TECHNOLOGY TIP: ONE WAY TO VERIFY YOUR BOOKMARKS: USE FRONTPAGE

“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils” -- Hector Berlioz

Bookmarks are only as useful as the links they contain. Checking the links manually can be time consuming, especially if you have a couple thousand links to verify.

Save time by using FrontPage to automate the link checking process. Here is how I do it, using FrontPage Version 4.0.2.2717. Your version may require slightly different steps, but the fundamental concept remains the same.

1) In your Web browser, export your favorites (File --> Import and Export)
2) Open FrontPage
3) File --> New Web
4) Within FrontPage, navigate to the folder containing your bookmark file and open the file
5) File --> Save As --> Save the file to the folder containing your New Web
6) In Reports view, click Verify Hyperlinks on the Reporting toolbar.
7) Click Verify all hyperlinks, and then click Start.
8) Alternatively, with your Bookmarks page in view, right click and click "Verify Hyperlinks"
9) After a few seconds or minutes, depending on the size of your Bookmarks file, you will have a report containing the success or failure of each hyperlink attempt. Sort the "Status" column of the report to cluster all the broken links together, and you're done.

Here is my Desulfurization Organizations Bookmarks file for you to practice on. When I ran it through FrontPage, it found six (6) broken hyperlinks.
NOTE: to make this work, it is best for you to copy the following text, then paste it into a FrontPage New Page, using the Normal tab.

Desulfurization Organization Bookmarks

Aarhus University.url

Argonne National Laboratory's Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division.url

Army Research Laboratory.url

CanmetEnergy.url

Catalyst Review.url

Center for Refining & Petrochemicals (KFUPM).url

CERA- Cambridge Energy Research Associates.url

Chalmers Competence Centre for Catalysis.url

Chemical Reactor Engineering Centre - University of Western Ontario.url

Chemsystems.url

China Desulphurization Industry Report, 2008-2009 Report-Research In China.url

Chunshan Song Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering.url

Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center.url

CRIEPI - Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry.url

Directed Technologies, Inc..url

Dongshi Desulfurization technology collaboration net.url

Dutch Catalysis Society.url

EERC - Energy & Environmental Research Center (Univ. North Dakota).url

EERE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Home Page.url

EFCATS - European Federation of Catalysis Societies.url

EIA - Petroleum Data, Reports, Analysis, Surveys.url

EMS Energy Institute - Penn State University.url

EnergyStorm - Energy Citations.url

ESAI - Home.url

ETDEWEB Energy Technology Data Exchange World Energy Base - jsteinha - password.url

Fluid Catalytic Cracking Network - jsteinha - password.url

Frost Sullivan Login - desulf - password.url

Fuel Cells Org.url

GlobalData Home.url

GlobalData.url

Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion,the Chinese Academy of Sciences.(GIEC,CAS).url

Hart Energy Publishing - Your Source for Energy Industry News.url

Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Edinburgh.url

http--aiche.confex.com-aiche-2009-webprogrampreliminary-Paper151620.html.url

Hydrocarbon Publishing Company.url

IFP - Innovation, Énergie, Environnement.url

Institute of Energy Research (IEF).url

InternetChemistry.url

KACST King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology.url

KAUST.url

Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences--IPE.url

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.url

Materials Research Society Singapore.url

MathPro, Inc. - Energy Economics - Applied Optimization.url

MITEI Home.url

Nano Archive.url

Nordic Catalysis Society.url

North American Catalysis Society.url

Opinion Research Corporation Expert Advisory Network.url

Organic Chemistry Portal.url

Penn State Univ-Clean Fuels & Catalysis Research at PSU.url

Penn State University-EMS Energy Institute.url

Process Dynamics..url

Research Center of Supercritical Fluid Technology (Japan).url

ResearchRoadmap - ResearchRoadmap Wiki.url

Rice Alliance - Home.url

RTI International - Scientific Research Development Institute - Scientific Technologies.url

Saudi Aramco R & D.url

Saudi Trading & Research Co.url

Scientific Commons About ScientificCommons.org.url

Southern Research Institute (Birmingham AL).url

Southern Research Institute - Environmental - Desulfurization, Tar Cracking, Ammonia Cracking.url

SRI Center for Science, Technology, and Economic Development (CSTED) Middle East Science and Technology Policy.url

SRI International (Stanford Research Institute).url

TDA Research, Inc..url

Technical University of Denmark - Research - Education - Innovation.url

Titan Oil Recovery - MEOR A Basic Primer on Microbes & Biofilms.url

Trans-Energy.url

Tufts University Engineerin.url

University of Oslo-Department of Chemistry.url

Patent Alert: Tufts University

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." -- Thomas A. Edison

The description of this technology turned up during a routing search for “desulfurization” on the Tufts School of Engneering Web (http://engineering.tufts.edu/default.aspx ). Fuel cells are so picky when it comes to sulfur that it poses major research challenges … as well as opportunities.

