Chemicals & Petroleum
Dow Chemical gets $2.2B Kuwait dispute payment
May 7, 2013 4:56 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsDow Chemical Co. said Tuesday it received a $2.2 billion payment from Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait, settling a dispute over a scrapped joint venture. A year ago, an international arbitration court awarded Dow $2.2 billion in damages stemming from Kuwait's move to withdraw from the joint venture.
U.N. chemicals summit expected to adopt new controls
April 27, 2013 1:42 pm | by JOHN HEILPRIN - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsAt the start of a major conference to regulate chemical and hazardous waste safety, top officials voiced optimism Saturday that delegates will approve new international controls on several industrial compounds and agree to clamp down on some cross-border pollution.
Monsanto, Dow cross-license biotech corn traits
April 11, 2013 1:14 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsMonsanto and Dow AgroSciences LLC said Thursday they reached a new licensing agreement to collaborate on biotech-engineered corn that is resistant to herbicide and insects. Under the agreement, Monsanto will license Dow's new Enlist weed control technology, which allows corn to tolerate weed-killing chemicals.
PPG, Georgia Gulf complete $2.5B chemicals deal
January 28, 2013 1:59 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPPG has completed the sale of its $2.5 billion commodity chemicals business to Georgia Gulf, the companies said Monday. The combination of the former PPG unit and Georgia Gulf has been renamed Axiall Corp., which will start trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the "AXLL" ticker.
Dow opens innovation center at the University of Illinois
January 16, 2013 7:29 am | News | CommentsThe Dow Innovation Center, a new research facility to be located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has recently been announced by Dow and will develop data management solutions. At the same time, Dow has entered into an industry partnership with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, providing access to expertise and equipment which will accelerate Dow’s discovery processes.
New treatment could combat deadly chemical agents
January 14, 2013 1:00 pm | News | CommentsOrganophosphorus agents (OP) are used as pesticides in developing countries and it is estimated about 200,000 people die each year across the world from OP poisoning through occupational exposure, unintentional use, and misuse. Using a modified human enzyme, researchers in Europe have created a “bioscavenger” which was found to protect mice against these types of chemical agents.
Observations of “mechanochemical” synthesis could boost green chemistry
December 3, 2012 11:39 am | News | CommentsSolvents are omnipresent in the chemical industry, and are a major environmental and safety concern. “Mechanochemistry” offers a possible green, energy-efficient alternative that avoids using bulk solvents. The technique, now being researched at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, relies on high-frequency milling to drive reactions. Until now, however, the underlying chemistry of this method has eluded observation.
Study: Common flame retardant is an endocrine disruptor
October 25, 2012 9:19 am | News | CommentsFiremaster 550 is made up of four principal component chemicals and is used in polyurethane foam in a wide variety of products, ranging from mattresses to infant nursing pillows. It was developed to replace a class of fire retardants being phased out of use because of concerns regarding their safety.
U.S. research and development most prevalent in small number of regions
September 13, 2012 4:29 am | News | CommentsAccording to data from a 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey by the National Science Foundation, businesses perform the lion's share of their R&D activity in just a small number of geographic areas, particularly the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland area and the New York-Newark-Bridgeport area.
Gulf bacteria consumed a majority of the Deepwater oil spill
September 11, 2012 10:06 am | News | CommentsAccording to a new study that measured the rate at which bacteria in the Gulf of Mexico ate the oil and gas discharged by the broken Deepwater Horizon well, at least 200,000 tons of hydrocarbons were consumed by gulf bacteria over a five month period.
NC State signs research agreement with Eastman Chemical Co.
September 10, 2012 7:32 am | News | CommentsIn a move signaling a new, innovative approach to multidisciplinary research with university partners, North Carolina State University has entered into a multiyear agreement with Eastman Chemical Co. to conduct joint cutting-edge research in chemistry, materials science, and other scientific disciplines.
Study finds how BPA affects gene expression
September 7, 2012 7:15 am | News | CommentsNew research led by researchers at North Carolina State University shows that exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) early in life results in high levels of anxiety by causing significant gene expression changes in a specific region of the brain called the amygdala. The researchers also found that a soy-rich diet can mitigate these effects.
Photoacoustic technique 'hears' the sound of dangerous chemical agents
August 14, 2012 8:32 am | News | CommentsU.S. Army researchers have developed a new chemical sensor that can simultaneously identify a potentially limitless numbers of agents, in real time. The new system is based on a phenomenon discovered by Alexander Graham Bell known as the photoacoustic effect, in which the absorption of light by materials generates characteristic acoustic waves.
