Read and analyze the situation and answer the following question below.
A chemical manufacturer wants to try a new process for making the a highly refined form of nickel(II) oxide from Ni(NO3)2 and NaOH. The product is sold for use in making rechargeable batteries (NIMH) for use in high tech devices. The raw materials cost $2,000 per ton for Ni(NO3)2 and $50 per ton for NaOH. The old method (call it Method 1) uses equal masses of NaOH and nickel nitrate, and has a 95% yield. However, it costs $200 per ton of product generated to refine the product and process wastes. The first new method (Method 2) uses twice the mass of nickel nitrate as NaOH, and has a 90% yield, but refinement & waste processing costs $25 per ton. The other new method (method 3) uses five times the mass of nickel nitrate as NaOH, has a 99% yield, and refinement/waste processing only costs $10 per ton. Your group has been hired as a consulting firm to help the manufacturer decide whether to adopt one of the new processes, and if so, which one to choose.
Question
1. What chemistry challenges do you need to work out for this job?
2. What criteria will be important in making your recommendation?
3. How will you evaluate those criteria?
4. Are there other criteria that could be used? If and how can you so, what are they assess or rank their value?
5. What would be the "ideal" quantities to use, to make 1 ton of salable product?
Share
Answer:
As 2015 begins, we can already look forward to another year of ambitious and exciting activities addressing global challenges across the chemistry community. But why is tackling global challenges a priority for us? What are the opportunities for us and our community? And what are some of the areas we are focusing on? Here, we share with you an overview of our plans.