Sustainable Development in Chemical Engineering

Vincenzo Piemonte, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, ItalyMarcello De Falco, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, ItalyAngelo BasileITM-CNR, Rende (CS), Italy

• List of Contributors xiiiPreface xv1. Sustainable Development Strategies: An Overview 1Vincenzo Piemonte, Marcello De Falco, and Angelo Basile1.1 Renewable Energies: State of the Art and Diffusion 11.2 Process Intensification 41.3 Concept and Potentialities of Bio-based Platforms for Biomolecule Production 81.4 Soil and Water Remediation 13Acknowledgement 18References 182. Innovative Solar Technology: CSP Plants for Combined Production of Hydrogen and Electricity 25Marcello De Falco2.1 Principles 252.2 Plant Configurations 282.3 Mathematical Models 332.4 Plant Simulations 392.5 Conclusions 46Nomenclature 47References 483. Strategies for Increasing Electrical Energy Production from Intermittent Renewables 51Alessandro Franco3.1 Introduction 513.2 Penetration of Renewable Energies into the Electricity Market and Issues Related to Their Development: Some Interesting Cases 553.3 An Approach to Expansion of RES and Efficiency Policy in an Integrated Energy System 573.4 Analysis of Possible Interesting Scenarios for Increasing Penetration of RES 623.5 Analysis of a Meaningful Case Study: The Italian Scenario 663.6 Analysis and Discussion 743.7 Conclusions 75Nomenclature and Abbreviations 76References 774. The Smart Grid as a Response to Spread the Concept of Distributed Generation 81Yi Ding, Jacob Østergaard, Salvador Pineda Morente, and Qiuwei Wu4.1 Introduction 814.2 Present Electric Power Generation Systems 824.3 A Future Electrical Power Generation System with a High Penetration of Distributed Generation and Renewable Energy Resources 834.4 Integration of DGs into Smart Grids for Balancing Power 864.5 The Bornholm System – A “Fast Track” for Smart Grids 914.6 Conclusions 92References 935. Process Intensification in the Chemical Industry: A Review 95Stefano Curcio5.1 Introduction 955.2 Different Approaches to Process Intensification 965.3 Process Intensification as a Valuable Tool for the Chemical Industry 975.4 PI Exploitation in the Chemical Industry 1005.5 Conclusions 113References 1136. Process Intensification in the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry 119Angelo Basile, Adolfo Iulianelli, and Simona Liguori6.1 Introduction 1196.2 Process Intensification 1206.3 The Membrane Role 1226.4 Membrane Reactor 1246.5 Applications of Membrane Reactors in the Petrochemical Industry 1286.6 Process Intensification in Chemical Industry 1396.7 Future Trends 1416.8 Conclusion 142Nomenclature 143References 1437. Production of Bio-Based Fuels: Bioethanol and Biodiesel 153Sudip Chakraborty, Ranjana Das Mondal, Debolina Mukherjee, and Chiranjib Bhattacharjee7.1 Introduction 1537.2 Production of Bioethanol 1557.3 Biodiesel and Renewable Diesels from Biomass 1667.4 Perspective 172List of Acronyms 172References 1738. Inside the Bioplastics World: An Alternative to Petroleum-based Plastics 181Vincenzo Piemonte8.1 Bioplastic Concept 1818.2 Bioplastic Production Processes 1838.3 Bioplastic Environmental Impact: Strengths and Weaknesses 1868.4 Conclusions 195Acknowledgements 196References 1969. Biosurfactants 199Maria Giovanna Martinotti, Gianna Allegrone, Massimo Cavallo, and Letizia Fracchia9.1 Introduction 1999.2 State of the Art 2009.3 Production Technologies 2059.4 Recovery of Biosurfactants 2129.5 Application Fields 2139.6 Future Prospects 225References 22510. Bioremediation of Water: A Sustainable Approach 241Sudip Chakraborty, Jaya Sikder, Debolina Mukherjee, Mrinal Kanti Mandal, and D. Lawrence Arockiasamy10.1 Introduction 24110.2 State-of-the-Art: Recent Development 24210.3 Water Management 24710.4 Overview of Bioremediation in Wastewater Treatment and Ground Water Contamination 25010.5 Membrane Separation in Bioremediation 25210.6 Case Studies 25610.7 Conclusions 260List of Acronyms 261References 26211. Effective Remediation of Contaminated Soils by Eco-Compatible Physical, Biological, and Chemical Practices 267Filomena Sannino and Alessandro Piccolo11.1 Introduction 26711.2 Biological Methods (Microorganisms, Plants, Compost, and Biochar) 26911.3 Physicochemical Methods 27711.4 Chemical Methods 28011.5 Conclusions 286List of Symbols and Acronyms 288Acknowledgments 289References 28912. Nanoparticles as a Smart Technology for Remediation 297Giuseppe Chidichimo, Daniela Cupelli, Giovanni De Filpo, Patrizia Formoso, and Fiore Pasquale Nicoletta12.1 Introduction 29712.2 Silica Nanoparticles for Wastewater Treatment 29812.3 Magnetic Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications 30512.4 Titania Nanoparticles in Environmental Photo-Catalysis 31712.5 Future Prospects: Is Nano Really Good for the Environment? 32612.6 Conclusions 328List of Abbreviations 328References 329Index 349