Visimix and Protecting the Environment

One of the important aspects of this field that has become a focus of attention in the last 2–3 years is the relationship between the industry and the environment, and how to be sure we are taking into consideration interactions between the industry and the environment. We have become used to hearing about CO2 emissions and “green” manufacturing. In regard to this industry, we must better understand the processes involved and their emissions. Such emissions could contain harmful substances in the gas, liquid, or solid phase.
Here is one way to approach the problem. This industry generates many strings that are not recovered; hence, we need to find a way to treat these strings. The most effective way would be to avoid these types of emissions or otherwise decrease them to an acceptable minimum. This approach requires a very deep understanding of the processes involved. Here, it is the role of the engineer to understand the environment in which the processes take place. The two main features of the processes are the materials and the equipment used to manufacture the products, and, consequently, some strings and emissions. Understanding the interaction between the materials and the equipment is the engineer’s role, particularly those interactions between the materials as controlled by the mixing parameters and the thermodynamics of the process. The mixing process of any materials in a given manufacturing environment will generate interactions as dictated by closed-system thermodynamics. This underscores the importance of understanding how to adapt processes according to the equipment environment. This is why it is so important for every engineer to have a tool that will generate the knowledge needed to support such an analysis. Once the synergies of the process are fully analyzed, the engineer can then design the process in such a way as to minimize dangerous emissions; otherwise, they will need to treat these wastes further.

One of the important contributions of Visimix is to provide engineers with the ability to connect between the equipment and the process, and to ensure that the way that the materials are interacting is effective and minimizes dangerous emissions. We talk about decreasing the quantity of solvents used and the quantity of gases generated, and of course, decreasing the quantity of material used in order to generate our product. The literature on chemical engineering also discusses “green” chemistry and contains articles related to materials substitutions in an effort to minimize the use of materials harmful to the environment. Even if those materials are not so good, if we’re able to generate a reaction that will be an exact reaction with no excess of one of the raw materials and a minimum use of solvents, then we will use it. This is our role and this is our way to work. We have a long way to run on it because we didn’t talk about this before in a very deep manner; however, now is the time and we are very happy to be part of this effort to contribute to “green” manufacturing in order to protect the environment.

VisiMix Video

The Influence of Mixing in the Process
New methodology using VisiMix software for the purpose of checking the influence of mixing in the processes.

VisiMix Demo Operation
Learning how to input data into the VisiMix software and get results the will help us understand the influence of mixing in our processes.

Lab Experiments
Learning how to set up the relevant experiments at the lab scale, to develop the processes from an engineering point of view.