On the simulation,economic analysis,and life cycle assessment of batch-mode organic solvent recovery alternatives for the pharmaceutical industry

This study explores design alternatives for the purification and possible reuse of low-volume organic solvents waste streams in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Solvent use has a large impact on the life cycle of pharmaceutical processes, as typically 80–90% of the total mass used in the production of an active pharmaceutical ingredient is attributed to solvent use. Solvents are not consumed in pharmaceutical processes so they exit the process as waste. These waste streams are usually disposed of using incineration; therefore, generating significant life cycle emissions from disposal and replacement of virgin solvent. Solvent recovery efforts are generally limited to large-volume waste streams. However, results show that solvents in low-volume streams can also be economically recovered using a versatile multi-campaign solvent recovery skid. Three different solvent waste streams were evaluated, and 85.3% reduction in total emissions and 86.3% reduction in operating costs were achieved. Investment in the solvent recovery system was determined to have a payback period of 4.5 years and a 28% IRR over 10 years. A life cycle impact assessment shows impacts on the human health, ecosystems, and resources categories have been reduced by 82.4, 85.1, and 87.1%, respectively.     

Recovery of isopropyl alcohol from waste solvent of a semiconductor plant

An important waste solvent generated in the semiconductor manufacturing process was characterized by high isopropyl alcohol (IPA) concentration over 65%, other organic pollutants and strong color. Because of these characteristics, IPA recovery was deemed as a logic choice for tackling this waste solvent. In the present work, an integrated method consisting of air stripping in conjunction with condensation and packed activated carbon fiber (ACF) adsorption for dealing with this waste solvent. The air stripping with proper stripping temperature control was employed to remove IPA from the waste solvent and the IPA vapor in the gas mixture was condensed out in a side condenser. The residual IPA remaining in the gas mixture exiting the side condenser was efficiently removed in a packed ACF column. The air stripping with condensation was able to recover up to 93% of total IPA in the initial waste solvent. The residual IPA in the gas mixture, representing less than 3% of the initial IPA, was efficiently captured in the packed ACF column. Experimental tests were conducted to examine the performances of each unit and to identify the optimum operating conditions. Theoretical modeling of the experimental IPA breakthrough curves was also undertaken using a macroscopic model. The verified breakthrough model significantly facilitates the adsorption column design. The recovered IPA was found to be of high purity and could be considered for reuse.     

包装设计虚拟制造技术的应用探析

虚拟设计结合虚拟制造技术应用在包装设计中不仅可以让设计和制造高度集成,推动生产力的提升,还可以降低生产风险和成本,改进生产、节约资源。当前,可通过精益生产、并行工程、敏捷制造和绿色设计及制造等方式来进行包装设计的虚拟制造。     

杭氧设计制造8万~10万m~3/h等级特大型空分设备的技术现状和能力分析

从空分设备的流程组织、成套设备的技术发展、装备水平和制造工艺等方面,分析杭氧设计制造8万～10万m^3／h等级特大型空分设备的技术现状以及具有的能力,介绍该等级空分设备压缩机系统、空气净化系统和精馏塔系统等的设计制造方案。     

高纯磷烷的规模化生产

对磷烷的合成、净化等方法进行了详细的介绍,指出随着IC制造业的发展,传统的磷烷净化工艺已成为历史,新的净化方法在原理上同以往的工艺有着本质的区别。吸附—低温精馏—超纯终端净化联合工艺是当今磷烷生产的发展方向,指出了我国未来几年电子气体净化需要克服的技术“瓶颈”。     

Mechanochemical-Assisted Leaching of Lamp Phosphors: A Green Engineering Approach for Rare-Earth Recovery

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are essential metals for the design and development of sustainable energy applications. Recycling these elements from waste streams enriched in them is crucial for securing an independent future supply for sustainable applications. This study compares the mechanisms of mechanical activation prior to a hydrometallurgical acid-leaching process and a solvometallurgical mechanochemical leaching process for the recovery of REEs from green lamp phosphor, LaPO₄:Ce³⁺,Tb³⁺. After 60 min of processing time, the REE leaching rates showed a significant enhancement of 60% after cycled mechanical activation, and 98% after the combined mechanochemical leaching process. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) imaging disclosed the cause for the improved REE leaching rates: The improved leaching and leaching patterns could be attributed to changes in the crystal morphology from monocrystalline to polycrystalline. Reduction of the crystallite size to the nanoscale in a polycrystalline material creates irregular packing of chemical units, resulting in an increase in defect-rich grain boundaries in the crystals, which enhances the leaching process. A solvometallurgical method was developed to combine the mechanical activation and leaching process into a single step, which is beneficial for operational cost. This results in an efficient and simple process that provides an alternative and greener recycling route for lamp phosphor waste.     

