project management 1
Purity in delivery
Wael Allan, Bill Flemming, and Philip Southerland explain how
integrated pure construction management can create real value
CHOOSING the right delivery method
for a capital project is a fundamental
and crucial decision in project
management. Companies have to
balance quality and speed of delivery
with an increasing pressure to cut the
price of capital projects.
Nowhere is this more apparent
than in the pharmaceuticals industry.
Historically, pharmaceutical companies
have been among the most conservative
when choosing a capital project
delivery method because of the
stringent regulatory environment in
which they operate, and they have
focused on quality and schedule as the
main criteria for delivery of their capital
projects.
Today, the pressure to increase
shareholder value while controlling or
even reducing drug prices, combined
with the recent poor productivity in
R&D and the end of many blockbuster
patents, have altered the fundamental
business practices of this industry.
Companies are increasingly focusing
on reducing the price of capital
projects. We believe that implementing
a ‘pure’ construction management
project delivery method – in which a
construction manager is focused on
meeting cost, schedule and quality
goals without self-performing any
engineering or construction – can
achieve this goal.
selecting a
project delivery method
The increased emphasis on reducing
the price of capital projects, and the
associated impact on fees, has driven
40 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
some of the most capable engineering
and construction contractors out of
the pharmaceutical and life sciences
market. In many cases, this has
resulted in considerable delays and
compromises in quality. At the same
time, natural disasters and strong
demand have driven up the cost of
many building materials.
These factors have complicated
the decision-making process for
owners selecting a method for design
and construction of capital projects.
Over the years, alternative delivery
methods have been developed to
address weaknesses in the traditional
design-bid-build method, among
these, construction management (CM)
as agent or at risk, and design-build,
including engineering procurement
construction management (EPCM).
Of all the alternatives, the authors
believe the most successful approach
for reducing cost, accelerating schedule
and ensuring that the project meets the
owner’s quality standards is a pure CM
project delivery method incorporating
integrated construction, commissioning
and qualification (see Figures 1 and 2).
Figure 2 shows the range where
clients/owners are directed during pre-
construction – in between the quality
limits. Theoretically, if an owner pays
more, they should get higher quality.
That is generally true, but there is a
point where the owner can over-spend.
That point is where for example the
maintenance costs of an initially high
priced complicated system are so
exorbitant that the client/owner would
have been better off with a simpler
system. Conversely, if the owner buys
mediocre products at a low price, they
will pay dearly for maintenance and
replacement. The aim is to buy the
system with the best, proven overall
lifecycle.
avoiding conflict of interest
Construction management evolved
as a professional discipline distinct
from design and construction in the
early 1960s. Since then, increasing
regulatory requirements, litigation
and other risks created a need for an
independent professional to be an
advocate for the owner and to bridge
the gap between the owner, the
designer and the contractor. In the
pharmaceutical industry, a construction
manager who is fully aware of the
regulatory and documentation
compliance requirements can add great
value to clients’ projects.
In many ways, the construction
manager and general contractor (GC)
are similar, especially with respect
to their management responsibilities
during the construction phase of a
project. However, unlike the GC, the
construction manager performs a host
of important pre-construction services.
In addition, a GC typically will self-
perform some of the work, such as civil
construction, in addition to performing
construction management. There is an
inherent conflict of interest in this
arrangement. By contrast, the CM firm
will not self-perform any of the physical
labour, enabling it to remain objective.
In fact, a pure CM model ensures
that management of subcontractors,

cash flow, quality and change order
management are achieved with no
conflict of interest. Thus the business
drivers of the CM and owner are
aligned, unlike a project delivery
approach in which the business driver
is the sale of man-hours. project on time and at the level of
addressing
owners’ critical issues
A CM method can add more value and
reduce the risk to the owner whenever
the owner is addressing important
issues common to biopharmaceutical
projects. Timing is often critical,
with many projects on an accelerated
schedule. Many projects also require
considerable flexibility. For example,
fast-track projects typically are not
fully defined by the owner and designer
prior to the start of construction.
In other cases, end-users have
considerable influence on the outcome.
Either way, there is potential for
substantial change during the detailed
design and construction phases of the
project.
Many owners also require pre-
construction services to help with
planning so they can meet their
objectives with respect to quality,
safety, and balance of cost, scope and
schedule. Involving a professional
CM during pre-construction can help
make a project smooth and trouble-
free, resulting in a facility that meets
these strategic business goals. Complex
projects may also require expert design
process management. Finally, most
pharmaceutical projects are subject to
financial constraints with respect to
type of contract, risk and other issues.
On projects affected by these issues,
the construction manager can add
value by representing the owner in the
following areas:
• optimal release and use of funds
throughout the project;
• optimal project/programme
scheduling options;
• enhanced control of scope;
• optimum use of other firms’ talents
and resources;
• avoidance of delays, changes,
disputes and cost overruns;
• optimum flexibility in contracting
and procurement;
• assurance that the project is built to
specification; and
• effective site logistics and
installation sequencing planning.
successful
contracting structures
A number of CM contracting formats
have evolved which enable owners and
contractors to either shift or share
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
project management 1
the risk of a project or to increase the owner of the lump
speed of delivery. The most obvious sum contract
definition of risk pertains to meeting while recognising
the cost objectives of the project. But the risk inherent
projects also entail performance risk, in most large
that is, the ability to complete the pharmaceutical
projects.
quality as agreed between the owner Contracts
and CM. based on
It is important to distinguish a fair base
between CM ‘at risk’ and CM ‘agency’. compensation
CM at risk is a delivery method with performance
that entails a commitment by the incentives have
construction manager to deliver the been most
project at or below a specific price – successful in
the guaranteed maximum price (GMP). generating good
The CM acts as consultant to the results and
owner in the development and design high levels of
phases, and as the equivalent of a GC satisfaction for
during the construction phase, holding both parties when
individual construction contracts for there is a system
subcontractors. In CM agency, the CM and methodology
acts as the owner’s principal agent to in place to ensure
advise on or manage the process from that quality
project conception to completion. is not simply Figure 1: Project delivery methods
The key difference between these an ‘inspection’
two forms is that the CM at risk is function of the project.
a distinct delivery method due to
pre-construction
its responsibility for construction
services save time and money
performance. Agency CM, on the other
One of the most important phases
hand, is a distinct set of consultancy
in the success of a pharmaceutical
services that can be applied to any
project is the pre-construction phase.
delivery method. The agency CM is
Involving the CM at this phase is the
assuming little financial risk and may
best way to save money and keep
be receiving no incentive for meeting
a project on schedule. In the pre-
schedule, cost, or quality parameters
construction phase, the CM typically
(see Figure 3).
performs the following services:
Shifting risk to the CM creates
• estimating;
the potential for an adversarial
• constructability reviews and value
relationship between owner and
engineering/management;
CM unless the base compensation,
provision for liquidated damages, • develops project schedule;
and performance incentives are truly • plans for equipment and
commensurate with the construction subcontract
manager’s level of risk. Unfortunately, procurement;
in today’s cost-conscious environment, • initiates project
many pharmaceutical companies management
pressure CMs to accept ‘low-ball’ fees. systems;
But, in shifting the risk to the CM, • develops site logistics
the owner must select a construction plan;
manager with the capacity, expertise • establishes site-specific
in the pharmaceutical industry, and safety and
local knowledge to deliver a successful quality plans; Figure 2:
project on time, within budget and at • develops project Correlation between quality and cost
the expected level of quality. That sort execution plans and
of expertise is only sustainable when project procedures
the price is equitable. manual;
While the industry standard has • develops integrated
been the lump sum, fixed price or commissioning
reimbursable contract structure, & qualification plan;
pharmaceutical industry leaders have • develops clean build
begun to recognise that for some plan; and
projects, the GMP contract offers a • develops modularisation
better solution. Essentially a hybrid strategy.
structure – a reimbursable contract Accurate estimating is
with a ‘not-to-exceed’ amount – the the key to understanding Figure 3: CM as agent and at risk
GMP balances the advantages to the
tce 41
project management 1
and managing costs. The construction
manager normally provides detailed
estimates as the design progresses.
Typically at a minimum, these will
include a conceptual design estimate
or cost model, detailed design
estimate and, later in the process, a
construction documents estimate. The
development of a detailed cost model
is a key deliverable needed in the
early pre-construction phase. Here the
CM will start by thoroughly reviewing
the available design documentation,
preliminary equipment arrangements
and site issues. After this review, the
construction manager will meet with
the owner and design team to review
interpretations of the documentation
and design detailing yet to come. These
meetings are held to research the true
scope of the project and ensure that all
requirements are accounted for in the
budget (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Budgeting process
Figure 5: Process and benefit of value management
Figure 6: Project team roles and how they must interact as one
42 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Constructability reviews and value
engineering seek maximum value for
money. The CM views constructability
and value engineering as two
complementary areas in which project
value can be maximised. This approach
– rather than traditional cost-cutting
practices – seeks to find the point in
the cost curve with maximum value.
For example, systems that facilitate
future changes in a communications
systems network may not necessarily
have the lowest first cost, but their
future value (ie lifecycle cost) in terms
of expansion and technology upgrade
capabilities are well worth exploring for
implementation, as Figure 5 illustrates.
In addition, Figure 6 shows how the
project execution plan and procedures
manual are the strategic blueprint
providing a single agreed-upon set of
procedures for the project team.
a pragmatic approach
to procurement
While engineers can talk technically
to equipment vendors, CM firms shift
the emphasis from technical perfection
to cost and expedited delivery. Thus a
primary objective in the procurement
phase of any project is to ensure
optimum value in the purchasing of
equipment and services, to provide
information vital to the design team,
and to ensure that equipment and
subcontractors meet the construction
schedule and quality. Procurement
must also support the needs of
commissioning and qualification.
In order to do this the construction
manager needs to identify an execution
strategy that will allow portions of the
design and construction documents to
be issued early, enabling construction
to commence as early as possible.
Design and construction document
packages are produced so as to enable
an early start for construction and
supports the overall project time.
Thus the purchasing/procurement
strategy for any pharmaceutical project
requires the ability and experience of
a CM. As the scope of the project and
the type of materials are defined, the
construction manager will develop a
strategy that will clearly define the
type, quantity and timing of the bid
packages required from the design
firm. Although the primary goal of the
purchasing plan is to ensure that the
necessary labour and materials are
available for construction, a corollary
benefit is that it provides the design
firm with a clear definition of the
timing and scope of specific design
deliverables.
construction, commissioning
and qualification
The CM performs a host of essential
services during the construction
and post-construction phases of any
pharmaceutical project. Functioning
as the GC, the construction manager
will coordinate project mobilisation
by conducting pre-construction
conferences with trade subcontractors
to review the various requirements and
procedures necessary for the orderly
execution of the work. Quality of
installation, including mobilisation,
safety, security, invoicing, claims,
scheduling, inspection and quality
control, documentation, coordination,
submittal and approval and project
closeout must all be agreed.
Using the site-specific quality
management plan, the CM will establish
and monitor conformance with quality
objectives, sample and mockup
requirements, testing and acceptance
procedures, and documentation of
the specific inspection requirements
of building code officials, the owner
and the construction manager. Field
auditing of critical systems will also
be conducted as per the construction
qualification programme.
During the construction phase,
the CM will maintain and update the
detailed project schedule, which will
incorporate the activities, relationships
and required milestone dates for the
work of all trades. The CM will also
initiate appropriate schedule updating
procedures and reporting formats
to plan the work activities of trade
subcontractors and monitor completion
status. Depending on the contractual
end point, the schedule must be
integrated to encompass commissioning
and qualification activities at a detailed
enough level to ensure compliance.
integration yields results
Overall, the most successful approach
for reducing cost, accelerating schedule
and ensuring that the project meets the
owner’s quality standards is a pure CM
project delivery method incorporating
integrated construction, commissioning
and qualification.
This is a process and methodology
through which the construction
manager integrates quality assurance
at every phase of the project. A quality
plan is agreed with the owner at the
outset and ongoing auditing will
confirm that the work is right the first
time.
For projects in the pharmaceutical
industry, which is subject to regulatory
compliance, the importance of
 project management 1

qualifying the construction cannot
be overemphasised. This construction
qualification process is essential
to construction in the same way as
design qualification is important to
the design/engineering phase. The
extension of design qualification into
construction is pivotal to the success of
a pharmaceutical project and will result
in cost and time savings.
Often, problems encountered in
qualification are due to incomplete
commissioning and lack of integration
between design and construction.
Properly planned and executed
commissioning eliminates many
downstream problems and can
generate much of the data required
for qualification and plant delivery.
Focusing on the project quality
programme, an experienced CM will aim
to achieve regulatory compliance and
reduce cost and time to market through
a number of critical steps:
• risk assessment and criticality
analysis;
• construction audits at approved for
construction (AFC) stage, and during
field activities (based on the risk
criticality analysis);
• turn over package (TOP) definition
and organisation;
• establishment of appropriate field
procedures;
• training of key personnel and
contractor staff;
• control and traceability of field
changes; and
• good practice construction forms
specific to biopharma projects.
Properly-documented commissioning
can be leveraged into qualification
by systems, and by completing the
process in phases, the CM can allow for
early production and manufacturing.
This approach is effective on fast-track
projects and when commissioning
and qualification are integrated with
construction management, fast-tracking
and qualification/validation are not
mutually exclusive objectives.
documentation is critical
High-quality documentation is essential
to achieve regulatory compliance and
it should be an integral part of the
construction planning, implementation
and commissioning process. The CM’s
goal is not only to build a facility on
time and within budget, with systems
that perform to specifications – it Wael Allan (wael.
is also to develop a TOP that is well allan@skanska.
organised, meets the owner’s unique com) is president
needs and expectations, and provides and managing
the proper level of documentation director of
quality. Effective management of the Skanska
the construction and commissioning Pharmaceutical
documentation process will ensure Group, and the
the resulting documentation can be Skanska Science
leveraged into the qualification process, & Technology
reducing time to market. group. Bill
When companies come under Flemming
pressure to minimise capital and Philip
expenditure, it can be tempting to Southerland
focus on price as the primary driver are co-chief
when selecting professionals to design operating
officers for
and execute projects. Unfortunately,
this exclusive focus on price has Skanska USA
Building
often resulted in delays and quality
compromises. But achieving good value
for money need not compromise quality
or time to market.
In fact, implementing a pure CM
project delivery method, incorporating
an integrated construction,
commissioning and qualification can
enable pharmaceutical companies to
achieve all of their objectives: optimum
cost, accelerated schedule and high
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www.tcetoday.com may 2008 tce 43


CCS: saviour or smokescreen?
Australia’s Otway pilot plant sparks fierce debate
AN UNDERGROUND carbon storage facility – the first of its kind in the southern
hemisphere – has opened in the southern Australian state of Victoria. The Otway Project
was enthusiastically welcomed by its backers but others are concerned that the unproven
technology may harbour nasty surprises.
Heralded as “one of the largest pilot projects
in the world,” Otway will be the world’s first
real test of geosequestration under Australian
conditions, and vital to the development of
carbon capture and storage technology in one
of the world’s biggest consumer of coal power.
Coal-rich Australia currently generates over 80%
of its power in coal-fired power plants.
Peter Cook, ceo of Australia’s Cooperative
Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas (CO2CRC)
explains that the facility, located west of
Melbourne, will store processed and compressed
CO2 from a nearby natural gas well. The gas
will be transported to the storage facility
via pipeline and stored in permeable rock-
formations 2 km underground, which are
estimated to have a capacity of around
100,000 t of greenhouse gases. The
geosequestration process was developed
by Melbourne-based Process Group, which
also supplied the innovative gas processing
equipment for the project, which inhibits the
formation of solids and allows carbon dioxide to
be re-injected in its supercritical state.
“The whole purpose of this is to show
that the technology works,” says Cook. He is
convinced that in time, CCS will noticeably cut
Australia’s carbon emissions.
Environmentalists, however, are concerned
over its efficacy. “Ultimately, it’s an unproven
technology,” says Robin Oakley, climate and
energy campaigner with Greenpeace. “Even
the most optimistic estimates suggest that
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
CCS won’t be widely available for several
decades.” The latest assessment report by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) suggests that climate change
is progressing so fast, CCS will arrive too late
to make a real contribution in time, he warns.
Instead, he says the money to be allocated to
already-proven technologies, such as solar and
wind power.
“Our priorities should not be the short-term
solutions of CCS, but long-term goals such as
energy efficiency and renewable energy,” Oakley
says. “Other technologies merely cloud that
goal.” Australia’s research spending illustrates
that politicians’ priorities are the other way
round, he says, with three different research
centres developing fossil fuels and CCS, but not
a single CRC dedicated to renewables.
Cook dismisses the claim that CCS
is essentially unproven. “We know coal
gasification is possible, we know that post-
combustion capture can work. We know that
we can inject carbon dioxide underground.”
The purpose of Otway is to verify the process
is practical, and to monitor where the CO2 is
being transported to and stored. He says the
Otway’s monitoring programme is “probably the
most comprehensive monitoring programme for
stored carbon dioxide anywhere in the world.”
The real debate itself, then, is not about
the Otway project itself, but rather about what
to prioritise when it comes to greenhouse
solutions.
analysis
On one hand, Oakley says that CCS is a
convenient way for power companies to continue
doing business as usual. “There’s a real danger
that policy makers and research institutions are
distracted by options that are mere transitions.
The one thing we cannot get away from
– regardless of whether CCS works or not – is
that we need to reduce energy demand and we
need to move to renewable energy.” Policymakers
and researchers should stop wasting money on
distracting stop-gap technologies and throw all
their efforts behind renewables, he says.
Cook disagrees. “Nobody is arguing with the
need to have a portfolio of solutions to global
energy issues. That portfolio has to include
energy efficiency, no doubt. Ultimately, however,
as long as we use fossil fuels we need to be
smarter and cleaner in our use of them. At the
moment CCS offers the only way of doing that,”
he says. While renewables and energy efficiency
will have a large role to play, he argues that
they cannot provide the whole answer. “The
International Energy Agency says we’ll be using
more – not less – fossil fuels for several decades.
You either ignore that, or recognise it and
do something about it. That’s what CCS is all
about,” he adds.
The resurging interest in coal-fired power
both from well-developed countries keen to
reduce their reliance on imported energy, such
as Australia, the UK and the US, and from
developing countries such as China and India
who urgently need to boost their supplies of
cheap energy, gives the CCS debate all the more
urgency. Oakley accuses energy companies of
using the promise of future CCS as a convenient
mechanism ensuring those power plants are
approved.
“The promise of such plants being built as
‘retrofitted’ with CCS technology is being used as
a smokescreen to get approval for that plant,” he
says. “If such plants are approved, then they’ll
be emitting huge chunks of CO2 into the air with
the belief that they can place on CCS technology
at a later date and business as usual until then.
That is a huge gamble on CCS technology.“
Conversely, Cook believes that the massive
ongoing expansion of coal-fired power – China
alone is building a coal-powered fire station
every week, all of which are likely to remain
operational for decades to come – makes it all
the more urgent that we make CCS a commercial
reality as soon as possible. “These power
stations will not be scrapped in five or ten years’
time, there’s nothing we can do to change that.
What we have in our power is the ability to
ensure that CCS actually works and can help the
situation. “
Perhaps surprisingly, he finds a patch of
common ground with Oakley. “I actually agree
that we should not be proceeding to build
CCS power stations on the hope that we’ll be
able to do it,” he says. “What we need to do
is demonstrate we can do it. We can’t change
the behaviour of certain companies and certain
nations, but what we can do is to test CCS. And
that’s what we are doing.“
tce 
analysis

Oil: Russia's woes fuel

fears while US grows
RUSSIAN oil output fell in the first quarter of
2008. One of the nation’s top oil executives
warns that the future production of Russian oil
is likely to drop further, fuelling fears that oil
supplies could start getting tight.
Leonid Fedun – vice president of oil major
Lukoil and one of the richest people in the
world – says that “a trillion dollars” would
need to be spent on developing new reserves
to maintain Russia’s current oil output figures.
The recent dip in Russian oil supply has

BP upbeat despite Moscow’s

been blamed on supply problems in western
Siberia, as well as difficult weather conditions
that prevent the smooth transfer of drilling
equipment. Even so, there are fears that
the once highly-productive fields in western
Siberia are gradually entering exhaustion, and
the huge investment that would be needed
to find oil in the remote region of eastern
Siberia is not forthcoming, keeping the area
untapped.
Fedun warns: “When the well’s productivity
falls, you have to keep drilling more and more
… you have seen it in Alaska and the Gulf of
Mexico and now you are seeing it in Siberia.”
His concerns are echoed by Russian petroleum
investor Mikhail Kroutikhin, who has gone on
record as saying “Russia is not going to be a
very reliable supplier of energy in a few years.”
Meanwhile, geologists in the US found
a reason to be cheerful: a recent survey
of the Bakken formation of North Dakota,
Montana, found that the field actually holds
25 times more oil than previously thought.
The latest survey suggests that Bakken
holds between 3–4.3b bbl of oil – a massive
upward revision from the 1995 survey, which
estimated reserves at 151m bbl. Despite
its unconventional resource distribution
(characterised by a continuous dispersal of
oil rather than conventional separate resource
pockets), experts are confident that the oil
can be extracted using current horizontal
drilling technology.
Lukoil investigates
cause of fatal fire
THREE workers died in a fire at the
polypropylene factory in Budyennovsk,
Russia, operated by the Lukoil-subsidiary
Stavrolen.
Lukoil says the fire started near the
polymerisation reactor and was promptly
brought under control – but not fast enough
to save the lives of three workers. There were
no leaks or spills of hazardous substances,
the company adds, and there was no danger
to the environment. It says the cause of the
accident is currently under investigation.
Production at the plant was temporarily
suspended.
trials and tribulations
Espionage accusation, visa dispute and environmental audit
“coincidence”, company says, as Kovykta delays continue
BP HAS dismissed speculation that its time as
the last foreign-owned oil and gas company
in Russia not under state control is coming
to an end, after its TNK-BP joint venture was
subjected to a series of trials and tribulations
in March.
Within the space of a handful of days, the
company saw numerous accounts of Russian
intervention. It was forced to suspend 148
technical staff due to disputes with the
Russian authorities over its workers’ visas,
had its offices raided at dawn by the police,
which resulted in one of its employees being
charged with industrial espionage, and was
advised that the Russian Natural Resources
Ministry’s feared environmental watchdog will
investigate the company’s operations at the
Samotlor oilfield for compliance.
Russia’s interior ministry says the industrial
espionage charge against gas regulatory affairs
advisor Ilya Zaslavsky was in relation to a
$40m tax evasion case involving Sidanco, an
oil company now part of TNK-BP. Also, the
agreed sale of TNK-BP’s huge east Siberian
Kovykta gas field to Gazprom has still not
gone through while the parties wrangle over
the price.
BP, however, treats the incidents as mere
coincidence. At the time of going to press, BP
could only confirm that one of its individuals
was charged with industrial espionage and had
Mechel buys Oriel resources
MECHEL, the Russian miner and steelmaker,
will pay £749m ($1.5b) for UK-listed miner
Oriel Resources. The offer is a 13% premium
on Oriel’s shareprice prior to the offer. The
deal secures Mechel a ferrochrome smelting
facility near St Petersburg, Russia, and a
no developments to announce in the $40m tax
evasion case. A BP spokesperson does however
clarify that “there are no links between these
incidents.” Of the Natural Resources Ministry’s
environmental watchdog’s investigation
into the Samotlor oilfield, BP says: “These
are biennial inspections, and are used in all
oilfield facilities in the country. It’s a routine
operation.”
Losing ground in Russia would be a hefty
blow to BP, which invested heavily in the
country under the lead of its previous ceo
John Browne. Currently, Russia accounts
for a quarter of the company’s oil and gas
production. BP however, remains confident:
“Why should we lose ground in Russia? Our
50:50 joint venture is producing nearly 2m
bbl/d of oil, we’ve increased that production
from over 1.5m bbl/d over the last three years,
and that continues,” it says.
The BP spokesperson also explained that
the agreed sale of Kovykta gas field to Russia
was “nearly complete”, but as tce was going
to press Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom’s
deputy chief executive, claimed the Russian
gas giant may revoke the deal “We cannot wait
endlessly,” he said. “We received a signal from
the Natural Resources Ministry that if this
[delay] continues, they could return to the
question of annulling the license. The ball for
closing the deal is in TNK-BP’s court.”
Kazakh chromite mine and nickel project. This
is Mechel’s first move into the Central Asian
state of Kazakhstan, where there is a huge
global interest in developing the nation as
it has a huge untapped mineral wealth that
includes energy and metals.

