SCRUBBING TASK FOR IONIC LIQUID
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SCIENCE SCRUBBING TASK FOR IONIC LIQUID New imidazolium salt captures C 0 2 at room temperature A N IONIC LIQUID DESIGNED specifically to scrub un- wanted carbon dioxide from gas streams has an absorp- REVERSIBLE Ionic liquid releases captured C0 2 when heated BFz" -N^N- NH, C09 80-100°C Room temperature χΝΗ Η3Νν 2BFA roiaiPi itxpttëi Documents released on Feb. 6 by Niels Bohr's family [http://www.nba. nbi.dk] indicate that German physicist Werner Heisenberg was an active participant in his country's efforts to develop the atom bomb, not an in-house saboteur of that effort. tion capacity comparable to com- mercial reagents now used to remove C 0 2 from natural gas, ac- cording to chemists at the Uni- versity of South Alabama. The so-called task-specific ion- ic liquid, prepared by associate professor of chemistryJames H. Davis Jr. and coworkers, chemi- cally fixes C 0 2 as a carbamate at room temperature, then releases the gas when heated under vacu- um {J.Am. Chem. Soc, 124, 926 (2002)]. The group recycled the recovered ionic liquid for C0 2 uptake five times without any ob- served loss of efficiency "C0 2 contamination lowers the fuel value ofnatural gas," Davis explains. 'Aqueous amines that trap C 0 2 by forming ammonium carbamate are used as standard large-scale scrubbing agents, but water and the amines are volatile. Their uptake into the gas stream is frequently problematic." The new ionic liquid, which has an imidazolium cation to which a primary amine moiety is covalently attached, is nonvolatile and does not appear to require water in order to function, Davis says. It is readily synthesized from commercially available materials. At the moment, however, the new ionic liquid suffers from a major drawback: its relatively high viscosity at room tempera- ture. The problem may limit its eventual use in large-scale scrub- bing applications, Davis and col- leagues suggest. Even so, they say plenty of opportunities exist for design- ing variants with improved phys- ical and chemical properties for the selective sequestration of C0 2 and other gases.-MICHAEL FREEMANTLE BUSINESS ANTITERRORISM CODE PROPOSED Voluntary, stepped-up security measures planned by industry group C HEMICAL INDUSTRY LEAD- ers will develop a voluntary code that encourages com- panies to take steps to make plants more secure from terrorist attacks. Details of the code are ex- pected byjune and would include verification by an independent third party to ensure that neces- sary security improvements are implemented. The American Chemistry Council announcement comes on the heels of federal legislative and regulatory proposals aimed to- ward chemical companies, nuclear power plants, and others to reduce their vulnerability to terrorists. ACC's code would be rolled into its voluntary Responsible Care program, says ACC spokes- man Chris VandenHeuvel, and would cover more than 2,000 facilities. An official with the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufactur- ers Association adds that, as an ACC partner, it will help drawup the code and ensure that the in- terests of smaller batch manu- facturers are met. Participating companies, Van- denHeuvel says, will screen their facilities, assess security vulnera- bilities, take steps to improve se- curity and then enlist a local fire department or emergency plan- ning committee to conduct a third-party verification that im- provements have been made. ACC will rely on two vulnera- bility assessment methodologies currently under development by Sandia National Laboratories and by the Center for Chemical Pro- cess Safety VandenHeuvel notes that the chemical industry is strongly opposed to proposals requiring "inherently safer manufacturing practices" as an alternative to tra- ditional security measures. Such proposals, he says, "would not move forward with security mea- sures for years." He said it was un- clear if the assessments will en- courage safer practices.—JEFF JOHNSON 8 C&EN / FEBRUARY 1 1 , 2002 HTTP://PUBS.AC5.ORG/CEN NEWS OF THE WEEK
Transcript of SCRUBBING TASK FOR IONIC LIQUID
S C I E N C E
SCRUBBING TASK FOR IONIC LIQUID New imidazolium salt captures C 0 2 at room temperature
AN IONIC LIQUID DESIGNED specifically to scrub unwanted carbon dioxide
from gas streams has an absorp-
REVERSIBLE Ionic liquid releases captured C02 when heated
BFz"
- N ^ N -NH, C09
80-100°C Room temperature
χΝΗ Η3Νν
2BFA
roiaiPi itxpttëi Documents released on Feb. 6 by Niels Bohr's family [http://www.nba. nbi.dk] indicate that German physicist Werner Heisenberg was an active participant in his country's efforts to develop the atom bomb, not an in-house saboteur of that effort.
tion capacity comparable to commercial reagents now used to remove C 0 2 from natural gas, according to chemists at the University of South Alabama.
The so-called task-specific ionic liquid, prepared by associate professor of chemistry James H. Davis Jr. and coworkers, chemically fixes C 0 2 as a carbamate at room temperature, then releases the gas when heated under vacuum {J.Am. Chem. Soc, 124, 926 (2002)]. The group recycled the recovered ionic liquid for C 0 2
uptake five times without any observed loss of efficiency
" C 0 2 contamination lowers the fuel value of natural gas," Davis
explains. 'Aqueous amines that trap C 0 2 by forming ammonium carbamate are used as standard large-scale scrubbing agents, but water and the amines are volatile. Their uptake into the gas stream is frequently problematic."
The new ionic liquid, which has an imidazolium cation to which a primary amine moiety is covalently attached, is nonvolatile and does not appear to require water in order to function, Davis says. It is readily synthesized from commercially available materials.
At the moment, however, the new ionic liquid suffers from a major drawback: its relatively high viscosity at room temperature. The problem may limit its eventual use in large-scale scrubbing applications, Davis and colleagues suggest.
Even so, they say plenty of opportunities exist for designing variants with improved physical and chemical properties for the selective sequestration of C 0 2 and other gases.-MICHAEL FREEMANTLE
B U S I N E S S
ANTITERRORISM CODE PROPOSED Voluntary, stepped-up security measures planned by industry group
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY LEAD-
ers will develop a voluntary code that encourages com
panies to take steps to make plants more secure from terrorist attacks.
Details of the code are expected byjune and would include verification by an independent third party to ensure that necessary security improvements are implemented.
The American Chemistry Council announcement comes on the heels of federal legislative and regulatory proposals aimed to
ward chemical companies, nuclear power plants, and others to reduce their vulnerability to terrorists.
ACC's code would be rolled into its voluntary Responsible Care program, says ACC spokesman Chris VandenHeuvel, and would cover more than 2,000 facilities.
An official with the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association adds that, as an ACC partner, it will help drawup the code and ensure that the interests of smaller batch manufacturers are met.
Participating companies, VandenHeuvel says, will screen their facilities, assess security vulnerabilities, take steps to improve security and then enlist a local fire department or emergency planning committee to conduct a third-party verification that improvements have been made.
ACC will rely on two vulnerability assessment methodologies currently under development by Sandia National Laboratories and by the Center for Chemical Process Safety
VandenHeuvel notes that the chemical industry is strongly opposed to proposals requiring "inherently safer manufacturing practices" as an alternative to traditional security measures. Such proposals, he says, "would not move forward with security measures for years." He said it was unclear if the assessments will encourage safer practices.—JEFF JOHNSON
8 C & E N / F E B R U A R Y 1 1 , 2 0 0 2 H T T P : / / P U B S . A C 5 . O R G / C E N
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