I'd describe the field of Green Chemistry as finding a way to completely eliminate the chemicals or products that harm the environment or to just substitute something that doesn't have the same effect on the environment, but will produce the desired product. In the long run Green Chemistry can also produce safer products.
The examples that struck me as the most intriguing are that computer chips are made using chemicals that are harmful to the environment, water, and energy. Carbon dioxide is now being used instead of Benzene or Xylene, both flammable chemicals.
Three major chemical principals that I now understand that I didn't before would be the one about atom economy that basically says to design synthetic methods to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product. The second principle that I now understand would be about designing safer chemicals, which basically says to design chemical products to affect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity. The last principle that I now understand would be about designing degradation, which basically says to design chemical products so they break down into innocuous products that don't persist in the environment
http://www.globalarcade.org/sv/chemical.html
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Renewable Chemical Feedstock
Feedstocks are is the raw material that's used in industrial processes. Typically when most people that have heard of the term renewable chemical feedstocks usually think of crops being used to replace the feedstocks that use petroleum. A good way to know weather you should use renewable feedstocks are when they make environmental or business sense.
A well know renewable feedstock is corn, which is used by many farmers. In order to use corn as a renewable chemical feedstock it has to go through a pretty lengthy process. First the corn would be converted to what ever the product is that the person needs by using enzymes and microorganisms. Next glucose is produced from another very well known chemical feedstock usually known in the process of fermentation.
Corn is a good renewable chemical feedstock because it can produce a lot of products, like food, feed, fiber, and industrial fuels/chemicals. One of the most well know uses of corn is when it is fermented to produce ethanol. Ethanol isn't the only product that can be made from corn some others are Acetone (high value industrial solvent), Lactic Acid (commodity chemical and maybe as a raw material to make polyactates or acrylates).
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mcheryan/www/feedstoc.htm
A well know renewable feedstock is corn, which is used by many farmers. In order to use corn as a renewable chemical feedstock it has to go through a pretty lengthy process. First the corn would be converted to what ever the product is that the person needs by using enzymes and microorganisms. Next glucose is produced from another very well known chemical feedstock usually known in the process of fermentation.
Corn is a good renewable chemical feedstock because it can produce a lot of products, like food, feed, fiber, and industrial fuels/chemicals. One of the most well know uses of corn is when it is fermented to produce ethanol. Ethanol isn't the only product that can be made from corn some others are Acetone (high value industrial solvent), Lactic Acid (commodity chemical and maybe as a raw material to make polyactates or acrylates).
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mcheryan/www/feedstoc.htm
Cogeneration Plant
A Cogeneration Plant is used to produce power by using a heat engine or a power station, which will generate both heat and power. These plants let off a lot of heat from a process called electricity generation, from there they can released into the environment through cooling towers. It's most commonly used in mills like paper mills because they use steam and electricity.
The Cogeneration Plant at UNH Durham uses "a landfill gas to energy project that uses purified methane gas from a nearby landfill to power the campus" (Potier). In addition to the actual plant they also have a 12.7 mile pipeline that runs from the landfill to their Cogeneration Plant.
There are two parts to the system. First the gas is collected through many pipelines. Next the gas is purified and compressed. After it's compressed it travels into the pipeline to the Cogeneration Plant, once at the power plant it will replace the natural gas. The plant also captures the heat that usually gets lost when it's used to produce electricity ant uses that to heat the campus.
http://intelligenpower.com/whatiscogen.htm
http://www.unh.edu/users/unh/admin/sustain/climate_ed/cogen_landfillgas.html
http://www2.prnewswire.com/mnr/UNHLandfillProject/37840/
The Cogeneration Plant at UNH Durham uses "a landfill gas to energy project that uses purified methane gas from a nearby landfill to power the campus" (Potier). In addition to the actual plant they also have a 12.7 mile pipeline that runs from the landfill to their Cogeneration Plant.
There are two parts to the system. First the gas is collected through many pipelines. Next the gas is purified and compressed. After it's compressed it travels into the pipeline to the Cogeneration Plant, once at the power plant it will replace the natural gas. The plant also captures the heat that usually gets lost when it's used to produce electricity ant uses that to heat the campus.
http://intelligenpower.com/whatiscogen.htm
http://www.unh.edu/users/unh/admin/sustain/climate_ed/cogen_landfillgas.html
http://www2.prnewswire.com/mnr/UNHLandfillProject/37840/
Monday, November 14, 2011
Green Agriculture
Green agriculture is basically using products that won't harm the environment to achieve the same or similar results by eliminating or finding some other ingredient that will work the same way that the pesticides do. Some green agricultural solutions are green manure, crop rotation, and biological pest control.
Some of the green agricultural solutions I know of are manure that's used for breaking down some unwanted plants and it also creates some useful plants that can serve many different functions. As of right now a lot of farmers use this including my family that owns horses. From it we are able to produce a whole lot of different plants. So in other words it's proven to work very successfully.
Another green agricultural solution is crop rotation, which is used alongside with legumes to provide nitrogen to the environment through a process known as symbolisis a process including a special kind of bacteria called rhizobial bacteria (bacteria that lives in the soil that fix nitrogen after developing inside the roots of legumes.
The third green agricultural solution is the biological control of pests, which is a way to control pests (like the common insects and mites) that uses natural methods, such as predation (where a predator feeds on it's prey), parasitism (where the parasite is used as a food source for the host), and herbivores (animals that eat only plants).
http://pakagri.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-versus-brown-compost-materials.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming
Some of the green agricultural solutions I know of are manure that's used for breaking down some unwanted plants and it also creates some useful plants that can serve many different functions. As of right now a lot of farmers use this including my family that owns horses. From it we are able to produce a whole lot of different plants. So in other words it's proven to work very successfully.
