Sunday, May 2, 2010
Green Chemistry Resources
http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=830&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=ce2b6c1e-a713-4faa-8da7-bd9eef8c7afc
http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/index.cfm
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=830&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=ce2b6c1e-a713-4faa-8da7-bd9eef8c7afc
http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/index.cfm
Green Chemistry Assignment May 3-4
.gif){kind=spacer}
An emerging field is the area of green chemistry, developing methods to use chemical products and processes that are sustainable, without waste or limiting polluting the environment. In context of the recent oil spill, how would you suggest or consider the "clean up"? What products would you use and why? Think of the habitats, both aquatic and terrestrial that are affected. As you read the articles, I will provide you with some tools to address this concern.
Green Chemistry: What Is It All About?
The assignment for today is for you to look up information regarding “Green Chemistry”. I have provided some websites to get you started. The first one is a link to the EPA web site where you can get information regarding the concept of green chemistry and what the EPA is doing in that area.
http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/
This second URL is to the American Chemical Society’s web site on green chemistry.
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=830&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1
These last two URLs are to two specific companies that have won the prestigious Green Chemistry Award. I have personally heard the founders of both of these companies give talks regarding their processes.
http://www.pyrocool.org
http://www.micell.com/
Directions: Find the answers to the questions you are assigned. Save the assignment as Green-your group number and class period.
Email however much you have finished at the end of the period on today BEFORE you leave class to me at myscienceclass@yahoo.com. You will present the information you have found to the rest of the class as a PowerPoint presentation on Friday/Monday. You will have about an hour that day to finish up and polish your presentation.
1. What is meant by the concept of “Green Chemistry”?
2. What is the mission of the program? What are the goals of this program?
3. What are the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry? Come up with an additional principle to add to the list.
4. What is the EPA’s Design for the Environment Program?
5. What is the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award? Who was Kenneth G. Hancock? See if you can find out who won the award for 2007 and what he/she did to merit the award?
6. What are the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards? Who are the winners for 2008 and 2009 and what did each one do that merited it being awarded one of the awards? One of the winners in 2005 was a company named Novozymes, which has a plant in Salem, who won one of the awards along with Archer Daniels Midland Company. What did they do that was worthy of an award?
7. Dr. Larry Taylor, Professor of Chemistry at VA Tech, was nominated for an Academic Green Chemistry Award in 1997. What was the title of his entry and why is it important?
8. Companies, large and small, as well as universities are involved in the Green Chemistry movement. Select 5 of the following companies and find out what each is doing in the area of Green Chemistry and the environment. Describe what these companies are doing to lessen the impact of their products on the environment.
Dow Chemical Company http://www.dow.com/Homepage/index.html
DuPont http://www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Home/en_US/index.html DuPont has several plants in Virginia. See if you can find out about the Waynesboro plant specifically.
BASF, USA http://www.basf.com/corporate/index.html
Polaroid Company http://polaroid.com/us/index.jsp?co=us&bmLocale=en_US
Kodak http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/8&pq-locale=en_US
Eastman Chemical http://www.eastman.com/
Goodrich http://www.goodrich.com/AboutGoodrich
Dow Corning http://www.dowcorning.com/content/about/default.asp
Solutia http://www.solutia.com/pages/corporate/
9. Describe the Green Engineering Program and compare it to the Green Chemistry Program. Find out about the Green Engineering Program at Virginia Tech. Get information about three other universities that also have green engineering programs.
10. Find out why Dr. Joseph Desimone won the 1997 Green Chemistry Award. He started a company called Micell Technologies…what does it do? Micell sold off “Hangers Cleaners,” the company it founded based on Dr. Desimone’s work. What is supercritical fluid technology? What is different about this technology and why is it considered so environmentally friendly? How can carbon dioxide be used to clean clothes? Describe the process. Write a biography on Dr. DeSimone using the “Scientists of the Month” template.
