WASTE REDUCTION THROUGH BENZENE-FREE POLYMERIZATION TECHNOLOGY

WASTE REDUCTION CAN BE A HIGHLY COST-EFFECTIVE MEANS OF POLLUTION CONTROL, IF ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE BASIC TECHNOLOGY CAN BE ACHIEVED WHICH FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE RAW MATERIALS USED IN THE PROCESS. BENZENE IS USED AS A CLASSICAL REACTION SOLVENT IN MANY ORGANIC CHEMICAL REACTIONS. AS A SOLVENT, RATHER THAN A BASIC REACTANT, IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY ALTERMATE SOLVENT TECHNOLOGIES TO ELIMINATE BENZENE. ELIMINATION OF THE USE OF BENZENE AS A SOLVENT IN A SPECIFIC FREE REDICAL ORGANIC POLYMERIZATION PROCESS IS PROPOSED. PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS INDICATE GREAT PROMISE IN THE USE OF EXCESS LEVELS OF ONE REACTANT AS A BENZENE REPLACEMENT. THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO DETERMINE THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF THIS TECHNOLOGY TO PRODUCT THE POLYMER PRODUCT. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE TECHNOLOGY SHOULD ELIMINATE BENZENE IN EMISSIONS FROM CURRENT PROCESS VENTS, CENTRIFUGES, DRYERS, AND IN FUGITIVE EMISSIONS. ALSO, BECAUSE IT ELIMINATED RESIDUAL BEZENE IN THE POLYMER, IT PREVENTS BENZENE EMISSIONS IN DOWNSTREAM PROCESSORS OF THE PRODUCT. SINCE THE POLYMER IS USED IN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS, IT ELIMINATES BENZENE HEALTH RISKS TO A WIDE CONSUMER POPULATION. THE BROAD IMPACT OT THIS BENZENE WASTE REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND ITS HIGHLY FAVORABLE ECONOMICS MAKE THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY AND IMPORTANT DEMONSTRATION OF THE BENEFITS OF A WASTE REDUCTION PROGRAM.