Pollution Prevention

Instructor:

Prof. W. B. Whiting; 309 LME; 1-775-784-4307; wwhiting@unr.edu

Prerequisite: Upper division standing in engineering

Required Text:

Allen, D. T., and D. R. Shonnard, Green Engineering:  Environmentally Conscious Design of Chemical Processes, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2002.  See errata sheet.

Course Objectives:

Chemical engineers constantly face issues in the design, modification, and operation of process plants while protecting the natural environment. The federal Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 established a hierarchy of environmental management strategies in which source reduction (also known as waste minimization or pollution prevention) is the ultimate goal. By designing processes and plants that are efficient, we avoid the production of pollutants at the source.

In this course, we study the strategies for designing low-emission chemical plants and case studies of their implementation. Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
 

• incorporate pollution prevention techniques in process designs,
• identify pollution sources and hazardous materials,
• perform a risk assessment,
• understand the structure of the regulatory environment, and
• understand and be able to participate in a life-cycle analysis.

Course Schedule: (approximate and tentative)
 

Date	Topic	Reading Assignment	Homework Problems due (watch for updates)
Tuesday, August 24	Introduction to Environmental Issues (Chapter 1)
Thursday, August 26	Risk Concepts (Chapter 2)	Read Chapters 1and 2	#1.3, 1.4
Tuesday, August 31	Risk Concepts (Chapter 2)		#2.2, 2.4
Thursday, September 2	Environmental Law & Regulations (Chapter 3)	Read Chapters 3 and 4	#2.5
Tuesday, September 7	Ethics (Chapter 4)		#4.3
Thursday, September 9	Environmental Fate (Chapter 5)	Read Chapter 5	#3.2., #3.4
Tuesday, September 14	Environmental Fate (Chapter 5)	Sample problem	#5.2
Thursday, September 16	Evaluating Exposures (Chapter 6)	Read Chapter 6	#5.6
Tuesday, September 21	Evaluating Exposures (Chapter 6)		#6.1, #6.2
Thursday, September 23	Recap		#6.5
Tuesday, September 28	Mid-Term Exam (Chapters 1-6)
Thursday, September 30	MTBE Presentations/Discussions	Read Chapter 7	MTBE
Tuesday, October 5	Sustainability Green Chemistry (Chapter 7)	Read Chapter 8	#7.1
Thursday, October 7	RiskShifting, Sustainability, Water Use
Tuesday, October 12	Process Synthesis (Chapter 8)
Thursday, October 14	Process Synthesis (Chapter 8)
Tuesday, October 19	Process Synthesis (Chapter 8)	Read Chapter 9	#8.2
Thursday, October 21	Unit Operations (Chapter 9)
Tuesday, October 26	Unit Operations (Chapter 9)	Reactors Handout	#9.1, #9.4
Thursday, October 28 (Class meets 4:30--5:45 P.M.)	Unit Operations (Chapter 9)		#9.5
Tuesday, November 2	Flowsheet Analysis (Chapter 10)	Read Chapter 10
Thursday, November 4	Evaluating the Environmental Performance of a Flowsheet (Chapter 11)	Read Chapter 11	#10.1
Tuesday, November 9	trade for take-home final
Tuesday, November 16	Evaluating the Environmental Performance of a Flowsheet (Chapter 11)		#11.1, #11.2
Thursday, November 18	Environmental Cost Accounting (Chapter 12)	Read Chapter 12
Tuesday, November 23	Life-Cycle Concepts (Chapter 13)	Read Chapter 13	Develop a methodology for the environmental cost of CO2 emissions in dollars per ton
Tuesday, November 30	Life-Cycle Concepts (Chapter 13)
Thursday, December 2	Industrial Ecology(Chapter 14)	Read Chapter 14	#13.1
Tuesday, December 7	Jon Pabico, "Biodiesel" Josh Nickerson, "A Risk Analysis of Toxic Compounds in Food"		#14.2
Thursday, December 9,  4:30--6:30 P.M. Room 231B SEM	Angie Deschutter, "Typical Daily Personal Energy Use" Final Exam		Final Exam (comprehensive, link is to 2002 exam)

Attendance is expected at all class meetings.

Workload:

The standard university workload is 3 hours per week (for 16 weeks) per credit hour.

Other requirements:
 

• All engineering majors are required to meet with their advisors every semester.  Students who do not have a signed, official Advisement Form on file before the end of the first week of class are automatically dropped from engineering classes.

 
• All students in ChE 471 must present a signed official Advisement Form for Spring 2005 by December 9, 2004, to receive a grade in ChE 471.

 
• You are expected to check your UNR e-mail frequently for course updates.

 
• Homework assignments must be submitted at the beginning of class. Makeup exams are not given.  If there is an emergency, please contact the instructor immediately.

 
• Reading assignments must be completed before class.  Active classroom participation is expected.  In some cases, students will make presentations to the rest of the class.

 
• Student conduct is important in this and every class.  You will conduct yourself as a professional (or soon to be professional).  Your behavior reflects on your ability to find a job and to be recommended for a job by those you come in contact with during your tenure at the University of Nevada, Reno, and beyond.  In class, you will be graded according to your conduct and participation.  Participation includes attending class and contributing to a positive learning environment.  If a student's conduct disrupts this positive environment, this conduct will translate into a loss of points.  Keeping the points earned on assignments is basically a no-brainer for most people—behave yourself, attend class, and take advantage of your situation here to learn the concepts covered in this class.  Students may be asked to answer questions about reading assignments or topics covered in class.  It is a matter of success to you, courtesy to your colleagues, and safety to the public that you learn the concepts of this and the other courses in the curriculum properly before you enter an engineering career.

 
• It is crucial that you arrive prepared and that you enter into class discussions.  Assuming that you attend every class, you will earn a letter grade in the "participation" part of the course as follows:

    A:    Always comes to class prepared and frequently enters into discussions
    B:    Usually comes to class prepared and enters into discussions
    C:    Is unprepared more than a couple times and enters into discussions reluctantly
    F:    Is unprepared much of the time