(11b) Incorporating Environmental Impact Assessment into Conceptual Process Design (Webcast Not Available)

The purpose of this contribution is to present a case study illustrating how environmental impact assessment using the U.S. EPA Waste Reduction Algorithm has been incorporated into conceptual process design. This will be achieved via the introduction of a simple methodology for integrating environmental impact assessment into the standard heuristics of conceptual process design to ensure that environmental and sustainability goals are met while maintaining economic viability. The case study presented to illustrate the methodology is based on a process to manufacture industrially important C3 compounds from the dehydration of bio-based glycerol. The selected case study is important from the perspective of sustainability since glycerol is produced as a byproduct of the manufacture of biodiesel from vegetable oils.