Integrated process development: The key to future production of chemicals

Abstract

Commercially successful chemical manufacturing needs to take into account stringent environmental and safety constraints already in the early stages of process development. All these necessary criteria have to be considered simultaneously. Information must be exchanged between all stages of development. Development has to be made in parallel. Economic, environmental, and safety criteria have to be considered broadly with respect to time and space. Some research examples of the 'Safety and Enviromental Protection in Chemistry Group' of ETH are briefly sketched.