Technological, environmental and economic assessment of sodium tripolyphosphate production – a case study

Abstract

In recent years, as a consequence of an increase in environmental awareness of consumers, issues related to the improvement of the quality of chemical products and environmental protection in the strategies of companies and international organizations have risen in importance. The paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of two variants for sodium tripolyphosphate (or tripolyphosphate) STPP production technology. The first variant studied was the classic spray method commonly used for the production of STPP. The second variant was a dry, single-stage method developed and tested under laboratory conditions. The two methods were evaluated using Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Costs (BATNEEC) options and the technology quality method. In addition, each variant was assessed for the economic efficiency of investment projects using net present value and internal rate of return approaches. The results showed that the dry, single-stage method of STPP production is more beneficial (economically and ecologically) in comparison with the dry spray method. Therefore, from the investment point of view, the dry, single-stage method should be used more frequently on an industrial scale.