COMPANY 14: Gas-to-Liquids, Fischer-Tropsch, low sulfur diesel, nanometer-sized particles, iron catalysts, continuous magnetic separation

This 22 year old company - an innovator in development of magnetic separation technologies - presents a method (patents pending) for separation of nanometer-sized particles from viscous flows, proven for removal of iron catalyst particles from Fischer-Tropsch wax. This beneficial technology permits use of versatile iron catalysts in synthesizing products including food quality wax and low sulfur diesel fuel. The user of this technology will have a decisive advantage in the evolving $100 billion annual gas-to-liquids market. The company seeks a licensee or buyer who will outsource a portion of its continued development to the company.

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COMPANY 15: Nano-powders, high-activity catalysts, complex metal oxides, carbon powders, aluminum oxide

This company is a specialty materials manufacturer producing metal oxide nano-powders, carbon nano-powders and high activity/selectivity catalysts. The $700M/year specialty nano-particle and $10B/year catalyst industries are the primary markets served. Patented and proprietary process and product technologies yield large volumes of high purity, single metal oxide products at competitive prices. Production of Al2O3 and Fe2O3 will start in 2004. Unique, high-margin complex metal oxides for ultra-high performance catalyst applications will be introduced in 2005. They are seeking $10M from venture investors or corporate partners to support growth of their nano-powder and catalyst manufacturing businesses. Projections indicate greater than $100M in annual sales by 2008 and ROI greater than 50%.

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New process could compete with desulfurization technologies - Brief Article Diesel Fuel News, April 15, 2002 by Jack Peckham Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl.net. Get started now. (It's free.)A so-called "selective adsorption for removing sulfur" (SARS) process developed at laboratory-scale at Pennsylvania State University now seeks industrial partners to carry research & development to the next stage.

According to a paper presented to American Chemical Society last week, Penn State researchers have found a way to remove organic sulfur from liquid hydrocarbon fuels (diesel, jet fuel, gasoline) on a metal adsorbent that's regenerated by a recyclable solvent.

"This method will not adsorb the co-existing compounds like benzene and naphthalene," Penn State researcher Xiaoliang Ma told the ACS meeting.

Removing sulfur compounds this way without removing aromatics from diesel or gasoline can be difficult, but the researchers found a way to employ transition metals or transition metal alloys to grab these compounds without significant yield penalty, they said.

"The active adsorbent is placed on a porous, non-reactive substrate that allows the greatest surface area for adsorption," according to the researchers. "Adsorption occurs when the sulfur molecules attach to the transition metals on the substrate and remain there separate from the fuel."

According to co-researcher Michael Sprague, "the absorbent transition metals can clean 10 times their volume of fuel, but eventually the system becomes saturated with sulfur," hence the solvent regeneration step. The solvent is reclaimed, while the sulfur extract can be further processed. The ultimate aim is a complete commercial system that can be continuously regenerated, they said.

The researchers first unveiled their concept in another ACS paper last fall in which they claimed to have found an alternative to the Phillips "S-Zorb" process.

The key difference, Penn State researcher Chunshan Song told us, is that "our process is sulfur adsorption at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure, whereas S-Zorb is at elevated temperature and low pressure, and their process converts sulfur to sulfide."

Phillips contends that its process should result in only minimal chemical hydrogen loss. The Penn State process would require only minimal hydrotreating of the sulfur extract and thus avoid hydrogen loss, Song said.

"S-Zorb is a good process, but for refiners, it depends upon what you want," considering the wide variety of refinery configurations, he said.

The researchers say their adsorbent regeneration process produces an eluate of sulfur compounds and solvent sent to an evaporator for solvent recycle, from which a concentrated sulfur extract is obtained. This extract "accounts for less than 1 wt% of the whole fuel," the researchers said. "The concentrated sulfur fraction is hydrodesulfurized in a small HDS reactor. Then, the HDS produced is blended with the hydrocarbon fraction from the adsorber."

U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense have contributed funds for R&D, because the process could have application for desulfurization of military fuels for future fuel-cell applications. Recent research work focused on desulfurizing JP-8 jet fuel, which is typically around 500-ppm sulfur. In this work, the researchers cut sulfur to less than 1 ppm.



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What chemical element facilitates ozone production in the troposphere and is a catalyst for ozone destruction in the stratosphere?

Answer: Nitrogen Oxide

What could be utilized to mitigate the impact of nitrogen oxide emissions on tropospheric ozone levels?

Answer: Titanium Dioxide.

May 6, 2004
To Cut Daytime Smog, Attack It At Night

[link to www.csmonitor.com]

Excerpt:

The recipe for an ozone "event" seems simple. Mix together nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons that cars, factories, and some natural processes emit. Add sunshine. Voilà! Ozone smog. Like a vaguely stated cake recipe, apparent simplicity hides underlying complexity. It takes a lot of preparation to set things up so the ingredients mix to make major smog.

While smogmaking stops when the sun goes down, the atmospheric cauldron keeps on bubbling. Its action helps determine what happens after sunrise the next day. Steven Brown at NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., and his colleagues have dis-covered an effect that makes this point. They find that the atmosphere in the marine environment of coastal New England can do a trick that "will short-circuit some of the ozone production that would have occurred the next day," Dr. Brown says.