 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com


Praise for Canadian
CCS plans at oil sands
Energy minister lauds “far-sighted” regulations
CANADIAN plans to force all future oil sands
projects and coal-fired power plants to include
carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology
have been praised by the UK’s energy minister
Malcolm Wicks as “far-sighted”.
From 2012 onwards, all new oil sands
projects and coal-fired power plants will have
to capture their carbon dioxide emissions and
inject them underground.
Producing oil from Alberta’s vast oil sands
reserves is well known to require vast amounts
of energy and generate copious quantities of
greenhouse gases. The country has already
stated it will not be able to meet the targets
of the Kyoto agreement, which require it to
cut greenhouse gas emissions 20% below 1990
levels by 2020.
Instead, the Canadian government wants to
cut emissions 20% from 2006 levels by 2020
(Canada’s 2006 greenhouse gas emissions were
at least 30% above 1990 levels). But even that
Invista sues DuPont over pollution
INVISTA is suing DuPont for more than $800m.
The fibres and resins maker, which bought
DuPont’s nylon fibre business in June 2004 for
$4.2b, claims that DuPont has not complied with
environmental and safety legislation at several
of its sites and has reneged on its contractual
obligations to correct non-compliance.
Koch Industries, Invista’s owner, says that
after the company took over the nylon fibre
business, it quickly discovered that two plants in
Texas, US, were operating illegally. One had been
venting benzene directly into the atmosphere
since 1992.
Invista says it spent around $140m reporting
and correcting safety and environmental
violations uncovered by external auditors and
will spend between $300–450m installing
necessary pollution control systems. On top
of this, Invista seeks punitive damages. The
company claims that DuPont was aware of
several of the more dangerous safety and
environmental violations, that it placed
employees and the public at risk, that it took no
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
Shell Photographic
Services, Shell International
would be impossible without the widespread
adoption of CCS technology, Canada’s
government says.
Most Canadians appear considerably less
enthusiastic about the prospects than Wicks,
however. There is widespread criticism that the
Canadian government is making a leap of faith,
as CCS technology remains largely unproven
at industrial scale. Industry warns that five
years is too soon to install full-scale carbon
capture to oil sand pits or power plants. Others
are concerned about the cost of the scheme,
and worry that the Canadian taxpayer would
ultimately foot a large portion of the bill.
Environmental campaigners meanwhile point
out that Canada’s plans to cut greenhouse gas
emissions are based on ‘carbon intensity’ rather
than absolute figures – meaning that as oil
production increases CO2 emissions in absolute
figures may also increase.
action to correct this, and failed to disclose the
risks to Invista.
“DuPont repeatedly provided Invista with
assurances that its safety and environmental
commitment was second to none – consistent
with how it positions itself as a ‘global leader’
with respect to environmental and safety
issues. We relied on those assurances, backed
up by DuPont’s promise in the purchase and
sale agreement to take responsibility for
any pre-existing non-compliance discovered
after closing,” says Mary Beth Jarvis, Invista
spokesperson. “The lawsuit describes more than
three years of DuPont consistently refusing to
fulfil these obligations.”
DuPont general counsel Stacey Mobley says:
“Invista’s allegations lack merit and cannot be
supported by evidence or the law. DuPont is
confident that it will be vindicated when all of
the evidence is examined in a court of law.”
Mobley went on to say that Invista appears
to be using the contract dispute to pay for
capacity expansions and other capital projects.
analysis
CSB charts anatomy
of a BP disaster
AN hour-long video investigating
the causes of the explosion at BP’s
Texas City refinery in 2005 has been
published by the US Chemical Safety
Board (CSB).
The video sums up the findings of
the agency’s detailed report into the
blast, which killed 15 and injured 180.
CSB believes that a culture of cost
cutting materially contributed to the
disaster – a view that BP has always
disputed.
Visit www.safetyvideos.gov to
download the video.
AstraZeneca could
outsource all APIs
within five years
ASTRAZENECA says it will outsource all
production of active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) to third parties
within five to ten years.
AstraZeneca’s ceo David Brennan
says: “We have been looking for
different opportunities to outsource.
While AstraZeneca already outsources
some of its API production, the
company will now seek to outsource
manufacture of all active ingredients.”
Key to winning a supply contract is
quality, he insists. AstraZeneca’s new
sourcing centre in Shanghai, China, will
vet potential suppliers and coordinate
the outsourcing efforts. Brennan adds
that the outsourcing drive will not
be restricted to manufacturing but
that other business areas could be
outsourced also.
Ineos strike is go
AS tce went to press, a strike to close
down Scotland’s Grangemouth oil
refinery was scheduled to go ahead on
27 and 28 April.
Two days of talks between operators
Ineos and union members broke down
as the dispute over Ineos’ plan to end
its final salary pension scheme was not
resolved.
The union planned to pull 1200 of
1400 workers during the two dates, and
has already warned Ineos that plant
managers have until then to remove
all the oil and gas from the facility in
order to make it safe during the strike,
a measure which the company describes
as a “physical impossibility”.
Scottish finance secretary John
Swinney has played down concerns that
the strike would lead to fuel shortages.
tce 
analysis
Eon pays out €11.8b
in Spain, Italy,
France and Poland
EON’S failed bid to buy the Spanish
power utility Endesa last year has
reached its final chapter, with Eon
taking over the company’s power plants
in four countries in a deal worth €11.8b
($18.65b).
In 2007, German-based Eon lost an
ill-tempered €42.4b bidding war for
Endesa, which was ultimately sold to
the Italian utility Enel and the Spanish
construction and energy company
Acciona. As part of the deal, Enel and
Acciona promised to sell Eon a large
tranche of Endesa’s power generation
capacity.
Eon will now pay €8.9b in exchange
for Endesa’s power plants in Spain,
Poland, France and Italy. The company
will also take on €2.9b in debt. The
total value of the deal – €11.8b – is
almost €2b more than Eon had initially
expected to pay. When the transaction
was first announced in 2007, Eon said
it expected to pay no more than €10b
for the assets. Eon’s ceo Wulf Bernotat
says the price was based on the
research of several banks and reflects
fair market value.
The assets it acquired give Eon over
10% of generating capacity in Spain,
making it the country’s fourth-largest
player, and slightly less than 10% in
Italy. Eon takes over 3 GW of generating
capacity in Spain, rising to 5 GW in
2010 when extra capacity already under
construction comes online. In Italy, an
80% stake in Endesa Italia gives Eon
7.2 GW of power-generating capacity,
again making it the fourth-largest
generator. On top of this, Eon gains
access to an LNG terminal in Italy. In
France, a 65% stake in Endesa France/
SNET puts Eon in control of a 2.5 GW
power plant, putting it in third place
locally.
Spain’s demand for electricity has
beaten the European average for many
years – a trend forecast to continue at
least until 2011. This makes the country
attractive as a growth market. Despite
this, Bernotat says he is not actively
looking for any further acquisitions in
Spain at this time.
 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Merck “misrepresented” risk
of killer drug, says study
Independent report accuses pharma giant of gross deception
MERCK & CO stands accused of deliberately
misleading regulators about the dangers of
the Cox-2 inhibiting painkiller Vioxx – the
company’s former best-selling product, which it
had to withdraw in 2004 after it was blamed for
an increased risk of heart attacks.
Richard Kronmal, a statistician from the
University of Washington who acted as an
expert witness in some of the Vioxx court cases,
has reviewed documents filed as part of the
ongoing litigation. He claims that Merck knew
about dangers of Vioxx long before the drug
was pulled, and accuses Merck employees of
“ghostwriting” many of the trial results and
academic papers used to promote the drug.
Vioxx was withdrawn in 2004 after five years
on the market, after it emerged that taking the
drug increases the chances of coronary heart
disease by 34%. The company is still fighting
thousands of lawsuits, for which it has set aside
$5b in compensation.
Kronmal’s study, which was co-authored with
colleague Bruce Psaty, looks at a 2001 internal
company report. In the document, Merck staff
Vattenfall threatens to sue city of
Hamburg over coal-fired power plant
SWEDISH energy company Vattenfall says it
may sue the German city of Hamburg for €1.3b
($2b) if the town goes back on a previous
agreement to build a coal-fired power plant on
its outskirts.
Vattenfall plans to build a modern 1600
MW power plant at Moorburg, which would be
fired with imported bitumous coal. The plant is
designed to make up for the loss of the nearby
nuclear powerplants Brunsbüttel and Krümmel,
which are due to be switched off by 2020 as
part of Germany’s plans to exit nuclear power.
Vattenfall started preliminary construction
work in November 2007, after receiving
assurances that there were no concerns in
principle that could jeopardise the plant.
However, local elections in Hamburg in February
have cast doubt over its future, as the plant
has become a bone of contention between the
disclose details of two trials involving 1000
subjects taking Vioxx and a similar number
taking a placebo. 34 people that took the drug
died, compared to 12 who took the placebo.
Yet when Merck submitted the results to
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
the same year, the data had been presented
differently, with no apparent sign of the
reported deaths. When the FDA asked about the
risks and whether Merck should prematurely end
another ongoing trial, the company described
Vioxx’ mortality rate increase as “small numeric
differences… most consistent with chance
fluctuations”.
A Merck statement, released to coincide with
the Kronmal report, says that it “found that
there was no pattern suggesting the deaths had
any connection to Vioxx; some of the deaths
were caused by car accidents, poisonings,
infections and other causes that are not related
to Vioxx”.
The website www.vioxxdocuments.com features
many of the documents.
coalition partners, the conservative CDU and the
Green Party. Should the city planners go back on
their approval-in-principle, Vattenfall’s chairman
Hans-Jürgen Cramer says he will sue Hamburg
for the sum of money the company has so far
spent on contracts and orders, which he says
amounts to €1.3b.
Cramer says that Vattenfall and town
planners had spent years evaluating different
sites and energy sources, and that the coal-
fired plant at Moorburg emerged as the only
practical option. Local energy-intensive industry
warns that without Moorburg, companies would
have to rely on expensive energy imports,
which could make their plants uncompetitive.
Hamburg’s main energy users are a copper
smelter belonging to Norddeutsche Affinerie,
the aluminium producer Trimet and the
steelmaker ArcelorMittal.
pipe design
Fit for service?
George Antaki tests the integrity of pipeline systems
OIL and gas is collected, processed
and transmitted from extraction
fields to end users through a network
of pipelines, rarely visible since
they are mostly run underground.
The integrity of the pipeline system
has to be maintained throughout the
hundreds of miles that constitute the
gathering, transmission and distribution
network. A leak can cause a disruption
that reverberates up and down the
system. This is what happened when
in 2006 a quarter-inch hole in a transit
line of BP’s Alaska pipeline triggered
an inspection, which in turn uncovered
wider corrosion. The subsequent repairs
disrupted oil deliveries from the North
Slope and resulted in well-publicised
hearings in the US Congress, which
was concerned about the integrity and
reliability of the pipeline system.
A pipeline leak has several adverse
consequences:
• safety concerns, as the escaping
products can result in an explosion
and fire;
• environmental damage, as a spill can
harm the environment and waterways
(Figure 1 illustrates a case where
a leak occurred at a river crossing,
dumping oil into the river); and
• economic setbacks, in the form of
fines and system downtime to allow for
investigations to be carried out and
repairs and retrofit to be implemented.
This is why, around the world, from
remote oil fields down to the end users,
pipelines are repeatedly inspected and
repaired where necessary to assure their
(Pictured top)
integrity, and provide for the safe and
Figure 1: Pipeline
reliable delivery of hydrocarbons. This
failed in corroded
article is an overview of the steps that
section at river
constitute the foundation of pipeline
crossing
integrity.
38 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
integrity: a three-step process
The integrity of a pipeline system,
its fitness-for-service, can only be
understood by looking at both the
forest and the trees. The forest, the big
picture, comprises three key activities,
in order:
• design and construction;
• operation; and
• maintenance.
The trees are the myriad of technical
challenges that accompany each of
these activities.
design and construction
This first step constitutes the genes
of the pipeline system. It, in turn,
comprises four parts: system design,
material selection, strength design, and
construction.
• System design: This is the step
that sets the hydraulic characteristics
of the system (its throughput), sizes
the necessary equipment (pumps,
compressors, valves, etc), and selects
the instruments, controls and alarms
necessary for the safe and efficient
operation of the pipeline system. The
size of a pipeline, its diameter, is
selected on the basis of flowrate and
cost. The line must be sufficiently large
to deliver the required throughput at the
necessary pressure and at a reasonably
low flowrate, but it cannot be too large
to avoid unnecessary costs. Pressures
in transmission pipelines can be in the
order of 70 bars (1030 psi) or more.
• Material selection: Oil and gas
transmission pipelines are typically
made of carbon steel, a material which
has the advantage of good strength
over a wide range of temperatures, at
a reasonable cost. But carbon steel
has one disadvantage: it corrodes
when buried in soil; and transmission
pipelines are buried along most of their
route, for congestion, aesthetic and
safety reasons. The solution to this soil-
side corrosion problem is to coat the
steel with a corrosion-resistant coating
such as epoxy. But coatings are not
perfect, and small defects in the coating
(called coating holidays) do occur
during construction or in-service as the
coating ages and blisters, cracks or peels
in spots. In order to protect the steel
made bare at these coating holidays,
the coated lines are also cathodically
protected. Cathodic protection is
achieved by imposing a small DC voltage
to the line, or by placing the line in
electric contact with a less noble metal
such as magnesium or zinc, which serves
as sacrificial anodes.
In addition to soil-side corrosion,
material selection also addresses fluid-
side corrosion. It is important to take
into account the chemistry of the fluid,
liquid or gas at this stage, as this is
when the need for and level of corrosion
inhibition is decided. It is also at
this early stage of system design that
provisions are made for access for future
inspections.
• Strength design: Once the diameter,
flowrate and pressure are established,
and the material is selected, then the
minimum required wall thickness is
calculated. This is a straightforward
step, which is clearly specified in design
code equations. The thickness of a
pipeline is selected to safely resist the
maximum operating pressure, as well as
to provide an over-thickness corrosion
allowance to reduce the likelihood
of leaks. More complex calculations
are needed if the pipeline has to be
designed to withstand large postulated
loads such as earthquakes or large
ground settlement or landslide.

• Construction: The construction
activities include buying the pipe spools,
shipping them to the field, aligning and
welding them, examining each weld for
defects, cutting-out and repairing weld
defects, coating the welds, lowering the
pipe into its trench, and finally pressure
testing the line, typically with water
at a higher pressure than the highest
operating pressure. Again, as was the
case for strength design, these activities
are strictly specified in construction
codes. In addition, the qualifications of
welders and examiners are also explicitly
defined in codes and standards.
The competence applied in the above
four steps is crucial in delivering to the
operating company a well-designed and
well-constructed pipeline, a condition
necessary, but not sufficient, for
longevity.
operations
Whereas design and construction
produce a pipeline with the right ‘genes’,
operation of the pipeline is effectively
its lifestyle. The operating company
has the responsibility to operate the
pipeline responsibly, within its design
parameters and within regulations. It
also makes sure the pipeline, equipment,
instruments and controls are kept in
good condition through periodic checks,
inspections and maintenance. Periodic
checks and adjustments of the cathodic
protection system are equally important.
This is done by inspecting the cathodic
protection components, and over-the-
line surveys which measure voltage
gradients in the soil above the pipeline.
Periodic flyovers of transmission
pipelines are conducted to identify
any suspicious third-party activities or
damaging natural phenomena along the
right-of-way.
maintenance
Maintenance is the third step in any
integrity process. Despite good design,
good construction, and good operation,
corrosion is bound to occur over time.
Maintenance is therefore unavoidable. It
consists of three activities: inspection
(check-up), fitness-for-service
(diagnostic of any illness), and repairs
(medications or, if necessary, surgical
intervention).
• Inspection: It may take years
or decades for corrosion to become
significant and possibly lead to a
leak, or – at worst – a blowout. It
is therefore vital that pipelines are
inspected regularly. In many countries
these periodic inspections are imposed
by regulation. When it comes to
inspecting pipelines, pipeline operators
have a great advantage: the intelligent
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
pig. An intelligent pig, also referred
to as smart pig or in-line inspection
(ILI) tool, is an instrumented ‘bullet’
launched inside the pipeline at one end,
carried along the pipeline by normal
flow, and collected, hours later, at
the other end of the pipeline. In the
meantime, the ILI tool has measured
and collected wall thickness readings
along the full length of the pipe and
all around its circumference. A pig run
provides a complete three-dimensional
view of the pipeline, its thickness (wall
thickness pigs), as well as deviation to
its circular shape (caliper pigs). There
are, however, difficulties in conducting
pig inspections, other than cost: the
inside of the pipeline has to be cleaned
of wax, corrosion and other deposits;
and the pipeline must be designed to
accept the pig. This means, for example,
that it cannot have sharp bends or
large changes in pipe diameter, which
would cause the pig to get stuck. ILI
inspections are conducted at intervals
dictated by regulation and by the
likelihood of corrosion or damage.
• Fitness-for-service assessment:
This step analyses the inspection results
and other operating data to make the
run-or-repair decision. It is a very
interesting step, as it requires a solid
understanding of all the previous six
steps. Here the engineer is a doctor
diagnosing the pipeline condition,
its fitness-for-service, based on the
inspection and operating data: What do
the indications mean? Were the flaws
detected present since construction?
Do they point to an active degradation
or damage mechanism? How severe are
the indications? How do they trend
with time? Is an immediate shutdown
or reduction in operating pressure
called for? If not, when should the
next inspection be conducted? Should
operation be changed?
The engineer has two important
advantages when conducting a fitness-
for-service: A full picture of the pipeline
condition through the ILI inspection,
and a set of codes and standards
which provide go/no-go rules to
assess degradation and damage, such
as British Standard BS 7910 Guide to
methods for assessing the acceptability
of flaws in metallic structures, Norwegian
recommended practice DNV-RP-F101
Corroded pipelines, and US standard
ASME B31G Manual for determining the
remaining strength of corroded pipelines.
Another ingredient of a good integrity
programme is characterised by the
quality of the feedback loop which takes
the results of the fitness-for-service
assessment and provides lessons learned
to engineering and operations.
pipe design
• Repairs: Some repairs are preventive: George Antaki
they reinforce a weak section that (gantaki@becht.
has not yet leaked but has been com) is a senior
discovered through the prior steps engineering
of inspection and fitness-for-service fellow with Becht
assessment. Other repairs are necessary Engineering in
to mitigate a leak or rupture. In Aiken, South
either case, repairs can generally be Carolina, US;
grouped into two categories: metallic he has written
and non-metallic repairs. Each repair several books on
technique should be investigated in pipe integrity and
detail for adequacy, compatibility with maintenance
the pipeline operating parameters
(temperature, pressure, other applied
loads), and longevity. While repairs are
often characterised as temporary or
permanent, it is more appropriate to
study each repair and assign it a design
life, based on corrosion, degradation in
service, and strength considerations.
Metallic repairs include cutting and
replacing the damaged section by a
new section welded in place, wrapping
the damaged pipe section with a tight
fitting steel sleeve, welding a round
or rectangular steel patch on top of a
corroded section, building a welded box
around the corroded section to confine
leaks should they occur, or placing
a leak-tight bolted box around the
pipeline to confine leaks, as illustrated
in Figure 2.
Non-metallic repairs include resin-
impregnated fibre-glass or carbon fibre
wraps, inserted liners, or brushed or
rolled compounds.
summary
The integrity of a pipeline relies on
sound engineering in three areas:
• design and construction, consisting
of system design, material selection
strength design and construction;
• operation; and
• maintenance – inspection, fitness-for-
service, and repairs. Each step has its
own challenges, but the technology is
well developed, the tools are available,
and the codes, standards and regulations Figure 2: Bolted
are in place to resolve these challenges leak box repair,
and provide for safe and reliable with nozzles for
operation of pipeline systems. tce sealant injection
tce 39
asia
UOP sets up design
centre in Kuala Lumpur
PROCESS design specialist UOP will set up a
natural gas processing design centre in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
The company says that the new centre
will help UOP cater for the rapid growth in
natural gas processing in Southeast Asia. UOP’s
president and ceo Carlos Cabrera says that gas
production in the region is expected to grow to
more than 12,000b ft3 by 2015.
The new design centre, which is expected
to employ approximately 40 people by the end
of this year, will include engineering, design,
process and project expertise, service and sales
functions. Staff will initially focus on executing
projects involving UOP’s Separex membrane
systems, which are used to remove impurities
from natural gas streams.
Petronas renews PSC
with ExxonMobil
PETRONAS and ExxonMobil have signed off
the principles of a new production-sharing
contract (PSC) to continue their collaboration
in upstream oil production in Malaysia.
The PSC covers seven oil fields offshore
Peninsular Malaysia. An existing PSC, signed
in 1995, is due to expire in 2012. The new
agreement would run for another 25 years.
Under the terms of the new agreement,
the companies will spend at least $2.1b on
enhanced oil recovery in the seven fields,
updating existing facilities and developing new
reservoirs in the fields.
ExxonMobil has invested over $15b in
Malaysia over the past 40 years. Its 43
platforms in 17 Malaysian fields produce
around 150,000 bbl/d of oil and 1.2b ft3/d of
natural gas.
China secures 25-year
LNG deal with Qatar
CHINA will source substantial quantities of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar under a
$60b 25-year supply deal signed by Petrochina,
Qatargas and Shell.
Qatar is set to export 3m t/y of LNG to
China from its Qatargas 4 project, a 70:30 joint
venture between Qatar Petroleum and Shell.
Shipments will start as soon as PetroChina’s
LNG receiving terminals in China start full
commercial operations in 2011, the companies
say. While the final price of the LNG will
depend on the oil and gas price at the time,
experts say that at the current level of around
$100/bbl, the deal is worth around $60b.
The deal is a significant step towards Qatar’s
goals of expanding its LNG production to 77m
t/y by 2010. Consultants at the Scottish firm
Wood McKenzie point out that much of that
LNG now pledged to China had previously been
expected to be sold to the US.
 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Heparin
problems prompt action
FDA to locally monitor China, House demands more
THE US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is
seeking approval from Beijing to assign food,
pharma, and medical device inspectors in its
Chinese embassies and consulates following a
number of high-profile scares suspected to be
the result of tainted Chinese imports.
Contaminated batches of blood-thinning
drug heparin led to 81 deaths and hundreds
of adverse patient reactions in the US. In
response to the recall of several batches of
the drug, the Chinese FDA has launched a
programme to monitor drug manufacturers and
force them to buy ingredients from registered
suppliers. The news follows a heparin recall
by German manufacturer B Braun Medical
after it discovered its heparin supplies were
contaminated with oversulphated chondroitin
sulphate.
Meanwhile, as the FDA looks overseas to
raise manufacturing standards, the US House of
Representatives have called for the agency to
drastically improve its own standards. Several
congressmen used a House subcommittee
hearting to accuse the FDA commissioner
Andrew von Eschenbach of gross incompetence.
The fiercest of these accusations came
from Michigan Democrat John Dingell, who
explained he was tired of listening to the FDA
propose new ways of conducting its business
Takeda buys Millennium Pharma
TAKEDA Pharmaceutical, Japan’s largest drugs
company, has agreed to buy US biotech
specialist Millennium Pharmaceuticals in a deal
worth over $8b.
The acquisition will give Takeda greater
exposure in the US, and gives the company
access to Velcade – a promising new cancer
treatment developed by Millennium. Velcade is
currently used as a second-line treatment for
rare blood cancers after other medications have
failed, and has generated sales of over $800m
in 2007. Analysts say the drug could be a
future blockbuster treatment if it wins approval
rather than fighting for additional finances.
“You are carrying water for an administration
that is not giving you the resources you need,”
he said. “62 people died for bad efforts [now
81]. Hundreds of people were made sick. You
presided over this.”
The US Department of State has, however,
approved eight new permanent FDA quality
inspectionpositions and is making plans to
hire staff for the China-based positions in
the coming 18 months. It will also seek to
employ five Chinese nationals to work with
FDA staff at the US embassy, Beijing, and US
consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou. The
US FDA was prompted to increase the number
of inspections of foreign pharmaceutical
manufacturing facilities by Synthetic Organic
Chemical Manufacturers Association and fellow
chemical industry groups, and now awaits
Chinese approval before it can press ahead
with plans.
However, congressmen at the subcommittee
warned that the FDA’s actions would fall
woefully short of what was required. Joe
Barton, Republican representative for Texas,
estimated that to inspect Chinese suppliers
of US medicines to the same standard US
companies are checked, the FDA would have to
hire another 500 inspectors – not eight.
later this year as a first-line treatment.
Millennium will remain as a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Takeda at its present location of
Cambridge, in the US state of Massachusetts.
The acquisition follows Takeda’s decision
in March to dissolve a long-standing drug-
sales joint venture with US-based Abbott
Laboratories. As a result of the split, Abbott
received the US rights to the $600m/y prostate
cancer treatment Lupron. Takeda retained
the rights to Lupron in the rest of the world,
along with the worldwide rights to the $2b/y
heartburn drug Prevacid.

Tasman food
regulator dismisses food
colouring ban
UK alarm met with scepticism as food makers say some products
will have to be scrapped
FOOD watchdogs in Australia and New Zealand
have reacted with scepticism to the UK’s
decision to ban six artificial food colourings
over concerns that they could contribute to
hyperactivity in some children.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA)
has asked food companies to eliminate the
colourings – sunset yellow (E110), quinoline
yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red
(E129), tartrazine (E102) and ponceau 4R
(E124) – by the end of the year, and will ask
the EU to enforce a mandatory ban across its
member states. The ban follows a 2007 study
by the University of Southampton linking the
six food colourings to hyperactive behaviour
– even though at the time the FSA ruled out
a ban, wanting to let the food and drinks
industry replace the additives voluntarily
instead.
The trans-Tasman food regulator, Food
Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), says
that while the results are interesting and add
to the body of knowledge on additives, the
evidence supporting the link was “very weak”.
The study was unable to prove a link with any
single additive but used a cocktail of additives
and colourings instead. It has also been
criticised for using a relatively small sample of
children and relying on parents’ assessments
as a measure of hyperactivity, rather than
an objective measure. FSANZ adds that while
all six controversial colours are licensed
for use in Australia, they are used at much
lower levels in practice than the levels used
in Southampton. New Zealand’s Food Safety
Authority adds that most the colourings are
used in drinks and occasionally confectionery,
which are treat foods and not major parts of
the diet.
The EU meanwhile is coming under pressure
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
to follow the UK’s lead. A large alliance of
European consumer groups, parents and food
and health charities called on Europe to
impose a precautionary ban, arguing that the
colourings are merely cosmetic and not vital to
the foods. The European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA), however, says that research has yet
to prove that any of the additives in question
are ‘harmful beyond any doubt’ and therefore
has so far resisted calls for any changes to EU
limits.
The UK’s Food and Drink Federation says
that food and drink producers have already
voluntarily replaced many of the controversial
colours, but that some products may have to
be taken off the shelves if researchers can’t
find any alternatives. Most of these ‘problem
foods’ are tinned foods, such as mushy peas
and tinned strawberries, though bright green
lime cordial has made it onto the ‘endangered’
list. Mushy peas lose their colour during
processing, turning a rather unappetising
grey which in previous attempts at marketing
additive-free peas did not win favour with
consumers.
The Southampton researchers are planning
further research. A future study will seek to
clarify the possible effects of the preservative
sodium benzoate on behaviour. This additive
was included in the team’s studies but its
effects could not be isolated from that of the
food colours, making a double-blind placebo-
controlled food challenge study of sodium
benzoate alone necessary. The team also wants
to further investigate the potential route by
which colours could cause hyperactivity by
conducting a more detailed examination of
how colours trigger the release of histamines
in the body.
australia
Vale and Xstrata call
off takeover deal
XTRATA’S long-discussed takeover by
Brazilian iron miner Vale will not go ahead,
even though both companies admit that a
deal would have made sense. “While Vale
and Xstrata continue to believe that a
combination of the two companies could
realise significant value for both sets of
shareholders, we have not been able to reach
agreement,” says Xstrata’s ceo Mick Davis.
Vale made an initial offer of £38.9b in
late 2007, which was equivalent to $76b
at the time. The company is said to have
later increased its offer to £45.2b, which
– helped by the exchange rate – is worth
some $90b. The deal would have broadened
Vale’s business, adding copper, nickel and
coal to its strength in iron ore. It would also
have created the world’s largest metals and
mining company with a market capitalisation
of around $190b which, in the absence of a
merger between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto,
narrowly beats BHP Billiton’s $180b.
The negotiations are said to have been
tense, particularly over disagreements
with Xstrata’s largest shareholder Glencore.
Ultimately it is thought that a drop in the
value of Vale’s shares aborted the takeover
talks, coupled with the current difficulties
in the credit market. Vale has reserved the
right to make another offer for Xstrata at a
later date or participate in a takeover with
another party.
Oxyfuel retrofit
contracts signed
AUSTRALIA has signed the construction
contract for its first oxyfuel demonstration
plant at CS Energy’s 30 MW coal-fired
Callide A power plant, Queensland, with
a consortium of seven companies from
Australia and Japan.
Energy minister Martin Ferguson says
this will be the first project in the world to
demonstrate retrofitted oxyfuel technology,
providing detailed engineering design,
costing data and operational experience for
other similar projects in future. The project is
due to start up by the end of 2010.
Australia’s government is contributing
A$50m ($45m) to the project’s estimated
A$206m cost. The other companies involved
are CS Energy, Japan’s IHI Corporation,
J-Power and Mitsui & Co, the Australian
Coal Association, engineering company
Schlumberger and Xstrata Coal.
Oxyfuel combustion burns coal in near-
pure oxygen, which means that it emits high-
purity CO2 that can be easily captured and
stored. Until now, the technology has been
trialled in a few purpose-built small units in
the US and Europe.
tce 
waste management 3
Sustainable remediation –
it needn’t cost the earth!
Returning old industrial sites to green meadows isn’t always the most
sustainable solution. Sophie Bowtell and Richard Bewley explain
CLEANING up contaminated
land has become an increasingly
common activity, as commercial and
legislative pressures combine to
encourage the re-use of brownfield
sites. Consolidation and relocation in
manufacturing industry has created
surplus industrial land. Moreover,
financial reporting requirements and
tighter environmental legislation have
encouraged companies to actively
remediate contaminated land. Although
it is generally recognised that targeted
remediation activity can add significant
value to a parcel of land, it is not
commonly understood that consideration
of sustainability in the remediation
process can also have a beneficial
impact on the bottom line.
The most commonly-used definition
of sustainable development, taken
from the 1987 Bruntland Report is
“development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs”. This is a somewhat
academic definition mostly used by
policy makers; the question is how can it
be usefully interpreted to bring benefits
to our businesses and projects?
There are three pillars to sustainable
(Top): Rhodia’s development: environmental, social and
Whitehaven site in economic concerns. In remediation,
2005 shortly before the economic is rarely ignored: cost
the demolition is usually a key issue, often balanced
programme began against a projected improvement in
(reprinted courtesy land value. The public sector often gets
of Rhodia) involved as well. Typically, the intention
36 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
is to promote economic regeneration by
finding a beneficial use for the site and
deliver inward investment in order to
achieve some specific objectives. Social
factors can be drivers, too. For example,
the UK’s extensive public funding of the
remediation of former steel works and
collieries was mainly designed to provide
new jobs. And, of course, cleaning up
the environment is often the main
purpose of remediation.
So, are we already doing sustainable
remediation? In part, yes we are. But we
can do much better, because the three
pillars are rarely joined up effectively in
an overall remediation strategy.
does the regulatory process
allow sustainable remediation?
Environmental legislation and associated
technical guidance drive the decision-
making process in remediation and
determine the standards of clean up
required. In the UK, the standards are
determined on a site-specific basis using
risk assessment models. The guidance
allows a certain amount of flexibility in
the selection of modelling approaches.
Typically, standards are derived using
a human health exposure model and a
groundwater risk assessment package.
The standard to be achieved depends
upon the intended (or existing) land use
for human health risk.
For risks to water resources, the
standard depends upon the location
of the water body that is the chosen
receptor. Normally this would be the
water table, the nearest surface water
body, or an agreed ‘compliance point’ in
an aquifer, eg a site boundary borehole.
UK policy is that the modelled water
quality reaching the receptor must
comply with water quality objectives,
which often amounts to drinking water
standards regardless of the actual use
of the water body. The purpose of the
policy is an understandable desire to
prevent gradual deterioration of water
quality, however, the result can often be
extremely onerous soil and groundwater
quality standards.
Even though landfill costs have risen
sharply since the implementation of the
Landfill Directive, which seeks to limit
the amount of waste sent to landfill,
landfill disposal still accounts for a large
proportion of UK remediation, and our
method for deriving clean-up standards
is a key driver.
However, deriving a clean-up standard
from models is only part of the process.
Part 2A of the Environmental Protection
Act 1990, which sets out the key
legislative framework for remediation,
identifies that any remedial action
has to be reasonable in terms of the
benefits justifying the costs associated
with it. Commonly, this is interpreted
as monetary cost balanced against
environmental benefit, but there can
be environmental costs as well as
environmental benefits, and social
costs and benefits too. Examples of
environmental cost in remediation are
the carbon dioxide emissions generated
by a thermal treatment process, or by

