Designing Sustainable Chemical Processes

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Green Chemistry Noun

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[green kem-iss-tree]

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Green Chemistry

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A philosophical approach to chemistry focused on designing products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous substances.

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Example: This diagram shows that Green Chemistry is a central concept made up of five key principles: using green solvents and catalysts, efficient processes, environmentally safe products, and renewable raw materials.

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Feedstock Noun

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[feed-stok]

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Feedstock

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The raw materials, such as petroleum or biomass, that are supplied to an industrial process for conversion into a product.

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Example: This diagram shows that feedstock is the raw material used for a process, like using energy crops, waste, and wood to produce biomass power.

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Catalyst Noun

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[kat-uh-list]

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Catalyst

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A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.

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Example: A catalytic converter uses catalysts (the red and blue dots) to change harmful car exhaust gases into safer substances like carbon dioxide and water.

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Synergy Noun

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[sin-er-jee]

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Synergy

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An interaction where the combined effect of two or more things is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

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Example: Hydrogen and oxygen gases combine to form liquid water, a new substance with completely different properties, demonstrating chemical synergy.

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Triple Bottom Line Noun

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[trip-ul bot-um line]

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Triple Bottom Line

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An accounting framework that measures a business's performance based on social (people), environmental (planet), and financial (profit) factors.

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Example: The Triple Bottom Line is a sustainability framework that evaluates performance on three pillars: social (People), environmental (Planet), and economic (Profit).

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Nonrenewable Resource Noun

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[non-ri-noo-uh-bul ree-sors]

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Nonrenewable Resource

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A natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption.

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Example: This diagram shows how ancient marine organisms, buried for millions of years, transform into oil and gas, which are nonrenewable because this process takes too long.

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Renewable Feedstock Noun

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[ri-noo-uh-bul feed-stok]

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Renewable Feedstock

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Raw materials for chemical processes derived from biological sources, such as plants, that can be replenished over time.

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Example: This image shows examples of first-generation renewable feedstocks, which are raw materials from food crops like corn, soy, and sugar beet used to make sustainable products.

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Electrolysis Noun

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[eh-lek-trol-uh-sis]

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Electrolysis

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A process that uses electricity to drive a non-spontaneous chemical reaction, causing the decomposition of a chemical compound.

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Example: This diagram shows how a power source provides electricity to split water (H₂O) into hydrogen gas (H₂) and oxygen gas (O₂) through a process called electrolysis.

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Atom Economy Noun

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[at-um ih-kon-uh-mee]

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Atom Economy

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A measure of the efficiency of a chemical reaction, representing the percentage of reactant atoms incorporated into the desired product.

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Example: This image shows that in a perfect chemical reaction, all atoms from the starting materials (reactants A and B) are used to make the desired substance (product C), resulting in 100% atom economy and no waste.

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Biomass Noun

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[by-oh-mass]

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Biomass

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Organic matter, especially from plants, that can be converted to fuel and is regarded as a potential energy source.

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Example: Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from various sources like plants, agricultural crops, and animal and municipal waste.