11. Find out the same information about Pyrocool Technologies which won the award in 1998. Where are some of the places it has been used?
12. Explain what is meant by “atom economy” and who came up with the idea? Give a minimum of two examples of using atom economy in an industrial process (include the chemical equations for the original production process and the new process.) Compare the cost-effectiveness of the new process compared to the old.
13. What is meant by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? What are the steps used in the process? Use a specific example of how LCA is used? Show the whole process.
14. What is a plastic? What properties do “green” plastics need to have to be environmentally friendly? What are the natural biopolymers that are already being produced, and what plastics are being produced from each of these? What are other examples of other natural materials that can be made into polymers that are biodegradable? Specifically, what are each of these materials used to produce? http://www.greenplastics.com/ You might contact Dr. Justin Barone at VT to get first-hand information from him about how he uses biomaterials such as chicken feathers to produce plastics.
12 Principles of Green Chemistry
Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry *
Prevention
It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created.
Atom Economy
Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.
Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses
Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.
Designing Safer Chemicals
Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.
Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries
The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.
Design for Energy Efficiency
Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
Use of Renewable Feedstocks
A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.
Reduce Derivatives
Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.
Catalysis
Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.
Design for Degradation
Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.
Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention
Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.
Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention
Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.
* Anastas, P. T.; Warner, J. C.; Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press: New York, 1998, p.30. By permission of Oxford University Press.
Green Chemistry Home
Basic Information
EPA Projects & Programs
Related Links
EPA Home Privacy and Security Notice Contact Us
Prevention
It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created.
Atom Economy
Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.
Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses
Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.
Designing Safer Chemicals
Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.
Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries
The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.
Design for Energy Efficiency
Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
Use of Renewable Feedstocks
A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.
Reduce Derivatives
Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.
Catalysis
Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.
Design for Degradation
Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.
Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention
Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.
Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention
Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.
* Anastas, P. T.; Warner, J. C.; Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press: New York, 1998, p.30. By permission of Oxford University Press.
Green Chemistry Home
Basic Information
EPA Projects & Programs
Related Links
EPA Home Privacy and Security Notice Contact Us
Oil Spill Article
The oil slick off the US Gulf Coast has been declared a matter of “national significance” amid growing concerns of an imminent environmental disaster.
The spill began a week ago when an oil rig exploded and sank. Despite containment efforts, it is expected to reach land on Friday or Saturday.
Doug Suttles, of BP Exploration and Production said: “It is horribly difficult to estimate what the flow is, but what we can see is the amount of oil on top of the water. We think that the range has increased of what the estimate has been. So I think that somewhere between one and five thousand barrels a day is probably the best estimate we have today.”
News that much more oil is leaking than previously thought is adding a sense of urgency to the unprecedented clean-up and prevention operation.
But as the situation has changed several times government officials say it could be three months before a relief valve is installed to stop the leak
The threat could not come at a worse time as the oyster season ends and shrimp season is set to begin, a key sector for Gulf Coast’s fishing and tourism industries.
Go to
http://www.euronews.net/2010/04/29/us-gulf-coast-oil-spill-of-national-significance/
and watch the short video.
The spill began a week ago when an oil rig exploded and sank. Despite containment efforts, it is expected to reach land on Friday or Saturday.
Doug Suttles, of BP Exploration and Production said: “It is horribly difficult to estimate what the flow is, but what we can see is the amount of oil on top of the water. We think that the range has increased of what the estimate has been. So I think that somewhere between one and five thousand barrels a day is probably the best estimate we have today.”
News that much more oil is leaking than previously thought is adding a sense of urgency to the unprecedented clean-up and prevention operation.
But as the situation has changed several times government officials say it could be three months before a relief valve is installed to stop the leak
The threat could not come at a worse time as the oyster season ends and shrimp season is set to begin, a key sector for Gulf Coast’s fishing and tourism industries.
Go to
http://www.euronews.net/2010/04/29/us-gulf-coast-oil-spill-of-national-significance/
and watch the short video.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)