Chapter 1 – Introduction to Sustainability, Sustainable Design, and Process Integration

Publisher Summary This introductory chapter lays down the foundation for the book, which presents the fundamentals and applications of process integration and how they can be used for generating best-in-class sustainable designs. The foregoing challenges raise the issues of what constitutes a sustainable improvement of the process and how to methodically and efficiently address these challenges. Sustainable designof industrial processes may be defined as the design activities that lead to economic growth, environmental protection, and social progress for the current generation without compromising the potential of future generations to have an ecosystem that meets their needs. It is based on balancing three principal objectives: environmental protection, economic growth, and societal equity. Process integration provides holistic, systematic, generally applicable approaches to benchmark performance ahead of detailed design and then generates best-in-class sustainable design alternatives that reach the desired targets. The objectives of preventing pollution, conserving resources, increasing productivity, and enhancing profitability are among the top priorities of the process industries. The chapter describes several methods for assessing the sustainability of various industrial processes. A central question is not just how to assess sustainability of an industrial process but how to achievea sustainable performance and enhance it. Notwithstanding the numerous design alternatives, process integration can determine the performance target and synthesize the optimal solution without enumeration.

[1]  Subhas K. Sikdar,et al.  On aggregating multiple indicators into a single metric for sustainability , 2009 .

[2]  Arthur Westerberg,et al.  A retrospective on design and process synthesis , 2004, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[3]  Patrick Linke,et al.  Towards sustainability and green chemical engineering: tools and technology requirements , 2004 .

[4]  Helen H. Lou,et al.  Ecological Input−Output Analysis-Based Sustainability Analysis of Industrial Systems , 2008 .

[5]  S. Sikdar.  Sustainable development and sustainability metrics , 2003 .

[6]  S. Sikdar,et al.  Framework for Sustainability Metrics , 2007 .

[7]  Kevin C. Furman,et al.  A Critical Review and Annotated Bibliography for Heat Exchanger Network Synthesis in the 20th Century , 2002 .

[8]  Urmila M. Diwekar,et al.  Design for environment: a state-of-the-art review , 2011 .

[9]  Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi,et al.  Property integration: Componentless design techniques and visualization tools , 2004 .

[10]  G. J Harmsen.  Industrial best practices of conceptual process design , 2004 .

[11]  Miguel J. Bagajewicz,et al.  A review of recent design procedures for water networks in refineries and process plants , 2000 .

[12]  Bhavik R. Bakshi,et al.  Resource intensities of chemical industry sectors in the United States via input-output network models , 2008, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[13]  D. Foo.  State-of-the-Art Review of Pinch Analysis Techniques for Water Network Synthesis , 2009 .

[14]  Heriberto Cabezas,et al.  On the sustainability of an integrated model system with industrial, ecological, and macroeconomic components , 2007 .

[15]  J. Elkington.  Towards the Sustainable Corporation: Win-Win-Win Business Strategies for Sustainable Development , 1994 .

[16]  S. Sikdar.  What about industrial water sustainability? , 2011 .

[17]  Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi,et al.  Process integration technology review: background and applications in the chemical process industry , 2003 .

[18]  S. Sikdar.  Quo vadis energy sustainability? , 2009 .