Yes / The chlor-alkali industries produce caustic soda (NaOH), chlorine (Cl2 ), and hydrogen (H2 ) as primary products. In 2021, the global chlor-alkali market was valued at $63.2 billion. The article evaluates the global aspects of chlor-alkali industries and prospects for Bangladesh. The current production capacity of NaOH from the chlor-alkali industries in Bangladesh is around 282,150 metric tons/year (MT/y). The by-products, chlorine (Cl2 ) of 250,470 MT/y and hydrogen (H2 ) of 7055 MT/y, are produced domestically. The local demand of Cl2 is 68,779 MT/y. However, there are no systematic utilizations of the residual Cl2 and vented H2 , which threatens the sustainability of the chlor-alkali industries. The article prefigures that a 150,000 MT/y PVC plant can utilize 45.2 % of residual Cl2 of chlor-alkali plants, which would be an economical and environmental milestone for Bangladesh. The residual Cl2 can earn revenue of 908 million USD/y, which can be utilized to import ethylene. For the sustainable utilization of vented H2 , production of H2O2 , fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) and H2 fuel-cell-based power plant are the feasible solutions. Thus, for the long-term growth of the chlor-alkali industry in Bangladesh and other developing countries, systematic utilization of Cl2 and H2 is the only feasible solution. / This research was funded by ‘BUET Chemical Engineering Forum (BCEF), 001-2020.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the difference and interaction of mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) among fish species and tissues. In addition, by comparing with the detected concentrations in other regions, it would be possible to evaluate the pollution status. In the meanwhile, this study analyzed the edibility of the fish, the interaction between Hg and Se as well as their impacts on fish growth. Ten species of fish, including tenpounder (Elops machnata), fourlined terapon (Pelates quadrilineatus), whipfin silverbiddy (Gerres filamentosus), common ponyfish (Leiognathus equulus), Hamilton's thryssa (Thryssa hamiltonii), tilapia (Orechromis niloticus), western Pacific gizzard shad (Nematalosa come), large-scaled mullet (Liza macrolepis), flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus) and milkfish (Chanos chanos), and 20 sediment samples were collected from September to October of 2003 at the reservoir adjacent to a chlor-alkali plant, which had been abandoned for 22 years in Tainan City. Total mercury (THg) and organic mercury (OHg) concentrations were determined in fish muscles, livers, kidneys, gonads, gills and sediment samples. Besides, Se concentrations were also analyzed in fish muscles and livers. Concentrations (mg/kg dry wt.) of THg and OHg in sediment were 43.2¡Ó23.4(mean¡Ósd) and 0.013¡Ó0.008, respectively. THg, OHg and Se concentrations (mg/kg wet wt.) in fish muscles were 0.432¡Ó0.360, 0.305¡Ó0.206 and 0.126¡Ó0.030, similar to the concentrations in other chlor-alkali polluted regions. With the diet habit of Taiwanese, the Hg concentrations of muscles in the seven fish species exceeded the limit of Hg which was allowed to be consumed by humans. THg and OHg concentrations in the fish muscles showed significant species difference. Obviously, the concentrations in carnivorous fishes were higher than those in omnivorous and herbivorous fishes. The OHg concentrations of fish livers and kidneys were highest in carnivorous fishes, but the THg concentrations were higher in omnivorous fishes than in that of carnivorous and herbivorous fishes. Besides, Se concentrations in fish muscles and livers also showed significant species difference, but did not show relation with the feeding habit of fishes. The Hg levels among fish tissues were highest in livers or kidneys, followed by gonads and muscles, lowest in gills. Generally speaking, Se levels were higher in livers than in muscles. The liver THg concentrations of tilapia reached 10 mg/kg wet wt. Their muscle THg concentrations decreased suddenly and maintained at a level about 0.4 mg/kg wet wt. Meanwhile, the liver inorganic Hg and Se concentrations increased with fish weight, while the liver OHg concentrations did not show such a trend but stay at a low level. High Hg concentrations in the fish tissues resulted in adverse effects on fish health. High Hg concentrations in muscles and livers caused heptasomatic index to decrease in western Pacific gizzard shad and milkfish, and condition factor declined in tilipia. Moreover, gonasomatic index remained low while the Hg concentrations of muscles, livers and gonads reached a threshold, which suggested that the growth of those fishes was likely inhibited in Hg polluted environment.

Submitted by Lucienne Costa (lucienneferreira@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-04-24T00:19:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JULIANA ZEYMER AUAD PAFFER – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGEQ) 2015.pdf: 2369945 bytes, checksum: 31ce517399cfe89bebdd0e7c02c68852 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-24T00:19:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JULIANA ZEYMER AUAD PAFFER – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGEQ) 2015.pdf: 2369945 bytes, checksum: 31ce517399cfe89bebdd0e7c02c68852 (MD5) / Um dos efluentes gerados na indústria de cloro e soda é uma corrente ácida (água saturada de cloro). Esta corrente deve passar por um sistema de tratamento antes de ser descartado, devido ao potencial de dano que este pode causar à flora e à fauna marinha, além de infringir as regulamentações ambientais. Visando reduzir o consumo de energia e atender à especificação do efluente, o objetivo deste trabalho é realizar e avaliar a simulação dinâmica de um sistema de tratamento de efluente ácido. O sistema estudado é composto por uma coluna de stripper e um trocador de calor que pré aquece a corrente de alimentação. O estudo se concentrou em avaliar o comportamento do sistema no estado estacionário e dinâmico frente a alterações nas condições de operação do trocador de calor. As simulações foram realizadas no AspenTM e validados com dados da planta industrial. De acordo com os resultados, reduzindo a eficiência de troca de calor do trocador leva no aumento do consumo de energia e o efluente fica fora das especificações. Desta forma, é muito importante manter a eficiência do trocador de acordo com a de projeto e os controladores sintonizados. / One of the effluents generated by chlor-alkali plant is an acid stream (saturated water chlorine). This stream must pass through a treatment system before being discarded because of damage potential that this may cause to the flora and marine fauna, in addition to breaching environmental regulations. In order to reduce energy consumption and meet the effluent specification, the objective is to implement and evaluate the dynamic simulation of an acid wastewater treatment system. The system is composed of a column stripper and a heat exchanger that heats the pre feed stream. The study focused on evaluating the system behavior in the steady state and dynamic against changes in operating conditions of the heat exchanger. The simulations were accomplished by the simulator Aspen™ and validated with data from industrial plant. According to the results, reducing the efficiency of heat exchanger can make the power consumption increase and the effluent is out of specification. This way, it is very important to keep the heat exchange efficiency according to design and tuned controls.