Chemicals & Petroleum
Compound from wild tomatoes is natural, effective herbicide
April 25, 2012 5:26 am | News | CommentsA naturally occurring compound derived from wild tomato plants is also a fast-acting, nontoxic herbicide, according to researchers at North Carolina State University. Previously working with the compound—known as 2-undecanone—as a natural replacement for the chemical DEET in insect repellents, the researchers decided to explore whether it could be used as an insecticide on plants, when they noticed an unexpected side effect: It killed the plants.
Acoustics could guide dispersant use during subsea oil spills
April 18, 2012 5:40 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are investigating whether sound waves can be used to determine the size of oil droplets in the subsea—knowledge that could help guide the use of chemical dispersants during the cleanup of future spills.
Report: Diesel technologies drastically cut emissions
April 18, 2012 5:34 am | News | CommentsNew research from North Carolina State University shows that federal requirements governing diesel engines of new tractor trailer trucks have resulted in major cuts in emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides—pollutants that have significant human health and environmental impacts.
Study: Learning-by-doing was important in reducing ethanol costs
April 13, 2012 8:53 am | News | CommentsA new study from the University of Illinois concludes that learning-by-doing, stimulated by increased ethanol production, played an important role in inducing technological progress in the corn ethanol industry. It also suggests that biofuel policies, which induced ethanol production beyond the free-market level, served to increase the competitiveness of the industry over time.
Study ties oil, gas production to Midwest quakes
April 9, 2012 8:28 am | by Malcolm Ritter, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsAccording to findings by the U.S. Geological Survey, the rate of earthquakes in the United States’ midsection has jumped six-fold from the late 20th century through last year, and the changes are "almost certainly man-made." Most of the earthquakes resulting from drilling activities are relatively mold, falling into the magnitude 3 range on the Richter scale.
R & D caucus highlights NSF's tie to innovation
April 2, 2012 5:32 am | News | CommentsLast Friday, the National Science Foundation held a congressional briefing to call attention to its research successes, particularly the process of bringing relevant fundamental research from the laboratory to the marketplace. Particular attention was called to Small Business Innovation Research grant beneficiaries, some of whom shared their success stories at the briefing.
TTP Labtech Instrument Ends Manual Solvent Monitoring
March 16, 2012 8:37 am | Product Releases | CommentsBy providing a safe, automated solution to solvent level monitoring, analytical chemists using TTP Labtech’s new aequus can easily keep track of both solvent use and waste overflow during the everyday running of their analytical equipment.
President proposes national network for manufacturing innovation
March 10, 2012 6:49 am | News | CommentsAfter touring the Rolls-Royce Crosspointe jet engine disc manufacturing facility in Prince George, Va., on March 9, President Obama announced his intention to build a network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes to serve as regional hubs of manufacturing excellence. The move is intended to make U.S. manufacturers more competitive and encourage investment.
Building a beetle antifreeze
March 2, 2012 4:22 am | News | CommentsAnimals and plants have evolved all sorts of chemical tricks that allow them to colonize extreme environments. For species that call Antarctica or the Arctic home, surviving sub-zero temperatures is an essential ability, and chemists have isolated many natural antifreeze compounds from these organisms. The antifreeze called xylomannan, which is produced by the freeze-tolerant Alaskan beetle Upis ceramboides , is being studied at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute.
Report examines what U.S. can learn from EU chemicals law
February 29, 2012 9:21 am | News | CommentsU.S. industry and environmental groups agree that the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 needs to be modernized to better protect public health and the environment. However, there is no consensus on what the reform should look like. A new report from Indiana University supplies a close examination of the European Union's reformed chemicals law REACH, which went into effect in 2006.
When (and where) work disappears
February 24, 2012 7:11 am | by Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office | News | CommentsA new study from Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that the rapid rise in low-wage manufacturing industries overseas has had a significant impact on the United States. The disappearance of U.S. manufacturing jobs frequently leaves workers unemployed for years, if not permanently, while creating a drag on local economies and raising the amount of taxpayer-borne social insurance necessary to keep workers and their families afloat.
Report: Oil sands pollution comparable to large power plant
February 23, 2012 6:22 am | News | CommentsDrillers require a lot of energy to recover and refine heavy, viscous bitumen from Canada’s oil sands. In the first look at the effect of air pollution from the excavation of oil sands, also called tar sands, scientists used satellites to measure nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The effects, they say, are equivalent of a large power plant or a medium-sized city.