During the night, ozone-forming nitrogen oxides undergo chemical reactions that transform them into nitric acid gas. This gas rapidly deposits on the surface, partially cleansing the air of key smogmaking ingredients. As Brown's colleague A.R. Ravishankara notes, this glimpse of a previously unknown process shows that "the nighttime chemistry is a new piece of the air-quality puzzle.... We need to find out more about when and where it is important." For example: Are there circumstances where it enhances smogmaking rather than moderating it? And what else is going on?

This research is part of an ongoing comprehensive study of New England air quality. Some of the results will be specific to this region. Other findings may have wider relevance. It is already clear that scientists everywhere need to understand what's going on in the atmosphere 24 hours a day.

They may need new tools to help them. The discovery Brown and his colleagues published in Geophysical Research Letters was made possible by new instruments that measured concentrations of key chemicals that had been nearly impossible to assess before.

Meanwhile, some air-quality engineers are experimenting with ways to clean up local air. The European Union is funding tests of a paint that contains tiny particles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate. That combination transforms polluting nitrogen oxides (NOX) into calcium nitrate with water and carbon dioxide as harmless byproducts.

Also, tests in Italy showed that a concrete made with NOX-scrubbing cement reduced street-level concentration of the oxides by up to 60 percent, according to a report in New Scientist magazine.

By getting a better handle on the complex chemistry of smog, scientists may make it easier to fight air pollution.

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May 10, 2004

Nano-paint gobbles smog (Link no longer available)

European scientists have devised a paint that soaks up nitrogen oxide gases emitted by vehicle exhausts, a pollution source that can cause smog and respiratory problems.

The substance, Ecopaint, will go on sale next month and, when painted on the side of buildings, should be able to soak up nitrogen oxides (NOx) for five years until its novel coating is exhausted, an article to be published in the next issue of New Scientist says.

The secret lies in spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate that are just 30 nanometres across, mixed into a silicon-based polymer, polysiloxane.

The particles are so tiny that the paint is clear, and pigment can be added to make the desired colour. But the first paint to go on sale will be white.

The polysiloxane is relatively porous, and lets the NOx gases, the collective name for nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, diffuse through it. The gases then adhere to the particles of titanium dioxide.

The particles absorb ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, and the energy from this converts NOx in a chemical reaction to nitric acid.

The acid is either washed away by rain or is neutralised by the alkaline calcium carbonate.

But the calcium carbonate typically lasts just five years. After that time, the titanium dioxide still breaks down the NOx but the acid produced discolours the paint.

The product was invented by a British company, Millennium Chemicals, under a European Union-funded program to help improve air quality in cities.

An experiment conducted in Milan, Italy, in 2002 with a similar catalytic coating painted on a stretch of road, reduced levels of NOx at street level by 60%, and residents reported they found it easier to breathe.

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Atmospheric Purification by Photocatalysis

" [link to www.aist.go.jp]

Atmospheric constituents such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and CFC substitutes, greenhouse gases, and nitrogenous and sulfurous compounds undergo photochemical reactions either directly or indirectly in the presence of sunlight. In a polluted area, these can build up in the atmosphere rather than eventually being removed. NIRE is especially concerned with heterogeneous processes in which particulate matter and aerosols play a role.

We have found that some materials called "photocatalysts" based on titanium dioxide (TiO2) can remove nitrogen and sulfur oxides to the levels of environmental standards (about 0.05 ppm). As this photocatalyst is activated by sunlight and regenerated by rainfall, it can purify ambient air naturally without additional energy use. Tests of these air-purifying materials are being conducted at the sides of roads with heavy traffic. Some local governments have begun considering their use.

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Environmental Technology Research Network

" [link to www.aist.go.jp]

1. Development of Technology for Removing Air Pollutants by Photocatalysis
2. 1993-1997
3. air
4. counter measures, remediation, reaction mechanism, monitoring
5. chemistry, material science
6. Takashi IBUSUKI, Shin-ya YOKOYAMA, Koji TAKEUCHI, Shuzo KUTSUNA, Hitomi KOBARA, Nobuaki NEGISHI
7. Photoenergy Application Div., Global Warming Control Dept.
8. NIRE, AIST, MITI
9. 16-3 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305
10. Japan
11. 81-298-61-8162
12. 81-298-61-8158
13. This project aims at developing technically and economically feasible purification methods for ambient air. Photocatalysts based on titanium dioxide were found to remove ppm-level nitrogen and sulfur oxides from air by oxidation. As the catalysts require only near ultraviolet light for activation and water for regeneration by rinsing the oxidation products (nitrate and sulfate) off, the catalysts can be operated under outdoor conditions with natural energies only. The reaction mechanisms, improvement of photocatalytic activity, and immobilization of the catalysts are studied in the project.



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" [link to 64.233.179.104]

According to a Pratt & Whitney paper on "Particulate Emissions from Aircraft", preliminary data analysis of the effect of sulphur on particulate formation suggests that fuel sulphur content plays an important role in volatile formation that in turn act as nuclei for cloud formation. If this were true then lowering sulphur content in aviation fuels would be highly desirable from the perspective of reducing volatile formation.

[link to members.aol.com]