacts, and thus the annual discharge of solvents closely matches theirproduction rate. The conventional step-by-step approach for solvent recovery isshown in Figure 8.1, which includes four stages: solid removal, recovery, purification,and refinement. The role of solvents in sustainable chemical production is explainedin Chapter 3.Lonza Engineering introduced a saving-potential ranking for various solvent handlingapproaches, ranging from off-site incineration toin siturecycling (Figure 8.2) [3]. Thedisposal of solvent waste via on-site or off-site incineration is expensive and ulti-mately significantly impacts a company’s carbon footprint [4]. Consequently, the sol-vents should be recycled on-site, specific to the process. When the solvent is purifiedand recirculated within the same process, it is often referred to asin situsolvent recy-cling, which has the highest saving potential and the smallest environmental foot-print. Figure 8.3 compares the different solvent recovery and recycling routes from aprocess engineering point of view. Keep in mind that each solvent storage, includingspent and recovered solvents, needs logistics, risk assessment, safety precautions, andquality control, all of which have a significant physical footprint in a manufacturingplant. These measures are considerably less forin situsolvent recycling. Therefore, itshould be the first option to consider by process engineers. The most prevalent tech-nologies for solvent recovery and recycling are distillation (such as pressure swing,azeotropic and extractive distillations), adsorption, and membrane processes (includ-ing organic solvent nanofiltration and organophilic pervaporation) [4]. These are fur-ther explained in the following sections. Follow the QR code on this page to watch aFigure 8.1:Conventional step-by-step approach for solvent recovery and the common techniques for eachstage. Adapted from [2].https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111028163-008
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface VII
  3. About the author IX
  4. Contents XI
  5. 1 Introduction to sustainable processing 1
  6. 2 Green process metrics 13
  7. 3 The role of solvents in sustainable processes 32
  8. 4 Sustainable process development from alpha to omega 48
  9. 5 Process intensification: methods and equipment 72
  10. 6 Continuous microflow processes 98
  11. 7 Continuous separation processes 121
  12. 8 Solvent recovery and recycling 147
  13. 9 Process analytical technology 165
  14. 10 Sustainable nuclear fuels 188
  15. 11 Toward sustainable biofuel production processes 207
  16. 12 Green polymers and green building blocks 229
  17. 13 Solar powered engineering 269
  18. 14 Data-driven optimization of chemical processes 294
  19. 15 Worked examples 327
  20. Index 367
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111028163-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface VII
  3. About the author IX
  4. Contents XI
  5. 1 Introduction to sustainable processing 1
  6. 2 Green process metrics 13
  7. 3 The role of solvents in sustainable processes 32
  8. 4 Sustainable process development from alpha to omega 48
  9. 5 Process intensification: methods and equipment 72
  10. 6 Continuous microflow processes 98
  11. 7 Continuous separation processes 121
  12. 8 Solvent recovery and recycling 147
  13. 9 Process analytical technology 165
  14. 10 Sustainable nuclear fuels 188
  15. 11 Toward sustainable biofuel production processes 207
  16. 12 Green polymers and green building blocks 229
  17. 13 Solar powered engineering 269
  18. 14 Data-driven optimization of chemical processes 294
  19. 15 Worked examples 327
  20. Index 367
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