the road transport needed to remove
soils to an off-site treatment or
disposal. Social costs can be present in
loss of amenity if an area of open space
is lost, whereas benefits are manifested
by the provision of new public spaces,
homes, or jobs.
The result of the above process is
that on the surface it appears to be a
mechanical and inflexible system (and is
often applied to this effect). In reality,
the decision between a site owner and
the regulator as to what remediation
is to be done is ultimately made by
agreement. The factors that determine
whether the remediation is sensible,
sustainable, effective and reasonable
in cost-benefit terms are largely non-
technical. The attitude of the key
parties, their levels of experience
and mutual trust, and the degree of
communication between them are
typically what matter most. In principle,
therefore, the UK regulatory process does
allow consideration of sustainability, and
should positively encourage it.
can sustainable remediation
be achieved in practice?
Rhodia is a major multinational
chemicals manufacturer with a worldwide
commitment to sustainable development.
Rhodia’s Whitehaven site is an excellent
example of the benefits that can be
realised by good communication and
by considering the big picture in
sustainability terms. Following a Part 2A
determination in 2005, a large bill for
remediation seemed inevitable. Rhodia
asked URS to progress site investigations
and propose a remediation strategy to
ensure compliance. It also entered into
negotiations with the Land Restoration
Trust and National Trust regarding the
future of the site, as there was interest
in returning the site to public open
space use whilst maintaining some
element of industrial heritage value.
Early discussions with the UK’s
Environment Agency (EA) established
a good degree of trust between the
EA officers, Rhodia and URS. Rhodia
has a policy of voluntarily obtaining
good quality data and being firm
that the outcomes and end-points of
investigation and monitoring are clear.
This stance was instrumental in the
development of a productive relationship
with the regulator.
During 2006, URS risk assessments
began to indicate that much of the
expected remediation might not
be necessary. Our well-developed
conceptual model and the use of a site-
specific groundwater model gave a more
realistic simulation of real conditions
than would have been possible using
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
waste management 3
standard software. At the same time, and service corridors severely limited the
we developed proposals for future options for siting the various extraction
site, which suggested retaining the wells used to remove the contaminants.
large areas of concrete slab present at Our calculations showed an asymptotic
Whitehaven. We concluded that the most point in terms of the amount of volatile
sustainable solution for the site was organic compounds extracted, meaning
indeed to not substantially remediate it. that running the system past that point
Retaining parts of the industrial would only remove marginal amounts
infrastructure for heritage reasons of contaminants. However, boreholes
allowed URS to model human exposure excavated within the area indicated
to contaminants with the slabs in place that because of the heterogeneity of
resulting in much less onerous target the ground, and low permeability of
levels for clean-up. During 2007, the soils, there still was one particular
long-term groundwater monitoring hotspot where residual contamination
programme showed that the groundwater
contamination was steadily declining.
The water quality at the key sensitive
receptors was good, even though it did
not meet drinking water standards in
many respects. URS agreed a remediation
statement with the EA in early 2008
which presented a strategy that did
not envisage substantial treatment or
removal of contamination. This made
little difference to the environmental
risk, but has significant benefits in local
heritage, resource conservation and
reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
do environmental and
social costs ever outweigh
the requirement to meet
remediation targets?
There are many sites where either was above the target concentration. URS Aerial view of the
remediation costs are very high or the successfully argued that the benefits Whitehaven site
environmental improvement likely to of trying to further reduce contaminant following demolition
be achieved is marginal. In such cases, concentration were marginal, and (reprinted courtesy
consideration of sustainability may outweighed by the wider environmental of Rhodia and the
favour an alternative approach. This is impacts of the remediation activities National Trust)
true even where this may not result in – namely the energy needed for in-situ
the complete removal of contamination extraction or excavation. A revised risk
above the target level, especially when assessment underpinned this decision.
pursuing an onerous target only has
conclusion
a marginal benefit, while having a
Applying the concept of sustainability
considerable impact on the environment.
gives strength to a cost-benefit
Considering sustainability can support
approach in site remediation. This is
a more pragmatic on-site approach,
particularly relevant where there are
particularly where additional monitoring
major environmental issues associated
is used to allay concerns over the impact
with particular remedial solutions,
of residual concentrations.
or if the requirement for ‘active’
Similar arguments can support the
remediation is marginal in the first
application of in-situ remedial treatment
place. Sustainability should therefore be
where this has obvious benefits, for
incorporated as early as possible in the
example, in operational facilities where
remedial options evaluation process. This
excavation of soil would have a major
process should include ‘monitoring only’
impact on site activities. On-site
or ‘monitored natural attenuation’ for
techniques such as physical extraction or
consideration wherever appropriate.
diffusion-based chemical and biological
Benefits are easier to achieve where
approaches may not be as rigorous as
there is good communication between
off-site remediation. However, they are
all the parties involved and the needs Sophie Bowtell is
often more pragmatic and cost-effective
and objectives of the different parties senior principal
for industrial sites.
are mutually well understood. Good with URS; Richard
URS recently installed a vapour quality data is equally valuable, and Bewley (richard_
extraction system, combined with in-situ the ability to modify risk assessment bewley@urscorp.
bioremediation at such an operational approaches to respond to site conditions com) is head of
facility. The nature of the ongoing or remedial strategy options are vital. remediation at the
operations and the positions of buildings tce same company
tce 37
campus
Hands-on teaching
When schools can’t get kids excited about science, companies
step into the breach. Rob Crossley takes a closer look at Bayer’s example
IT was only a few months ago, back
in tce issue 797, that we showed
just how healthy undergraduate
intake for chemical engineering
was on a global scale. From MIT in
the US to the University of Malaya,
undergraduate intake in chemical
engineering is on the rise worldwide.
Yet there are signs that in the wider
picture, things aren’t as healthy as
they seem.
Back in August last year, the
Confederation of British Industry
(CBI) – a non-profit advisory body
for Britain’s business industry – had
called on the UK’s government to
lure potential undergraduates in
STEM subjects (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics) with
annual study grants of £1000 ($1974).
If dangling a £1000 carrot is the
smoke, then where exactly is the fire?
While the UK’s Universities and
Colleges Admission Service (UCAS)
in 2007 was recording the biggest
single chemeng undergraduate intake
since 1994, as well as annual
increases in civil engineering,
maths, chemistry and even
physics, the CBI was focusing
its concern on another set of
figures.
Last year the CBI released
a document which projected
that by 2014, there will be
an extra 177,000 UK STEM-
related professions that
will need filling. Even more
alarmingly, the CBI then took
into account professionals
in the STEM sectors who are
expected to retire by 2014,
which revealed a net demand
of 449,000 STEM-related jobs.
It seems that – no matter
how healthy application
figures are looking these days
– the lulls of the past are
coming back to haunt us.
Some companies in these
STEM sectors, which are
dependent on such personnel,
have decided to take matters
into their own hands. As
reported in the campus
feature in tce 798, chemicals
enterprise Evonik (formerly
Degussa) is attracting
54 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
graduates and undergraduates with
its campus-like project houses; a
professional and social stepping stone
between academia and industry.
German chemical and pharmaceutical
company Bayer is also taking matters
into its own hands, and is tackling
the issue from its roots. To encourage
pupils to interact with the world of
chemistry, plastics and science, Bayer
has opened a modern student laboratory
at its headquarters in Leverkusen,
Germany, known as Baylab Plastics. Its
main purpose is to provide students
with additional learning experiences
that they do not get in a traditional
classroom setting.
“There is no room in the
conventional teaching of science to
do the things that the students do at
Baylab Plastics,” says Johann Thim,
head of communications services at
Bayer MaterialScience. “The science
classes at school are usually based
on target orientation, whereas Baylab
Plastics is process-oriented. We want to
show the students how to get there.”
Bayer’s policy here is lending
insight through interaction, and its
Baylab Plastics laboratory is building
an international reputation for such
a hands-on approach to teaching,
with grammar schools as far away as
Denmark booking a day-visit. Such
popularity from other schools is
understandable; while teachers may not
always have the resources to achieve
their ambitions for pupils, they know
that a student learns best when seeing,
hearing, touching and playing with
their subject matter.
Thim sees the project as a win-
win situation. “For us, the student
lab is a channel through which we
can stimulate the interest of young
people in what we do as a developer
and producer of high-tech materials
for a wide range of industries, and,
eventually, attract new talent to the
company.”
Each visiting class is divided
into four teams – research, design,
technical and communication – who
will together work on moving one of
two possible projects from the design
stage to the finished product. Students
can choose which team they feel they
will best work in. They can exercise
their investigative and experimental
interests by joining the research team
to complete an idea, or train their
analytical and problem-solving skills
in turning an idea into a prototype.
They could sample the classic
engineer’s role in turning a prototype
into a successful product, or they
could harness their communication
skills and media awareness by joining
the communication team. Depending
on class size and age, a finance team
is also possible. Meanwhile, whichever
is chosen, all students get an idea of
how an idea progresses to become a
real product, and all learn the values,
roles and obstacles of teamwork.
These teams are made up of students
who know each other, and thus one
team will be able to relate more easily
its influence on the next.
“The more hands-on, disciplined
and organised the students are, the
more they benefit,” Thim says. “The
students learn how a company works
by being themselves directly involved
in some of the tasks. The day at
Baylab Plastics provides them with a
clear idea about the skills and talents
that are needed in the different areas,
and our ideal outcome of this is a
student who comes home and looks at
science and technology differently –
not something that is a boring subject
in school but something that is
fascinating and palpable in everything
that surrounds us.”
Manfred Euler, director of the
physics education department at
Universät Kiel’s Institute for Science
Education, is now heading a three-year
trial into whether a student’s one-
time visit at Baylab Plastics changes
their attitude towards technology and
science and inspires them to consider
a vocational training or college studies
in this field.
Bayer, however, can already see a
positive impact. “The demand from
schools is so overwhelming and we
would love to see other facilities of
this type set up elsewhere – currently,
Baylab Plastics is unique in Germany.
But of course we cannot perform
miracles in just one day, we hope that
schools start using the same approach
in their teaching.”
contacts

EDITORIAL

Editor: Claudia Flavell-While

Catalyst
Email: claudia@icheme.org Sustainable development?
Tel: +44 1788 534422
Fax: +44 1788 534412 FROM saviour to Satan in the space of a year, and all in the name of
sustainability: biofuels have had a rough time of it lately.
Managing Editor: Delyth Forsdyke
People in some of the world’s poorest countries are struggling to feed their
Email: dforsdyke@icheme.org
Tel: +44 1788 534424 families. There are reports of food riots. Even the developed world is starting to take
Fax: +44 1788 534412 note – as tce went to press, some Wal-Mart stores in the US have started to ration
sales of rice. The culprit, according to the world media? Biofuels.
Senior Reporter: Adam Duckett
But pinning all the blame on biofuels, our hope for sustainable fuels in an
Email: aduckett@icheme.org
otherwise rapidly-warming world, is far too easy. While they undeniably are a
Tel: +44 20 7927 8210
Fax: +44 20 7927 8181 contributing and fast-growing factor, other influences have far more to do with the
current crisis. Population growth. Years of drought in Australia. The high oil price,
Staff Reporter: Rob Crossley which is pushing up the cost of fertilisers. The rise of the affluent middle classes
Email: rcrossley@icheme.org in the developing world, which are hungry for meat rather than vegetables. The
Tel: +44 1788 534423
upheavals in the world’s financial markets, which have pushed scores of speculative
Fax: +44 1788 534412
investors into agrarian raw materials. Having sent the price of oil sky-high (let’s not
PRODUCTION forget, there’s no current shortage of the black stuff, investors are now set to do the
Graphic Designer: Michael Bubb same for wheat and rice.
Email: mbubb@icheme.org While individual statistics paint an alarming picture – US farmers expect to be
Tel: +44 1788 534421 turning 114m t of maize into ethanol in 2009, that’s nearly a third of the entire
country’s maize crop – the overall picture shows that worldwide, the proportion of
Advertising Production: Lindsey Mawby
cereal production that gets turned into biofuels is still tiny: Goldman Sachs estimates
Email: lmawby@icheme.org
Tel: +44 1788 534420 that in 2006, it was less than 5% of the world’s cereal production.
Fax: +44 1788 534412 So it’s fair to say that simply blaming biofuels for the current problems is a gross
oversimplification. Nevertheless, Jean Ziegler, the United Nations’ special rapporteur
ADVERTISING SALES – MAINLINE MEDIA LTD
on food, was absolutely right when he said that taking food out of the mouths of
Display, Classified & Directory: Nigel Stephens starving people and burning it in the car engines of the world’s rich is a “crime
Email: nigel.stephens@mainlinemedia.co.uk against humanity.”
Tel: +44 1536 747333, Fax: +44 1536 746565
But nobody is seriously considering turning food into fuels as a long-term solution.
Recruitment: Jayne Stewart The real interest lies in second-generation plants using cellulosic fuels – the leftovers
Email: jayne.stewart@mainlinemedia.co.uk of food crops, such as maize stover and rice husks, and cellulosic crops grown on
Tel: +44 1536 747333, Fax: +44 1536 746565
marginal land that wouldn’t support food crops anyway, such as short-rotation coppice
MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS and jatropha. Countries have started to mandate that fuels sold on their forecourts
Portland Customer Services contain a certain percentage of biofuels on the assumption that it won’t be long
Email: sales@portland-services.com before cellulosic biofuels start making a significant contribution.
Tel +44 1206 796351, Fax: +44 1206 799331
The question is: where are they? And can we develop them fast enough, before
Annual Rate (2008)
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‘biofuels’ becomes a dirty word, synonymous with gas-guzzling greed over starving
Print & online combined: UK: £181 RoW £198 need?
The answer is not all that reassuring. While at the end of 2007, there were nine
PUBLISHER
cellulosic biofuels plants operating in the world, and a further 21 under construction,
Caroline Smith, Institution of Chemical Engineers
Davis Building, Rugby, CV21 3HQ, UK
all of them are only demonstration plants with limited capacity. Experts doubt
Tel: +44 1788 578214, Fax: +44 1788 560833 whether it is economically or practically feasible to scale them up in a timely fashion.
The World Resource Institute, in its 2007 report Plants at the pump, warns “the timing
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Membership department and deployment of next-generation fuels at scale is highly uncertain.”
Tel: +44 1788 578214, Email: memserv@icheme.org Based on proprietary technology, the performance and efficiency of these plants
www.icheme.org cannot always be easily verified, making investors wary of ploughing huge sums of
money into these technologies. Moreover, the current demonstration plants are only
small, so another intermediate step of large-scale demonstrations will be needed –
and prove that it can work profitably and reliably, over time – before commercial-scale
All rights reserved. Multiple copying of the contents of the ­publication plants will be built. Within 50 years, we are indeed likely to see large-scale cellulosic
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biofuels plants, says WRI. “But in the next ten to 20 years, it may be unrealistic to
USA authorisation to photocopy items for internal or personal use or the
internal or personal use of specific clients is granted by The Institution
expect cellulosic ethanol and its fellow high-tech fuels to come gushing out at a huge
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provided that the base fee of US$7.00 per article is paid directly to That, indeed, is a sobering vision for the saviour fuels that were meant to save the
CCC, 21 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970, 0302 0797/98 world, not starve it. tce
tce (ISSN 0302-0797) is published monthly (with a combined
December/January issue) by the Institution of Chemical Engineers,
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 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com


Borouge plans third
polyolefins complex
Third Abu Dhabi complex to more than double production capacity
BOROUGE hopes to more than double its
polyolefins capacity with the creation of a
third expansion of its production complex.
The company, a joint venture between
Borealis and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co
(Adnoc), says it is currently carrying out a
feasibility study for a proposed 2.5m t/y
polyolefins unit, which could come onstream
by the end of 2014. The Borouge 3 expansion
– to be located at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi next to
the existing Borouge 1 unit and Borouge 2,
which will start up in 2010 – would boost the
complex’ total output to over 2.5m t/y.
The proposed expansion would help meet
the growing demands for polyethylene and
polypropylene in the Middle East and Asia.
The site is likely to take advantage additional
BASF’s bioplastics capacity boost
BASF will more than quadruple capacity for
biodegradable polyethylene at its headquarters
in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The company will boost capacity from
14,000 t/y to 60,000 t/y by the third quarter
of 2010. At the same time, the company plans
to increase capacity at a nearby compounding
facility where the polymer – sold under the
name Ecoflex – is processed into a novel,
partially-renewable derivative. The derivative
Foster Wheeler wins Sasol CTL study
FOSTER WHEELER has won the contract for a
pre-feasibility study for Sasol’s Project Mafutha
coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant in South Africa.
The plans foresee the construction of a
new CTL plant on a greenfield site producing
80,000 bbl/d of synthetic fuel. Part of the
study will recommend potential locations for
the plant.
Project Mafutha will use a three-stage
RWE announces CCS consortium
RWE NPOWER has formed an industrial
consortium to take part in the UK government-
funded carbon capture and storage (CCS)
demonstration competition.
BOC, Cansolv Technologies, IM Skaugen,
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
feedstock becoming available from planned
upstream Adnoc expansions to boost the
complex’ capacity for specialist grades of
polypropylene and polyethylene. For example,
Borouge says it is keen to produce more low-
density polyethylene for the manufacture of
high performance wires and cables, as well as
materials for pipes, automotive polymers and
advanced packaging.  decommissioned in 1984. The nation has
Borouge currently produces 600,000 t/y of
polyethylene, which is set to rise to 2m t/y
once Borouge 2 comes onstream. Borouge
2 will also see the start up of two Borstar-
process polypropylene plants with a combined
capacity of 800,000 t/y, a 752,000 t/y olefins
conversion unit, along with a 540,000 t/y
new Borstar enhanced polyethylene plant.
is a 55:45 mixture of the biodegradable
polyethylene and plant-based polylactic acid
(PLA). PLA is biodegradable thermoplastic
polymer derived from maize or sugarcane
starch.
BASF hopes that the expansion will allow it
to capitalise on strong demand for bio-based
and biodegradable polymers, a market it says is
growing at over 20%/y.
integrated CTL process to convert coal into
petrol and diesel. In a first step, coal is
gasified to create synthesis gas, which in a
second step is converted to hydrocarbons
using Sasol’s proprietary low and/or high
temperature Fischer-Tropsch processes. Finally,
the Fischer-Tropsch products are converted
into fuel products in a dedicated refinery.
Shaw Group and Tullow Oil will help RWE plan
a 1 MW CCS plant in Wales that would be
operational by 2010. If successful, RWE would
then scale up the technology to 100 MW at its
Tilbury site in Essex, UK.
contracts
Mozambique to end
30-year refinery
drought with $8b unit
MOZAMBIQUE has given the go-ahead for the
construction of a $8b refinery that will curb
the nation’s dependence on imported fuels.
The 350,000 bbl/d refinery will be based in
the southern Maputo province of Mozambique.
Work on the project will begin in 2010, with
start-up scheduled for 2015.
The newly-created local construction
company Oilmoz won the contract to build
the plant. “We’ve already got the financial
structure ready with a consortium of banks,”
co-founder of Oilmoz Fausto Cruz says, adding
that environmental and feasibility studies will
be completed within two years.
Mozambique’s last oil refinery was
relied on imports since.
Sibur studies Evonik’s
HPPO technology
RUSSIA’S Sibur may license Evonik’s hydrogen
peroxide-to-propylene oxide (HPPO) process
for a new propylene oxide (PO) plant in
Russia.
The company is currently carrying out
a feasibility study for the construction of
dedicated HPPO plants, which will suggest
possible plant locations in Russia and
capacities. Evonik says the study will be
complete “in the coming months”.
If Sibur presses ahead with a HPPO plant,
Evonik may set up a joint venture to build a
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plant at the same
location. The plant would supply the PO
plant as well as selling H2O2 for conventional
applications such as pulp and paper bleaching.
Spent brewery grain
to fuel S&N’s CHP
SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE has found a new use
for spent brewery grain: in future, waste from
its Manchester and Tadcaster breweries will
fuel on-site combined heat and power plants
(CHP), which will produce heat and electricity
for the sites.
The Finnish decentralised power specialist
Wärtsilä has won the contract to supply the
CHP units, which will run on brewery waste
mixed with woodchip. It is thought to be the
first time spent brewing grain will be used as
a power plant fuel.
The CHP plants will each produce 7.4MWth
and 3.1 MWe as well as raise steam for the
breweries. Any excess electricity will be
fed into the local grid. The Manchester and
Tadcaster plants are due to start up in the first
and second quarter of 2009 respectively.
tce 13
day in the life of...
Heading?
Author intro
DESMOND King, known as
‘Disco Des’ in certain circles (more on that
later), has had a blast so far in his career. In
50 years he’s weaved through an exhaustive
range of roles, taking him from the killing
gang of an abattoir (more on that later, too)
right up to where he stands now, the ceo of
Caltex Australia.
It’s these surprising contrasts, even
contradictions of convention, that pop up
throughout our interview. King is calling me
from his office in Sydney, which every day
he passes the Opera House to get to. He was
born on the other side of the planet, in the
small village of Rattlesden in Suffolk, UK.
And there was no sight of a silver spoon
where he was growing up in Suffolk in the
60s. He lived in a small cottage with his
parents and grandfather, who bought the
house for about £30 ($60) in 1930. His
father, a signwriter at the time, and his
mother, who worked part-time cleaning other
people’s homes, provided a fraction of what
King earns today. “There was no running
48 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Rags to riches
Desmond King speaks to Rob Crossley on how chemical
engineering took him from a small village in Suffolk to
beautiful places around the world
water in the house, no electricity and one
coal-powered heater for the whole cottage,”
he says.
But King doesn’t remember his life
being as hard as it sounds, most of what
he remembers of the time is his parents
being supportive and loving. His working-
class roots taught him things that his
primary school couldn’t: “If you come from a
background like that, you soon see why it’s
so important to get a job.”
It was this attitude that propelled him to
pass his 11-plus exam at a small grammar
school in Bury St Edmunds, and then via a
prize-winning first-class degree in chemical
engineering at Imperial College in 1976, to
eventually achieve his PhD at Cambridge.
“During my O-Levels, my favourite subject
was geography, I really liked that. But when
I was deciding what to do for my A-levels,
I thought that the best you can do with
geography qualifications would be a college
professor. I liked chemistry, so I figured
chemical engineering would be a good path
to go down. I thought ‘well, if I do maths,
physics and chemistry at A-Level, and then
go on to do engineering, even if I only do
okay, I can still manage to get a job!’”
It was during the later stages of King’s
education where his self-motivation to
earn money put him in unlikely, and
LIFE
sometimes downright bizarre, occupations.
“During summer holidays when I was an
undergraduate I used to work on the killing
gang at a slaughter house. It was the
smelliest, filthiest, dirtiest work you could
imagine, but it paid quite well.” (At the
time, a wage of 80 pence per hour was a
decent rate).
King isn’t embarrassed to look back on
it, quite the opposite in fact. “It was great
working on the shop floor. The guys there
had a great sense of camaraderie and we all
used to have a laugh. When you’re covered
from shoes to hips in blood I guess you
need to! I mixed in well with the team, but
the whole experience really taught me how
important it is to value a good job, because
that was hard, heavy labour.”
At Cambridge, however, King showed the
beginnings of a supple business acumen that
would eventually serve him throughout later
years at Chevron. “I only got £10 each week
with my grant at Cambridge, so I ended up
running a disco to make some money on the
side, as well as get free invites to parties.
Together with a close friend, who was a
mechanical engineer, I bought DJ equipment
from students who were graduating.” This is
how the Amazin’ Toad Male Voice Choir Disco
was born, which gave Des an extra £10 each
Saturday evening.

“The set-up was two turntables and a
lightshow that we built in the chemical
engineering lab. I actually got kicked
out of the lab one weekend once during
maintenance on the lighting equipment.
They said it wasn’t chemical engineering
work! I’m still known around certain college
professors as ‘Disco Des’.”
After Cambridge, King moved to the US
to become head of the chemeng department
at the University of West Virginia. He only
barely managed to resist the offer of a
similar appointment from the University of
Coppe in Rio de Janeiro where, he confesses,
he could have spent his spare time (and
probably some not-so-spare time too) on the
city’s beautiful beaches.
“I actually met the head of West Virginia’s
chemeng department during a cocktail party
in Cambridge, in ‘78. And he said that if
I’d like to work with them, then just drop
him a line. So I did. And I was working
there as visiting assistant professor from
‘79 to ’81. It snows a lot in West Virginia,
too much in fact, but I enjoyed my visiting
professorship.”
During his time at West Virginia, King
considered that the only way to make
a good income as a professor was to be
a consultant. “I figured I should get an
industry job for a few years then come back
to academia as a consultancy practitioner. So
I looked for a research centre I could work
in. I was really interested in the oil business
at the time. I read a book called Oil: The
Biggest Business, by Christopher Tugendhat,
and it convinced me that I should try to get
a job in that sector.”
With this in mind, King drew up three
criteria for his new job: He wanted to
DESPITE working around 12 hours each day,
and despite the huge responsibility placed
upon him, King is truly convinced that he
has it easy. “It’s all perspective. No matter
how hard this gets, it can’t be as tough as
working in an abattoir. It can’t be as bad as
killing pigs all day long.”
For King, a regular work day begins in
the office at 07:00 and finishes at 18:30.
He could be doing a number of things in
the intervening hours, such as meeting
with colleagues or the board of directors.
“It’s always a challenge to keep a company
growing. Sometimes it can be very difficult.
With the current global financial uncertainty,
things can get frustrating, because some
remain in the US; he wanted to work with
an oil company that had its research centre
next to its headquarters; and he wanted to
work somewhere where there was no snow.
“Chevron kept popping up,” he says.
Perhaps it was fate that, at the very
same cocktail party in ’78 where the head
of chemeng at West Virginia offered him a
job, King also met someone else who showed
his interest. “At that cocktail party there
was also a guy from Chevron who said that I
should call him up if I wanted a job there.”
Three years on, King decided it was time
to take up the offer. He visited Chevron’s
headquarters in California where he was
given the opportunity to work on plant
design. He says his plan was to work there
for five years, giving him enough experience
to make it as a consultant, and make good
his escape. Yet 27 years later, King still
works for Chevron.
“I didn’t realise how much I would enjoy
it! There are so many jobs you can have in
the same company; it’s not just one job for
life.”
King stayed at Chevron’s research centre
for 13 years, doing jobs such as process
design, running a cat-cracking research
team, and running a technical service group.
In 1994 he was the technical rep on a cat-
cracker for a refinery being built in Burnaby,
near the Canadian city of Vancouver. King
got a call from the refinery manager, who
asked then and there if he wanted to take
over as technical manager for the whole
refinery, making him responsible for half of
the entire complex, covering maintenance,
capital projects, technical, the lab and
business planning.
That the sudden leap in responsibility
things you just cannot change.”
Tasked as the ambassador for the
company, King spends a lot of his time
outside the office. “Often I’m taken around
the world to meet up with partners and
analysts. I can be in Singapore for one day,
Hong Kong for the next two days and Tokyo
for another.” King also meets and greets
with senior officials, politicians and business
partners, always looking for that lucrative
business opportunity.
Barely two years into the job, King has
already made his mark, helping the company
bask in record earnings coupled with an
exemplary safety record. He’s keen to keep
his foot on the gas, as he believes the
day in the life of...
LIFE
could be a challenge for King was not lost on
the refinery manager either, who wasted no
time in telling King he wasn’t his first choice
of candidate: “When the refinery manager
actually offered me the job, he said ‘the
person I really want for the job is on foreign
territory, but you won’t screw up too badly.’
You won’t screw up too badly?! Oh thanks!”
King however relished the role and
excelled in his job. Only three years later, in
1997, he was promoted further, to the role
of general manager of a joint venture with
the Finnish company Neste Oil in Edmonton,
Alberta.
Two years after that, he was offered a
job as managing director of technology
marketing with Chevron, back in San
Francisco. King accepted the role and,
typically, he loved it. “Marketing was a
new experience for me. I was travelling all
over the world meeting various people and
understanding the international business.”
It was in 2001, when Chevron merged
with Texaco, that King became Chevron’s
manager for corporate strategic planning
– a role he held for two years until he was
moved to Wales in 2003 as a member of the
board of Texaco UK and the general manager
of the Pembroke refinery.
In just two decades, King’s range of
different jobs is just as bewildering as the
number of different places he’s lived in.
From Wales he moved again, this time
to the other side of the planet, filling the
role as ceo of Chevron subsidiary Caltex in
2006. But no matter where King has been, or
indeed where he ends up next, it’s clear that
he’s always loved being there, and shown an
enthusiasm that has progressed his career
throughout.
DAY
economic slumber that has crept into 2008
could present his biggest challenge yet. But
Des is still happy, he’s still having a blast,
and he says he owes a lot of his success to
his chemeng qualifications.
“Qualifications in chemical engineering
open up a world of opportunities, far more
than I ever imagined when graduating.
My qualifications have allowed me to work
in different roles around the world. San
Francisco, Vancouver and Sydney: to me
these are all holiday resorts, and to get
paid to work there is just fantastic. It has
been the ultimate back-packing holiday,
and it’s all been made possible by chemical
engineering.”
may 2008 tce 49
 education

