ABSTRACT
Natural resources are the inputs of the chemical and biochemical industries in the world. Nevertheless, the current environmental issues related to their excessive use require different strategies for a sustainable use of these resources in a context of scarcity and demographic growth. This chapter introduces an alternative for conventional processes by implementing separation reaction processes. A brief review of how the reactive separation processes can contribute to sustainability principles is presented, reducing key factors that contribute to emissions, inefficient use of energy, and industrial safety, among others. The definition of reactive separation processes is given and the advantages and disadvantages that this type of technology has are discussed. Additionally, the phenomenology involved in reactive separation processes is analyzed. Even, if the number and variety of configurations for reactive separation technologies is very high, the general phenomenon can be identified and described to guide readers about the universe of applications. The emphasis of this chapter is the understanding of why this approach should be considered when designing chemical and biochemical processes with high sustainability indicators.
