Assessing the Recovery of N-Methyl-2-Pyrrilodone from Waste Streams in the Specialty Chemical Industry

N-methyl-2-pyrrilodone (NMP) is a common solvent in the manufacture of resins and their precursors, used in the production of microelectronic devices and other high technology products.  This solvent exhibits many characteristics that make it ideal for use in polymer precursor production and final product finishing steps.  A case study has been conducted on reducing N-methyl-2-pyrrilodone in the batch production of resin precursors.  The case study presents the life cycle assessment of several schemes that involve alternative solvents, recovery processes, and mass/energy integration techniques.  It can be shown that the process modifications can not only yield environmental life cycle improvements, based on various impact factors, but provide economic benefits as well.  Yearly projections of waste reductions, life cycle improvements, energy utilization, and cost savings are presented.  Since NMP is a prominent solvent for several commercial sectors, methods aimed at reducing waste help promote broader sustainability goals.  (This work is partially supported by a grant from the EPA Pollution Prevention program).