An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents (PARIS III)

You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.

Solvent Substitution Software Tool, PARIS III, is a desktop/laptop application that allows users to find mixtures of solvents with specific physical and chemical properties, that also have relatively low environmental impacts. The software helps users find replacements for solvent mixtures that are currently being used in industrial processes but have dangerous environmental side effects. The software can also be used to find solvents with lower environmental impact when designing new industrial processes, as well as more benign solvents that can be added to harmful solvents favored by industry to help reduce the harmful environmental impact of their processes.

These replacement solvent mixtures may be used by companies interested in reducing the environmental impact of their industrial processes. Interested individuals may include:

  • solvent technicians
  • solvent engineers
  • environmental engineers
  • environmental consultants

The theoretical basis for the PARIS III program is the observation that the properties governing solvent behavior are universal and that the performance of each solvent is quantified by coefficients representing various physical and chemical properties (e.g., viscosity, diffusivity, activity coefficients, etc.). The solvent's features used by PARIS III include dynamic and equilibrium properties, environmental behavior (air index and environmental index), and performance and safety requirements.

By applying this representation to solvent design, PARIS III can rank alternative solvents by choosing those that come as close as possible to the coefficients of the original solvent. A ranked list of replacement solvents can be created within minutes. PARIS III provides a cost-effective approach to pollution prevention because users do not have to change equipment or modify their chemical processes in order to adopt safer, "greener" solvents.

Additional Information

The PARIS III solvent substitution software can be used with Windows XP, Windows 7.0 32-bit and 64-bit, UNIX, and MacOS operating systems.

Publications

Harten, P.F., T. Martin, M. Gonzalez, D. Young, “The Software Tool to Find Greener Solvent Replacements, PARIS III”, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy,

AIChE, New York, NY 39(1):13331, (2020)

US EPA (2015) PARIS III - EPA's Solvent Substitution Software Tool (Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents) Factsheet (PDF) (2 pp, 374 K)  Publication No. EPA/600/F-14/408

Harten, P.F., and G. Salama, "PARIS II, the Search for Cleaner Solvent Replacements for RCRA Chemicals," CleanTech, Vol. 4, Number 11, 20(2004).

Li, M., P.F. Harten, and H. Cabezas, "Experiences in Designing Solvents for the Environment," Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 41, 5867 (2002).

Cabezas, H., P.F. Harten, and M.R. Green, "Designing Greener Solvents," Chemical Engineering, Vol. 107, No. 3, 109 (2000).

Blog

PARIS III: EPA's Solvent Substitution Software Tool, September 2014

References

Harten, P.F. "Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents (PARIS III)," 18th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, North Bethesda MD, June 17-19 (2014)

Harten, P.F. "Finding Greener Solvent Mixtures to Replace Solvent Mixtures Used in Manufacturing Processes," 3rd International Congress on Sustainability Science & Engineering (ICOSSE ‘13), Cincinnati OH, August 11-15 (2013).

Helpful Resources

PARIS III User's Guide (PDF) (21 pp, 1.13 M): Provides Information, Guidance, and Tutorial

PARIS III Video by ACS Green Chemistry Institute Exit

Technical Contact

PARISIII@epa.gov