Industrial Ecology and the Geoenvironment - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 136

4.9.1.3 Vapor Pressure
The vapor pressure of a liquid or solid is the pressure of the gas in equilibrium with the
liquid or solid at a given temperature. Gasoline, for example, will evaporate rapidly since
it has a high vapor pressure and is very volatile. Volatilization is a signiicant factor in
disposal for compounds with vapor pressure greater than 10 −3 mm Hg at room tempera-
ture. Chemicals with relatively low vapor pressures and high solubility in water are less
likely to vaporize and become airborne. The transport of a compound from the liquid to
the vapor phase is called volatilization. This could be an important pathway for chemicals
with high vapor pressures or low solubilities. Evaporation depends on the equilibrium
vapor pressure, diffusion, dispersion of emulsions, solubility, and temperatures.
4.10 Concluding Remarks
The concept of industrial ecology is very powerful—if implemented to its fullest extent.
The idea that industrial activities should not only be cognizant of the need to protect the
environment (and in this case, the geoenvironment) and to conserve the natural resources
(both renewable and nonrenewable), but also to devise and incorporate strategies and
technologies that would serve these purposes, is most refreshing and forward-looking. To
that end, the use of life cycle assessment is a powerful tool. One can track all kinds of infor-
mation in respect to the production and delivery of the set of goods used by the consumer.
It is particularly useful in sustainable geoenvironmental engineering practice directed toward
the application of geoenvironment protective technology , i.e., technology designed to protect
the geoenvironment. The discussion in this chapter is designed to show the reader the
importance of protection of the natural capital of the geoenvironment—from initial har-
vest or procurement of the resource to inal manufacture-production and delivery of the
consumer goods of interest. In addition, it also points out that the responsibility for pro-
tection of the geoenvironment lies with the consumer—through conservation of resources
and disposal of consumed goods.
To implement the basic concepts of industrial ecology from a geoenvironment perspec-
tive, one is required to determine the connections or interactions between downstream
manufacturing industries and the geoenvironment. In particular, one needs to determine
the geoenvironment stressors generated from the various sources in these industries.
For manufacturing and other kinds of downstream industries, the major areas requiring
detailed scrutiny include (a) use of nonrenewable resources as energy input and also as
raw materials for the industries, (b) spills and debris, together with liquid and solid waste
discharges, and (c) gaseous and noxious particulate airborne emissions.
Figure 4.12 gives a schematic of what one might call common denominator descriptors for
the industries and their interaction with the geoenvironment. The various input and out-
put items shown in the schematic are common to most of the midstream and downstream
industries. Although the geoenvironment perspective developed in this topic does not
consider industry manufacturing and processing technology, the use of nonrenewable
resources as raw materials and as energy sources impact directly on the mandate of indus-
trial ecology, and must therefore be identiied as issues that need resolution. The issues
of direct concern in this chapter in respect to the land compartment of the geoenviron-
ment are shown in the bottom half of the diagram shown in Figure 4.12—identiied by