Sustainable Engineering

Chapter 6 Process Intensification

INTRODUCTION and OBJECTIVES

Process intensification (PI) focuses on substantial improvements in manufacturing and processing by remodeling of existing operation schemes into ones that are both more precise and more efficient. PI often involves combining separate unit operations such as reaction and separation into a single piece of equipment, resulting in a more efficient, cleaner, and more economical manufacturing process. At the molecular level, PI technologies significantly enhance mixing, which improves mass and heat transfer, reaction kinetics, yields, and selectivity. These improvements translate into reductions in device numbers and/or sizes, facility footprint, and process complexity, and thereby, often ...