IC019 “Green Chemistry”: Reactions for the Renewables Refinery of the Future

Faculty of Science
Autumn 2007
Extent and Intensity
0/0. 1 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Prof. James Jackson (lecturer), prof. RNDr. Petr Klán, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Petr Klán, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry – Chemistry Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: prof. RNDr. Petr Klán, Ph.D.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
Chemical manufacturing is among the largest components of the global economy, providing fuels, polymers, coatings, lubricants, personal care goods, medicines, and many other products used across the world. The majority of this production is based on fossil starting materials, mainly petroleum. Indeed, the very fields of organic chemistry and chemical engineering have grown up in a unique age of history-the century of the hydrocarbon. As a result, the way the majority of people live has hugely changed, mostly for the good. But as fossil resources become rarer and more expensive, and the costs of loading the atmosphere with CO2 become more evident, a whole new suite of chemical pathways will be needed to enable the world to shift its chemical and energy industries to a renewable, carbon-neutral basis. This course will offer an overview of current and emerging processes for sustainable development of bulk, specialty, and fine chemical products. Using a case-history approach, traditional petroleum-based pathways and new, “green” routes will be compared, considering key issues such as atom economy, energy analysis, catalysis/biocatalysis trade-offs, solvent and waste-stream issues, economics, environmental/regulatory concerns, infrastructure and societal driving forces. The challenge of renewable materials (“biomass”) is huge, as they comprise a chemically and structurally heterogeneous set of feedstocks ranging from grass clippings and wood chips, to crop-derived grains and oilseeds, to animal products and sewage-all quite different (nonvolatile and hydrophilic) relative to petroleum hydrocarbons. Particular attention will be given to the critical need for creativity-wide-ranging basic science and engineering studies to develop new general, robust, energy-efficient, clean, and large-scale conversion pathways appropriate to this diverse chemical character. Short class presentation assignments to be developed through discussions during course.
Syllabus
  • * Background and overview - The "12 principles of green chemistry" - History and current practices in fossil-based fuels and chemicals production - Before oil--history of bio-based energy and chemicals industries * Drivers for change - Chemical pollution effects and case histories--chronic and acute - Limits of fossil resources - Greenhouse gases and their history * Fuels from renewables-based feedstocks - Carbohydrate (glucose and other sugar) sources - Starch crops - Cellulosic biomass - Ethanol production and energetics - Biogenic hydrocarbons - Oil crops and biodiesel - Terpenes - Global inventories and production capacities * Non-fuel products - Drivers, challenges and opportunities for fine and commodity chemicals production - Biomass fractions for conversion to chemicals - Carbohydrate-based - Oils-based - Proteinaceous * Current models for the Biomass Refinery - Paper mill - Sewage treatment plant - Municipal incinerator with cogeneration
Literature
  • Anastas, Paul T. and John C. Warner “Green Chemistry: Theory And Practice” Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Anastas, Paul T. and Kirchoff, Mary M., “Origins, Current Status, and Future Challenges of Green Chemistry” Accts. Chem. Res. 2002, 35, 686-694.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught only once.
Information on the per-term frequency of the course: 12.-14. 11. 2007.
The course is taught: in blocks.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/autumn2007/IC019