Chemical Processing Technology

Chemical reactors are key to producing chemicals. They have a design and configuration that provides proper environment such as temperature and presence of a catalyst for the chemicals reaction to take place. There are two main types of chemical reactors: the batch reactor and the continuous reactor. The former usually makes products with different reactants, as in production of colorants and drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. The latter consistently produces ammonia and other chemicals in large quantities.

The release of chemicals, whether in liquid, solid or gas states, can pollute the underground water, soil and air, which in turn poses health risks to humans. To tackle this, the European Union has put in place strategies to ensure the minimal usage and production of harmful chemicals. The strict EU’s regulations aim to put chemical exposure to check from production level to disposal level. They intend to achieve this by phasing out the use of highly toxic chemicals like mercury chloride except their use is essential and promoting green chemistry for sustainability. For example, instead of producing mercury-based batteries, there are alternatives like alkaline.