What+Makes+a+Green+Solvent?

= What Makes a Green Solvent? =

**The main idea behind the use of green solvents is to minimize the impact they have on the environment.**
1) substitution of hazardous solvents with those that have better Environmental Health and Safety properties 2) the use of solvents that are produced by renewable resources 3) substituting organic solvents with those that are environmentally harmless 4) use of ionic liquids that show low vapour pressure (resulting in less emissions)
 * Four factors in the movement towards the use of green solvents: 7] **

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**There are two current methods for evaluating the “greenness” of a solvent:**
**1. Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) method:** This screening method uses data such as (//physical, chemical properties, toxicity, and environmental aspects//) to determine the potential hazards of a substance used in a chemical process.

1) release potential 2) safety hazards (fire/explosion and reaction/decomposition) 3) acute toxicity 4) health hazards (irritation and chronic toxicity) 5) persistency 6) environmental hazard (air and water hazard)
 * Substances are assessed in 6 categories:**

**2. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method** This method focuses more on the impact of a resource over the whole life-cycle of a solvent.

1) petrochemical production 2) the use as a reaction media in a chemical process 3) waste-solvent treatment Traditionally solvents are “disposed” of in two ways, either recycled through a distillation process or treated in a waste incineration plant. This method of analysis takes into consideration co-products of a waste incineration plant – giving environmental credits for energy production.
 * This examines three aspects in the life of a solvent:**

Capello, Fischer and Hungerbuhler suggest that this new framework that they developed be applied to new solvent technologies 7]. The focus on new solvents aims to show the environmental advantages over conventional solvents. In order to post accurately assess how “** green **” a new solvent is, multiple aspects must be considered. One must examine both the environmental impacts from production, processing and disposal as well as the EHS factors.

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 * The one current roadblock that exists is the lack of data for many of these new technologies but with a greater focus on green chemistry in recent years, such databases may exist in the near future.**
 * This will provide reliable conclusions of just how " green " glycerol (and other new solvents) are. Click here to take a look at exactly What Makes Glycerol Green?**

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