Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 4:00 PM
New York (Capital Hilton)
133

A Collaborative Partnership to Develop Strategies for Waste Minimization and Solvent Recovery for the Celecoxib Process

Mariano J. Savelski1, C. Stewart Slater1, Gregory Hounsell2, Daniel Pilipauskas2, and Frank Urbanski2. (1) Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, (2) Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY

Through the engineering clinic program, Rowan University and Pfizer have collaborated to explore green engineering alternatives for waste minimization and solvent recovery for the celecoxib process. The current manufacturing process at the Barceloneta, Puerto Rico plant is being evaluated and several green engineering retrofit options proposed. The group has performed a design case study on isopropanol recovery from waste streams with extractive –distillation and pervaporation-distillation techniques. The case study describes equipment and processing issues, and estimates environmental impacts and costs. This project is one of several being conducted by Rowan University as part of the EPA Pollution Prevention initiative in the pharmaceutical industry.