Nanotechnology powers Next Alternative’s emulsion fuel
February 21, 2012 2:08 am | News | CommentsNext Alternative of Ottawa, Canada, has introduced carbon nanotubes into an emulsion-fuel mixture, allowing the dispersion of standardized nanoscale water particle inside a single drop of oil. The result is a more efficient combustion, and Next Alternative believes it now has one of the most powerful formulas available.
Mapping out the future of GPS technology
February 16, 2012 5:52 am | News | CommentsDitching satellites and complex, powerful computers and opting for camera technology inspired by small mammals may be the future of navigation systems. A Queensland University of Technology faculty member is researching ways to make more reliable global positioning systems (GPS) using camera technology and mathematical algorithms, which would make navigating a cheaper and simpler task.
A natural solution for transportation
February 3, 2012 3:46 am | News | CommentsAs the United States transitions away from a primarily petroleum-based transportation industry, a number of different alternative fuel sources—ethanol, biodiesel, electricity, and hydrogen—have each shown their own promise. Hoping to expand the pool even further, researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have begun to investigate adding one more contender to the list of possible energy sources for light-duty cars and trucks: Compressed natural gas.
Biogas plant to let us run on rotten tomatoes
February 1, 2012 11:03 am | News | CommentsTons and tons of old produce goes to waste each year, much of it simply thrown away. A new biogas plant near Stuttgart, in Germany, has been built specifically to convert this market waste into methane for commercial use
UOP selected by Dow to provide technology for petrochemical facility
January 13, 2012 6:45 am | News | CommentsUOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that it has been selected by The Dow Chemical Company to provide technology to produce propylene at a Dow production site in Texas. Dow Texas Operations will use the Honeywell UOP C 3 Oleflex technology in a new propane dehydrogenation unit to convert shale gas-derived propane to propylene.
Team to test ‘quad porosity’ shale gas model
January 11, 2012 5:09 am | News | CommentsA quad porosity model developed by Oklahoma State University researchers uses scanning electron microscopy to characterize up to four porosity systems for shale gas. The simulation model, which will offer better forecasting and potential cost savings, is about to be field-tested in gas reservoirs over the next few months.
Topography played key role in Deepwater Horizon aftermath
January 9, 2012 3:55 pm | News | CommentsWhen geochemist David Valentine and colleagues published a study in early 2011 documenting how bacteria blooms had consumed almost all of the deepwater methane plumes following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, some people were skeptical. A recent publication explains how they did it.
Volumetric titrator reduces reagent waste
December 13, 2011 7:25 am | Product Releases | CommentsJM ?Science’s AQV-2200S AQUACOUNTER Karl Fischer Volumetric Titrator features small volume titration cells requiring only 20 mL of titration solvent for accurate measurements. The instrument is suitable for a wide measurement range from 100 ppm to 100% water content.
Nature's medicine cabinet could yield hundreds of new drugs
December 13, 2011 4:49 am | News | CommentsAccording to a new analysis by a New York Botanical Garden scientist, there are probably at least 500 medically useful chemicals awaiting discovery in plant species whose chemical constituents have not yet been evaluated for their potential to cure or treat disease.
Graphene innovation contributes to oil drilling efficiency
December 8, 2011 6:11 pm | News | CommentsThe Rice University lab of chemist James Tour and scientists at M-I SWACO, a Texas-based supplier of drilling fluids and subsidiary of oil-services provider Schlumberger, have produced functionalized graphene oxide to alleviate the clogging of oil-producing pores in newly drilled wells.
Fuel economy of new vehicles continues to rise
December 6, 2011 8:40 am | News | CommentsAverage fuel economy of all new vehicles sold in the United States is up for the second straight month, say researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Average fuel economy of cars, light trucks, minivans, and SUVs purchased in November was 22.7 mpg, up from 22.6 mpg in October and up from 22.1 mpg in both August and September.
China's demand for oil will equal U.S. demand by 2040
December 1, 2011 9:17 am | News | CommentsDespite aggressive demand-management policies announced in recent years, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today’s U.S. levels by 2040, according to a new energy study by the Baker Institute. The study's authors say this finding has timely significance because China's growing energy use could continue to pose a major challenge for global climate deliberations in South Africa this week.
Petroleum-eating mushrooms
November 30, 2011 9:43 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Montreal researchers have created a recipe to consume petroleum and its smell. The method works where researchers take a Petri dish containing crude petroleum, which will release a strong odor distinctive of the toxins that make up the fossil fuel, and sprinkle the dish with mushroom spores. After sitting for two weeks in an incubator, the petroleum and its smell will disappear.
