Sustainable Development in the Process Industries: Cases and Impact

The complete, hands-on guide to sustainable development

Today's process industries must develop natural resources within an eco-friendly framework that balances current demand with future need. Realizing this goal necessitates global vigilance of three key areas―people, planet, and prosperity―known as the Triple Bottom Line or, simply, the Triple P.

Sustainable Development in the Process Industries details how worldwide implementation of sustainable processes in present-day industries can positively influence the Triple P going forward by lowering poverty, reducing pollution, and conserving resources. This in-depth guide includes:

• Real-world case studies and examples

• Individual chapters written by industry experts

• Application in industries such as petroleum and fuel, food, recycling, mineral processing, and water processing

• Focus on the micro (molecules, unit operations, processes) to the macro (industrial sites, value chains, regions, the world)

Providing lessons with practical application rather than pure theory, Sustainable Development in the Process Industries offers sound solutions to social, ecological, and economic challenges imperative to assuring our planet's well-being for generations.

Jan Harmsen is principal process developer at Shell. He has thirty-two years of industrial experience at Shell with positions in the following departments: exploratory research, development, process design, and chemicals manufacturing. He is also, since 1997, part-time Hoogewerff Professor of Sustainable Chemical Technology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Joseph B. Powell is Shell's Chief Scientist, Chemical Engineering. He joined the Process Development Department at Shell's Westhollow Technology Center (Houston) in 1988, where he has led major R&D programs. Dr. Powell has been granted forty-five U.S. patents and several industry awards, including the A. D. Little Award for Chemical Engineering Innovation (AIChE 1998).