C9604 - SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Learning outcomes

Students will develop a thorough understanding of Sustainable Chemical Engineering, focusing on integrating green chemistry principles into chemical processes. They will explore the use of green metrics, alternative solvents, and sustainable chemical engineering strategies to enhance environmental efficiency and minimize the ecological footprint of chemical processes. The student is expected to be able to: 1. Analyze and evaluate the environmental efficiency of chemical processes using green metrics such as Atom Economy, Reaction Mass Efficiency, and E Factor, and propose optimizations; 2. Select and design alternative green solvents, including biosolvents, ionic liquids, and supercritical fluids, with consideration for safety, health, and environmental impact; 3. Apply principles of Sustainable Chemical Engineering to design and optimize processes that integrate green chemistry and engineering concepts, ensuring sustainability and reduced environmental impact.

Course contents

The CU is composed of three modules with the following contents:
1) Alternative Green Solvents: solvents are used in almost all manufacturing processes in a wide variety of applications. Many of the products we use, that are vital to everyday modern living from pharmaceuticals and personal care to household products and electronics, are all manufactured using solvents in their processes. Solvents in products such as coatings, inks, and consumer products emit substances into the air known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The emissions of VOCs in the atmosphere contribute to the formation of the tropospheric ozone. Solvents are a key priority when “greening” chemistry because they are used in high volume, and generate large amounts of waste, air pollution, and other health impacts. The analysis of alternatives to standardly used solvents is the goal of this module. Chemical reactivity hazards of the most common organic solvents are compared to the available green alternatives represented by water-based solvents, supercritical fluids, ionic liquids, etc. The abuse of “green labels” on the web, in advertisements, and in the literature is also critically analyzed. Selection guides for solvents will be proposed. Technical solutions for minimizing solvent use and recycling solvents will be discussed
2) Sustainable Chemical Engineering: students will learn the principles and methodologies of green chemical engineering
3) Green Metrics: 1. Fundamental concepts of efficiency in organic synthesis (yield, conversion, chemo-, regio- and stereo-selectivity). 2. Principles of green and sustainable chemistry applied to synthetic transformations. 3. Metrics used to quantify the "greenness" of a chemical reaction: Atom and Step Economy, E factor, Reaction Mass Efficiency, Mass and Solvents Intensity

Readings/Bibliography

Lecturer notes and slides.

Reccomended readings for Green Metrics module:
1. Fundamentals of green chemistry - Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 1437–14512.
2. The E Factor fifteen years on - Green Chem., 2007, 9, 1273–12833
3. So you think your process is green, how do you know - Green Chem., 2001, 3, 1–64
4. Metrics to ‘green’ chemistry—which are the best - Green Chem., 2002, 4, 521–5275
5. Sustainable Chemistry Metrics - ChemSusChem 2009, 2, 905 – 919

Teaching methods

The course unit is divided into three modules taught independently at different times in the academic year, each module is organized in theoretical classes where main concepts are introduced, as well as tutorial classes with discussion of case-study examples.

Assessment methods

Each module learning is evaluated independently, exploiting: i) written tests; ii) oral presentations or interviews; iii) written assignments or combinations of them.

Regarding assessment, the use of AI is prohibited. Any use constitutes a violation of academic integrity

The Course Unit grade will be the arithmetic mean of grades from the three modules. ChIRS grades scale goes from 1 to 100, pass grade is40, and will be translated into ECTS and different University scales. Criteria:
knowledge on a very limited number of topics covered in the course and analytical ability that emerges only with the help of the instructor, using generally correct language → 40-45
Knowledge on a limited number of topics covered in the course and independent analytical ability only on purely executiveissues, using correct language → 45-60
Knowledge on a large number of topics covered in the course, ability to make independent critical analysis choices, masteryof specific terminology → 60-80
Essentially comprehensive knowledge on the topics covered in the course, ability to make independent critical analysis andconnection choices, full mastery of specific terminology, and ability for argumentation and self-reflection → 80-100

For Green Metrics module:
written exercise on a chemical transformation, where the student is asked to answer the following questions: 1) Report the relevant hazards of the reagents, by-products formed, and solvents employed (5 points). 2) Calculate the AE, E-factor, SF (1/SF), RME, MRP values, and yield for this transformation (20 points). 3) Draw the radial pentagon for this transformation, briefly commenting on the sustainability of the process (5 points).

Teaching tools

Lectures slides and notes will be available on the course moodle https://emmcchir-learning.ualg.pt

Office hours

See the website of Marco Lombardo

See the website of Paola Galletti

See the website of Henrique Anibal Santos De Matos