MIT prof
IBM and Swansea
lined up for forge Welsh links
IBM has extended its alliance with Swansea
Millennium University, Wales, by signing a research
collaboration agreement to establish a
centre of excellence in environmental
Prize research and modelling at the university.
The centre will be housed at Technium
Pembrokeshire, a technology-led business
Robert Langer recognised for controlled-release biomaterials incubator, and will support research in
CHEMICAL engineer Robert Langer has been The other finalists are geneticist Alec Jeffreys environmental sciences and renewable
short-listed for Finland’s prestigious biennial at Leicester University, UK, who invented DNA energy, using high-performance computing
2008 Millennium Technology Prize. fingerprinting – a revolutionary technique for and a ‘top-end visualisation environment’.
The prize recognises technological innovation criminal identification; and Andrew Viterbi, A key piece of research will involve ice-
that significantly improves the quality of human president of Viterbi Group, who invented shelf modelling at Swansea University’s
life. Langer, professor at MIT’s department the Viterbi algorithm. This is used to silence school of environment and society. The
of chemical engineering, is recognised for noise that would otherwise inhibit modern research will examine ice-shelf stability,
developing biomaterials for controlled drug wireless and digital communication systems which is hard to model as current
release and tissue regeneration. It’s said that – his algorithm is used by satellites in space, techniques cannot accurately reproduce
this innovation has saved millions of lives across as well as computers and every MP3 player on break-up because it requires complex high-
the globe. the planet. The final nomination goes to a trio resolution modelling of flow and fracture
Specifically, Langer developed transdermal of researchers for inventing the erbium-doped mechanics.
delivery systems that administer drugs through fibre amplifier, which made possible the global- The first collaboration between IBM
the skin without the need for needles or other high-capacity optical fibre network – billed and Swansea was the establishment of
invasive methods; this has led to drug-releasing as the backbone to the global information IBM’s Blue C supercomputer at Swansea’s
polymers that fight brain cancer. Langer has superhighway. Institute of life sciences.
also advanced tissue engineering science by The winner will be announced on 11 June and
developing synthetic replacements for biological will receive a cheque for €800,000 ($1.25m).
ANU-Melbourne MOU
tissues. The runners-up will each receive €115,000. THE Australian National University (ANU)
and the University of Melbourne have
agreed to form a research alliance. The
New UNSW dean to further universities will cooperate in areas of
mutual interest, as well as joint research,
interdisciplinary research research training, teaching, scholarship,
external funding bids, consulting, and
GRAHAM Davies, the new dean of engineering had most recently international outreach.
at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), been executive dean The tie will also allow the smooth
Australia, says he will further the university’s of engineering at exchange of research infrastructure and
interdisciplinary research. He states that his the university of equipment, as well as staff, the universities
goal is to make UNSW a major player on the Birmingham in the say. It will also make it easier for interested
world stage of higher education, and that he UK. A founding fellow of the UK Institute of and qualified students to study at the other
will achieve this by improving the university’s Nanotechnology, Davies says he will be pushing university and get credit for their degree.
interdisciplinary research links. for extra funding for nanotechnology research “In strengthening our capacity to carry out
“When you take an interdisciplinary in Australia. world-class research at the very highest
approach it also has a positive effect on Another goal is to improve the university’s level, [this partnership] brings important
teaching: it feeds through from the research links with the wider industrial community national benefits,” says Melbourne’s vice-
side into the quality of the teaching and keeps to aid knowledge transfer and make sure the chancellor Glyn Davies.
it leading edge. It’s about re-engineering university’s teaching meets industry needs.
engineering for tomorrow’s world,” he told Davies stresses the vital contribution engineers
UNSW’s in-house magazine, Uniken. Davies, an can make to solving problems such as global IChemE on Campus
electrical engineer and former vice president warming, energy supplies, clean water, food, THE result of last month’s poll, which
of technology acquisition at British Telecom, obesity, healthcare and the ageing population. asked: “With 10% of UK rice containing more
arsenic than would be permitted in China, do
process engineers need to communicate more
UCL opens materials simulation lab effectively internationally?”
UNIVERSITY College London (UCL) has opened a new £19m ($38m) materials simulation laboratory. Yes 8% No 92%
The centre’s new director Mike Gillan says that the MSL brings together 90 UCL researchers, This month, we’d like to know: “Do you
making it the largest concentration of materials modelling experts in the UK. Research at the centre agree with the decision taken by some
covers a wide range of materials research including clean energy production, those that could play a UK school science teachers to participate
role in climate change, and materials for future computing devices and for healthcare. David Price, in strike action against the government’s
UCL’s vice-provost for research, adds: “Materials modelling plays a crucial role in enabling major constraints on public sector pay?”
advances in areas such as nanotechnology and energy efficiency.” Visit www.ichemeoncampus.org
UCL marked the opening of the new lab with a four-day conference highlighting everyday to cast your vote.
materials conundrums including the mystery of how ice forms in the sky and creates clouds.

www.tcetoday.com may 2008 tce 17

sustainability 2

The big picture

Said Elnashaie explains how an integrated system approach gives a new
perspective on sustainable development, biofuels and biorefineries
THE integrated system approach is a theory can help us better understand
very valuable tool in both research sustainable development. Classifications
and education. In research, it is using non-linear dynamics and stability
one of the most important tools theorem can also help. For example,
for developing new knowledge and we can consider efficient engineering
novel processes, especially in areas as a subsystem of clean technology,
driven by cross-disciplinary research representing a necessary but in itself
and development. Sustainable not sufficient condition for the creation
development is a prime example. of clean/green technology. While
Sustainable development consists efficient engineering is a necessary
of a number of subsystems, each of factor, by itself it would only achieve
which in turn has its own subsystems maximum productivity, which would
(or elements, depending upon the level not necessarily be clean. It is only
of analysis). Examples of subsystems the added focus on clean technology
in sustainable development include and the adherence to environmental
technology, socio-economic factors, constraints that make the combination
politics, and ethical elements. Focusing ‘clean technology’. Clean technology,
on any of these subsystems can only in turn is a subsystem of sustainable
Table 1: Energy work within a framework that uses the engineering, representing necessary
ratio and net other subsystems in the background. but not sufficient condition for
energy ratio The terminologies of system sustainability. For that, clean
technology needs the added
requirement of renewable raw materials.
Fuel Energy ratio Net energy
Efficient engineering and clean
ratio
technologies are both necessary pre-
Petrol 0.8 –1.2 requisites for sustainable engineering,
but it is the use of renewable raw
Diesel 0.8 –1.2
materials that is at the heart of
NG 0.9 –1.1 sustainability.
LPG 0.95 –1.05 basic principles
Our understanding of the role
Electricity 0.4 –1.6
of engineering in our path to
Coal 0.95 –1.05 sustainability relies on a few basic
principles.
Bioethanol 1.6 +1.6
As previously stated, sustainable
Bioethanol from maize 1.25–1.35 1.25–1.35 engineering is one component of the
technological subsystem of sustainable
Cellulosic bioethanol 1.8 1.8
development. In turn, efficient
engineering is a subsystem of clean
technology which itself is a subsystem
26 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
of sustainable engineering.
Sustainable development can also be
divided into: sustainable development
with respect to production (the
main emphasis of this paper), and
sustainable development with respect
to consumption.
To measure sustainability, we need
suitable metrics. Richard Darton, on
behalf of IChemE, in 2002 set out a set
of sustainability metrics that divides
sustainability metrics into three groups:
environmental indicators; economic
indicators and social indicators.
Renewable raw materials are a
crucial component of sustainable
engineering and thus sustainable
development. Green technology based
on non-renewable raw materials may
be satisfactory from a clean technology
point of view but is not sustainable.
Biofuels are a very important
subsystem of renewable clean energy.
There is a large number of biofuels;
each of them can be produced through
different routes. Figure 2 shows some
of these routes for biodiesel and
biohydrogen. Figure 3 shows the routes
to bioethanol. All biofuels and all
technologies will have their positions
in the clean renewable fuels matrix of
the future.
There are two main types of
biodiesel: the strategic fuel based on
the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, which
uses syngas produced from biomass as
a raw material, and the non-strategic
biodiesel from the trans-esterification
of vegetable oils. A third type of
biodiesel, which may prove to be very
 sustainability 2

useful in the longer term, is algal and size of investment/market. This

biodiesel. Sources for bioethanol are
illustrated in Figure 3, though this
shows only the technology options
for the strategic cellulosic bioethanol.
The non-strategic maize bioethanol is
produced through dry or wet milling of
maize to the fermentable sugars.
Table 1 shows the energy ratio
(ER) and net energy ratio (NER) of
different fuels. ER = (energy of fuel) /
(energy consumed to produce the fuel).
NER fuel = (energy of fuel – energy
consumed to produce the fuel) (+/-)
energy consumed to produce the fuel/
(energy consumed to produce the fuel)
= {Y (+/-)X}/X. The (+/-) is + when Y is
positive and – when Y is negative. For
positive NER (ER>1); ER = NER. It is
clear that bioethanol is the only fuel in
the list with ER>1.0 and NER>0.0. Other
fuels with ER<1.0 and NER<0.0 are valid
fuels simply because their energy is of
higher quality than energy consumed to
produce them, such as electricity from
coal (ER = 0.4, NER = –1.6).
The US Department of Energy
(DoE) recently calculated the energy
and net energy ratios for cellulosic
bioethanol to be much higher than
the above figures (ER = NER = 3–4).
Six new plants for the production
of cellulosic bioethanol from waste
lignocellulosics are currently under
construction in the US, and the DoE is
supporting them with about $400m.
In addition, China recently started up
a large plant using maize stover as
feedstock. All forthcoming US plants
are close to integrated biorefineries
(IBRs) producing a menu of products
from ligno-cellulosics. Cellulosic
bioethanol yield (l/ton lignocellulosics)
varies widely within and outside the
international range and each plant
has a portion of the DoE support. The
essential data for these six plants are
given in Table 2.
Biofuels are sensitive to location
implies that, firstly, no single biofuel
will dominate the market, ie the
present matrix of dirty, non-renewable
fuels will be replaced by a matrix of
clean/renewable fuels. Secondly, that
no single technology for the same
biofuel will dominate; each technology
will have its domain of applications.
Finally, research for different biofuels
and different technologies should
continue/intensify so that in each
Figure 1: Sustainable engineering is subsystem of technology
case the feasibility study will be based
which is subsystem of sustainable development
on the optimum of each biofuel and
technology avoiding misleading results.
The present
situation of biofuels
production from edible
agriculture products
(eg bioethanol from
maize and biodiesel
from vegetable oils
etc) is not a strategic
long-term, large-
scale solution for the
renewable clean energy
challenge. It will be
replaced with large-
scale production of
biofuels from waste,
including cellulosic
bioethanol and FT-
biodiesel. However, Figure 2: Some routes to biodiesel and bio-hydrogen
fuels from edible products will continue
to occupy a small part of the matrix of
clean/renewable fuels. conversion processes and equipment to
produce fuels, bio-power, and chemicals
biofuels and IBRs
from biomass”. At present, IBRs work on
Sustainability does not depend only
two platforms, sugar and syngas.
upon sustainable fuels, but also on the
Production facilities for sustainable
sustainability of other commodities
biofuels are bound to be a subsystem of
for modern societies. This simple fact
IBRs in the long run. This means that a
leads to the important concept of IBRs
sustainable biofuel facility built today
producing not only sustainable fuels
should be planned with its growth
but also other sustainable commodities
into an IBR in mind, because biofuels
and bio-energy. The US National
production will almost always be a
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL),
part of IBRs. Experts should further
which is a part of DoE, defines IBR
develop an advanced definition of
as “a facility that integrates biomass
IBRs and their subsystems including

Plant (LCs) DOES CBE 106 LCs 106 CBE yield

$106 l/y t/y
Corn stover, wheat
Abengoa Bio-energy & Biomass,
straw, switch-grass, 76 50.2 0.25 45.6
Kansas, Missouri
etc
Alico, LaBelle, Florida Lignocelluloses 33 61.2 0.275 50.5

BlueFire Ethanol, Irvine, California Lignocelluloses 40 83.7 0.25 76

Broin Companies, Sioux Falls, South
Lignocelluloses 80 140.9 0.3 106.6
Dakota Table 2. Basic
Iogen Biorefinery, Arlington, Virginia Lignocelluloses 80 79.2 0.25 72.0 Information for
the forthcoming
(ethanol) 100 (ethanol)
six cellulosic
Range Fuels, Broomfield, Colorado Lignocelluloses 76 + (methanol 0.4 +22.5 (methanol)
bioethanol plants
Total = 215.8 Total = 122.5 in the US

www.tcetoday.com may 2008 tce 27

sustainability 2
Figure 3: Routes for cellulosic bio-ethanol
biofuels, together with a clear
definition of biofuels and bioproducts.
Equally, we need clear definitions of
what constitutes sustainability, and
quantification of these definitions into
suitable metrics.
IBRs represent an integral critical
subsystem of sustainable development.
As discussed earlier, the efficient use of
renewable raw materials is at the heart
of sustainability. Great care should be
taken with the definition of renewable
raw materials, for this is strongly
related to the cycle of renewability. For
example, fossil fuels are theoretically
renewable, but over a cycle of hundreds
of thousands of years.
A renewable raw material should
be renewable over a period of 6–18
months. Renewable raw materials can
be any kind of renewable waste, from
agricultural waste, municipal waste
etc to special energy crops such as
switchgrass produced specifically
for this purpose. Today’s practice of
diverting useful edible agricultural
products into biofuels is not sustainable
Figure 4: and should be avoided.
Preliminary Renewable raw materials are
biorefinery effectively a way of storing solar
structure with energy through biosynthesis; using
the main two carbon dioxide and other nutrients. The
sugar and syngas ultimate aim for biofuels is for them to
platforms (graphic produce as much CO2 in combustion as
courtesy of DoE) was consumed in the biosynthesis of
28 tce may 2008
the biomass that produced it. This, with
maximum efficiency, may lead to help
us approach the zero net CO2 emissions
target.
Hydrogen is a good clean fuel that
will occupy its part in the clean fuels
matrix and is therefore one of the
potential products of IBRs.
However, although the claim that
it is 100% clean is true on the local
level, the claim does not hold on a
global level, especially if its source is
fossil fuel. Whether the hydrogen was
produced directly through catalytic
steam reforming (CSR) or indirectly
through production of electricity
followed by electrolysis, it is only as
clean as those processes. The only
way for it to be truly globally clean
is for hydrogen to be produced using
renewable raw materials and a clean
power source such as biomass, wind,
hydropower or nuclear.
The range of fermentable sugars is
expanding thanks to new developments
in microbiology and the discovery of
efficient mutated microorganisms that
can ferment the wide range of sugars
produced from cellulose/hemi-celluloses
hydrolysis.
The process of fermentation is
improving continuously using novel
membrane immobilised fermenters and
novel operational modes exploiting
bifurcation, periodicity and chaos (see
tce 760, October 2004, p30). Lignin
from ligno-cellulosics fractionation
(Zhang, et al, Biotechnology &
Bioengineering, June 2007) is used as
a cheap fuel to improve the energy
efficiency of the IBRs; however the
future potential is to use it as a
platform for a wide range of products to
replace certain petroleum refining and
petrochemical products.
There have been important
improvements to the process of
producing syngas from biomass using
both a one-step process (biomass
gasification to syngas) and a two-
step process (biomass fast pyrolysis
to bio-oil followed by catalytic steam
reforming of bio-oil to syngas).
The two-step process seems to yield
a higher concentration of hydrogen
in the syngas. Certain difficulties
associated with catalytic steam
reforming of bio-oil are solvable
through novel reformers configurations
such as circulating fluidised bed (CFB)
reformers (see tce 755, May 2004, p33).
An important challenge in the
biomass to FT-biodiesel process is
the integration of the endothermic
catalytic steam reforming process with
the exothermic catalytic FT process
into one integrated membrane catalytic
auto-thermal process.
IBRs should be able to contribute
towards sustainability and not only
renewable biofuels. It is important for
IBRs to include all that is bio, whether
with regard to feedstock, processes or
both:
• biomass utilising sequential thermal
catalytic processes to produce FT-
biodiesel (the processes are not bio,
but the feedstock is);
• biological treatment of carbon
monoxide and water to produce CO2
and hydrogen (bio-catalysed water gas
shift-reaction). The feedstock is not
bio, but the process is;
• lignocellulosics using sequential
bio-processes to produce cellulosic
bioethanol. Both feedstock and
processes are bio; and
• utilisation of bio-processes to
transfer one form of energy to another,
such as integrated bio-electrolysis
coupled to bio-fuelcells. This can make
intermittent solar energy continuous
and can be used in many applications
including auto-thermal housing.
Today’s status of the concept of IBRs is
best summed up in Figure 4 .
conclusions
That sustainable development is crucial
for the development of human societies
is self-evident. Equally obvious is
that engineers have a vital part to
play in the technology subsystem of
sustainable development, of which
sustainable engineering is one part.
While biofuels are one of the most
important subsystems of sustainable
engineering, their development alone
is not enough; other bioproducts and
bioenergy from renewable raw materials
are essential, leading to the concept
of IBRs which is very important for
sustainability.
Biofuels represent a subsystem of
IBRs. Well-directed innovative research
in all subsystems of BRIs is essential,
taking into consideration the other
subsystems of sustainable engineering
as well as the non-technical subsystems
of sustainable development.
Novel configurations such as
membrane reactors and bioreactors,
and novel operational modes including
periodic and chaotic operation are
essential to achieve sustainability
and maximum production minimum
pollution.
tce
Said Elnashaie (see10@psu.edu) is
chair of sustainable development
engineering at Penn State
University, US
waste management 1
An optical sorter uses an infrared camera
to tell different types of plastic apart and
sort them using a compressed air gun
THERE’S a new industry in the UK
along with much of the rest of the
industrialised world. It’s growing, it’s
got a steady supply of raw materials,
there’s processing and separation and
there’s plenty of investment going into
it. It’s the perfect industry for process
engineers to get stuck into. The only
thing is… it’s rubbish.
The waste industry in the UK is
growing quickly. Landfill is getting more
expensive and the UK’s landfill sites
are filling up. Governments are setting
higher targets for the reduction of
waste and its recovery or diversion from
landfill. A major part of this is recycling
of domestic waste – the stuff that we
put in our bins and boxes.
As chemical engineers we’re familiar
with recycling. Recovery of valuable
In 2007, the UK materials from waste streams is
recovered over
something that we’re trained to do
8.5m t of paper,
and we pride ourselves on squeezing
half of which was
efficiency out of our processes. But how
exported do domestic recycling systems work?
What can the recovered materials be
used for and what issues do we face?
Recycling systems have been in place
for a long time: the first bottle bank
was placed in Yorkshire in 1977; an
association dedicated to paper recovery
was first formed in 1941. From these
small beginnings, recycling schemes
have grown and there has been a
significant growth in volumes collected.
This growth has accelerated dramatically
in the last decade.
In order for material to be
successfully recycled, it needs to be
of good quality. Paper contaminated
with glass will damage machines. Glass
contaminated with ceramic will affect
32 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Divide and conquer
Gerrard Fisher talks rubbish. No, really
the melting process. Efficient processing
of waste recyclables is key to the
development of a successful recycling
infrastructure and there are a number of
stages in this process.
collections
Collections are very different from the
limited bring-schemes of the early days,
when, both in terms of how recyclables
are collected and the breadth of
materials accepted, and local authorities
today collect the majority of domestic
recyclable material. There are three main
ways of collection:
• bring scheme (such as a bottle or
paper bank);
• kerb-side sorting collection (where
the council collects materials from
homes and operatives manually sort the
recyclables at the kerbside); and
• comingled collection (everything can
be collected in one bin and is separated
at a materials recovery facility later on).
paper
In 2007, over 8.5m t of paper was
recovered in the UK. The country’s paper
mills reprocessed over 4 m t and the
remainder was exported, mostly to Asia.
This is the first year that exports have
exceeded UK reprocessing and this trend
is set to continue. Overseas markets are
hungry for materials, especially in China
where their burgeoning economy creates
a high demand for product.
Paper reprocessing requires re-pulping
and deinking of the recovered fibre
before it can be used for manufacture
again. Screening and other separation
processes remove other contaminants
such as staples, envelope windows and
‘stickies’. Contaminants such as glass
however can cause serious problems at
paper mills because they accelerate wear
and erosion in the reprocessing plant.
Recovered fibre should be clean, dry and
fresh for optimum reprocessing. A typical
process will recover around 80% of the
input recovered fibre – there are natural
losses as some fibres become too small
to be useful for new paper.
All of the newsprint paper
manufactured in the UK is made from
100% recycled paper, although we do
still import newsprint from abroad.
Lower-grade recovered fibre can be used
in other applications, such as board
and packaging (often as the ‘fluting’ in
corrugated board).
glass
This material is infinitely recyclable.
However, there are many complicating
factors in the UK recycling market.
Recycling glass conserves energy
compared to the manufacture of virgin
glass and saves around 300 kg of CO2
per ton of glass recycled. 1 t of recycled
glass (also known as cullet) will make
1 t of glass, because process losses are
trivial. To make this glass from ‘virgin’
raw materials would require 1.2 t of
material.
However, the UK market is not simple.

Firstly, we tend to import green glass (as
wine bottles) and export clear or ‘flint’
glass (in spirits bottles). Recovered
glass cannot be easily de-coloured,
so it can be difficult to find an outlet
for the large quantities of recovered
green glass. Since glass is dense and
has a low value it is not economical to
export the green glass back to wine-
producing countries and so other uses
are required. A common alternative
outlet is as a substitute for aggregate
in construction activity. However, this
loses the ‘embodied energy’ – the energy
used to make the glass – because this
energy would not have been spent on
the aggregate that the glass replaces.
Therefore, it is best to get recycled glass
back into a re-melt application, typically
in container or fibreglass manufacture.
Contamination can also pose problems
for glass manufacturers: container
glass is a very different material to flat
glass or other common grades such as
Pyrex. Good-willed householders can
often put other grades into collection
schemes, and it’s important to remove
them. This is most commonly done by
optical sorting at specialist reprocessing
facilities.
metals
Like glass, metals are infinitely
recyclable through straightforward
re-melting processes. However, the
carbon savings of metal recycling are
much greater, because they avoid the
need for extraction and refining of
ores. Using recycled steel saves 75% of
the energy required for production of
virgin material and the savings are even
greater for aluminium – 95%! These
materials are readily separated from the
others, either by magnetism for ferrous
cans or electromagnetic separation for
aluminium cans. But there can still
be contamination in these recovered
streams. On top of this, other parts of
the can may not be metal (‘widgets’ in
cans are usually made of plastic). These
flammable contaminants can cause
processing issues during recycling.
Recovered aluminium cans fetch a high
price – £700 ($1378)/t or more, so
again can be traded on the international
export market.
plastics
Plastics are usually the most confusing
material for the home recycler. What are
all the different types? How come there
are recycling schemes that take plastic
bottles but not pots and tubs?
The answer lies in the end use for
the recovered plastics. Polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) is perhaps the most
versatile material to recycle – it can be
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
waste management 1
recycled back into drinks bottles or used
in a host of other applications, such
as fibre manufacture. It takes around
30 recovered PET drinks bottles to
make a fleece jacket. The highest value
outlet for PET is back into food-grade
applications and several reprocessors are
beginning to achieve this in the UK.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE;
normally from milk containers) is also
in demand, particularly in China where
there is a great need for raw materials.
Until recently there was no process for
‘closed loop’ recycling HDPE of milk
containers back into their original
application. The UK now leads the world
in this recycling technology and the first
recycling plants producing food-grade
recycled HDPE are coming on-line in the
UK later in 2008.
Recovered PET and HDPE bottles can
fetch over £200/t on the international
markets. Other grades of plastic have
value but are more difficult to separate.
Plastics are normally sorted manually or
by optical sorting plants.
materials recovery
facilities (MRFs)
Where materials are collected comingled,
then a MRF is required to separate
them out. These facilities use a range
of techniques to recover the different
product streams – size classification,
optical recognition of materials,
magnetism or eddy current separation,
mechanical behaviour (paper is often
flat and floppy, containers are rigid and
tend to roll and bounce).
There is also the issue of materials while optimising the products
contaminants for which the MRF was not you generate from the input stream.
designed. A whole range of domestic
waste can reach a MRF, either through talking rubbish
or saving the planet?
well-intentioned efforts to recycle more,
Gerrard Fisher
or in some cases failure to understand The environmental benefits of recycling
(Gerrard.Fisher@
the collection scheme. are well-proven for all the key materials
wrap.org.uk) is
This kind of operation is classic we collect in the UK. So if you’re looking
products sector
process engineering and management, for a new challenge or want to make a
manager at the
but strangely few process engineers have difference in the battle against climate
UK’s Waste &
heard of it or get involved. It’s similar in change then go and find your bottle…
Resources Action
principle to any other refining process and the place where it’s being recycled!
Programme (Wrap)
– having to cope with undesirable tce
Method Advantages Disadvantages
Relies on consumer commitment to
Bring Quality recycling
Capture rates (quantity recovered)
Quality Vehicles spend longer collecting waste
Kerbside
Capture rates Labour intensive
Co-mingled Capture rates Variable quality
Simpler to implement for Additional processing required
the collector
Quick collection
Table 1: Recycling methods pros and cons
tce 33
guest author
Driving force
Stefaan Simons investigates how chemical engineering underpins the
human development in Kazakhstan
REGULAR readers of tce cannot
have failed to have noticed the
considerable attention focused on
Kazakhstan by foreign investors
and international oil and gas
companies. Equally well-documented
is the country’s struggle to come to
terms with how best to exploit its
rich reserves in oil, gas and other
mineral resources for the benefit of
its people and its economic and social
development (see, for instance, Kazakh
contracts at risk, tce March 2008,
p13). Those same readers may also
be aware of my own efforts to help
develop the Kazakh higher education
system and establish a modern chemical
engineering degree programme at
its premier technology institute, the
Kazakh National Technology University
(KazNTU) in Almaty.
Kazakhstan is a fascinating,
paradoxical country, far beyond the
falsehoods prompted by the movie
Borat. One of the most interesting
aspects that I witness every time I
travel there is seeing how technology is
aiding the development of the country,
both socially and economically. The
Kazakh government has now formally
recognised chemical engineering as
central to its human development
– a compound measure of the life
expectancy, literacy, education,
standard of living, and GDP per capita.
In the developed world we take the
impacts made by our profession largely
for granted, and the benefits to society
can sometimes not be as obvious to the
general public as they should be. To see
first hand how chemical engineering
can drive the human development of an
entire nation is both an inspiring and
humbling experience. In this article
I hope to give an impression of the
benefits that chemical and biochemical
technologies can bring to life and
development in an emerging economy
such as Kazakhstan.
First, a little about the region of
Central Asia and Kazakhstan itself.
Pictured above: For centuries, Central Asia served as
Sunset over the the cultural and trade bridge between
traditional Kazakh East and West and was the hub for
town of Atyrau the religious, scientific and cultural
22 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
development of the Islamic World.
However, from the 16th century
onwards it became increasingly
marginalised, ending up, after 70 years
of Soviet rule, as a region largely cut
off from the rest of the world with the
economies of its constituent republics
closely linked with the rest of the
Soviet Union. Living standards did
improve during that time, as a result
of heavy investments from Moscow
in physical infrastructure and human
resources, especially education.
In 1991, the disintegration of
the Soviet Union produced five new
countries in Central Asia – Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
and Uzbekistan. The new borders
interrupted trade links and weakened
critical, but vulnerable, water and
energy systems. The flight of skilled
Russians, the drying-up of subsidies
from Moscow and the disappearance
of the central administrative services
of the Soviet Union led to dramatic
economic collapse, significantly
increasing poverty and severely
weakening the human development and
security of the entire region.
For Kazakhstan, the economic
collapse led to a sharp decline in life
expectancy (down from 68.1 years in
1990 to 63.5 years in 1995) and a drop
from 54th to 93rd in the world Human
Development Indicator rankings. Since
then the country has slowly begun to
recover, with a current life expectancy
of 65.9 years and an HDI ranking of
79th. This is still lower than the 1990
position and, hence, the objective of
the Kazakh government is to improve
further its human development to
secure its status as a major economic
force.
The Republic of Kazakhstan is
located almost in the very centre of
the Eurasian land mass. It is the size of
Western Europe, but with a population
of just over 15m and more than 100
nationalities. Both the terrain and
climate are prone to extremes, ranging
from wooded steppe to mountainous
regions and desert landscapes, with
tropical, equatorial and arctic climates.
Almost all regions of Kazakhstan
have areas that suffered immense
environmental damage, such as the
rapidly-shrinking and heavily polluted
Aral Sea, and the areas surrounding the
Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, which
has led to significant deterioration in
human health. At the same time, the
country’s literacy rate stands at almost
99%. Both these issues are important
legacies of the Soviet era.
Kazakhstan is rich in mineral
resources. Of the 105 elements in the
periodic table, 99 can be found in
Kazakhstan. The country accounts for
250m out of 11b t of minerals extracted
every year, has 25% of global reserves
of uranium, 19% of lead and 10% of
copper and zinc. During the Soviet era,
Kazakhstan was the site of a number
of major high-technology facilities,
many of which have become centres
of expertise in, for instance, nuclear
energy, space exploration (the Baykonur
Space Centre is located in Kazakhstan)
and the handling of pathogens that
have significant implications for human
and animal health.
However, the return of many
key specialists to Russia has led
to the deterioration of these and
other technical facilities and this
is particularly true of its mineral
extraction plants, including those for
oil and gas, which now fail to comply
with modern environmental and
efficiency standards (except for the
modern facilities, constructed under
foreign investment). With its estimated
12b t of oil – equivalent to 85% of that
of Kuwait – and gas reserves of
5900b m3, it is no surprise that
Kazakhstan has turned to foreign
companies for the technology and
expertise to extract its resources,
largely to the detriment of its own
ability to do so. Since 1993, foreign
companies have spent $19b extracting
Kazakh resources.
In contrast to this modern
technology are the realities of poverty
and poor health of much of its
population. Annual per capita income
remains around $2000, unemployment
is around 8.2%, and 15% of the
population lives below the poverty line

