SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL PROCESSES
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- PIER PAOLO GIOVANNINI
- Credits
- 6
- Curriculum
- CHIMICA, AMBIENTE E TERRITORIO
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- CHIM/06
Training objectives
- The aim of the course is to convey the knowledges needed to determine the environmental impact of a chemical process together with the principles to follow and the tools to exploit in order to increase the sustainability of the process. For this purposes the main green-chemistry metrics will be illustrated and their employment in the design of novel eco-friendly synthetic strategy through modification of reaction conditions or the choice of alternative feedstock will be discussed as well. Following this course, the student will acquire the instruments necessary to identify the weaknesses of a chemical process and the ability to plan suitable corrective actions to preserve the environment safety and human health.
Prerequisites
- Basics of organic chemistry.
Course programme
- Significance and use of the main green chemistry metrics (E-factor and atom-economy).
Increasing the sustainability of chemical processes through the modification of reaction conditions: use of alternative solvents (water, supercritical fluids, ionic liquid, bio-based solvents), unconventional energy source (microwave and ultrasounds) and novel catalysts (heterogeneous catalysis and biocatalysis). Some representative examples of green organic reactions will be discussed.
Lowering of the environmental impact of chemical processes through the use of alternative feedstocks: the importance of biomasses as renewable source for the synthesis of organic compounds destined to the chemical and manufacturing industries (platform chemicals) as well as for the production of biofuels will be illustrated.
The basics of the biorefinery and its exploitation for the transformation of the main typologies of biomasses (simple and complex carbohydrates, lignin, vegetal fats, proteins, secondary metabolites) will be treated together with a number of significant examples of chemical and biotechnological processes for the production of platform chemicals and biofuels. Didactic methods
- This course consists of frontal lectures.
Learning assessment procedures
- The examination will be constituted by five questions on different topics of the course that will be discussed by the students in written form. The teacher will evaluate the knowledge of the theoretical principles and the ability of the students to apply them to solve environmental issues of simple examples of chemical processes.
Reference texts
- The electronic documents (power point files) used for the lessons completed by educational material prepared by the teacher will be furnished to the students.
Many of the information given in the course can be found in the following books:
Green chemistry, theory and practice. P. T. Anastas, J. C. Warner. Oxford University Press
Introduction to Chemicals from Biomass. J. H. Clark, F. E. I. Deswarte. Whiley & Sons, Ltd, Publication.
