Bayer among favorites for German Sustainability Award

A novel process for the production of plastics using carbon dioxide has made Bayer AG a favorite for this year’s German Sustainability Award. The company is among the top three candidates in the category “Germany’s Most Sustainable Initiatives.” Bayer was nominated for the Dream Production research project, which aims to turn the greenhouse gas CO2 into a useful raw material. This could ultimately provide the chemical industry with an alternative to increasingly scarce resources such as petroleum.

The winners in the various categories will be announced in Düsseldorf on November 4 as part of the celebration of German Sustainability Day. The jury’s nomination of Bayer acknowledges the company’s commitment to the “energy efficient, conservational and environmentally compatible use of CO2.” The use of CO2, a waste product that is harmful to the climate, in a production process is a “dream” that Bayer is pursuing with a “viable prospect of success” according to the citation.

“We are pleased and proud to be among the leading candidates for this important award,” says Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, the member of the Bayer Board of Management responsible for Technology, Innovation and Environment. “At the same time, we see this as a confirmation of our comprehensive sustainability strategy that is reflected in numerous processes, products and solutions in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-quality materials.”

According to Patrick Thomas, CEO of the Bayer MaterialScience subgroup which has overall responsibility for the project, “Dream Production has the potential of triggering a significant change in the raw material base of the chemical industry thanks to the exemplary combination of intercompany collaboration and applied research.”

The new process is currently undergoing thorough testing with the objective of beginning industrial production in 2015. A pilot plant brought on stream by Bayer in Leverkusen in February is using carbon dioxide from the power generation industry to produce a chemical precursor for the production of polyurethanes. Polyurethanes are used in many aspects of everyday life and help to save energy and protect the climate. When used to insulate buildings against heat or cold, they can save around 70 times more energy than is used in their production.

The CO2 used is sourced from a power plant operated by RWE Power, which in addition to Bayer Technology Services, the CAT Catalytic Center in Aachen and RWTH Aachen University, is among the partners participating in the project. The university’s responsibilities include subjecting the new process to comprehensive ecological and economic scrutiny while also comparing it with conventional processes and products.

The German Sustainability Award has been each year since 2008 and is under the patronage of German Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel. The award recognizes companies that are exemplary in their efforts to combine economic success with social responsibility and conservation of the environment.

 

Thermo Fisher Scientific Presents $35,000 Distinguished Research Award to Dr. Judit Villen, University of Washington

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announced that it has presented Dr. Judit Villen of the University of Washington, Seattle, with the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) 2011 Research Award of $35,000. Sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific for more than 20 years and administered by ASMS, the annual award recognizes and supports breakthrough academic research by young scientists in the field of mass spectrometry (MS). The award has propelled many past recipients to leadership positions in MS research. Dr. Villen received the award during a ceremony at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver during the 2011 ASMS conference.

An independent and anonymous ASMS committee chose Dr. Villen based on her research on the MS-based analysis of protein phosphorylation in single cells. Her goal is to understand the complex cellular signaling networks that impact the expression of cancers such as human breast cancer. The early-stage research, which the award will support, focuses on the development of a novel interface for single-cell MS using a Thermo Scientific Orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer system. Dr. Villen will use her award to purchase laboratory supplies and equipment and, if necessary, to pay graduate student or supplement post-doctoral salaries.

“Until now, MS studies measured proteins based on the average of millions of cells, completely missing the variations between individual cells that can have substantial consequences in signaling cell growth, proliferation and differentiation, all of which play roles in the expression of diseases such as cancer,” said Dr. Ian Jardine, vice president of global R&D, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Through her early-stage effort to develop an interface for single-cell mass spectrometry analysis, Dr. Villen will launch an exciting new era of single-cell proteomics.”

Dr. Villen joined the University of Washington as an assistant professor in the Genome Sciences Department in June 2010. Her accomplishments include contributions to numerous scientific publications, invitations to speak at meetings and conferences such as ASMS, and industry patents. Dr. Villen also received the 2009 Howard Termin Pathway to Independence Award in Cancer Research from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

 

SABIC wins VNCI Responsible Care Award for 2011

 SABIC has won the Responsible Care award for 2011. The announcement was made during the annual meeting of the Dutch Chemical Industry Federation (Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische Industrie (VNCI)) in The Hague. The company was chosen to receive the award because of its efforts to render the transportation of hazardous substances as safe as possible. SABIC has implemented a number of safety policies which go above and beyond the statutory and regulatory provisions. In addition, SABIC also actively involves its suppliers in safety improvements throughout the logistics chain.

Two tangible examples of this are the Rail Safety Policy and the Responsible Care requirement for our haulers. The judging panel decided that by introducing this new safety policy, SABIC has proved itself to be an excellent example of how to implement transport safety. In the view of the panel of experts and also the general public, who were able to cast their vote for the first time, SABIC has set the standard with this safety policy.

Among other things, the Rail Safety Policy prescribes that the company only uses carriages fitted with crash buffers. The use of this safety feature ensures that the impact of a collision on the tank is smaller, thereby reducing the risk of a disaster. In addition, under the Rail Safety Policy the carriages used are no more than 20 years old. This is also beneficial in terms of transport safety. SABIC was presented with a trophy to mark the occasion and is now in the running for the European Responsible Care award.