without access to adequate medical
care, safe drinking water or telephones.
In addition, educational standards at
both secondary and higher education
level have declined, particularly in
sciences and engineering, with many
talented educators either leaving the
country or taking jobs in industry
due to the low academic salaries.
Young people have turned away from
scientific careers, since well-paid
jobs in research and other areas have
been scarce. Although the Kazakh
government is taking steps to reverse
these trends by upgrading educational
facilities, increasing salaries and
adopting the 3-level degree system of
Bachelor, Masters and PhD, much still
needs to be done to encourage private
sector investment.
Which brings us on to the role
of new technologies in human
development in Kazakhstan. The United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) defines human development as
“the continuous expansion of human
opportunities to enjoy, or have a
choice of, political, economic, social,
spiritual and cultural participation”.
This implies broad-based access to
high-quality education, healthcare,
healthy food and drinking water
and other benefits that contribute
to participation in society, such as
jobs with decent salaries, access to
communication technologies and a
clean environment.
To achieve these conditions, new
technologies and innovative processes
can be regarded as the tools to human
development. Innovations improve
productivity, profits and people’s
incomes and ensure access to better
quality goods and services. New
technologies have positive effects
on human health and social well-
being, whilst the introduction of new
technologies in education is vital to
the competitiveness of the national
human capital. Modern technologies
promote effective resource use and
contribute to public participation in
society. At the same time, however,
access to new technologies can
contribute to growing inequalities in
relation to income, age, sex and even
place of residence. Hence, there needs
to be a selective approach to the
development and use of technologies
and the Kazakh government has
identified 13 priority areas for
investment, which include chemical,
biochemical and nano-technologies, as
well as education (at all levels).
With regards to chemical
technologies, oil and gas extraction is
a national economic priority, currently
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
accounting for 30% of GDP. However,
much of the oil and gas is exported,
whilst Kazakh chemical facilities,
such as the Atyrau polyethylene and
polypropylene plant and the Aktau
polystyrene plant, use imported
ethylene, propylene and styrene.
Compounding this is the fact that
the existing oil processing plants
themselves only achieve 50–59%
depth, not going beyond atmospheric
distillation. Matching the European
average of 85–90% is a burning
technological and economic issue,
as is the expansion of Kazakhstan’s
capability to convert its oil and gas
to other chemical products, without
relying on imported technologies. This
requires investment in educational
institutions to provide the necessary
workforce and expertise in new
technologies and products. Hence, my
involvement at KazNTU.
The petrochemical and chemical
industries are the bedrock of
Kazakhstan’s economy and the
foundation for its long-term
sustainable development. Coupled
with improved production facilities
comes improved environmental
performance and the ability to reduce,
treat and recycle waste streams (to-
date, Kazakhstan has accumulated
over 20b t of industrial waste). A key
route to sustainable development is
the effective management of energy
resources and consumption. Over the
last decade Kazakhstan has come to
recognise the need to make substantial
improvements in this area – the level
of energy use is currently three times
higher than in leading industrialised
countries, a heavy burden on the
economy and the environment. Even
now, the emphasis is still on energy
production, not management, both in
engineering practice and in education.
Balancing economic growth with
energy conservation is a challenging
prospect for any developing country.
Whilst power stations are 15%
less efficient than internationally-
recognised standards, renewable energy
is hardly used at all in Kazakhstan,
despite the potential benefits to social
development in regions currently
lacking in adequate capacity in fossil-
fuel derived energy. The estimated
capacity for hydroelectricity is
170 TW/y, with current output of only
24 GW. However, expansion in this area
must take into account the needs and
impacts on Kazakhstan’s neighbours,
access to water being a key issue
to the stability of the entire Central
Asia region. Wind energy (estimated
capacity 1820b kWh) is almost
guest author
untapped, as is solar energy, whilst
opportunities to use the considerable
amounts of cattle breeding waste
(13m t/y) and plant residues (17.7m
t/y) to produce biofuels are being
addressed by pilot projects, but with
little government support and a lack of
economic incentives.
One third of employed people in
Kazakhstan work in agriculture, which
implies that even small advances in
biotechnologies will significantly
impact human life and development.
Currently, up to 30% of crop yield
is lost through pests, diseases and
weeds. In addition, there is very
little production of pharmaceuticals
in Kazakhstan (most medicines
are imported). Biotechnology in
Kazakhstan has an obsolete scientific
and industrial base, a limited corps
of specialists and lacks innovative
companies. Hence, the quality of the
scientific research is low, which in
turn does not attract investment and
limits competitiveness, compounded
by a lack of international
cooperation. To combat
this, the government is
investing $50m in a new
biotechnology centre in
Astana, the nation’s capital
city, which will have state-
of-the-art laboratories
but which will require
collaboration with leading
foreign institutions and
scientists to develop its
own capabilities. Funds are Jul–Sep 1969 Aug 2003
available to encourage such
The Aral Sea
scientists to spend time at the centre
has shrunk by
and for young people to study overseas
75% after the
and gain experience in modern
rivers feeding it
advances in biotechnological research
were diverted for
and development.
agriculture
This strategy of investment in
(Image courtesy
technology development centres
of NASA Earth
follows the advice of the UNDP and
Observatory)
other independent think tanks and is
also being repeated in selected higher
education institutions, such as the
new Eurasian National University in
Astana, and in the other priority areas,
particularly chemical engineering and
nanotechnology. Foreign chemical
engineers and scientists from both the Stefaan Simons
academic and industrial sectors have (stefaan.
considerable opportunities to help simons@
development new technologies and ucl.ac.uk)
science and engineering education in is professor
Kazakhstan. The resulting human (and of chemical
sustainable) development, not only of engineering
Kazakhstan but of the Central Asian at University
region as a whole, would benefit the College London
stability and security of a region where and is the UCL
East meets West, something that is in special advisor
all our interests to achieve. tce on Kazakhstan
tce 23
innovations
innovations
Cell shells
CHINESE chemists have successfully coated living cells with protective
shells, dramatically enhancing properties such as letting them live
longer and making them invulnerable to enzyme attacks.
Chemist Ruikang Tang and colleagues at Zhejiang University, China,
have encapsulated cells of yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae
in a thin film of calcium phosphate. “We first attached carboxyl-rich
polymers to the cell walls, which act as mineralisation inducers,” says
Tang. ”These negatively-charged groups are able to capture calcium
phosphate from a supersaturated solution, depositing them onto the
surface of the cell and building up a shell-like layer.”
The process resulted in a nanometre thick mineral coating. This
shell proved in trials to be stable in water and air, as well as providing
the cells with immunity to attacks from zymolyase, an enzyme that
dissolves yeast cell walls. By splicing nanoparticles of magnetite into
the shell, the team was also able to give the cell magnetic properties.
Despite the shell completely blocking the cell from access to
nutrients, the cells remained healthy and outlived unprotected cells
of the same type for
weeks longer. The cell
can ‘hibernate’ until its
shell is broken down by
ultrasound. Tang hopes
that the process can be
used to protect useful or
engineered cells – such
as stem cells – during
transport.
Once more with feeling
STRUCTURES will soon get their own nervous systems, claim
researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute.
By applying ceramic piezoelectric-fibre sensors to structures such
as resource pipelines, wind turbines and bridges, researchers will use
the ultrasound wave patterns to detect structural flaws. Presently,
the team has built a demonstration sensor and says it will now
create deliberate flaws in structures to help refine the detection
process.
Initially, the reason for the Structured Health Monitoring (SHM)
programme at the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and
System Reliability is to supplement current maintenance efforts by
detecting flaws and structural inadequacies as they occur.
But the hope is that the technology could finally be used to
replace current efforts so that monitoring is continuous, and
maintenance only occurs when necessary – thereby saving time and
money. Aside from increased maintenance efficiency and safety,
the SHM system could be used to observe equipment currently too
difficult to monitor and even equipment and structures in operation.
This will provide a plethora of new data, as yet unseen, and could
help to optimise the development of future components.
14 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Forgers beware
THE latest weapon in the fight against
counterfeiting has been developed by
researchers at Warwick Manufacturing
Group (WMG) at the University
of Warwick in the UK. The new
technology aims to protect a range
of plastic products such as DVDs from
counterfeiting.
After three years of R&D, WMG has begun the process of
commercialising the technology with industrial partners. The research
group is not yet revealing how the technology works, though reports
suggest it is based on flow and turbulence effects which occur during
injection of plastics into a mould. The new process creates a watermark
by manipulating pigment using electro induction. The effectiveness of
the watermark lies in that it becomes an intrinsic part of the product
itself, meaning that counterfeiters would need detailed knowledge,
expertise and equipment to replicate it.
“There is an enormous amount of interest in anti-counterfeiting
technology for plastic products. We are working on several processes
to prevent plastic components being copied and this ‘in mould’ process
is the first of them to be developed for use,” says the lead researcher,
materials science professor Gordon Smith. “For commercial reasons we
cannot detail collaborators, but we are now exploring its use with one
company that is plagued by a counterfeit plastic-based safety critical
product.”
According to the US-based International AntiCounterfieting
Coalition (IACC), counterfeit goods represent an estimated 5–7% of
world trade, or $600b/y.
Cheese nightmare
for food bugs
A NATURAL defence against
food-poisoning pathogens has been
discovered by researchers in the most unlikely of
sources – feta cheese.
Scientists at a recent meeting by the Society for General
Microbiology in Edinburgh, UK, say they have discovered that feta
cheese made with raw milk in some parts of Greece harbours the
lactic acid bacteria Enterococcus.
Enterococcus itself is an unwanted bacterium. Its virulent and
antibiotic-resistant properties make it a very difficult bug to
eliminate and its presence in hospitals has been a major cause of
concern in the last decade. Certain strains, however, can easily kill
dangerous food bugs such as Listeria.
The bacteria could be harnessed for use in foods and be a natural
replacement for additives that do the same job. Panagiotis Chanos,
a microbiologist from the University of Lincoln, UK, hopes that a
number of food innovations could arise from this research. “We hope
that this work will lead to ways of fighting food-borne pathogens,
using the naturally-produced compounds called bacteriocins made
by other bacteria,” he says.
“We found that some strains [of Enterococcus] could produce
up to three different natural substances to fight different food
pathogens,” he adds.
interview

Facts are stubborn,

but statistics...
Adam Duckett listens to Dieter Helm as he tallies the UK’s true
carbon intensity
CHEMICAL engineers and technology (UNFCCC) scheme, which counts the
innovation are key to solving the greenhouse gas volume produced inside
world’s climate ills. This is the first national borders, ie the UK’s greenhouse
message from Dieter Helm, professor gas footprint is the total sum of
of energy policy at the University of
Oxford. It’s a gratifying message to “We won’t get any significant volumes sequestered
hear, especially if you’re a chemical until after 2020 at the earliest”
engineer but, alas, it is Helm’s second
insight that packs the punch. greenhouse gas generated by activities
In his recent report Too good to be on UK territory.
true? The UK’s climate change record, This system is skewed and must
Helm highlights the shortcomings instead focus on consumption, says
of the accounting method used to Helm.
quantify UK carbon emissions. The UK How has the UK reduced its emissions
has a target of reducing greenhouse using the production accounting
gas emissions by 12.5% against method?
1990 levels by 2008–2012, and Helm says there are a number of
official reports say that it has already factors that have led to the UK’s
Consumption exceeded this goal. However, if we use perceived emission reduction. Firstly,
accounting gives Helm’s method, far from being over the UK’s energy mix has altered since
a true account of the target at a 15% reduction as the 1990 (see Figure 1) – the country has
carbon footprint, government claims, we discover the moved away from coal-fired plants
says Helm, UK is currently exceeding its 1990 and embraced cleaner, more efficient
pictured below emissions by 19%. combined cycle gas turbines. However,
A double-take Helm fears that current energy security
or two will have issues and a nuclear replacement gap
you questioning could reverse this trend. As for carbon
the truth of this capture and storage (CCS), Helm says
statement. How “People didn’t appreciate
can two differing
how quickly the likes of
methods that aim
to tally the same China would grow”
thing produce such while the technology is important
stark differences? we won’t get any significant volumes
Unfortunately, the sequestered until after 2020 at the
answer is simple. earliest.
Current Secondly, says Helm, there has
accounting been a reduction in UK-based energy
methods employ intensive industry. A hypothetical
the UN Framework example would surmise that in 1990
Convention on companies operating on UK territories
Climate Change were responsible for making the
chemicals used to manufacture UK
shopping bags. Now, however, the UK
no longer produces them. Helm says
that this is not the same as saying the
UK no longer uses them.
We are all aware of the ‘go east’
revolution: it is cheaper for energy-
intensive companies to emigrate their
manufacturing facilities to China
– but the fact surely remains that the
customer is ultimately responsible for
any associated carbon consumption?
And this is Helm’s point.
Consumption accounting gives you a
more faithful account of your carbon
footprint. The UK’s 2006 trade deficit
in greenhouse gases was 341m t carbon
dioxide equivalent, or around 50% of
domestic greenhouse gas emissions (see
Figure 2).
Meanwhile, aside from the carbon
intensity of imports, Helm says that the
emission values for UK shipping and
aviation are missing too. Helm includes
these missing datasets to arrive at his
‘19% growth figure.’
Despite the obvious shortcomings
of the UNFCCC method, Helm remains
adamant that the scheme was not
deliberately designed to deceive: “At
the time, it was a sensible starting
point. People didn’t appreciate how
quickly the likes of China would grow.
Since then we’ve had ten years of China
growing between 7–10%/y.”
In this case, understanding why the
discrepancy exists isn’t the same as
accepting it: “It is easier to measure

18 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com

 interview

carbon production within a geographical so far has had virtually no effect on

base,” he says. “Trying to measure every
source of consumption and weight all
forms of import is, in computational
terms, pretty complicated and lots of
assumptions have to be made. But
just because you can’t get a number
precisely right doesn’t mean it is
irrelevant. With production numbers
you can be more precisely wrong. With
the consumption route you can be very
imperfectly right.”
According to Helm the difficult path
is the correct one. And following his
report people have begun trying to
compute consumption numbers.
What was the government’s reaction
to his report and what does he expect
the future will bring?
“Did the government notice? Yes
they certainly did. It was published in
the run up to Bali and Hilary Benn,UK
climate change. And Kyoto was difficult
to agree. What everyone can agree to
13.7%
may not actually solve the problem.” 0.3%
This is a damning appraisal of the 65%
mechanics of international politics. 21%
What can be done to make sure
mistakes aren’t perpetuated?
“What’s required is recognition
amongst the main polluters of the
1990
scale of the problem. The UK must get
serious about its reduction targets and
look at its consumption responsibilities
8%
at a global level.” 41%
If Helm could take control for a 31%
day, what would he do to solve the
situation? What would be his legacy?
“I would get the main players to 20%
sit in a room until they decide how to
allocate cuts. And they would have to
be honest in their negotiations.”
This seems fair enough. And what 2006

“You just have to keep arguing until you eventually convince
people how to correctly think about problems”
environment minister, went on TV
saying that we were wrong. It is, after
all, very critical of their position.”
It is idealistic to expect government
to accept and adopt a new and
more precise method. Helm says:
“Production numbers are more helpful
to [politicians’] needs – I think they’d
prefer to stick with them. But the real
effect of the report is the movement
towards Copenhagen 2009, where post-
Kyoto arrangements will be discussed.”
Helm says that the Chinese and
other rapidly-developing economies
recognise that the west wants them
to reduce emissions but say: we are
producing emissions for your benefit.
“This argument of consumption and
production goes to the absolute heart
of the post-Kyoto discussion, and to
that extent, that was the purpose of
the paper.”
So, Helm expects something positive
will come from Copenhagen then? “No,”
he says frankly, “The meeting will not
produce an agreement that will make
much difference to climate change at
this stage. The important thing to bear
in mind is that there are two sorts of
agreement. The first is an agreement
that genuinely deals with global
warming and reduces global emissions.
The success comes down to the extent
that industrialised nations are prepared
to pay China and others not to develop
in a carbon-intensive way.”
“The second agreement is what
everyone can agree to and may not
have much effect on climate change.
It is important to remember that Kyoto
about forcing companies to become
greener or dangling a carrot to promote
promising solutions?
This question certainly sparks
a reaction: “I think it’s extremely
important to have a market price for
carbon. Taxes are better than a permit
system but we have a permit system so
it should be made to work. The great
thing about having a price for carbon
is that it allows the supply and demand
side to respond.”
However, Helm says that the
government promised to provide a
long-term carbon price but has failed.
As for incentivising technologies,
Helm says this will have repercussions:
“Interventionalist policies inevitably
end up picking winners and if
the intention is to pick winners,
traditionally what happens is that the
losers pick governments.”
Is he thinking of a particular
example in the UK government’s current
energy policy?
“Well,” he says, “if I knew what UK
energy policy was, that would be a
good start. It is not at all clear what
policy we have because the government
states it will do whatever the market
delivers.”
Despite this, Helm believes that the
UK has shown a technologically-biased
policy towards wind – a policy that he
thinks appeals to various lobby and
interest groups but doesn’t do the job
of addressing the problem of climate
change.
Throughout the interview, Helm has
come across as very patient, yet from
Figure 1:
Coal Gas
UK electricity
generation mixes
Nuclear Other
what he says on government policy, or
the apparent lack of it, the misguided
accounting methods, and his opinion
that Copenhagen 2009 will not help the
emissions problem, he would be within
his rights to be a frustrated and angry
man. He isn’t. Why?
“Frustration doesn’t come into it.
The issue is: here’s a clear problem,
it’s immensely complicated, it’s
extremely expensive to fix, and very
difficult. Now, what one has to do is
what one can to improve the quality
of the argument and the analysis and
make some impact on the shaping
of the policy instruments. There are
many things in life that would leave
one frustrated but frustration is not
usually a very productive approach.
Figure 2:
You just have to keep arguing until
Greenhouse
you eventually convince people how to
gases associated
correctly think about problems.”
with
Visit www.dieterhelm.co.uk/
imports and
publications/Carbon_record_2007.pdf
exports,
to read the full report. tce
1992–2006

www.tcetoday.com may 2008 tce 19


Reducing risks to the environment
Jacqui Cressey rounds up the highlights from IChemE’s journals
A RECENT paper in Process safety
and environmental protection (PSEP)
presents a fuzzy logic model for the
preliminary assessment of the risk
of accidental releases of ecotoxic
substances. This is required by the
Seveso Directive, which aims to prevent
major accidents that could harm people
near industrial establishments and the
environment. A problem is that the
methodologies to assess the risk related
to the release of dangerous substances
to the environment in soil and water are
very complex and require a lot of data.
‘Preliminary risk assessment of ecotoxic
substances accidental releases in major
risk installations through fuzzy logic’
(doi:10.1016/j.psep.2007.10.015 ) by
RM Darbra at the Centre for Technological
Risk Studies, Technical University of
Catalonia, Spain; M Demichela at the Risk
and Reliability Centre of Turin Polytechnic
University, Italy; and S Murè, industrial
and environmental risk expert with the
Italian company Aria, presents a tool to
assess risks from uncertain data developed
for public authorities and plant managers
and support the decision-making process.
The application has been developed as
a preliminary tool which can highlight
critical situations and show where more
in-depth and complete analysis is needed.
The authors explain that the data
available are often qualitative, vague
and imprecise, and obtaining more
precise data can be expensive and
time-consuming. Previous efforts to
develop a simplified but reliable risk
assessment methodology have produced
a tool ranking the adequacy of a site’s
preventative and protective measures,
and highlighting where more detailed
analysis is needed. This method was
found to be very effective in classifying
extreme situations (very low or very high
risk), but lacks sensitivity to intermediate
situations, mainly due to the uncertainties
in the input data. Given the results of
previous efforts, the present study shows
how fuzzy logic helps create a model that
is better at coping with the uncertainties.
Fuzzy logic is better suited to quantifying
the vagueness and imprecision of the
interpretations, particularly when it comes
to solving complex problems that can be
qualitatively described using linguistic
expressions.
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
The methodology discussed in
this paper is based on three steps:
characterising the hazard of the
substance, delimiting the soil and
groundwater vulnerability, and identifying
the protective and preventative measures
of the plant. The tool has been tested on
a set of yards storing ecotoxic substances,
mainly oil, in the Piemont region of Italy.
The results show that even with uncertain
data, fuzzy logic makes it possible to
carry out a satisfactory preliminary
risk assessment leading to a four-level
categorisation of the plant’s risk: inert
(very low), low, medium and high risk.
predicting the fate of oil spills
There may be no point crying about spilt
milk, but what about spilt oil? Muddassir
Nazir and Faisal Khan of the Faculty
of Engineering and Applied Science,
Memorial University, Canada, Paul Amyotte of organic chemicals in a multimedia
from the process engineering department environment because of its capability to
at Dalhousie University, Canada, along
with construction expert Rehan Sadiq of
the Canadian National Research Council,
have set out to illuminate the fate of
spilt oil in the marine environment.
‘Multimedia fate of oil spills in a
marine environment – an integrated
modelling approach’ (doi:10.1016/
j.psep.2007.10.002), published in the
March issue of PSEP, proposes a new,
fugacity-based methodology to predict
what happens after an oil spill. The
authors suggest coupling oil-weathering
processes with a level IV (dynamic)
fugacity-based model. A two-compartment used existing weathering algorithms to
system, comprised of water and sediment, model the fate and transport of the high-
is also used to explore the fate of oil in a concentration surface oil.
marine environment.
To develop effective contingency plans spill of 100 t of crude oil off the
for coastal oil spills, authorities have to
predict the fate and transport of oil in
the ocean. A marine system is a complex
multimedia environment that can be
divided into three main compartments:
air, water, and sediments. These bulk
compartments contain sub-compartments
such as suspended solids and biota in the
water column, and solids and water in the
sediment compartment.
During a spill, natural dispersion
entrains oil into the water column,
making it the primary input source to
the water compartment. While the water
column is in turn considered to be the
source to the sediment compartment, its
in the journals
direct impact is assumed to be negligible.
In a break with conventional multimedia
modelling, the authors have not
predefined the impact area, but calculated
the contaminated area growth through
the oil slick spreading process, using
naphthalene as an indicator. The new
methodology combines the weathering
algorithms with a level IV fugacity
model to predict the fate and transport
of oil during a batch spill on the water
surface. The study suggests that the water
compartment reacts faster to the chemical
input than the sediment compartment,
and that the fate of the oil is mostly
determined by advection in water and
growth of the sediment volume.
A fugacity-based approach is an
effective way to study the behaviour
handle an enormous amount of details on
environmental transport processes and
dispersed phases (sub-compartments)
within a bulk compartment. However,
the approach is based on low chemical
concentrations in the media. As oil spills
usually have high concentrations of
chemicals, the fugacity-based method
may not be valid. For this reason, the
authors chose to use fugacity to model
the low-concentration oil fractions which
enter into the water column through the
natural dispersion weathering process, but
The paper uses the December 2007
Norwegian coast near Statfjord as a case
study to demonstrate how the proposed
methodology can be applied.
IChemE member?
Subscribe to PSEP online
from just £40.00.
Visit www.icheme.org/journals
for full details, including
information on submitting
papers
tce 55
waste management 2
Wasted opportunities
Geoff Leaver tackles hazardous waste reduction
REGULATORY changes that have come
into effect in the last couple of
years have had a profound impact on
the production and management of
hazardous waste in the UK. Indeed,
new figures released by the Environment
Agency show that the amount of
hazardous waste being sent to landfill
has dropped by 60% since 20041.
This latest data represents a positive
step-change in the way in which
companies are dealing with hazardous
waste, as more and more firms are
seeing its measurement and management
as a strategic business issue. With the
chemicals sector responsible for around
half of hazardous waste generated
by industry as a whole2, the case for
addressing its production is particularly
compelling.
disposal dilemma
Since the UK implemented the new
Hazardous Waste Regulations in July
2005, around 180 additional materials
have been classified as hazardous. But
with only a limited amount of suitable
landfill and incineration sites available,
companies sometimes have to pay a
premium for transport. And, with landfill
tax on the rise, prevention and reduction
is becoming an increasingly attractive
alternative for producers.
It is not only legislation that is
driving companies to cut waste however.
Consumers have become increasingly
concerned about environmental
impact in recent years and chemical
customers – particularly larger retailers
– are responding by putting pressure
on manufacturers to adopt greener
processes in their operations. As a
result, companies with green credentials
could gain the competitive edge over
those which have yet to take action.
Shasun’s example
Shasun Pharma Solutions Ltd (SPSL),
based in Northumberland, UK, took
the sharp rise in its waste disposal
costs following the introduction of the
Hazardous Waste Regulations in 2005
as a signal for change. The company
reviewed its operations and, happily,
was able to increase the efficiency of its
34 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
manufacturing processes while cutting
its £450,000/y ($893,000) spend on
waste disposal.
To get started, SPSL underwent
a series of process efficiency and
environmental performance reviews,
basing its approach on the ‘waste
hierarchy’ which emphasises the
importance of elimination, reduction,
re-use and recycling. This was
formalised in a periodical process review
(PPR) – a management tool set up to
evaluate every manufacturing process
on-site in order to minimise waste and
maximise profit.
Important stages in this PPR
included establishing a mass balance
which documents all materials entering
and leaving any industrial process,
identifying and documenting any
waste minimisation opportunities and
establishing a process improvement
plan (PIP) for each of the company’s
established manufacturing processes.
This systematic approach to
hazardous waste reduction saved the
company more than £70,000/y, with
further potential savings of up to
£150,000/y.
In particular, introducing a cleaning-
in-place (CIP) scheme – which meant
cleaning the company’s process vessels
after a batch production run with a
mobile rig of spray nozzles – cut the
volume of methanol used for cleaning
by 68%, saving the company almost
£5000 per batch. The company has
also reduced the amount of xylene
being used as a ‘carrier’, finding that a
smaller amount could achieve the same
stir volume. (More information on this
example is free to download at www.
envirowise.gov.uk/CS701)
green chemistry
Of course, the best policy for hazardous
waste is not producing it in the first
place: the green chemistry ideal.
Equally, REACH – the new European
regulation on the Registration,
Evaluation and Authorisation of
Chemicals – could trigger the
substitution of some hazardous
chemicals for safer alternatives.
Envirowise’s practical guide Resource
efficiency through green chemistry (www.
envirowise.gov.uk/GG679) examines
the benefits of implementing green
chemistry and outlines a framework in
which this can be achieved. Timescales
for implementing a green chemistry
programme will vary depending on the
business involved. They may range from
a basic reformulation project taking a
short period of time, to a major long-
term programme where product/client/
regulatory approval is required or which
involves significant process changes.
This is particularly critical where
substitution affects pharmaceutical or
defence sector products.
However, once customers have
accepted the alternative materials and
regulatory barriers have been identified
and overcome (eg the need for a permit
to operate), it is possible to set a
timescale. A realistic timescale for
implementation of a green chemistry
programme could be 1–2 years.
Successful implementation in any
organisation could help avoid the use
of non-renewable resources, reduce
energy and material use, cut down on
the amount of waste and lessen the
impact of chemicals on individuals
and the environment. There will also
be benefits in terms of risk reduction,
through the design and manufacture of
safer products.
So, it is clear that not only is the
demand for companies to make a change
greater than ever, the business benefits
are substantial. Many larger firms will
already be following improvement
programmes as part of the Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)
regulations, however it is important that
smaller companies, which realistically
have less time and resource to devote to
these issues, aren’t left behind.
Hazred
Hazred is an EU-funded project
dedicated to preventing and reducing
hazardous waste in small and medium
enterprises. Led by the UK’s Environment
Agency in partnership with a range of
experts including Envirowise, Hazred
worked with small companies in six
priority sectors to pilot an industry-
 waste management 2

based approach to reducing hazardous waste.

A range of resources were developed as part of this work, including
a catalogue of best practice examples across the range of sectors, and
a suite of in-depth hazardous waste reduction action plans, one of
which focuses on speciality organic chemicals manufacture. Visit www.
hazred.org.uk/fol089812 to download these resources for free.
Companies can also access a range of independent and practical
advice on business resource efficiency at www.envirowise.gov.uk/
chemicals, or by calling the Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585 794.

Resource efficiency event

ENVIROWISE and Chemicals Northwest offer companies a chance to
gain a practical insight into resource efficiency and maximise cost
savings.
A one-day conference on 15 May at Haydock Park, Merseyside will
feature presentations from environmental specialists and companies
on the practical examples of achieving resource efficiency, the key
challenges and the support available within the North West region.
There will also be an opportunity for delegates to participate in
interactive workshops ranging from effective water use and effluent
treatment to the latest green chemistry toolkits.
Companies interested in attending this event should
contact alex.heys@chemicalsnorthwest.org.uk or see
www.chemicalsnorthwest.org.uk for further details.