Another green agricultural solution is crop rotation, which is used alongside with legumes to provide nitrogen to the environment through a process known as symbolisis a process including a special kind of bacteria called rhizobial bacteria (bacteria that lives in the soil that fix nitrogen after developing inside the roots of legumes.
The third green agricultural solution is the biological control of pests, which is a way to control pests (like the common insects and mites) that uses natural methods, such as predation (where a predator feeds on it's prey), parasitism (where the parasite is used as a food source for the host), and herbivores (animals that eat only plants).
http://pakagri.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-versus-brown-compost-materials.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Biological Interactions
Many organisms in the environment interact with xenobiotic materials, which are foreign to the living systems. When the organisms interact with the xenobiotic materials the process is known as bioaccumulation. During bio-accumulation there could be materials like sediments including soil and food.
Next after the process of bio-accumulation is bio-magnification, where the xenobiotic materials become more concentrated with the tissues from the organisms that are higher up in the food chain. This happens with lipid-soluble organic compounds that don't easily break down. For example a small fish can be eaten by a bigger fish and then both are eaten by a bird. When something doesn't break down right that substance or material will go back into the water or depurification.
Bio-concentration is when a substance that can be dissolved in water goes into the fish or another aquatic animal and gets transported to the lipids that are in the blood. This assumes that the organism doesn't metabolize the compound like DDT and PCBs.
Source: Green Chemistry and the Ten Commandments of Sustainability by Stanley E. Manahan
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7898722/95/BIOLOGICAL-INTERACTION-WITH-ENVIRONMENTAL-CHEMICALS
Next after the process of bio-accumulation is bio-magnification, where the xenobiotic materials become more concentrated with the tissues from the organisms that are higher up in the food chain. This happens with lipid-soluble organic compounds that don't easily break down. For example a small fish can be eaten by a bigger fish and then both are eaten by a bird. When something doesn't break down right that substance or material will go back into the water or depurification.
Bio-concentration is when a substance that can be dissolved in water goes into the fish or another aquatic animal and gets transported to the lipids that are in the blood. This assumes that the organism doesn't metabolize the compound like DDT and PCBs.
Source: Green Chemistry and the Ten Commandments of Sustainability by Stanley E. Manahan
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7898722/95/BIOLOGICAL-INTERACTION-WITH-ENVIRONMENTAL-CHEMICALS
Air Pollutant
One of the most common air pollutants that I have heard a lot about would be Carbon Monoxide (colorless, odorless gas that comes from combustion processes. It is mostly found in big cities where there are a lot of factories. It's also in the fire that's seen when you start a fire in your fireplace or turn on your stove.
Carbon Monoxide has a lot of health risks. Some of them include reducing the amount of oxygen that's delivered to the different organs in the body. When there's a lot of Carbon Monoxide in the air it can cause death. Other than the effects it has on us it has also been depleting the ozone layer little by little.
A way that has been used to mitigate the effects that Carbon Monoxide has on the environment was to reduce the number of cars on the highways especially going through the cities at certain times of the day. Also just starting a fire in your fireplace and starting your stove can produce Carbon Monoxide, so don't use you fireplace or stove a lot to minimize the amount of Carbon Monoxide you are inhaling.
Carbon Monoxide has a lot of health risks. Some of them include reducing the amount of oxygen that's delivered to the different organs in the body. When there's a lot of Carbon Monoxide in the air it can cause death. Other than the effects it has on us it has also been depleting the ozone layer little by little.
A way that has been used to mitigate the effects that Carbon Monoxide has on the environment was to reduce the number of cars on the highways especially going through the cities at certain times of the day. Also just starting a fire in your fireplace and starting your stove can produce Carbon Monoxide, so don't use you fireplace or stove a lot to minimize the amount of Carbon Monoxide you are inhaling.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Water as a Green Solvent
Water can be used as a green solvent for many things like pericyclic reactions, reactions of radicals, and multicomponent reactions. The reason that water is used as a green solvent in many different ways is because it is safe for you and for the environment, there's not cost for using water, and it's also simple to use.
When water is used a a green solvent in a pericyclic reaction known as Diels-Alder water enhances the endo selectivity because the water is cold, so the endos form quicker. In another type of pericyclic reaction called the Claisen Rearrangement, where everything included in it is exothermic, which means that it will show a suprafacial reaction pathway. Since water includes hydrogen it gives a high rate constant of 10.
Water can also be used in the reactions of radicals specifically dehalogenation where organic halides react with phosphinic acid found in aqueous ethanol. Also in deuteration where the organic halides and D3PO2 combined with D2O, which can be assayed in vivo.
Lastly water can be used as a green solvent in multicomponent reactions. In the passerini reaction and the ugi reaction the rate increases about 300 times. When amino acids are gathered they become lactam derivatives.
When water is used a a green solvent in a pericyclic reaction known as Diels-Alder water enhances the endo selectivity because the water is cold, so the endos form quicker. In another type of pericyclic reaction called the Claisen Rearrangement, where everything included in it is exothermic, which means that it will show a suprafacial reaction pathway. Since water includes hydrogen it gives a high rate constant of 10.
Water can also be used in the reactions of radicals specifically dehalogenation where organic halides react with phosphinic acid found in aqueous ethanol. Also in deuteration where the organic halides and D3PO2 combined with D2O, which can be assayed in vivo.
Lastly water can be used as a green solvent in multicomponent reactions. In the passerini reaction and the ugi reaction the rate increases about 300 times. When amino acids are gathered they become lactam derivatives.
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