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Questions and Problems

  • Page ID
    306213
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    1. Define industrial ecology.

    2. Define an industrial ecosystem.

    3. Name four major parts of an industrial ecosystem

    4. Give the name of the processes to which materials and components are subjected in industrial ecosystems.

    5. Give a definition of wastes in terms of natural resources.

    6. What is the general pathway of materials through industrial systems as they currently operate?

    7. What is meant by “level of recycling” and how is it related to embedded utility?

    8. Name the three kinds of analyses and three categories considered in a life-cycle assessment.

    9. What are the three kinds of products, classified in part on their amenability to recycling, that are normally considered in life-cycle assessments?

    10. Give three important useful characteristics of consumable products related to their potential environmental effects.

    11. Name three key attributes of industrial ecosystems that largely determine the wellbeing of the systems.

    12. Given that an abundant source of energy can make almost anything possible in an industrial ecosystem, in what respects do vast reserves of coal, wind power, and solar energy fall short of being ideal energy sources?

    13. Explain cogeneration of energy. What are its advantages?

    14. Name three approaches to providing materials other than from virgin sources.

    15. Consumable items and products cannot be recycled on a practical basis. Name three other categories of goods or products that can be recycled.

    16. What is Kalundborg, Denmark, noted for?

    17. Name several characteristics that facilitated development of the Kalundborg industrial ecosystem.

    18. Name an environmental effect of industrial activities in the anthrosphere upon each of the other four environmental spheres.

    19. Name an environmental effect of agricultural activities in the anthrosphere upon each of the other four environmental spheres.

    20. For each of the other four environmental spheres, name a measure that may be taken in anthrospheric activities to reduce the environmental impact of these activities.

    21. What does atom economy have to do with reducing the environmental impact of industrial ecosystems?

    22. Describe two general approaches to making chemical synthesis greener.

    23. What are structure activity relationships applied to toxic substances?

    24. Why should the use of lipid-soluble organics be reduced in the practice of green chemistry?

    25. What is a characteristic of VOCs that both makes them useful in industrial applications, but also increases their hazards?

    26. Distinguish between reactive and corrosive substances. May a compound be both?

    28. Distinguish among feedstocks, reagents, media, and catalysts.

    29. Name two desirable characteristics of reagents insofar as their ability to generate products is concerned.

    30. What are two oxidants used by organisms? What catalysts are used with these oxidants?

    31. What is a nonchemical alternative to the use of oxidant and reductant reagents?

    32. What are the two most common media used for chemical reactions?

    33. Why is toluene preferred to benzene as a solvent medium for organic reactions?

    34. What is a common toxicity problem with some lighter hydrocarbons, such as hexane?

    35. Normally encountered as a gas, how can carbon dioxide be used as a medium for chemical reactions?

    36. What are ionic liquids and what is their potential use in green chemistry?

    37. Name two general categories of catalysts based upon physical form. Which is more desirable from the green chemistry standpoint?

    38. What is a desirable characteristic of catalysts that chemists try to enhance?


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