Geoff Leaver (advice@envirowise.gov.uk) is chemicals

specialist at Envirowise

Key opportunities for chemical engineers

vessel design: Larger volume chemical manufacturing processes
frequently use vessels for mixing, reaction and product separation.
When replacing existing vessels, consider any ‘blind spots’ during
mixing or poor drainage and ensure new vessel designs facilitate
cleaning in place and automated charging / emptying.
process optimisation: For both batch and continuous
manufacturing processes it is important to optimise the yield
achieved. Mass balances help to identify where the greatest losses
are occurring and highlight opportunities to reduce or recycle
solvents. Spillages can often be reduced by arranging to add whole
containers of material to a batch, or by using automated filling.
Setting monthly or annual benchmarks for product yield can also
provide a valuable guide to overall efficiency.
solvent management: Organic solvents are used extensively
throughout the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as both
reaction solvents and as cleaning agents. By monitoring for losses,
faulty equipment or poor operator practice, companies can help
combat unnecessary solvent consumption at the outset. Solvent
waste can also be tackled via a solvent management plan which
identifies a systematic approach to eliminating or reducing solvent
use and optimising re-use or recovery.
water management: A large proportion of hazardous waste
leaving a manufacturing site may be in solution, meaning the
management of water and its role as solvent, reagent, dilutent or
washing medium is crucial. Careful metering and measurement, as
well as improved cleaning practices, production scheduling and
efficient vessel design can all help reduce waste in solution.

further information
1. Hazardous waste update 2006, www.environment-agency.gov.
uk/subjects/waste/1031954/315439/1860241/?lang=_e
2. Environment Agency, Measuring environmental performance
(Sector report for the chemical manufacturing industry), November
2005
legalwatch
THE challenges that the UK’s 2005
Noise at Work Regulations present
to the engineering industry are
significant. It is estimated that over
one million people in the UK alone
are exposed to excessive noise levels
at work and are at risk of suffering
hearing damage. 170,000 people
suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear
conditions as a result of exposure to
excessive noise at work.
Power tools, hammering, loud
machinery and fans are all potential
noise pollutants in an industrial
engineering environment. And in
the chemical engineering industry
powder grinders, mills and dryers are
a common source of noise. Powder
blasting, for instance, involves the
high speed charging of metal powder
and the gear box of a powder dryer can
cause connector plates to vibrate and
radiate noise.
To combat the problem of noise in
the workplace, the Control of Noise at
Work Regulations 2005 – which came
into force in April 2006 – introduced
stiff new requirements for noise
control.
Noise-induced hearing loss is
irreversible but entirely preventable.
The new regulations reduced upper and
lower action levels by 5 dB from 90
and 85 dB(A) in the previous directive
to 85 and 80dB(A) and introduced a
new upper exposure limit of 87 dB(A).
The regulations require employers
to take different actions depending on
whether they break the upper level of
85 dB(A) or the lower 80 dB(A) level.
At the first action level, employers
should advise employees on their
levels of exposure, provide suitable
hearing protection and offer training
as to their use, undertake health
surveillance, and reduce levels to as
low as reasonably practicable. At the
second level, the wearing of hearing
protection becomes mandatory and
employees exposed to these levels
are subject to audiometric testing.
This does not absolve the employer’s
responsibility to reducing the noise
levels at source, as the issuing of
hearing protection alone is no longer
considered satisfactory.
The regulations also introduced
20 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Keeping the
noise down
Martin Rayns discusses the implications of the
UK’s Noise at Work Regulations
a fundamental change in the focus
of noise at work legislation, which is
equally as important. Whilst the focus
of earlier legislation was on assessment,
quantification of exposure levels and
consequent hearing protection, the new
regulations move towards an agenda
of proactive control and management
of noise issues. The new legislation
concentrates on controlling noise at
source and the implementation and
monitoring of a noise control action
plan over a given period of time.
Risk management is now more
closely regulated: risk assessments
must include noise control programmes
and managers must implement
good practice noise control and risk
management procedures. This includes
reducing noise exposure and providing
employees with hearing protection,
information and training. The new
legislation also requires that where
possible, noise should be controlled at
source by technical or organisational
means. Personal protective equipment
(PPE) should only be used when all
other forms of noise control have been
exhausted. Employees who are exposed
to noise levels above the lower action
level should be under continual health
surveillance. Those exposed to levels
above the upper action level should
have regular audiometric hearing tests.
Employers across most industry
sectors have taken a largely responsible
attitude to noise measurement and
undertake noise assessments at the
required frequency.
The few experienced industrial noise
control engineering companies are
benefitting, as engineering companies
turn to them to accurately diagnose
noise problems and solve often complex
noise engineering issues.
What does all this mean in practice?
And what does the employer do
next, having completed his Noise at
Work Assessment and established his
employees’ daily exposure levels?
understand your noise problem
The key to practically and cost-
effectively treating noise problems is
to begin with a very accurate diagnosis
of the noise source. It is not unusual to
be called to a site where the customer
believes a particular piece of machinery
to be the problem noise source. In
some instances they have often already
prescribed a solution. Not only can this
prove to be a wrong decision, but it can
inevitably be a costly one!
The key is to understand your noise
problem. Firstly, you need to identify
and then treat the dominant noise
source. This is best achieved by taking
a range of noise readings at various
frequencies and turning off machinery
to attempt to identify and isolate
dominant noise sources. Whilst this is
always desirable, in practice it is not
always possible. It is at this point that
industry and experience come into play.
At an even more practical level,
why not compare the noise levels of
identical machinery within the plant?
On many occasions a machine can be
noisier in one area than another. This
could be caused by lack of adjustment
on a knife separator for instance, or
simply by worn-out bearings.
In one recent case, a company which
had requested an acoustic enclosure
for a compressor was shown how it
could solve the problem by simply re-
positioning the motor shroud which
at some point had been leant on and
was physically rubbing on the impellor
running at 1500 rpm. Interestingly,
the noise experts found an identical
machine running at the side of the
first unit at a much lower noise level
– the operators had not noticed the
difference. The result was a noise
problem solved at no cost!
Whilst it may sound unbelievable, noise
control engineers tend to have plenty of
similar examples.
In organisations where the noise
source is easy to identify, this process
can very often be done in house,
with the assistance of a maintenance
engineer and in a very low cost manner.
Organisations that are affected with
high noise levels from a multitude of
plant and machinery are much more
likely to require a full noise audit and
the involvement of more specialist noise
control expertise.
An effective noise audit, undertaken
as part of an overall noise action
plan, will identify the noise control
options available and the potential

costs involved. It will help prioritise
the necessary actions relative to the
number of employees that may benefit
and the costs involved. It will also
serve as a record when deciding that
noise control is not a practical solution.
practical solutions
Having identified the dominant noise
sources it then becomes possible to
look closely at the root cause and
establish solutions and options.
In tackling industrial noise sources
there are a wide variety of solutions
which, with a clear diagnosis of the
actual noise source, should form part of
an overall noise reduction programme.
These are often referred to as the
‘hierarchy of noise control’ and involve
areas such as elimination, workplace
design and organisation, engineering
controls, and isolation.
eliminating noise
One option is to eliminate the actual
noise source by removing the process
or machine causing the noise and
replacing it with a less noisy piece of
equipment. Or it may be possible to
redesign the work or work pattern.
In new plants a low noise purchasing
policy could be introduced, where
noise levels are taken into account
when procuring plant and equipment.
This can help you make more informed
decisions.
Care must be taken when
interpreting manufacturers’ noise data
and the circumstances in which noise
figures are given. They should reflect
the environment in which the new
machine is to be installed.
workplace design
and organisation
Work patterns, process flows and
layouts should be reviewed and workers
repositioned in less noisy areas.
engineering controls
Each noisy process should be reviewed
and the root cause identified. A whole
host of engineering controls can be
implemented to eliminate the causes
of noise.
A small reduction in pressure, for
instance, will immediately reduce noise
levels at no cost. Another option is
to fit silencers on exhaust vents and
reduced noise level nozzles, also a low-
cost solution.
To reduce the potential of structure-
borne noise problems, isolate vibrating
machines by fitting anti-vibration
mounts and flexible joints on rigid
pipework. Fit damping material to
feed chutes and conveyors to reduce
vibrations. Reducing air pressure on
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
vibratory tables and conveyor vibrators
or even having these switched off
when the product is not moving along
the conveyor will also have immediate
reduction in noise levels, very often
with cost savings.
Where noise is caused by the impact
of metal, drop heights and metal
on metal impacts can be reduced or
removed altogether.
It is often worthwhile to review
feeds and speeds of equipment along
with maintenance regimes and ensure
equipment is regularly maintained, as
this can be a key contributor to noise
levels in the factory and a relatively
quick and cost effective way of
reducing them.
Carefully consider any modifications
to existing machine guards, with
a view to improving acoustic
performance. Noise should definitely
be a consideration when designing new
machine guards along with all other
health and safety considerations.
isolation processes with automatic access for
Where it is possible to isolate noisy
machinery you could consider erecting
enclosures, screens and baffles around
equipment. Or fit inlet and outlet
silencers to fans, blowers, steam vents
and exhaust stacks.
Another option is to install sound
booths to isolate workers from noise
sources. This can often prove to be a
most cost-effective solution and where
sophisticated control equipment is
used in running a production process,
can provide an improved working
environment for both man and machine.
As a direct result of the change
in legislation, many manufacturing
companies previously not affected
by the new regulations have noise
levels that are just above the upper
action levels of the 85 dB(A) daily
exposure level. It is these companies
that are most likely to benefit from
a consultation with a noise control
engineer.
It is often possible to reduce noise
levels by between 5–10 decibels
(nominally), by thorough examination
and consideration of the first three
categories highlighted above. This will
very often result in de-regulating work
areas that would otherwise, under the
new legislation, be deemed as hearing
protection zones where staff have to
wear hearing protection.
Inevitably and despite in-house
efforts to reduce noise levels, situations
will arise that call for considerable
reductions in noise levels and require
employees to be isolated from the noise
source. Typically, in these instances,
legalwatch
the noise reductions necessary could Martin Rayns
be in excess of 20 dB(A) and on (mrayns@
many occasions even considerably wakefieldacoustics.
higher. It is highly unlikely that a co.uk) is noise
company will have the necessary skills consultancy
in-house to cater for these levels of manager at
attenuation and will need to call upon Wakefield
a professional industrial noise control Acoustics
engineering company.
Some of the solutions that noise
control engineers have on hand include
acoustic enclosures, sound havens,
and barriers and doors which are
designed to isolate the receiver from
the noise source. Each in turn can
provide an optimum solution. Despite
the inevitable problems that can be
encountered with access, maintenance
and cooling, enclosures can be
designed in thorough consultation with
production management, maintenance
staff and very often with the machine
operators to adequately cater for most
difficulties.
Furthermore, enclosures can be
linked-in to most manufacturing
equipment such as conveyor systems
and pallet shuttles. Safety switches
on access points can often improve
the safety features of a particular
process, as well as reduce noise levels.
Windows can be included using modern
shatterproof materials, and stainless
steel constructions make them
particularly acceptable for most food
and pharmaceutical industries.
Walls and ventilation louvers/
attenuators are calculated with the
help of specialist acoustic design
software calculation packages, which
optimises the enclosure’s construction
and cooling requirements while
making the design as cost effective as
possible.
In one recent example, we
supplied a site experiencing noise
levels above 100 dB (A) with two
acoustic enclosures and housing
equipment designed to reduce noise
levels to 74 dB(A) at 1 m. We were
able to incorporate the customer’s
particular requirements for daily and
major maintenance which involved
completely removing the enclosure
roof area and found that the enclosure
actually reduced noise levels to
72 dB(A) at 1 m. Needless to say, the
customer was delighted! tce
Disclaimer: The information in this article cannot be taken
as an authoritative interpretation of the law. Such an
interpretation can only be given by employment tribunals and
the courts. Before taking any action, you may wish to consider
taking legal advice.
tce 21
reactions
reactions
people power
Madam,
I enjoyed your editorial in
tce 801 (March 2001) about
firing up people power, which
I thought was interesting and
raised many points with which I
agree. However, I would raise one
additional issue.
The impact of climate change
could not be happening at a
worse time for our technological
civilisation. The period of cheap,
readily-available energy on
which our technology is based
appears to be drawing to a close
as demand growth outstrips
supply growth with energy
shortages forecast within the
near future. Unfortunately, the
only significant responses to the
climate change problem that I
have seen discussed to date are
based on developing more of the
energy-based technology that
may (or may not) have got us into
this problem in the first place,
but certainly cannot be sustained
indefinitely, particularly in an era
of high-cost energy.
If one thing is apparent it
is that it is unlikely that the
whole world will develop an
individual, personal consensus
on the issue and its solutions.
After all, individuals, companies,
governments and terrorists have
entrenched self-interests and are
unlikely to submit to any proposal
which could be seen as favouring
others at their expense. Without
that it will not be possible to
ensure any consistent ‘treatment’
of the symptoms (let alone a
‘cure’) without the need for force
to ensure compliance by those
who put their self-interest above
all. The resulting conflict and
potentially ultimately fighting
or war will only increase energy
usage and make consensus even
less likely.
I’m constantly reminded of the
original Easter Islanders whose
technology was based on the use
of trees and who fought wars
against other tribes (including
destruction of the other tribe’s
trees) as trees started to become
scarce on the island. Eventually
they destroyed all the trees and
virtually died out.
So what are the issues we
should be looking at? How do we
56 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
use what energy we have now to
provide for the future?
As an engineer in the oil
industry, should I be encouraging
rapid depletion of oil reservoirs to
meet demand in the short-term,
or reduced depletion rates to
increase the reservoir life whilst
alternatives are developed?
•  Is ‘globalisation’ or even
commercialisation and
industrialisation sustainable in an
era of high-cost energy? What are
the alternatives (if any) and how
do we get them adopted all across
the world?
•  In the short-term how do we
make governments invest in
reducing energy demand across
the world (eg house insulation)
rather than building new power
stations?
•   Is anything being done to
develop sustainable, low ‘total’-
energy solutions for the provision
of food, drinking-water, shelter
etc as an alternative to the
current high-energy approaches,
particularly in the developed
world?
•  What long-term, low-energy
solutions are being prepared for
sustaining humanity in view of
the projected climate changes
(desertification, violent weather
systems, reduced freshwater
availability)? How will these
changes affect our capacity to
respond to further changes?
•  As the water level rises should
we invest more energy in trying
to protect our vulnerable cities
and their populations (with the
likelihood of failure and the
associated energy-cost of repair)
or start the move to new ‘safer’
locations? Where?
Joe Aiken
New Plymouth, New Zealand
global warming
Madam,
Congratulations on the March
issue of tce with the focus on
global warming! The excellent
overview of climate modelling
from the Hadley Centre team as
well as the reference resources
provided should help most readers
get a basic understanding of the
state of the science. Hopefully
a more informed readership will
result, on what is surely the most
important issue facing our planet
and our profession. Hopefully
too this will reduce the number
Send your letters – under 300
words please – by email to
letters@icheme.org.uk,
fax to +44 (0) 1788 547262,
post to tce, 165–189 Railway
Terrace, Rugby, CV21 3HQ, UK,
or add to the tcetoday.com
discussion forum. The editor
of letters that dismiss human-
reserves the right to edit all
induced global warming on the letters.
basis of mere opinion, hearsay
or trivial back-of-the-envelope
calculations.
Geoff Brent
Kurri Kurri, Australia on this topic is hindered when
explanation of occurrence can
Madam, look like either justification or
condemnation, especially if man-
I am finding tce’s publications
made warming is undifferentiated
(four articles and two interviews,
from the bigger problem of
March 2008) on the issue of man-
global warming, and identifying
made global warming healthily
vested interest just adds to the
provocative but a little too
problem. All scientific minds
subjectively mischievous to be
in any discipline are now fully
allowed to pass unchallenged
aware that this issue involves
from a scientific point of view. As
complicated political, even
a former consultant and lecturer
ideological questions to an extent
in environmental engineering, I
never before encountered in
have been sufficiently provoked
to disapprove of certain parts science. Writers are now published
with shimmering, but illusory
of current university syllabus
auras of learning, many associated
as inducing a decline in the
with sitters in chairs, and
core knowledge of chemical
recipients of prestigious awards
engineering. The bedrock of my
making environmental science
learning in this subject appeared
look like something of a hobby, or
to me to be unable to withstand
in the realm of science-fiction.
this growth of knowledge in the
  Not wishing to add to the
current direction.
current depreciation of learning,
The issue of man-made
my only suggestion is to insist
global warming is apparently
that we deserve and get more
a controversy incapable of
from the reviewers of this
definitive resolution in which
literature. Writing which takes the
case both perspectives on this
high moral ground, or could serve
subject are open for discussion
as a political manifesto cannot be
in journals such as tce. It is
taken seriously for science. Facts
inevitable that the scientific
and figures should relate to the
community becomes polarised:
established body of knowledge,
any scientific writer can find a
and any exceptional result
reason not to accept something
noted for further discussion and
said by another scientist, but
investigation, not swept under
is that state of affairs helpful
the carpet of assertion without
to the discipline of science?
explanation. Publishers must
Uncertainty rules – but this
recognise the current muddying
is not the first time in the
of the waters in this complex
evolution of the Western world,
debate which threatens not only
or in science if we go back to
Darwinian times. Recognising the economy but could deal a
complexity has been the death blow to the science which
has served us so well.
key to Western success and
progress. An inductive, pragmatic James Varjavandi, FIChemE
mindset has so far underpinned Sydney, Australia
the development of science
and technology from Roman
enthusiasm for FT
times as well as our economic Madam,
expansion. But current scientific I am grateful to Attilio Bisio
trends appear to threaten that for his comments on my article
expansion. These trends should on Fischer-Tropsch catalysts
not be allowed to threaten the (Reactions, tce 802, p62). Much
inductive, pragmatic mindset of what he said is in agreement
of the science behind that with my thoughts. I feel however
expansion. that he is taking a ‘big oil’ view
  Assessing a body of writing and missing both the pressures

that will arise from the increasing
availability of gas relative to oil,
and some of the opportunities
that are being explored by many
smaller organisations.
  I agree the world has voted for
liquefied natural gas in the short
term, and that this can have a
better CO2 footprint than gas-to-
liquids. The question still remains
as to what we will do when gas is
long and oil is short. One option
is LNG vehicles. The other is
GTL and stick with our existing
infrastructure. These options need
both economic and CO2 lifecycle
analysis to ensure we select the
best one. I feel the jury is still out
on this one – or maybe the court
is not yet in session!
  The other area of interest
is biomass and waste to
fuel. Pressure to reduce the
amounts of biomass going
into landfill, combined with
the high price of oil, is
generating significant interest in
processes to convert waste into
fuel. A number of technologies
are already approaching the
demonstration stage. This will
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
be the short-term application,
with strategic application of
large-scale FT getting the major
oil companies ready to roll out
more plants when the economics
become attractive.
Mike Roberts
Oxford, UK
Madam,
There has recently been discussion
in your journal (eg Mike Roberts,
tce March 2008) and others about
the possible benefits of Fischer-
Tropsch technology, whether
coal-to-liquids or gas-to-liquids,
in the current and presumably
future crisis in crude oil supply
and pricing. Here are a few
mass balance issues which need
emphasis.
In a coal-based FT plant,
carbon conversion is deplorably
low, and hence carbon dioxide
emissions in the processing
chain, ie before any syncrude is
produced, are high. I estimate
from published information on
the original antique Sasol plant
commissioned in 1957 (and
upgraded to reflect better process
technology in the newer Sasol
plants at Secunda) that the
carbon conversion rate is about
35%; ie for every 100 carbon
atoms in the input coal, about 65
molecules of CO2 are exhausted
into the atmosphere. This
estimate allows for coal burnt
in the power and steam raising
plants, serving both the synthesis
chain and the subsequent product
separation and refining plant.
This is not comfortable reading,
given the present concern about
climate change.
In fairness, the CO2 produced
– assuming oxygen-fired gasifiers
– contains little nitrogen or
other gases which would burden
sequestration using currently
proposed techniques.
Carbon conversion in natural
gas-based plants is much better,
perhaps as high as 80% in recent
plants with slurry-bed reactors.
The above estimates can
be supported by limiting
thermodynamic calculations
for ideal reversible plant which
suggest that the maximum ideally
attainable carbon conversion for
reactions
coal-based plant is about 63%,
and for natural gas an astonishing
127% based on CH4 input,
assuming CO2 is introduced as a
secondary feed.
Of course practical design
cannot nearly duplicate
thermodynamic ideals, so we can
hope for perhaps 40% carbon
conversion in future coal plant
using best possible process
technology. I suggest that we
can reasonably dream of 100%
conversion or even slightly more
in natural gas plant.
Thermodynamically encouraged
process design is expensive, if
we envisage high temperature
heat exchange, heat pumps to
high temperature, elimination
of furnaces, extensive power
generation from hot streams,
extensive process integration
and other steps not normally
contemplated in standard process
design. But we’re at an energy
crossroads where we have to
anticipate high capital cost to
achieve our carbon emission goals
Michael Smith
Blairgowrie, South Africa
tce 57
member networks
National Science Week
comes to Rugby schools
SCHOOLCHILDREN from three schools close to
IChemE’s Rugby HQ were recently treated to a
unique chemical engineering lesson, thanks to
IChemE and TV scientist Marty Jopson.
Pupils from Rugby High School, Rugby
School and Lutterworth High School watched
in amazement as Jopson, who has appeared
on a range of TV shows including Sky’s
Brainiac, taught them about the noisier
and messier side of science and chemical
engineering.
Staged as part of the UK’s National Science
and Engineering week, Jopson demonstrated
what happens when you heat up fizzy drinks,
how lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda
combine for some noisy experiments and, in
the highlight of the show, how to fire a carrot
through a sheet of 6 mm plywood using an
improvised cannon!
Julie Pollard, manager of the Institution’s
whynotchemeng careers campaign, says
the day went down well with children and
teachers alike: “Jopson showed how science
and chemical engineering can be found in just
about every aspect of life and the children
loved it. At the end of the shows, teachers also
enjoyed talking to Jopson about his work and
have hopefully discovered some fresh ideas to
take back to the classroom,” she adds.
Guida wins FMPSG’s
student competition
ICHEME’S Fluid Mixing Processes Subject
Group held its annual PhD research student
competition at the chemical engineering
department of Loughborough University on
17 March.
Five PhD students presented their research
to a panel of 20 delegates and five judges.
Antonio Guida of the University of Birmingham
won the prize, an expenses-paid trip to present
a paper at the International Symposium on
Mixing in Industrial Processes VI on 17–21
August, 2008 at Niagara Falls, Canada (www.
ismip6.org), with his presentation on the
determination of velocity field and solids
distribution in a stirred polydisperse system by
positron emission particle tracking.
The runners up were Thomas Rodgers of
the University of Manchester, Andrea Gabriele
of Birmingham University, Loughborough
University’s Jolius Gimbun and Birmingham’s
Adi Utomo.
52 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Institutions create title for
international engineers
International Engineering Technologist to recognise
cross-border engineering competencies
INCORPORATED engineers working outside
can now claim a new title: International
Engineering Technologist (IntET).
The new qualification was created by
the Engineering Council UK (ECUK) and
the national engineering organisations of
Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand
and South Africa in a bid to make it easier
for engineers to practise their profession
overseas. The title provides a basis for mutual
recognition of the competence and standing of
experienced engineering technologists who are
professionally registered, licensed or certified
within these countries. More nations are
expected to become involved in the not-too-
Runway success for PMSG site visit
ICHEME’s Project Management Subject Group
earlier this year paid a visit to Heathrow
Airport’s brand-new Terminal 5, ahead of its
highly anticipated opening and the well-
publicised teething troubles it has since been
beset with.
BAA’s project leader Phil Wilbraham talked
the subject group through the ins and outs of
the project.
The Terminal 5 development comprised 16
major and numerous minor projects totalling
£4.3b over the programme’s seven-year
lifespan. Terminal 5 will act as a gateway for
30m passengers a year, equivalent to Gatwick
Airport.
BAA used a partnering approach for
delivering Terminal 5, as originally proposed
by John Egan in the construction task force
report, Re-thinking construction. BAA held all of
the risk for the programme and engaged best in
class suppliers in long-term agreements, with
contractual incentives for delivering value. An
integrated team approach promoted the key
values of commitment, trust and teamwork in
an overarching no blame culture. The approach
seems to have worked: the terminal building
was delivered on time and on budget, with a
constantly improving safety record.
Cambridge chemeng celebrates 60 years
INVITATIONS are out for the 60th birthday
celebrations at the Department of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Cambridge
this summer.
All former students and staff are invited
to a day of celebration followed by a dinner
at Trinity College on 16 July 2008. There will
distant future.
Engineers who wish to apply for the new
title must hold an appropriate academic
qualification such as a bachelor’s degree, HND
or HNC, and have a minimum of seven years’
post-graduate experience as an engineer. Of
these, they must have spent at least two years
in charge of significant engineering work. They
also need to show an up-to-date record of
continuing professional development.
Applications have to be made through
the candidate’s engineering institution. The
registration fee is £90 ($180) and grants use of
the title for five years. Contact international@
engc.org.uk for further information. 
Key facts:
• 80,000 t of structural steel was used in
construction (more than three times that in
Wembley stadium) along with 1.2m m3 of
structural concrete;
• Planning permission was granted in 2001
after a 46-month public enquiry, the longest in
history;
• 60,000 workers over five years, with a
workforce of 8000 at the peak; and
• 85% of construction waste was recycled
including 400,000 t used as aggregate on site.
PMSG’s next event is on 6 May 2008 at
Diamond Light Source, Harwell, UK. Roadmaps,
innovation and industry will address the
question of whether UK industry is ready to
face the challenges of the future. For more
information contact Gemma Jones,
gjones@icheme.org.
be time to catch up with old friends and to
hear about latest developments, including the
merger with the Institute of Biotechnology.
If you studied or worked there and have
not yet received an invitation, please email
sixtieth@cheng.cam.ac.uk to make sure they
have your contact details.

Energy event for Catalysis
SG relaunch
Catalysis for Energy at Imperial College highlights vital technologies
THE contribution of catalysis to solving the
world’s current and future energy problems will
take centre stage at the upcoming Catalysis for
energy workshop, which marks the relaunch of
IChemE’s Catalysis Subject Group.
The half-day event, to be held at Imperial
College, London, on Monday 9 June, aims
to explain how catalysis and reaction
engineering of sustainable energy systems
can help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The catalysis community has a host of novel
and imaginative solutions to contribute to
solve the impending energy crisis, but there
is a transfer gap between basic science and
industrial applications that needs to be
overcome to advance new ideas at a speed
commensurate with future requirements and
legislation, the Catalysis SG says.
Chaired by Newcastle University’s Ian
Pictured, Newcastle’s Ian Metcalfe
Mashelkar tours
MCG at Australian
National Dinner
ICHEME’S president Ramesh Mashelkar
thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to tour
the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground when he
hosted IChemE’s National Dinner in Australia at
the MCG in mid-April.
Addressing over 125 IChemE members
and guests from Australia, New Zealand and
Singapore, Mashelkar highlighted the emerging
challenges of chemical engineering and
innovation – especially what the profession
can do to improve the lives of the world’s
poorest people, who survive on $2 a day or
even less.
Howard Bradbury, visiting fellow in
the School of Botany and Zoology at the
Australian National University, last year won
IChemE’s first-ever $2-a-day Award for his
simple process that can dramatically reduce
high levels of cyanide in cassava flour,
consumption of which cause the debilitating
condition Konzo which cripples thousands
in Africa. Bradbury was unable to attend
IChemE’s awards ceremony in London at the
time, making this the perfect opportunity
for IChemE’s president to present him with
the award in person. In addition, Bradbury
receives a $2000 grant donated by IChemE,
which will allow him to better publicise the
Metcalfe and Imperial College’s Klaus Hellgardt
(who will also speak on carbon capture from
membrane combustion and solar hydrogen,
respectively), the workshop will also feature
contributions from IChemE’s former technical
vice president Keith Guy on the difference
between innovations and inventions, a talk on
process intensification in multiphase reactors
by Bath University’s Alexei Lapkin, and details
on templated catalyst materials for PEM fuel
cells by Manchester University’s Ted Roberts.
cassava treatment process in rural parts
of Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic
Republic of Congo and other places in tropical
Africa.
Meanwhile Russell Scott, chairman of
IChemE in Australia, gave an overview of how
IChemE in Australia is helping implement the
Institution’s Roadmap. The Australian state
groups as key in driving the process forward,
with consultation sessions throughout 2008
in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and
Brisbane focusing particularly on the water
and energy issues raised in the Roadmap.
Scott says: “The challenge for each of us is
to take this into our workplaces and to work
in partnerships, to develop and promote
this common cause, through: industry and
academia, private sector and public sector, in
science and engineering and to contribute to
this work by spanning geographies, cultures
and disciplines.”
(left to right): Howard Bradbury, Russell Scott,
Ramesh Mashelkar and Max Lu, the deputy
chairman of IChemE in Australia
member networks
CAPE seeks systems
biology contributions
ICHEME’S Computer Aided Process Engineering
(CAPE) Subject Group is looking for potential
speakers and participants for a proposed
technical meeting on systems biology.
The one-day meeting, Systems biology
with an industrial focus, is expected take
place in June 2008. Its aim is to stimulate
more research in this field and encourage
technology transfer and collaborations.
Anyone interested in presenting a talk
or attending the seminar should contact
Charlese Immanuel at the Centre for Process
Systems Engineering, Imperial College London
(c.immanuel @imperial.ac.uk).
Green engineering
principles come to
SustainabilityLive
MALCOLM Wilkinson, chair of IChemE’s
Sustainability Subject Group, will use the
SustainabilityLive trade show in Birmingham
to spread the word about the 12 principles of
green engineering.
Wilkinson’s half-hour presentation, starting
at 12:00 on 21 May, will describe the green
framework the principles provide for scientists
and engineers when designing new materials,
products, processes and systems. In addition
to the basic requirements of product quality
and process safety, the 12 principles prompts
practitioners to consider environmental,
economic and social factors. The presentation
will detail the 12 principles with examples of
their use.
SustainabilityLive showcases innovation
in the water, environment, land and energy
sectors. It combines the National Energy
Management Exhibition (NEMEX); the
Environmental Technology and Environmental
Services Exhibition (ET&ES); Brownfield
Expo (BEX); and the International Water and
Effluent Exhibition (IWEX).
Highlights include a keynote speech
by Peter Ainsworth, the UK’s shadow
environment secretary, who will speak on the
ongoing challenge of climate change; details
on how to design sustainable buildings
courtesy of the building services company
NG Bailey; presentations from Regina Finn,
ceo of the water regulator Ofwat and John
Griggs, chairman of the British Standards
Committee; as well as details on the
forthcoming ecological risk assessment (ERA)
framework from the ecological risk assessment
consultant Sam Deacon.
Over 450 organisations will be exhibiting
at the show, including IChemE – you can find
the IChemE stand at Q92. The show takes
place at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, from
20–22 May 2008.
may 2008 tce 53
people
David
Sharp:
1917–2008
DAVID Henry Sharp OBE, formerly general
secretary of IChemE, has died aged 91.
Uniquely, Sharp was both general
secretary of IChemE and the Society of
Chemical Industry, and served both as joint
secretary from 1969 until 1975.
At the time, it was envisaged that
IChemE and SCI would merge: this seemed
logical, for SCI had much to do with the
inception of IChemE in the 1920s. The
bodies had neighbouring headquarters in
London’s Belgrave Square, and IChemE was
a tenant of SCI. During my own presidential
year, 1970–71, there were prolonged
negotiations about the merger. Sharp worked
tirelessly and diplomatically to achieve the
merger; it was not due to any lack of effort
on his part that the engagement of the two
societies was not consummated in marriage.
The two parties are incompatible, as they
were in 1970: SCI is a learned society,
organising meetings, conferences and
publications; IChemE is a qualifying body,
concerned with training and qualifications
for chemical engineers, as well as being a
learned society. Coupled with IChemE’s move
to Rugby this meant that the marriage never
happened. Sharp accordingly gave up his
job at IChemE in 1975, remaining as general
secretary of SCI until he retired in 1982.
He had wide and varied experience, which
made him an ideal secretary. His academic
qualifications were earned the hard way:
leaving school aged 17, he took a job as
laboratory assistant at Walpamur, a paint
manufacturer in Darwin, attending evening
classes at Blackburn Technical College and
50 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
graduating with an external BSc (Honours)
from the University of London in 1939. He
then worked for Sutcliffe Speakman in Leigh
on activated charcoal for use in respirators.
Sharp was later seconded to the Chemical
Defence Experimental Station at Porton
Down, continuing the work on adsorption,
to improve the effectiveness of gas masks.
At the same time he studied part-time at
the University of Southampton, doing post-
graduate work for a PhD from the University
of London.
A succession of jobs followed, including
improving continuous process electric kilns
to replace coal-fired kilns, developing
better glazing processes and designing an
effluent treatment plant for Pest Control
in Cambridgeshire. Added to this were
positions at the Federation of British
Industries and the National Board of Prices
and Incomes.
I recall David’s anecdote about his early
days at Pest Control when effluent was taken
away by a contractor. One day he decided
to trail the contractor’s tanker. Its journey
ended at a distant housing estate, where
a manhole cover in the road was lifted to
discharge the tanker’s contents, ‘‘straight
into the river”, he said.
His varied background must have
appealed to IChemE and SCI, and he brought
wisdom, common sense and efficiency to the
difficult task of running the two societies in
parallel.
Sharp was active in the European
Federation, receiving the German
Grossdienstkreuz in 1981 and the Order
of the British Empire in 1982 for services
to chemical and chemical engineering
industries. The Overseas Medal of the SCI
followed in 1984.
Not content to retire quietly, Sharp
helped to start the BioIndustry Association.
He did editorial work for Ellis Horwood and
published the book Bioprotein manufacture
– a critical assessment in 1989.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years,
Enid, together with their three children,
Roger, Dicky and Lalage. They were a close-
knit family, an example to us all.
John Davidson
IChemE president
made ATSE Fellow
RAMESH MASHELKAR, current IChemE president,
will become the first Indian Foreign Fellow of
the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences
and Engineering (ATSE).
ATSE’s president, Robin Batterham – a former
president of IChemE – presented Mashelkar with
the fellowship during a visit to Australia at
the end of April. He will become only the 14th
Foreign Fellow of ATSE.
Mashelkar says he is delighted at the news.
“I’m particularly delighted that in almost four
decades, I am the first Foreign Fellow of the
Academy who has an Indian origin. I accept this
honour with great humility.”
Jingguang Chen
wins catalysis
excellence award
JINGGUANG Chen, professor of chemical
engineering at the University of Delaware, US,
has won the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan
New York’s 2008 Award for Excellence.
Chen is recognised for his work on bimetallic
and metal carbide surfaces, where his quest
to understand their physical and chemical
properties has inspired new applications of
fundamental studies into catalysis and fuel cells.
Specifically, the award committee cites
the “pioneering work” of Chen’s group in the
design of bimetallic and carbide catalysts with
desirable properties, and Chen’s 1997 book Near-
edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS)
investigations of metal oxides, nitrides, carbides
and sulphides, is described as a “seminal study
in this area”.
Chen will receive his award in late May at
the Catalysis Society’s base at Somerset, New
York, after giving a special award lecture on
excellence in catalysis.
Priestley award for
surface scientist
THE American Chemical Society has awarded its
highest annual accolade, the Priestley Award, to
renowned surface chemist Gabor Somorjai.
The award recognises 40 years dedicated to
the study of interactions at material boundaries,
which have led to breakthroughs in the fields
of catalysis, material science and nanoscience.
His use and development of novel techniques,
such as low-energy electron diffraction surface
crystallography and high-pressure tunnelling
microscopy, has led to an array of findings that
have driven the development of surface science.
He is the author of three textbooks and more
than 900 scientific papers.