The Responsible Care program is a global initiative introduced by the chemical industry which aims to continuously improve companies’ performance in the field of safety, health, the environment and sustainability. On April 1 of this year, SABIC became the first company in the industry to call for its haulers to commit to Responsible Care. For this purpose, SABIC concluded three-year contracts with its road haulers to reinforce the company’s commitment to safety and sustainability throughout the entire logistics chain. This emphasizes the importance of implementing measures in an efficient manner and of openly discussing not only the successes but also the failures. It is also important to work with the authorities and organizations in order to develop, attain and also to exceed safety standards.

Huub Meessen, Vice President for Europe, says that he is “proud that SABIC’s revolutionary safety vision has been rewarded with the presentation of this Responsible Care award. I hope that our initiatives contribute to new standards being put in place within the chemical industry which will then further increase safety during the transportation of hazardous substances.”

The Responsible Care award will bring the VNCI Responsible Care right into the spotlight. The industry association has been bestowing this award on the most prominent and inspiring candidate since 1999. This year there were nine entries and for the first time in the award’s history the public was able to have its say in an online poll. The independent Responsible Care judging panel, which consisted of representatives from the government, MVO Nederland and the chemical industry, took the result of the online vote into account in its final decision. AkzoNobel and Nyrstar, who were both nominated alongside SABIC, received an honorable mention.

 

Messer nominated for the entrepreneurs’ award “TRIGOS 2011”

The industrial gas specialist Messer has developed a concept for the “Green Paper Mill” – this is designed to enable all the CO2 produced in paper production to be recycled.

The industrial gas specialist Messer nominated itself for the award TRIGOS Lower Austria 2011 with the “Green Paper Mill” concept. The TRIGOS is Austria’s award for Corporate Social Responsibility. Each year outstanding examples of entrepreneurial commitment are awarded prizes. Helmut Gutenberger from Messer in Austria and Robert Schlatter from Messer in Switzerland have developed the concept of the “Green Paper Mill”. A modular system would permit the use of energy and fresh water during paper production to be decreased while at the same time reducing the emissions in particular of substances which require a certificate, such as carbon dioxide. It is believed that it could be possible to recycle all the CO2 created in paper production.

Industrial gases to combat emissions and power consumption

Operation of a paper mill entails large amounts of different raw materials and significant impacts on the environment. The “Green Paper Mill” concept proffers a solution: The combination of an air separation plant for producing air gases such as oxygen and nitrogen and a paper mill enables large-scale synergies between paper production, power generation and air separation to be utilised, thus reducing the consumption of energy and fresh water and decreasing CO2 emissions and the use of various chemicals. Depending on the parameters required for paper production, it is even conceivable that the air gases produced and the carbon dioxide generated could be completely recycled in the paper production process.

In many industrialised countries the paper industry is one of the largest energy consumers. In particular the milling and grinding processes required for processing the pulp needed to produce paper consume a large amount of energy. The specific power requirements here amount to between 1500 and 2200 kWh per tonne of pulp. This is where one process element of the “Green Paper Mill” comes into play: It can significantly reduce the specific energy consumed during the pulp milling process. Further environmental impacts accounted for in the “Green Paper Mill” concept involve in particular water consumption, emissions of pollutants into the air and waste water, and the use of problematical chemicals.

The TRIGOS is awarded to companies which, regardless of their size, demonstrate the most holistic CSR commitment and implement the best project. The renowned entrepreneurs’ prize is awarded for the categories “Workplace”, “Society”, “Market” and “Ecology”.

Here you can receive further information concerning the news opposite directly from the publisher:

This is where you can add this news to your personal favourites

View the original article here

Ocean Optics Employee Wins Global Technology Award

Ocean Optics announced that Nelson Chandler has been awarded the Gold Award for Innovation from its parent company, Halma p.l.c. The award recognizes technology advancements made by individuals at Halma subsidiaries that have a significant impact on the company’s success.

Chandler received the L20K (USD $32K) Gold Award for Innovation, beating out 38 other entries from 22 companies in 6 countries. A software engineer at Ocean Optics, Chandler revamped the testing and calibration process for the company’s spectroscopy products, making it quicker and more reliable. By developing original software and modifying hardware equipment, he was able to make processing eight times faster, while improving consistency and quality.

Typically Innovation Award submissions involve a team working together. Chandler’s achievement is particularly impressive as he is the sole individual responsible for the improvements made. He received his B.S. in Software Engineering Technology from The University of Southern Mississippi and has been with Ocean Optics since 2007.

 

Award funds research on the mysteries of charged droplets

A UC Davis chemical engineer has won a five-year, $420,000 early career development award from the National Science Foundation to support research on electrical charges of fluid droplets.

William Ristenpart, an assistant professor who has appointments in both the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, uses high-speed video and a high-resolution electrochemical measuring technique known as “chronocoulometry” to answer fundamental questions about how droplets of various liquids acquire an electrical charge.

Findings from these studies are expected to have applications in a number of fields including petroleum and food-oil processing, and manufacture of microchips that are capable of performing multiple laboratory functions.

“The amount of charge obtained by metal spheres has been known since the time of Maxwell in the 1860s, but 150 years later, we still don’t understand charge transfer into liquid drops,” Ristenpart said. “I’m excited that this research will shed light on a fundamental problem with applications ranging from food science to atmospheric science.”

Ristenpart’s research team investigates the physical, chemical and biological phenomena of fluids, including fluid motion caused by electrical fields, how different food metabolites affect red blood cells, and the behavior of fluids at the microminiaturized scale.

Provided by UC Davis (news : web)