Catalytic/Bio-catalytic and Novel Processes for Sustainable Development

Coupling experimental techniques to mathematical modeling, computer simulation and optimization using verified reliable models has opened the door for excellent improvements in classical processes and introducing novel processes to achieve not only clean environment but also Sustainable Development (SD) where Environmental Engineering (EE) is a subsystem of SD. The Integrated System Approach (ISA) based on System Theory (ST) is the best technique to approach this complicated system and achieve their aims. The best approach is through integration of biochemical and thermo-catalytic processes to produce both Bio-Fuels (BFs) and Bio-Products (BPs) using Renewable Raw Materials (RRMs). This is a challenge to design and optimize Integrated Bio-Refineries (IBRs) using RRMs to replace classical processes using non-RRMs. Many of these processes show bifurcation/instability phenomena and these phenomena will not be addressed in this paper. The paper will address the above challenges and related ones, starting with general simplified description of SD Engineering (SDE) followed by Chemical Reaction Engineering (CRE) then Biochemical Reaction Engineering Processes (BREPs) and closing up with Thermo-Catalytic Reaction Processes (TCRPs) to complete the integrated network at the present state of knowledge..

Abbreviations:SD: Sustainable Development; EE: Environmental Engineering; ISA: Integrated System Approach; ST: System Theory; BFs: Bio- Fuels; BPs: Bio-Products; RRMs: Renewable Raw Materials; IBRs: Integrated Bio-Refineries; SDE: Sustainable Development Engineering; CRE: Chemical Reaction Engineering; BREPs: Biochemical Reaction Engineering Processes; TCRPs: Thermo-Catalytic Reaction Processes