Sweet hydrogen generation
Enzymes promise a sugar-powered automotive revolution
BIOCHEMICAL engineers say they have
developed a breakthrough hydrogen-production
process that solves three of the major barriers
to future fuel revolution.
Lead researcher and Virginia Tech biochemical
engineer Percival Zhang added 13 common
enzymes to water and starches in a specially-
tailored reactor. When heated to 30oC, the
mixture produced only carbon dioxide and
hydrogen.
Zhang calls the development “the most
promising hydrogen production system to date
from plant biomass.” However, he warns that
the method – described as “in vitro synthetic
biology” – would take another eight to ten
years to optimise before it is suitable for
vehicles. Nevertheless, the process could help
solve the three problems of fuel security, safety,
and infrastructure.
  At present, most hydrogen is still produced
from fossil fuels, which defeats the ultimate
goal of weaning society off of its fossil fuel
dependence. Zhang’s process is safe because
hydrogen is consumed as it is produced, leaving
no chance of a repeat of the infamous 1937
Hindenburg disaster.
Meanwhile, on-site, or rather in-car
production of hydrogen neatly sidesteps the
vicious circle that is the infrastructure barrier:
Investment in infrastructure such as fuel
Mixing for methane maximisation
MIXING is crucial if you want to efficiently
produce methane biogas in anaerobic digesters,
chemical engineers at Washington University, US,
have determined.
Muthana al-Dahhan, professor of energy,
environmental and chemical engineering at
Washington University, and his doctoral students
Khursheed Karim, Rajnesh Varma, Mehuld
Vesvikar and Rebecca Hoffman completed a
$2.2m government-funded research programme
to improve the efficiency of biogas production
in anaerobic digesters. These reactors are used
to produce methane-based syngas from farmyard
manure, which can then be used to power farm
machinery.
Al-Dahhan and his team investigated the
reasons for the alarming 76% failure rate of the
100 anaerobic digesters currently in use in the
US. A comprehensive study of the configuration,
design, hydrodynamics and mixing parameters of
lab-scale and a 100 l pilot scale reactor found that
mixing was the most crucial step in the process.
While the various mixing methods – gas
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
stations and pipelines is unpalatable until
automakers begin to make of enough cars to
warrant the expenditure. Unfortunately, car
manufacturers are not prepared to spend the
money until the infrastructure is in place to
guarantee that customers can fill up and get
around, making this a classic Catch 22 situation.
The new system could be adapted to filling
stations, or even home-based filling stations, so
that fuel can be produced on-site.
Zhang’s next goal is to improve the efficiency
of the process. While the system currently
produces three times the theoretical yield of
anaerobic fermentation methods, there is still
plenty of room for improvement. Zhang says
the speed of hydrogen production must be
optimised and the team will now experiment
with enzymes that work at higher temperatures
in the hope they will produce hydrogen more
quickly.
injection, mechanical agitation, slurry circulation
and liquid circulation – all performed well in
the lab, problems emerged in scale-up. “As size
increased, we found mixing plays a very important
role in successful operations,” al-Dahhan says.
“Intensity of mixing also is important. We found
that if intensity of mixing is reduced, failure often
is a consequence.”
To understand the hydrodynamics of
anaerobic digestion al-Dahhan and colleagues
developed a unique multiple-particle, computer-
automated radioactive particle tracking system,
computational fluid dynamics, and gamma ray
computed tomography to see where and under
what conditions biochemical stagnant or dead
zones occurred. They also analysed mixing
systems, hydrodynamics, shear effect, and reactor
configuration.
The results of their research were fed into
a re-designed commercial digester currently in
operation at the Iowa Energy Center, which al-
Dahan says, will help make future digesters more
reliable.
process news
Verenium to perfect
cellulosic ethanol
VERENIUM, a US-based enzyme and
biofuel development business, has started
up its demonstration-scale cellulosic
ethanol facility and is looking to full
commercialisation.
By mid-year, Verenium hopes to test
more than 40 separate pilot plant systems.
Company president Carlos Riva says: “The
next several months will be critical in terms
of scaling our process and technology and
garnering the insights necessary to begin
construction on our first commercial facility.”
To make cellulosic ethanol commercially
viable, the company will follow the current
start-up phase with a commissioning phase
aimed at validating company technologies
and processes. Specifically, the company will
use this information to scale up fermentation
mixtures, optimise its hydrolysing unit, and
develop lower-cost processes and product
recovery technologies. It will introduce
biomass and enzymes to produce ethanol,
which will allow for optimisation by year
end. Once complete, Verenium will construct
a commercial-scale plant.
The pilot plant will produce 5300 m3/y of
cellulosic ethanol. The commercial plant, if
proven viable, will produce 265,000 m3/y.
Antibacterial socks
shed nano-silver
RESEARCH into silver nanoparticles
increasingly used as an antibacterial
treatment for socks has revealed that some
particles are easily washed out, raising
concerns about their downstream effects on
water treatment.
Researchers at Arizona State University,
US, bought six brands of socks that
contain antibacterial silver nanoparticles.
Spectroscopy revealed that two of the six
brands lost 100% of their silver nanoparticles
within four washes. The other brands fared
rather better, but the research flags up the
fact that the full nanoparticle lifecycles
remains poorly understood.
Modelling indicates that the increased
silver concentrations should be within legal
limits for wastewater plants. However, the
particles may affect the bacteria used in
such plants, while silver build-up in the
sludge could make it toxic and unsuitable for
use as a fertiliser.
There have been numerous calls to
regulate nanoparticles as they increasingly
find their way into commercial products.
However, despite the recognised need for
safety and standards, nanoparticle scientists
believe that more research has to be
conducted before any limits are set.
tce 15
process news
Ecoli yields biofuel
RESEARCHERS from the University of California
at Los Angeles (UCLA) have genetically
engineered bacteria to produce high-octane
biofuels from sugar.
The production of isobutanol has raised
particular interest. The researchers, who
published their findings in the April issue of
Nature, claim this is the very first time that
isobutanol has been produced entirely from
renewable sources.
Most naturally-occurring microbes produce
ethanol, but have difficulty turning sugar
into butanol. Due to this lack of efficiency, it
has not been economically viable to produce
butanol from renewable sources – until now.
The UCLA team has engineered E coli DNA
to make butanol from glucose. This has been
done by inserting several genes from other
microbes into it, thus allowing them to create
a metabolic pathway to convert sugar into
isobutanol via aldehyde intermediates.
This breakthrough is said to have speeded
the commercialisation of next-generation
biofuels by several years. “In addition, these
efficient new pathways raise the possibility of
retrofitting existing ethanol plants, at a low
capital cost, to produce advanced biofuels,”
says Pat Gruber, ceo at Gevo, a biofuels
startup with exclusive access to the UCLA
technology. “This helps to address one of the
major issues in bringing an advanced biofuel
to market: capital”.
Lightening the load
CHEMICAL engineers charged with developing
a hydrogen-generating power system for the
military say that battlefield packs will soon be
less heavy.
“The military, for very good reasons,
operates all of its hardware – from tanks to
naval ships – off one single fuel, JP-8, which
is similar to civilian aviation fuel,” says
Jonathan Wenzel, assistant research engineer
in chemical and biological engineering at
Missouri University of Science and Technology,
US.
The system the team is building will react
JP-8 fuel with water to produce hydrogen and
small amounts of carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, methane and ethane.
The advantage is that the fuel will be
readily available from any US military convoy.
Wenzel says this will reduce personnel loads
by 10–20 kg – the average weight of batteries
required to power laptops and night-goggles
for a four-day tour.
The researchers say that beyond the
portable scalable unit in development, the
system could be expanded to provide enough
energy to power an entire navy ship. By
adding a fuel cell to the system, researchers
say that soldiers will produce their own
drinking water too.
16 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
Iran steps up pace of
uranium enrichment
300 new centrifuges installed at Natanz labs and more planned
IRANIAN uranium enrichment has advanced
to a new level. Diplomats say that Iran
has installed a series of second-generation
centrifuges, almost a year after announcing
to the world that it had started enriching
uranium at industrial scale.
Now Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
says that Iran has advanced its efforts.
Whilst the country put 3000 first-generation
Pakistan-sourced centrifuges to work a year
ago, the technology is known to be a dated
1970s design that is prone to breakdown.
However, the International Atomic Energy
Agency said in a February 2008 report that
Iran had installed a test cascade at its Natanz
enrichment facility – apparently a pre-cursor
to what is believed to be 300 new second-
generation, Iranian-constructed centrifuges,
which are claimed to be ready for operation.
Sources say that Iran has already done most of
the necessary vacuum tests, including leakage
checks, to make sure the latest centrifuges are
in working order.
This would give Iran two operational
Losing your nerve agents – safely
PROCESSES to remediate pesticides or nerve
agents tend to create toxic byproducts that
can harm the surrounding environment. A new
decontamination agent demonstrated in the
US suggests that this problem will soon be a
thing of the past.
Researchers at Kentucky and Kennesaw
State Universities, US, say that a new de-
alkylating agent allows them to cleave
organophosphate-based compounds in a single
reaction for the first time. This agent is based
on a Schiff base, a functional group that
contains a carbon-nitrogen double bond where
the nitrogen atom is bonded to an aryl or alkyl
group but not to hydrogen. The developed
Schiff base contains boron or aluminium
and breaks the phosphate ester bond in
organophosphates, which prevents unwanted
side reactions and surface corrosion.
“This research demonstrates the first
technique whereby nerve agents or pesticides
cascade processes running at Natanz: the
3000 dated centrifuges, and the newer 300
centrifuges, which are said to be two to three
times more efficient. Ahmadinejad says that
he hopes to eventually install 6000 of the
new-design centrifuges.
An enrichment cascade works by feeding
uranium gas into tubes that spin at supersonic
speeds. This produces fuel that can be used in
power generation and atomic weapons. Despite
repeated UN sanctions designed to stop Iran’s
enrichment programme and the occasional
veiled threat of military action from Israel and
the US, Iran remains defiant. It reasons that
it has a right to develop the technology for
domestic nuclear power, which would free up
more oil for export.
Meanwhile, despite all the political
posturing, nuclear analysts remain doubtful
that Iran has the necessary skills and
experience to reliably run centrifuges at
optimal non-stop speeds for long periods,
which is the key to a successful enrichment
process.
can be made inactive in a direct reaction. The
resulting non-toxic byproducts would be solids
that could be easily handled or disposed of”,
says Kentucky chemistry professor and paper
author David Atwood.
Current remediation efforts often use bleach
that reacts indiscriminately with compound
mixtures in nerve agents and pesticides and
can have explosive consequences or produce
corrosive byproducts. Alternative methods
including alkaline hydrolysis have slow
reaction rates and other processes can actually
produce byproducts, such as thioic acids, that
can be as equally toxic as the original nerve
agent.
Future research will examine the processes
proficiency at decontaminating object such
as vehicles that have been exposed to nerve
agents.
The research is published online in the
New journal of chemistry.
 sustainability 1

Dyes go green
Ciarán Prunty examines how sustainable wastewater
treatment in the colours industry and dye production can be

ACROSS Europe, the colour industry A major concern is the toxicity of directives have been introduced to
boasted a traditionally strong coloured compounds. A study of the protect the environment in Europe and
manufacturing base and was a major combined effluents from textile finishing safeguard the health of its citizens.
employer up until the end of the plants found that 27% of the wastewater The new Registration, Evaluation, and
20th century. More recently it has been samples were mutagenic. Although Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH)
displaced to developing economies in there is no proof that the industrial Regulation, which puts a greater burden
Asia as a consequence of prohibitively handling and end-use of dyes causes on industry for managing the risks
high manufacturing costs of labour, raw cancer, historical data shows increased from chemicals and providing safety
materials and transport in Europe. Another rates of bladder cancer among workers information on their products, may
major driver in the switch to production involved in the production of certain limit the production of new dyes by
in developing economies is the absence dyes, and the compounds involved have conventional methods, but stands to
of the considerable amounts of health, since been removed from the market. benefit those who are seeking to develop
safety and environmental legislation that An evaluation report on capillary dyes less toxic new compounds.
the dye industry has to contend with in offers some epidemiological evidence
Europe. Traditionally a sector with low that regular, long-term usage of everyday
challenges for
investment in R&D and beset by problems products such as hair dyes can be linked
dye wastewater treatment
of negative environmental impact, the to the development of bladder cancer. In addition to their properties of colour,
colour industry now stands to benefit In addition, certain toxic dyes which textile dyes are very stable compounds
from renewed European-wide focus on have been banned in the EU continue to that are difficult to degrade. They are
sustainability and waste management. be used elsewhere in the world. Indeed, used in dying because they are resistant
By using biotechnology to produce imported low-cost clothing with these to fading upon exposure to sweat, light,
colours and treat their waste, there is dyes poorly fixed to the fabric have been water and oxidising agents. However,
an opportunity for the European textile known to cause skin irritation as the advantages turn into disadvantages when
industry to profit from the development dye comes off the fabric on exposure to it comes to decolourising or detoxifying
of more eco-friendly products and moisture, sweat etc. Azo dyes are the most leftover dyes in wastewater, before it is
sustainable production methods. Indeed toxic, mainly because of the formation released into the environment. Traditional
there is a demand from end-users and of derivatives that can be converted wastewater treatment processes can have
consumers for less toxic products that are into carcinogenic and/or mutagenic little effect on strong dye-containing
synthesised by environmentally-friendly amines after being released into aquatic effluents, and colour and toxicity can
processes, and a potential export market environments. Knowledge of the dyes’ persist in the receiving waters. In the
for products that meet strict health and structures and how they are degraded is past, it was not unheard of for small-
ecological standards. With these goals crucial to an understanding of how toxic scale dye-users to discharge untreated
Enzymes found in
in mind, a team of researchers and SMEs by-products are formed. Other toxicity wastewater directly to receiving waters.
naturally-occuring
from across Europe over the past few years concerns relate to the impurities in Today, tightening discharge consents
fungi are able to
embarked on an EU-funded project to commercial dye products and the additives across Europe increasingly require end-
break down dyes into
bring a high-tech sustainable approach to used during the dyeing processes. users to address the colour and toxicity
colourless, less toxic
dye production and treatment. of their effluents. Unfortunately, cost
compounds
environmental challenges effective catch-all treatments are not yet
health impacts Along with the health implications of available.
Founded on long-established enterprises dyes there are also other environmental Biological treatment with activated
and traditional processing methods, issues to consider. Closely associated sludge can remove a small fraction of the
the dyeing industry has not seen much with the problem of effluent toxicity is colour, which gets adsorbed to the sludge.
investment in research and development. colour content; although the two may not The physical and chemical properties of
Indeed, the industry is often characterised always be directly related. Indeed public dye wastewaters can hamper the efforts
by long-term perceived problems such perception of the cleanliness and amenity of biological treatment processes. Often
as weak market competition, lack of value of a water system tends to be more the effluents have a high dye and salt
innovation, toxicity, environmental directly affected by colour pollution than content, extreme pH values and are very
impact, and health risks for those working by the actual content of toxic compounds. hot when they are discharged. All of
in the industry. Dyes are stable, persistent For instance, if a river receives a strongly this requires a robust effluent treatment
and often toxic compounds. Unfortunately, coloured effluent of non-natural colour process that can withstand the fluctuating
the dying process does not consume the (let’s say, red) it may be perceived production schedules characteristic of
entire compound: typically, 10–40% of as heavily polluted, regardless of the the dyeing industry. More expensive
the dye remains unfixed to the substrate; toxicological impact of the red dye physical and chemical treatments have
and this may find its way into local water compound. Another river receiving a less been employed, with limited success.
systems affecting aquatic plant and animal conspicuous but highly toxic brown dye is These include ozonation, oxidative and
life. The dyeing process consumes large likely to be perceived as unpolluted since photochemical (ultraviolet exposure)
quantities of water and often releases there is little aesthetic impact to alarm processes, adsorption onto activated
additional compounds such as fixing the public. carbon and membrane filtration/reverse
agents, dyeing aids and fire retardants. In the EU, new legislation and osmosis. None of these meet the ideal of

24 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com

 sustainability 1

a reliable and cost-effective wastewater
treatment process that would allow dye-
users to meet discharge consent.
biotechnological sustainability
At Lisbon in 2000, the EU set itself the
goal of becoming the most competitive
and dynamic knowledge-based economy
in the world, capable of sustainable
economic growth with more and better
jobs and greater social cohesion.
Biotechnology is at the forefront of
this endeavour. Industry uses biological
processes to perform complex chemical
reactions (brewing), degrade waste
materials (land remediation) and
generate useful products such as biogas
in a manner more cost effective than the
alternative chemical methods. SOPHIED
is a major EU research project aimed
at exploiting the colour-degrading and
generating properties of fungi. Applied to
the dyeing industry, the technology could
remediate wastewaters and produce non-
toxic dyes.
Enzymes are naturally-occurring
catalysts of chemical reactions inside
organisms. The laccase and peroxidase
enzymes found in certain fungi can break
down and modify coloured compounds,
which makes them interesting to the
dyeing industry. Naturally-occurring
white-rot fungi are normally found in
rotting tree stumps, branches and plant
debris. They use a cocktail of enzymes
to degrade cellulose, and are also able
to break down dyes into colourless, less
toxic compounds. Other enzymes still
can be used to convert initial ‘pre-cursor’
molecules into existing dyes or new
coloured compounds.
SOPHIED researchers screened existing
banks of fungi and tested the enzymes
of newly-collected fungi for their ability
to decolourise existing dyes and modify
molecules to produce new, less toxic
dyes. The Catholic University of Louvain
in Belgium is host to a mycotheque – a
library of over 26,000 strains of fungi of colours and are currently optimising Ciarán Prunty
– which was extensively searched during production processes to ensure their (c.prunty@qub.
the screening process. Additionally, an properties are consistent and they can be ac.uk) is a research
expedition to the Comoro islands off the produce in high volumes. These new dyes fellow at the
coast of Mozambique collected several new are now being designed to ensure that Questor Centre, an
samples of wood-degrading fungi from they meet the exacting industrial quality industry-university
the forests. After the screening process, standards and overcome the problems collaborative
434 fungi were intensively tested and 16 associated with natural dyes, such as environmental
selected for the treatment of effluents, rapid fading to light and dye-fibre fixation research centre
plus ten for the synthesis of dyes. problems. The newly-developed dyes based at Queen’s
produced by bioprocesses are intrinsically University, Belfast
novel wastewater treatment less toxic than the molecules currently
After identifying the fungi and enzymes in use and thus may open up a new
with the desired activity, flask-scale trials market for more responsibly-produced
assessed their ability to significantly textiles. It is even possible that some
decolourise and detoxify model dye enzymic reactions could efficiently
wastewaters. Several strains and enzymes and cost-effectively replace traditional
showed promise and were further tested chemical synthesis routes. Enzymes can
in a lab-scale system representing transform simple chemical pre-cursors into
industrial treatment of real wastewater. more complex molecules such as dyes.
We decided to immobilise the fungal Researchers are working to indentify the
cells on inert support in a column system steps in existing dye production processes
and circulate a batch wastewater until where enzymes could efficiently and cost-
it was treated to the desired level. We effectively replace chemical synthesis.
were able to effectively decolourise the Exploiting biotech processes could
model wastewater, and toxicity testing give a real shot in the arm to a number of
showed that the colourless products were industries across Europe and potentially
significantly less toxic than the dyes open up a range of new markets and
present before treatment. At present, we innovative new products. Bulk production
are optimising the system to ensure that of low-cost products by developing
it can handle the rigorous conditions economies looks set to continue but
of real wastewater and the fluctuations as consumers become more aware of
between peak and base production, and ecological issues, the dyeing industry has Table 1: Decline in
scaling it up for on-site demonstration the opportunity to respond with more production and
this summer. sustainable products and manufacturing employment in the
methods that will benefit the public and European textile and
new dyes and
environment. tce clothing sectors
production alternatives
Naturally-occurring coloured molecules 1999 2000 2001 2002
include both inorganic pigments
and coloured organic compounds. Textiles 1210 1556 1142 1092
Total employment
Microorganisms can produce vivid defined
(thousands)
coloured compounds, depending on the Clothing 1194 1106 1038 980
nutritional conditions and the expression
of relevant genes. In addition to their Total number of
firms (thousands) Textiles 76 75 72 70
bioremediation capabilities, SOPHIED
including firms
uses the special activities of enzymes
with less than 20 Clothing 125 120 113 107
from fungi to produce new dyes. We have persons
developed new dyes covering a range

Aims of the SOPHIED project Dyes world market

Novel Sustainable Bioprocesses for the
European Colour Industry (SOPHIED)
is a four-year integrated flagship
project funded by the EU through the
Framework 6 programme, which aims
to provide environmentally-friendly
solutions to some of the major problems
affecting the future of the industry in
Europe. Biotechnological processes and
expertise are being exploited to deliver
competitive advantages to dyeing in
Europe through three parallel objectives.
• Developing new bioremediation
technology to decolourise and
detoxify dye-containing wastewaters;
• Developing new, safe enzyme-assisted
processes for the production of
existing dyes; and
• Creating new dye molecules which are
less toxic and which can be
synthesised biotechnologically for
added value markets
The project is a partnership between
16 SMEs, seven universities and three
research centres spread across ten
European countries.
The project consortium is led by
the Belgian biotech company Wetlands
Engineering and supported by the
Catholic University of Louvain.
In 2003, before the SOPHIED project began,
China was already producing half of the world’s
dyestuffs. Developing countries in Asia will
inevitably become the dyestuff production and
supplying bases in the world. The world market
for dyestuffs is huge. At present, dyestuff
production worldwide totals 1–1.5m t/y with
sales of almost €5b/y. Sales of dyestuffs for
textile purposes are 680,000 t/y, accounting for
68.1% of the total market sales.
It is anticipated that the biological
production of less-toxic dyes, produced in a safer
and more sustainable manner will generate a new
market for ecologically-sensitive, responsibly
produced textile products.

www.tcetoday.com may 2008 tce 25

residue
residue

SCIENTISTS have been attaching electrodes to plants...and they

discovered...wait for it...plants don’t like electrotherapy! It turns out that
being electrocuted stresses them out and they produce a greater volume of
secondary metabolites.
This didn’t shock us. Much in the same way we wouldn’t be surprised to
discover we’d wet ourselves after our would-be torturers zapped us with
20,000 V. No, what surprises Residue is that plants can get stressed at all.
You see, we at Residue like plants – we have a number of highly expensive
species dotted around the office (expect members fees to rise accordingly)
– so we waited with baited breath for the regular beardies and do-gooding
elite to kick up a fuss. We imagined a flourish of gaily written banners: Fight
for Radish Rights! Humane Harvesting Now! Lettuce Live in Peace! You know: the
usual guff. But the usual suspects were mute.
We view this silence as testimony to kingdomist vegetarian hypocrisy
everywhere: eat veal and you’re reserved an apartment in the penthouse circle
of Hell; Hitler lives next door and you car pool with Judas. But pull a carrot,
screaming from its warm soily bed, and as long as it’s a card-carrying member
of the organic farmer’s party, you can julienne the poor defenceless critter
quicker than you can say Dutch-coloured root vegetable.
And the moral of this tale: the tomato in your clubbed-sandwich is as
morally repugnant as the seal.