Experts: Some fracking critics use bad science
July 23, 2012 4:58 am | by Kevin Begos, Associated Press | News | CommentsShale gas drilling has attracted national attention because advances in technology have unlocked billions of dollars of gas reserves, leading to a boom in production, jobs, and profits, as well as concerns about pollution and public health. In the debate over natural gas drilling, the companies are often the ones accused of twisting the facts. But scientists say opponents sometimes mislead the public, too.
Catalysts open green route to chemical products
July 9, 2012 4:16 am | by Kimm Fesenmaier, California Institute of Technology | News | CommentsCalifornia Institute of Technology chemists have developed a new class of catalysts that will increase the range of chemicals that can be synthesized using environmentally friendly methods. The new chemicals include the metal ruthenium and help drive a chemical reaction called olefin metathesis. The reaction has proven useful and efficient for making chemical products that involve pairs of carbon atoms connected by double bonds.
Exxon's CEO: Climate, energy fears overblown
June 27, 2012 12:58 pm | by Jonathan Fahey, AP Energy Writer | News | CommentsIn a speech Wednesday, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said fears about climate change, drilling, and energy dependence are overblown. He acknowledged that burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet, but said society will be able to adapt and dependence on other nations for oil is not a concern as long as access to supply is certain.
Nanopesticides: Solution or threat for a cleaner and greener agriculture?
June 20, 2012 7:22 am | News | CommentsResearch is needed to evaluate the risks and benefits of nanopesticides to human and environmental health. Researchers from the University of Vienna recently performed an extensive analysis of this emerging field of research. The study presents the current state-of-art in nanopesticides and identifies direction priorities for future research.
Diversity Marks R & D 100 Awards in the 1990s
June 18, 2012 7:18 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsInformation, environment, energy, and consumer products gain prominence as R&D 100 Award winners in the 1990s.
Green fuel from carbon dioxide and hydrogen?
June 13, 2012 8:19 am | News | CommentsA research team at the Freiburg Materials Research Center in Germany has developed a new system for producing methanol that uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The key to helping make their process more efficient is the use of the metal oxides of copper, zinc, and zirconium dioxide as catalysts, enabling the reaction to happen at lower temperatures. Ionic salts may also play a role.
Chemical engineers devise a new way to split water
June 5, 2012 12:11 pm | News | CommentsProviding a possible new route to hydrogen-gas production, researchers at the California Institute of Technology have devised a series of chemical reactions that allows them, for the first time, to split water in a nontoxic, noncorrosive way, at relatively low temperatures.
Coalition to develop world’s cleanest passenger train
May 22, 2012 12:57 pm | News | CommentsPlans to create the world's first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive were unveiled this week by the Coalition for Sustainable Rail, which has the goal of proving the viability of solid biofuel—torrefied biomass—and modern steam locomotive technology. The first step in those plans is to break the world speed record for steam trains.
MRI offers preventive medicine for pipelines
May 22, 2012 12:50 pm | by Kate Rix | News | CommentsA team of engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have developed a way to keep tabs on pipeline health by using a magnetic resonance imaging machine similar to the ones used in hospitals. Their technology is called the Magnetic Response Imaging System (MRIS), and it will be able to look at the state of underground pipelines.
First microsubmarines designed to help clean up oil spills
May 2, 2012 9:22 am | News | CommentsDifferent versions of microengines have been developed, including devices that could transport medications through the bloodstream. But until now no one has ever shown that these devices—which are about 10 times smaller than the width of a human hair—could help clean up oil spills. Scientists are reporting successful testing of the first self-propelled “microsubmarines” designed to pick up droplets of oil and transport them.
Engineers discover high-yield biomass-to-plastics method
May 1, 2012 6:35 am | News | CommentsA team of chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found an inexpensive way to achieve a 75% yield from biomass for the formation of the chemical p-xylene, a key ingredient used to make plastic bottles. This chemical is normally made using petroleum.
Study: Fracking requires a minimum distance from sensitive rock strata
April 25, 2012 6:23 am | News | CommentsAccording to new research in the U.K. that looked at data from thousands of fracking operations in the United States, the chance of rogue fractures due to shale gas fracking operations decreases significantly beyond a certain distance from the injection source. This, the first analysis of its kind, could be used as a starting point for separating aquifers and fracking.