Development of a Precision Surface Polishing System for Parts Fabricated by Fused Deposition Modeling

Additive manufacturing (AM) is the process of fabricating 3D physical models by layered manufacturing without the need of molds or dies. The surface finish of AM physical models is not satisfactory for most general engineering purposes. The aim of this study is to develop an acetone-vapor polishing system to smooth acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts fabricated by fused deposition modeling (FDM). Acetone vapor dissolved the outer surface of ABS parts, and the surface roughness of ABS parts with complex geometries can be significantly reduced. The advantages of this system include the flexibility to maintain dimensional accuracy, high polishing efficiency, low equipment costs, and no waste chemicals compared with conventional approaches.     

Recovery of mercury from dental amalgam waste

Dental amalgam waste contains metals such as mercury, silver and tin. Extraction of mercury by distillation was realized in a testing equipment filled with argon at ambient pressure. The influence of temperature and time on the recovery of mercury was investigated. The minimum temperature at which the distillation started was 360°C. For a fast and complete extraction a temperature of at least 500°C was needed.     

太阳能与空调冷凝热回收在酒店中的一体化设计

利用太阳能和酒店中央空调冷凝热回收的热量制取酒店生活热水,解决以往酒店热水均由电加热或锅炉（燃煤、燃气或燃油）提供带来的高能耗、高费用和高环境破坏的问题。介绍设计方案、控制方案、节能亮点,并提出工程中需要进一步改进的技术难题。该方案利用绿色能源（太阳能）和有害废热（中央空调冷凝热）使中央空调机组的运行效率得到提升。     

海洋工程装备建造设备发展浅探

海洋工程装备向大型化、深水化发展,性能要求不断提高。海洋装备的建造面临着制造难度提升、环境更为复杂、关键设备精度要求高等难题,对创新加工装备、加工模式等提出了更高要求。制造设备需要在精细化、柔性化、加工与测量相结合等方面提升加工能力,同时在加工设备成套组织、加工控制软件等领域取得突破,从而为海洋工程装备产业的发展提供建造能力的支持,实现制造过程的精细化、智能化和绿色化发展。     

Application of analytical network process for analysis of product design characteristics of lean remanufacturing system: a case study

The modern manufacturing systems are adopting with lean practices to ensure value addition and waste elimination. Also, product recovery options are found to be vital. Appropriate product design characteristics are identified, and their prioritization is framed as decision-making problem with multiple criteria. Analytical network process is used as solution methodology. The objective of the study is to formulate multi-criteria decision making problem for assessment of lean remanufacturing product design characteristics. The priority order of lean remanufacturing operations is obtained. The study is exemplified with a case conducted with reference to remanufacture of an automotive component. The priority order of criteria is Disassembly > Cleaning > Inspection > Remanufacturing > Reassembly. The inferences desired from the study would facilitate cleaner manufacturing practices. Sensitivity analysis is conducted and practical validity of the method has been tested with an industrial case study.     

Computer simulation for quality and reliability engineering

Computer simulation has been used widely in many industries for many applications. A simulation model mimics a real world system, enabling an investigation of its operation. More recently simulation models have incorporated a visual display and interactive features to aid understanding and enhance the investigation. Computer simulation has many potential uses in quality and reliability engineering, for instance, modelling equipment failures, quality control strategies, maintenance requirements and operational logistics. A case study shows how simulation has been used to study the throughput, flexibility and robustness of a manufacturing plant design. Alternative simulation software packages are briefly discussed.     

铟锡合金真空蒸馏分离的研究

研究了真空蒸馏法分离铟锡合金,回收金属铟与锡的新工艺。从理论上分析了铟与锡分离的可能性和规律性,并进行工业化试验。工业化试验的结果表明,控制蒸馏温度1050℃,真空度3 Pa时,铟锡合金中的铟与锡能在较大程度上分离开,得到含铟量大于95%的粗铟,粗铟中的含锡量降至1%以下。铟的直收率达到92%,物料的总回收率达到99%。该方法是铟锡分离中流程短、无污染、低能耗的新工艺、新技术。     

工业绿色发展工程科技战略及对策

本文针对钢铁、有色、石化、化工、建材、造纸等流程制造业及所涉及行业的通用机械和某些高耗能的工业装备的绿色发展问题开展研究,分析了绿色发展、循环发展、低碳发展之间的内涵与关系,分析研究了当前以六大流程制造业为代表的流程制造业和工业装备领域所处现状和面临的挑战,以及对绿色发展具有的重要影响;并结合六大流程制造业能源消费总量和污染物排放总量的峰值分析,提出了工业绿色发展工程科技战略的思路和目标,强调流程制造业应在拓展功能基础上融入循环经济,并提出了若干引领性重大工程和相应的示范带动项目以及一系列关键技术。     

