Application of green chemical technology in chemical engineering and technology

1 Overview of green chemical technology

Green chemical technology is a new production technology that integrates chemical engineering and technology with the concept of energy conservation and environmental protection, aiming at the maximum control of environmental pollution generated in the production process of the chemical industry, and realizing the upgrading and transformation of the industrial structure of the chemical industry [3]. It can effectively reduce the discharge of harmful pollutants in the chemical production process and reduce the pollution degree of pollutants [4]. In the process of chemical production, a large number of chemical products, raw materials for chemical production, chemical solvents, chemical wastes, catalysts, etc. are involved. If these items are not properly handled, they will cause damage to China's ecological environment and have a serious impact on the life and health of Chinese residents [5]. Green chemical technology is a technology to control such hazardous substances, promote the recycling of waste materials, improve the recycling rate of chemical materials, reduce the pollution of the ecological environment, and promote the development and reform of chemical production processes by changing the nature of hazardous chemicals.

2. Research on pollution causes of traditional chemical engineering and process

2.1 Limitation of material cost

In the process of chemical production, in order to improve economic benefits, chemical enterprises will use non-environmentally friendly cheap materials for production according to the needs of production. These chemical enterprises only realize that such materials can improve the output of chemical production and enhance the immediate economic benefits, but they do not realize that the application of such materials will lead to serious environmental pollution and produce a large amount of waste [6]. In the disposal of waste, enterprises also need to spend more financial resources and energy, which not only harms the environment, but also reduces the economic benefits of enterprises.

2.2 Limitation of production technology

In the process of chemical production, it is difficult to use chemical raw materials effectively, which is also the problem faced by the chemical industry in the development process. In response to this problem, chemical enterprises can only achieve the effective use and reasonable allocation of chemical raw materials by improving their own technical level and promoting the standards and standardization of chemical production.

3 Principles of green chemical technology

3.1 Rational use of chemical raw materials

Raw materials, as an important resource of chemical production, are of great significance to chemical production. In green chemical technology, more attention should be paid to the selection of chemical raw materials. Firstly, chemical raw materials with low pollution degree and high controllability should be preferentially selected, so as to reduce the pollution caused by chemical production by controlling the source of chemical raw materials [7]. Green and natural chemical raw materials have better environmental protection effects and can reduce the output of pollutants. At the same time, it is necessary to control the quantity of chemical raw materials, and use raw materials in strict accordance with the specifications and standards of the chemical production process to avoid waste and pollution caused by excessive input of raw materials.

3.2 Rational application of green catalysts

Catalyst is one of the most commonly used materials in chemical production, which can speed up the reaction rate between substances and improve the reaction effect of chemical substances. Catalysts are of great significance for chemical production, which can promote chemical production schedule and efficiency [8]. In the traditional chemical technology, most catalysts will produce pollution in the process of use because of their properties. In the process of catalyst application, the waste generated will cause very serious pollution to the environment. Harmless green catalysts should be used in green chemical technology. Green catalysts can avoid material waste and reduce environmental pollution, and improve the efficiency of chemical production. Green catalysts, although compared with traditional catalysts, the use of costs may increase, but the relative use of green catalysts can save chemical enterprises to deal with waste, pollution costs, but also improve the utilization efficiency of chemical raw materials, reduce the waste of resources, so the application of green catalysts will become one of the important trends in the development of the chemical industry in the future.

3.3 Rational use of green chemical reactions

In the process of chemical production, it is necessary to realize that the same product can be produced through different chemical reactions. According to the potential of the raw material itself, the amount of pollution caused by the chemical reaction to the environment, choose the green chemical reaction for chemical production. The representative of green chemical reaction is addition reaction and rearrangement reaction, which can realize the effective transformation of results without waste and side reactions, and has strong economy, and is one of the green chemical processes with high efficiency [9]. The study of green chemical reaction can promote enterprises to improve the level of green chemical technology, and also reduce the unnecessary costs caused by waste treatment, which is of great significance for chemical enterprises to achieve healthy and sustainable development.