THE CHEMICAL ENGINEERS' RESOURCE PAGE
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i was really surprised to see all the informations in your web page and it helped me in various class work.  it is almost end of the quarter now and as u can expect, my research paper is due in pretty short time.  if you have time, i was wondering if you can give me some information about "green chemistry."  i found this article in november issue of "Chemical & Engineering News" magazine and they didn't really mentioned about green chemistry.   instead, they said that it is one of chemistry's top five achievements in 1999.   can u provide me with some information about what green chemistry is all about and which web site i can find information about this?  thank you so much.  lastly, do u have
any suggestion for me what to include in my essay?  i'm writing about chemical engineering's impact on the environment...  thank you again and keep up the good work on your web site.

Here's a perfect topic for you!  Write about how green chemistry has impacted the pulp and paper (along with the textile) industry!   Earlier in the 1990's, the government came down hard on chlorine containing chemicals (and with just cause).  Unfortunately for the pulp and paper industry, all of their common bleaching agents were chlorinated compounds (I believe perchlorates).   This spurred a huge dash in the industry to design and build hydrogen peroxide plants as H2O2 is a feasible alternative (in fact, nearly all pulp and paper bleaching is currently done with H2O2).  This is a perfect example of "green" chemistry, which in general describes the act of finding more environmentally friendly ways of achieving goals that were traditionally done with more environmentally "dangerous" chemicals.  Currently, as the paper industry goes, so goes the hydrogen peroxide industry.  The largest H2O2 plant in the US is in Deer Park, TX and it is owned by Solvay Interox (two companies merged).  You should be able to find tons of information regarding ths subject.  Start with a journal entitled "Pulp and Paper".  Check out some of the issues from early in the 1990's (wish I could be more specific).  H2O2 is used in other processes, but by far, it's largest use is as a pulp bleaching agent.
    There are of course other examples of green chemistry is use.   Take for example the current trend toward replacing CFC with other refrigerates.   In fact, Air Products is up for an award in Chemical Engineering magazine for a
brilliant refrigeration cycle that uses AIR as the refrigerate and is capable of cooling to temperatures never thought possible with air (from an economic standpoint).  You can find this in the November or December issue of Chemical Engineering Magazine.   This is a great example of green chemistry.  One of my senior year projects (back when I was in school) involved manufacturing DMC (Dimethyl Carbonate) from CO and O2 rather than using the very dangerous chemical phosgene (which is a major target of green chemistry!).  Fuel cell technology could be considered green chemistry too!
     I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.  I'm glad to hear that you're doing this type of project!  You will find it very interesting.  If you decide on the H2O2 project, let me know and I can give you some more detail about the manufacturing process (at least a general idea of what kind of equipment is used and the reactants).

Good Luck