Peering towards an event horizon

But Wagner believes it will unify more than
NOSTRADAMUS was so fond of ringing the dates on
just theories. If you believe what Wagner has
his doom-calendar that it’s nigh-on impossible to
to say, the Earth has until the end of May to
take him seriously; civilisation should have ended in
tie up its affairs, finalise its will, and wave
1729, last Tuesday and today. Now, without poking the
a teary goodbye to its cosmic buddies before
finger of parody too far into the eye of fate, it appears
the LHC’s particles collide at new and greater
that Nostradamus has met his fear-mongering match.
speeds to create a mini-black hole that
Hawaii biologist Walter Wagner is all bent out of
will expand to engulf everything around it
shape because physicists are almost ready to power up
– Geneva, France, Europe, the Earth...
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC, pictured) – a 27 km long
Fortunately, say Wagner’s critics, he’s wrong; just like he was wrong
particle accelerator buried beneath the Franco-Swiss border. Physicists
when he made the same prediction about the US’ Relativistic Heavy Ion
have been waiting for years to turn it on. Many believe it will reveal the
Collider. Plus, and this is the clincher, he’s only a biologist, and so he
elusive Higgs boson particle that will sew up the gaps in the Standard
has about as much insight into the workings of particle physics as a
Model, which in turn would be an important step towards the much
comb-deprived patent clerk.
sought-after Grand Unified Theory of Absolutely Everything.
All residue contributions to aduckett@icheme.org

76 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com

review

Financial fundamental
for engineers
George Solt and Richard Hill, Elsevier, 191pp,
ISBN 0-7506-6941-1, paperback
BEFORE I start,
I should declare
a hint of bias
as a reviewer:
I knew both
the authors
well at one
time, a few years ago, because of their
involvement in the IChemE Water Subject Group.
I would, however, also like to declare that had
they not been the authors, then I would have
probably declined to undertake the review.
My fond recollection of them both as
intelligent, sensible and amusing men led
me to hope that here, finally, would be a
book that would explain this difficult subject
comprehensibly. I was not disappointed.
The book is an introduction to the world of
business for those who work in the engineering
industries, and distils between its covers two
lifetimes of experience that I wish I had been
given when I set out.
It covers far more than just accounting
finance, explaining business plans, contracts,
procurement, getting paid, and the commercial
realities of engineering design, R&D and health
and safety.
It puts into context the work of engineers,
and those who understand their environment
have a much-improved chance of success both
as individuals and as representatives of the
engineering professions.
The book is well-written, in a style that is
both accessible and entertaining. It is made
easy to read and understand by the informality
of the text and by the many anecdotes and
cartoons used to illustrate the issues; it is made
into both a reference tool and a learning aid by
the inclusion of appendices, a glossary, clear
cross-references, and summaries of all chapters.
This publication is aimed at the new graduate
working in the engineering industries, but in
my view the information is as valid for almost
all areas of business, and as useful for all
professions... and for quite a number of those
whose graduation photographs are not so recent.
I fear that the title may restrict the readership,
and this would be to the detriment of those who
miss it.
I don’t feel that it reflects the scope and
sheer usefulness of the content. The book
should be required reading for all final-year
undergraduates, so that they can understand the
operational reality of the world which they are
entering.
Derryn Rolfe, BPE Solicitors

New from furnace fuels, efficiency, burner design and selection, aerodynamics,
heat release profiles, furnace atmosphere, safety and emissions.

IChemE’s members
Industrial and process
furnaces
Peter Mullinger and Barrie Jenkins, Elsevier/
IChemE; 505pp; ISBN 978-0-7506-8692-1;
£75; $130; € 108
BILLED as ‘a comprehensive reference to all
aspects of furnace operation and design’, Industrial
and process furnaces covers everything plant and process engineers need
to know about furnaces, including combustion process and its control,
The book aims to help furnace operators understand the heat and
mass transfer issues that can underlie combustion problems, make clear
furnace theory to encourage optimum design, and shows practitioners
how to get the most out of their furnace.
Peter Mullinger, associate professor of chemical engineering at the
University of Adelaide, told tce that even though furnaces are widely
used, combustion and furnace design is not well covered in the majority
of engineering degrees. “This clear need prompted us to start short
courses on the topic for industrial engineers, starting in the early
1990s,” he says. “Participants in these courses frequently asked us
‘Where can we buy the book?’ Well, this is ‘the book’; we hope it fills
the gap.”

BNR in warm climates

Recently published
The management of chemical process development in
the pharmaceutical industry
Derek Walker, Wiley, 416pp, ISBN 978-0-470-17156-1, £52.95 / € 66.70
THE former long-standing vice president of chemical process development
at the Schering-Plough Research Institute, Derek Walker has distilled his
40 years of experience in process development in the pharma industry in
one book.
With a firm focus on management rather than mass balances, Walker
wants his book to be a practical guide for process development managers
who need to know about the organisation and management of the
corporate behemoths they may be working for.
With advice on how to integrate cross-disciplinary professionals in
productive teams, the book covers problem-solving, understanding matrix
organisations, holding review meetings, motivating staff and responses to
emergencies. Other topics include defining the best green chemistry for
process scale-up, including accommodating FDA requirements in the last
process steps and addressing safety and environmental matters early in
their work.
Cao Ye Shi, Wah Yuen Long, Ang Chee Meng and Kandiah Raajeevan; IWA
Publishing; 168pp; ISBN: 978-1-843-391-876; £ 65 / $130 / € 97.50
BIOLOGICAL nitrogen removal (BNR) activated sludge processes used in
warm climates are conservatively designed because of a lack of systematic
research in its performance outside temperate conditions. This book covers
issues such as sewage and sludge characterisation, dynamic performance
of full-scale processes, laboratory simulation and modelling that leads to
a mechanistic and more economic design, and gives recommendations for
operating, designing and upgrading BNR activated sludge process in warm
or tropical climates.
Hydrogen energy – challenges and prospects
DAJ Rand & RM Dell, Springer Verlag, 300pp, ISBN 978-0-85404-597-6
AN attempt at an objective analysis of hydrogen energy technology,
free from political constraints and industrial loyalties, this book covers
pathways to hydrogen production, prospects for carbon capture and
storage, options for hydrogen storage on vehicles, fuel cells, and fuel cell
vehicles. While the authors acknowledge that the field is too complex
for simple answers and unequivocal conclusions, they try to point at the
likely direction of research and eventual outcomes.

60 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com

sustainability 3
Hybrid technologies
Flexible plant design helps offset fluctuating biofuels feedstock prices.
Rubén Rodriguez, Robert Mcdonald and Thanos Sotiriadis explain
PRODUCING biofuels is a tricky
business. With international
regulations increasingly specifying
that transport fuels have to contain
a certain amount of biofuels there is
a ready market, but the economics of
producing the fuels are notoriously
difficult. Bioethanol production
has been hampered by the rocketing
feedstock prices – the price of wheat
alone has risen by two thirds since May
2007. Meanwhile, generous subsidies
for biodiesel production in the US
are putting biodiesel manufacturers
elsewhere under considerable pressure.
One way of addressing this problem
is through flexible plant design: by
building a biofuels or alternative energy
plant that is able to consume different
kinds of feedstocks, plant operators can
switch between feedstocks to keep their
costs down. This article explains some
of the thinking and technical issues
behind flexible plant design.
biofuel drivers
In the last five years, Europe has looked
at biofuels as a way of reducing carbon
dioxide emissions and the dependency
on fossil fuels. Most of the regulations
in the sector are driven by political
motivations, mainly to re-energise
Europe’s agricultural industry.
First-generation biofuels tend to
use grain feedstocks (maize in the US,
wheat in Europe) that could otherwise
be used as food. However, there are
concerns that this is neither sustainable
nor ethical, encouraging speculative
bidders to drive up the cost of staple
food crops. Nevertheless, biofuels are
here to stay, even if they are no silver
bullet to the energy crisis. BP estimates
that by the year 2030, biofuels in all
their forms will represent up to 19% of
the world’s liquid fuel production.
feedstock instabilities
Sustainable plant design is becoming
an important tool to remediate the
effects of the instability of feedstock
market prices in biofuels. A sustainable
feedstock is just as important as
30 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
a sustainable plant design, which
should incorporate flexible mechanics
and processes so that it can handle
different feedstock types. Flexible
feedstock handling can also reduce
both the initial investment and cost of
running the plant. Perfecting second-
and third-generation technologies helps
address the controversy over the ethics
and sustainability of biofuels, while
optimisation can maximise production
and efficiency in existing and upcoming
biofuel plants. We will show in
more detail how the price of typical
feedstocks such as ethanol has varied
over the past 12 months, and how three
different strategies – flexible plant
design, extending the lifespan of a
plant and integrating new technologies
into existing ones – help offset the
variations in price.
US ethanol production serves as
a good example. Many of the 134
existing plants and the 77 currently
under construction are first-generation
plants using maize grain as feedstock.
While still operational, these plants
are feeling the increasing pressure
of the food vs fuels debate. The rise
in feedstock price over the last few
months – maize has escalated more
than 36% since May 2007, while the
price of wheat is up by two thirds (see
Figure 1) – is hitting the profit margins
of these plants hard, especially when
you consider that feedstock represents
up to 40% of the production cost in
an ethanol plant. Shaw Energy and
Chemicals has developed the so-called
Hybrid Technologies concept as the
way of easing the impact of fluctuating
feedstock prices on existing and future
ethanol projects around the world.
hybrid technology
The general concept and definition for
Hybrid Technologies is centred around
three main points:
• The ability to handle multiple
feedstocks;
• The ability to integrate different
technologies; and
• The ability to switch from first-
generation to second-generation
feedstock whilst using as much process
equipment from the existing plant as
possible (which significantly reduces
costs).
Hybrid Technologies will also allow
existing owners of ethanol and biofuels
plants to switch from one feedstock
type to another, or from one technology
to another if needed through simple
changes to the plant design or simply by
optimising production in existing plants
and maximising profit.
The underlying concept for Hybrid
Technologies is to maximise the
efficiency of the first-generation plant
design while providing sufficient
scope for future retrofitting to allow
the integration of second- and
third-generation technologies into a
conventional process. The concept and
philosophy of Hybrid Technology applies
to all biofuel types and feedstocks, not
just bioethanol.
an ethanol example
Nevertheless, simply as an example
we might look at a conventional first-
generation bioethanol unit using wheat
as feedstock. For a nominal base case,
let’s assume that you would want to
produce 100,000 t/y of bioethanol,
operating the plant 345 days per year.
The current wheat price of $15/bushel
($0.30/kg) puts a severe strain on the
profit margin in this wheat-to-ethanol
plant. Hybrid Technologies offers several
ways around the problem.
multiple feedstocks handling
In order to select the best feedstock
to replace some of the wheat (or any
other feedstock), it helps to calculate
the ‘biofuel coefficient’. This equation
considers capital cost, operational cost,
land yield, feedstock price, biofuel
yield and greenhouse gas emissions.
Calculating the coefficient helps the
plant manager choose the best possible
feedstock to reduce the cost of plant
design, offset feedstock market price
and keep the operation’s profit margins
at an acceptable level. The model weighs
 sustainability 3

the advantages and disadvantages of next section. The art is to treat each
each feedstock, while keeping a flexible plant as an individual case to find the
design for the process that is capable best suitable feedstock for a plant that
of switching between feedstocks and makes the modifications as easy as
integrating first- and second-generation possible.
technologies if necessary:
Where;
technology integration
Being able to integrate second-
B = f (Y ,Y ,I , Opex ,F ,G ) generation technologies like cellulosic
c land Biofuel cost cost price b
ethanol from stover and other cellulosic
Y x Y
B = land Biofuel
+w G wastes is a definite advantage,
c w I
1 cost
+ w Opex
2 cost
+w F
3 price
4 b
because it maximises the use of
available feedstock. Producing ethanol
from cellulosics requires feedstock Figure 1: Corn (per bushel) and wheat price since
B : Biofuel Coefficient
c
pre-treatment and modifications in December 2006 (Data from COBT and Financial Times)
Y : Land Yield
land
the plant’s hydrolysis, liquefaction
Y : BiofuelYield
biofuel and fermentation processes. Hybrid
I : Capital - (Investment cost)
technology is a step forward in the
cost

Opex : Operational Cost) hydrolysis and liquefaction of starchy

cost
F : Feedstock Price and cellulosic material, and its use of
price
G : GreenHouse emmissions
continuous fermentation optimises the
b
w , w ,w ,w : weight gains
plant’s energy efficiency.
1 2 3 4
Table 2 shows how using bagasse
Let’s consider an example where part (biomass waste from sugarcane) in a
of the wheat used in a conventional conventional sugarcane-to-ethanol
ethanol plant is to be replaced by a process nearly doubles the amount of Figure 2: Process summary
combination of two other non-grain ethanol produced – a clear argument for
feedstocks, one with a yield of 75 l/t integrating first- and second-generation
(alternative A) and the other with a technologies.
yield of 250 l/t (alternative B). The
switching feedstocks
Capital spend

key issue here is when and where they

without a major design change
are introduced into the process, and
what modifications to the plant design Process modifications are the real
are necessary to enable it to handle strength of hybrid technologies. Instead
multiple feedstocks. This is the core of installing a parallel train, the process
part of our hybrid technology. The is able to increase ethanol production
addition of alternate feedstocks has to with only a few modifications in the Capacity Expansion

be tightly controlled at key points of existing plot plant – thereby optimising

the process to protect key parameters production without a major capital or Figure 3: Hybrid Technologies optimise production
such as viscosity, glucose concentration operational expenditure (see Figure 3). without a major capital or operational spend
and others, which are vital at certain In summary, Hybrid Technologies
process stages such as fermentation, pose an alternative for existing ethanol Case I Case II (wheat,
plants all over the world by reducing Method
drying etc. For example, an excess of (wheat only) alternatives A & B)
sugar at the wrong part of the process the amount of food-grain to be used as
can slow down fermentation and create feedstock in the process, alleviating the Wheat
costly delays. argument of food for fuels, minimising Feedstock type and
risk by offsetting feedstock market Wheat 39,564 Alternative B
In this particular example, flowrates (kg/h)
introducing feedstocks A and B allows price with the additional advantage
Alternative A
the operator to reduce the amount of of a flexible design adapting existing
wheat in the process plant to about designs towards transition into second Produced ethanol 100,397 100,061
58% of the initial estimate (see Table generation technologies for biofuels. (TPY)
1). Hybrid Technologies also covers Table 1: Alternate feedstocks reduce wheat
This reduction also slashes the design from scratch for new ethanol requirements while maintaining output
operational cost of the plant, as now plants, concept design and process
the milling tandem capacity can be optimisation.
Finally, parts of hybrid technology Sugar cane feedstock Feedstock Alcohol Feedstock
reduced to less half of the original
also extend to biodiesel, butanol technology (t) production yield
installed capacity. Hybrid technology
l/day l/t
is designed to handle the changes in production and biofuels plant
composition and parameters in other applications in general. Ethanol from sugar
As a new technology, it is likely to 3333 250,000 75
parts of the process such as drying (first generation)
and DDGS (distillers dried grains find its first applications in revamps
Cellulosic ethanol
with solubles). Process plants can of existing plants, before being 1000 240,000 240
(second generation)
be further improved by retrofitting incorporated into the design and
existing designs to cope with future construction of new plants, whether Hybrid Technologies 3333 490,000 147
modifications, which would allow they use first-generation feedstocks,
second-generation feedstock to play a cellulosic feedstocks or a combination Table 2: Integrating first- and second-generation
role in the process as discussed in the of both. tce processes nearly doubles output

www.tcetoday.com may 2008 tce 31

united kingdom
Drug companies
predict job cuts in
production squeeze
THREE quarters of pharmaceutical
companies in the UK have little or no
confidence in the UK market and a third
expect to reduce investment and cut
jobs in the coming months, according to
research by the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry (APBI) and the
Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
In a survey of 101 UK-based
pharmaceutical companies, only one
company expected the situation to
improve, with 83% expecting the situation
to deteriorate. 42% of those surveyed
predict a fall in manufacturing, with
around half expecting a reduction in the
number of clinical trials conducted in the
UK.
As such, 35% of the surveyed
companies expect to reduce their research
investment in the sector, which currently
stands at £4b ($8b)/y.
In a separate poll, ABPI warned that
15 of its members alone have between
them lost close to 8000 jobs in the past
three years, representing over 10% of the
UK’s 70,000 pharmaceutical workers. Most
of the job cuts took place in the past 12
months.
ABPI president Nigel Brooksby says:
“There is a dip in employment at a time
of instability,” adding that “companies
are deciding to make investments in
other countries.” Many analysts believe
that the government’s decision to scrap
the pharmaceutical price regulation
scheme (PPRS) – a policy which allows
drug companies to set their own prices
for medicines, so long as they cap their
UK-earned profits – is what sparked this
period of uncertainty.
Severn Trent fined
for mis-reporting
SEVERN Trent has pleaded guilty to two
charges of deliberately under-reporting
water leaks in 2001 and 2002, which
allowed the company to raise water rates
higher than it otherwise would have.
The water regulator Ofwat fined the
company £38.5m ($76m) for providing
false information and giving customers a
poor service. The courts will impose their
own sentence at a later date, while Ofwat
could potentially impose further fines after
the court sentences have been announced.
10 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
D1 refinery closure
illustrates biofuels woes
Company shuts refinery to concentrate on plant science business
UK BIODIESEL producer D1 Oils has announced
that it will close both of its UK biodiesel
refineries to concentrate on plant science,
after recording a financial loss in 2007. The
move doesn’t come as a shock; it’s been
well known for some time that UK biofuels
production cannot compete with heavily-
subsidised imports of US soy-based biodiesel
and bioethanol from Brazilian sugarcane.
  D1 Oils will close its 50,000 t/y Merseyside
and its 42,000 t/y Middlesbrough refineries
and halve its staff headcount to 81. Instead
of production, the company will focus
on technology and services for upstream
breeding, development and planting, thereby
breaking from its earth-to-engine business
strategy. D1 Oils will continue to develop
Jatropha, a sub-tropical oil-bearing plant that
grows on marginal land, avoiding the backlash
against biofuels made from edible crops which
UK to miss mandatory NOx target
THE UK will miss a mandatory target for
cutting NOx emissions, the environment
department Defra has confirmed.
Defra admits that the UK will miss its target
of cutting NOx emissions to 1.16m t/y or less by
2010 by around 11% (127,000 t/y) – mainly
as a result of the country’s increased reliance
on coal power for electricity generation.
The emission ceilings are part of a 2001
European directive setting mandatory limits
for emissions of NOx, sulphur dioxide, volatile
organic compounds and ammonia. While the
UK is on target to meet targets for the other
three pollutants, the European Commission
could take legal action against the UK for
missing its NOx target.
Some 33% of the UK’s NOx emissions
Ineos buys BP’s Hull plants
INEOS has acquired BP’s Hull vinyl acetate
monomer (VAM) and ethyl acetate plants,
along with a 151 km pipeline that transports
ethylene feedstock from Teesside to the
manufacturing site.
The 250,000 t/y ethyl acetate unit was
are being blamed for rising food prices and
riots in some countries.
A recent report by the UK’s Environmental
Data Services (ENDS) found that while April
saw the introduction of the government’s
Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO)
policy requiring 2.5% of UK transport fuels
to be sourced from biofuels, most of this fuel
will have to be imported while 39% of the
country’s installed biodiesel capacity is idled.
Biofuels producers blame this on the glut of
subsidised imports from the US and Brazil,
which the non-subsidised UK industry says it
cannot compete with.
Elliot Mannis, D1 Oils ceo, says: “We are a
small company with a modest balance sheet.
We can’t afford to play a wait-and-see game.
It’s not a good business strategy to throw
good money after bad.”
(Pictured) D1 to focus on researching jatropha
are generated by road transport, with
power stations and refineries contributing
another 28%. Ends report says that a study
commissioned by Defra suggests that to
meet the target, emission limits for off-road
machinery should be tightened and coal-
fired power plants should be retrofitted with
selective catalytic reduction (SCR).
However, the SCRs could not be fitted in
time for the 2010 deadline, and there are
concerns that power companies might balk
at the cost, estimated at £220m ($440m)/y.
Defra previously rejected calls to force coal-
fired power plants to use SCRs, criticising
them as too expensive, even though the
technology is classed as a ‘best available
technique’ and widely used in countries such
as Germany.
commissioned in 2001 and is one of the
world’s largest plants of its kind. The VAM
plant also has capacity of 250,000 t/y and
supplies raw materials for paints, adhesives,
floor coverings and clothes. Between them,
the facilities employ around 40 people, who
expect to be transferred to Ineos.
 Investors are lured by the promise of nuclear
new build next to existing plants
RWE and Centrica start
race for British Energy
Indicative bids suggest £11b pricetag despite ongoing problems
GERMANY’s RWE and Britain’s Centrica reportedly
tabled separate takeover bids for the UK nuclear
energy operator British Energy.
RWE is said to have already made an all-cash
offer of around £11b ($21.7b) in early April,
equivalent to just under 700 pence a share,
according to unnamed sources close to the
negotiations. Centrica since then made an all-
share bid of just below 700 pence. Shareholders
clearly think this is just the start of a bidding
war and British Energy will ultimately attract a
much higher price tag, sending the company’s
share price up 5.6% to 741 pence per share
when the news was leaked.
Other companies, such as Electricité de
France (EdF) and Eon, are thought to be
watching the bids with interest and could well
enter the fray. The financial times says that
EdF’s UK arm is currently evaluating British
Energy but that it has so far only expressed an
interest in buying part of it, rather than the
whole company. The UK government, which still
Thorp restarted three years on
THREE years after a serious leak of radioactive
liquor forced a shutdown, the thermal oxide
reprocessing plant (Thorp) at Sellafield, which
reprocesses nuclear fuels, has been started up
again.
Thorp takes on spent fuels from nuclear
reactors, dissolving the fuel rods in nitric
acids. After the waste is removed, the
remaining uranium and plutonium can be
recycled into fresh fuel. The plant has courted
controversy since its inception over concerns
over its profitability and safety fears, as the
plutonium it produces could be stolen and
used to make nuclear weapons.
It was shut down for repairs in March
2005, after operators found radioactive liquor
leaking from a cracked pipe. The site operator
British Nuclear Group (BNG) – today known as
Sellafield Ltd – was criticised for its operation
of the plant, after it emerged that the pipe
had been leaking for at least four months
before the problem was discovered. During this
time, some 83 m3 of radioactive acid leaked
from a holding tank into the surrounding
www.tcetoday.com may 2008
owns a 35% stake in the company after having
to bail it out of financial difficulties six years
ago, stands to make around £4b from the sale.
Key to the interest in British Energy is the
UK’s commitment to expanding its nuclear
power generation. Most, if not all, of the new
reactors are expected to be built on land next
to existing British Energy reactors.
Meanwhile, British Energy announced it
has shut down unit 1 of its nuclear reactor
at Torness due to a small leak. The 1250 MW
Torness nuclear reactor is British Energy’s
largest, and there is no news yet as to when
unit 1’s 650 MW capacity will return.
The problem is just one incident in a long
line of ongoing maintenance issues at British
Energy’s ageing assets. Torness 2 was offline
for six weeks in December and January and a
further week in February. And its Heysham 1
reactor and both Hartlepool units have been
affected by boiler and piping problems since
October 2007.
concrete containment shell.
Thorp has been brought back onstream
slowly over the past months, with the company
first completing existing reprocessing orders
for its clients in Germany and Japan. Some
30 t of fuel that was in the system when the
plant shut down has already been successfully
reprocessed, the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA) says.
The plant had been due to restart sooner,
but further problems forced several months’
delay. First there was an issue with the
evaporating equipment which removes
moisture at the end of the reprocessing cycle,
and then there were difficulties with an
elevator carrying radioactive fuel from the feed
pond to a shearing unit.
Sellafield says it is now slowly increasing
production at the plant, in order to bring it
back into full operation. The startup is likely
to be a very welcome source of income for the
NDA, which is responsible for decommissioning
the UK’s nuclear sites, at an estimated cost of
£73b ($145b).
united kingdom
NDA seeks plutonium
disposal options
THE UK’S NUCLEAR Decommissioning
Authority (NDA) has asked for advice on
plutonium disposition from “suitably qualified
and experienced” parties.
The UK currently has a stockpile of 100 t
of highly radioactive plutonium, which could
either be disposed of as waste or re-used as
fuel for nuclear reactors. The plutonium has
accumulated over a 40-year period, as a result
of reprocessing enriched uranium from the
UK’s ageing Magnox and AGR nuclear reactors.
The NDA has ruled out the option of using the
plutonium to make nuclear weapons.
Nuclear companies and decommissioning
experts including Areva, Fluor and US-based
Washington Group are expected to take part
in the exercise. The NDA says it is looking
for an options study to provide sufficiently
underpiné and licence considerations of
disposing the plutonium, or of using the
material as fuel in a new nuclear reactor,
which could potentially be built at Sellafield,
where the plutonium is currently stockpiled.
H2 pumps – a UK first
BIRMINGHAM University has unveiled the
UK’s first hydrogen gas fuelling station for its
collection of hydrogen-powered cars.
The station is the result of Birmingham’s
Chemical Engineering Department’s research
into hydrogen-powered transportation. It
currently runs five vehicles on hydrogen fuel
cells alongside a pool of petrol, diesel and
electric-powered cars in order to compare
the efficiency, practicality and performance
of each.
The hydrogen-powered cars weigh around
500 kg each and have a maximum speed
of 40 mph (60 km/h), and a full tank will
do around 160 km (100 miles). While the
engine’s total lack of machismo may amuse
car aficionados, each vehicle operates in
virtual silence and is completely pollution-
free.
“We are delighted to be the home of
England’s only hydrogen gas filling station,”
says Kevin Kendall, lead investigator at
Birmingham. “It’s absolutely necessary that
we have the means to refuel our fleet of
hydrogen-powered cars so that we can carry
out our research project into the feasibility
of hydrogen in a transport context.”
Currently, another three hydrogen stations
are planned for London and there is expected
to be over 12 fuelling units across England
by 2010.
tce 11
the americas
Court hears $16b claim
for Chevron clean-up
AN independent geologist has told an
Ecuadorian court that Chevron should pay as
much as $16b to clean up and compensate for
environmental damage it has caused to the
Amazon rainforest.
Acting as an expert witness, Richard
Cabrera said that the company should pay
between $7b and $16b to remediate soil, pay
healthcare costs, install a water system and
improve infrastructure. The court battle is an
ongoing dispute brought by local Ecuadorians
in the early 1990s that claims that Texaco,
which Chevron bought in 2001, had dumped
68b l of contaminated water in the Ecuadorian
Amazon between 1972 and 1992. This, they
claim, has had a massive impact on the health
of local people and the environment.
Chevron’s lawyer played down the report’s
claims, saying that the case has become
political. “This is more extortion than a real
lawsuit,” says Chevron’s general counsel
Charles James. “We will protest this report.”
Chevron says it is exempt from
payment because it already paid $40m for
environmental remediation in the 1990s and
blames much of the pollution claims on state
company Petroecuador, which it shared a
large oil drilling concession with from the mid
1960s to 1990s. Chevron will now petition
the local court to dismiss the report, saying
it will not be “blackmailed”, but has not ruled
out the possibility of seeking an out-of-court
settlement. A ruling is expected in 2009.
Venezuelan steel and
cement renationalised
STEEL and cement assets are returned to the
state as a second wave of nationalisation
washes over Venezuela.
Venezuela’s vice-president Ramon Carrizalez
says the government is taking steps to
protect the rights of workers at Argentinian-
Italian steelmaker Ternium Sidor’s plants.
The company has been locked in fraught
negotiations with its staff over salaries
and benefits. Carrizalez accused Sidor’s
management of arrogance, showing more
concern for its machinery than the welfare of
its staff. The company’s original owners will
be compensated for their loss, and will be
permitted to stay on as minority shareholders.
Venezuela has also nationalised its cement
industry following accusations that companies
are not doing enough to solve the country’s
housing crisis. The companies affected include
Mexico’s Cemex, Switzerland’s Holcim, and
France’s LaFarge.
12 tce may 2008 www.tcetoday.com
THE approval process for medication in the US
enforced by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) hampered by congressionally-mandated
deadlines and a counter-productive fast-
tracking service, a university study has found.
The research – published in the New
England journal of medicine – claims that
drugs which are fast-tracked by the FDA are
more likely to be later recalled for safety
reasons, necessary manufacturing revisions, or
labelling changes.
“We found that while these deadlines
speed up the approval process, many drugs are
approved right up against the deadline, which
might lead to unintended consequences with
regard to drug safety,” says Daniel Carpenter,
professor of government in Harvard’s faculty
of arts and sciences. “This suggests that drug
safety might improve under an FDA approval
protocol that is more flexible and less driven
by deadline pressures and more by stable
growth in FDA resources,” he adds.
The FDA’s screening process was first given
a deadline in 1992 through the Prescription
Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which requires the
FDA to make its safety conclusions on 90%
Majors plan new Alaska pipeline
BP and ConocoPhillips have confirmed
plans to build a new gas pipeline which will
transport around 4b ft3/d of natural gas from
Alaska to Canada and the US.
The companies will spend $600m each on
the first stage of the project – the so-called
‘open season’, during which the companies
seek to firm up interest from customers with
long-term interest in using the pipeline. After
that, ConocoPhillips and BP will obtain the
necessary permissions from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) and National
Energy Board (NEB) and go ahead with
construction.
“This project is vital for North American
FDA’s time
pressures
hinder US
pharma
approval
FDA “three times more likely”
to recall when drugs appoved
close to ten-month deadline
of all drug candidates within 12 months of
submission. This deadline was then shortened
again to ten months in 1997.
By examining over 50 years of data on
the timing of FDA approvals, Carpenter
found that after 1992 there was a noticeable
discontinuity into FDA review cycles, with
disproportionate number of approvals coming
in the two months immediately before
deadlines.
When comparing these drugs to those
approved in the months following the
deadline (thus progressing at a more stable
pace), those approved right before the
deadline were far more likely to require later
regulatory intervention, Carpenter says.
“Drugs rushed to approval just before the
deadline are two to three times more likely
to eventually be pulled off shelves due to
safety concerns, two to seven times more
likely to receive added label warnings, known
as ‘black box revisions,’ twice as likely to
experience changes in manufacture, and two
to seven times more likely to be voluntarily
discontinued by manufacturers due to weak
clinical demand,” suggests Carpenter.
energy consumers and for the future of the
Alaska oil and gas industry. It will allow us
to keep our North Slope fields in production
for another 50 years,” says BP’s ceo Tony
Hayward. The pipeline will transport gas to
the oil sands fields in Alberta, which are
expected to consume considerable quantities
of gas in order to raise steam needed to
extract the heavy oil and bitumen. From there,
further pipelines could take any unused gas to
the lower 48 states of the US.
BP and ConocoPhillips say they will seek
other equity partners, including pipeline
companies, who can add value to the project
and help manage the risks involved.