Article 10 2008

Abstract

COWAR: A CAPE OPEN Software Module for the Evaluation of Process Sustainability Maurizio Fermeglia a,b,*, Gennaro Longo a, Letitia Toma a a International Centre for Science and High Technology, ICS-UNIDO, AREA Science Park, Bldg. L2, Trieste 34012, Italy,gennaro.longo@ics.trieste.it,letitia.toma@ics.trieste.it b Molecular Simulation Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Trieste, Piazzale Europa 1, Trieste 34127, Italy, mauf@dicamp.units.it The sustainability of a chemical process can be estimated using qualitative and quantitative indicators. Quantitative indicators, such as potential environmental impact (PEI) indexes, are essential for evaluating the environmental impact of a chemical process and for choosing the best design among available alternatives. Waste Reduction (WAR) Algorithm, used to calculate the PEI indexes, is implemented using a standard methodology, CAPE OPEN (CO). Such development leads to COWAR, a software module for the evaluation of process sustainability. Details regarding the COWAR development and function are presented in this work. Finally, a representative chemical process is presented to demonstrate the software applicability.