Ultrasonic recovery of copper and iron through the simultaneous utilization of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) spent acid etching solution and PCB waste sludge

A method was developed to recover the copper and iron from Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) manufacturing generated spent acid etching solution and waste sludge with ultrasonic energy at laboratory scale. It demonstrated that copper-containing PCB spent etching solution could be utilized as a leaching solution to leach copper from copper contained PCB waste sludge. It also indicated that lime could be used as an alkaline precipitating agent in this method to precipitate iron from the mixture of acidic PCB spent etching solution and waste sludge. This method provided an effective technique for the recovery of copper and iron through simultaneous use of PCB spent acid solution and waste sludge. The leaching rates of copper and iron enhanced with ultrasound energy were reached at 93.76% and 2.07% respectively and effectively separated copper from iron. Followed by applying lime to precipitate copper from the mixture of leachate and rinsing water produced by the copper and iron separation, about 99.99% and 1.29% of soluble copper and calcium were settled as the solids respectively. Furthermore the settled copper could be made as commercial rate copper. The process performance parameters studied were pH, ultrasonic power, and temperature. This method provided a simple and reliable technique to recover copper and iron from waste streams generated by PCB manufacturing, and would significantly reduce the cost of chemicals used in the recovery.     

Representing function-technology platform based on the unified modelling language

Product platforms are used in many industries to allow a variety of products to be offered to the market while levering commonality in components. The reported approaches to designing product platforms assume mature and stable design and manufacturing technologies. Consequently, product platforms are not applicable in the semiconductor equipment manufacturing industries, where the technologies keep evolving and cannot be frozen in the product development process. In response to the application limitations of traditional platforms, a concept of function-technology (FT) platform is put forward to assist semiconductor equipment manufacturers to efficiently design product families by reusing, in a structured way, functions and technologies. To shed light on the diverse constituent elements and the complex relationships inherent in an FT platform, this study focuses on its structural representation. A formalism of FT platform representation is developed based on the unified modelling language (UML). It consists of a generic functional structure, a generic technology structure and the mapping relationships in-between. An application case in a well-known semiconductor equipment manufacturer is also reported to present the structure of an FT platform and its representation based on the UML.     

空分设备节能措施浅析

结合空分设备设计和运行经验,归纳总结空分设备设计和运行过程中采取的压缩空气热量回收、分子筛纯化系统污氮气流程优化和通过精馏塔液体返灌实现工况转换的三类节能降耗措施,并逐一进行了利弊分析。     

Membrane Engineering for Green Process Engineering

Green process engineering, which is based on the principles of the process intensification strategy, can provide an important contribution toward achieving industrial sustainable development. Green process engineering refers to innovative equipment and process methods that are expected to bring about substantial improvements in chemical and any other manufacturing and processing aspects. It includes decreasing production costs, equipment size, energy consumption, and waste generation, and improving remote control, information fluxes, and process flexibility. Membrane-based technology assists in the pursuit of these principles, and the potential of membrane operations has been widely recognized in the last few years. This work starts by presenting an overview of the membrane operations that are utilized in water treatment and in the production of energy and raw materials. Next, it describes the potential advantages of innovative membrane-based integrated systems. A case study on an integrated membrane system (IMS) for seawater desalination coupled with raw materials production is presented. The aim of this work is to show how membrane systems can contribute to the realization of the goals of zero liquid discharge (ZLD), total raw materials utilization, and low energy consumption.     

A Supply Chain Perspective on Green Packaging Development‐Theory Versus Practice

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how companies work during packaging development to reduce negative environmental impact along supply chains, and to compare their practical approaches with the theoretical concepts presented in the literature. The research approach is explorative and based on nine cases in the food and manufacturing industries in Sweden. Data were collected from the managerial perspectives of the packaging manager, the logistics manager and the environmental manager. The findings indicate that companies commonly apply a variety of green packaging approaches with a focus on approaches with clear economic benefits. Moreover, companies seem to lack guidance on how to handle trade‐offs and are unable to fully utilize the theoretical environmental benefits of green packaging approaches because of internal and external barriers. The paper presents five propositions regarding to what extent the theoretical green packaging concepts are applied in practice. To address the gap between theory and practice companies should: develop packaging solutions that contribute to a reduction of environmental impact from the consumer phase (for example through improved apportionment, user‐friendly and informative packaging); use local packaging adaptation as a strategy to address geographically varying transport, handling and waste management conditions; replace brand recognition through packaging size and shape with graphic design, high‐quality materials and printing. The results confirm that internal and external collaborations are important requirements for successful green packaging development. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.