///////
Intellectual Property
ID: T001330
IP Type: Licensable Technology
Title: Regenerable Sorbents for Hot Fuel Gas Desulfurization for Fuel Cell Applications
Inventor: Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos
Summary: Tufts University Categories:

Invention Summary

Technology:

Over the past two decades, significant effort has been devoted by the DOE, academic groups, and industry to develop regenerable sorbents for the desulfurization of fuel gas streams (particularly coal-derived) at high temperatures. To date, no bulk oxide or mixed oxide sorbent has been found that achieves the desired criteria for high reactivity, efficient H 2S removal and regenerability in cyclic operation. Desulfurization of fuel gases to the lowest possible levels is critical from an environmental and commercial standpoint because of the polluting impact of and governmental restrictions on the amount of sulfur released into the atmosphere from the combustion of coal.

Desulfurization is as essential for the efficient, long term operation of fuel cells. Fuel cells continue to undergo rapid development for both stationary and transportation applications. Low-sulfur diesel, fuel oils and hydrogen are being contemplated for use with fuel cells domestically. For even low-sulfur fuels, however, there remains a pressing need for a sorbent unit capable of effectively removing H 2S upstream of the fuel cell anode to prevent sulfur poisoning and performance degradation. Moreover, for high temperature fuel cells, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), a sorbent is needed with the additional capability to reliably perform cyclic operations with high structural stability at temperatures exceeding 600°C.

Professor Maria Stephanopoulos and colleagues at Tufts University have developed a solution to these challenging problems. They have developed a novel regenerative cerium and lanthanum oxide based sorbent technology that employs a swing-adsorption/desorption process, whereby anode offgas is used to sweep desorbed H 2S to the burner that supplies heat to the fuel processor. This technology promises:

•excellent sulfur removal efficiency (to <1ppm H 2S);
•very fast adsorption of H 2S under high space velocities, allowing only the surface of the sorbent to sulfide;
•regeneration (desorption of H 2S) in various gas streams at times comparable to the adsorption times;
•a single, onboard sorber/regenerator pair configuration, enabling both small (<1L / 5kW) and large scale fuel cell power plants;
•off-site regeneration design configurations through the use of removable sorbent cartridges;
•a reversible process, with no irreversible structural complications, enabling long cycle lifetimes;
•flexibility in regeneration (gas type and temperature);
•good reactivity and stability at temperatures ranging 650-800 °C.

Market Opportunity:
Desulfurization for Portable Auxiliary Power Units (APUs), Fuel Cells
Commercial prospects for using fuel cells as APUs are increasing. In the transportation sector, APUs can serve as range extenders for cars and small power/heating modules for trucks and refrigeration units. Employing APUs in large trucks to produce electricity and cabin heat instead of employing engine idling, for example, can reduce CO 2 emissions of 20-30 tons per year per truck according to a recent DOE calculation. At efficiencies approaching 50%, such APUs could dramatically reduce fuel consumption and cost as well. Common diesel (DF-2) fuel, however, contains impurities, particularly sulfur, that can poison the APU. The Tufts regenerative sorbent technology enables the creation of compact, commercially feasible systems for both onboard and removable cartridge based removal of the sulfur upstream of the APU.
Additional portable APU markets that may benefit from onboard or removable cartridge based desulfurization include:

•robust, fuel source tolerant portable electronics (mobile communications, computers, soldier power sources/equipment)
•portable generators (home, light industry)
•passenger transportation (bicycles, scooters, autos)
•marine and underwater (boats, submarines)

Desulfurization for Stationary Fuel Processing/Electricity Generation/Hydrogen Production
Global reserves of fossil fuels are becoming increasingly “sour” with sulfur. The Tufts regenerable sorbent technology may be employed by companies and utilities in the large gas processing market, offering the refining, pipeline and terminal industries significant commercial and operational benefits to meet existing and future clean fuels regulations.
This technology is particularly well suited to reducing pollutant emissions from coal gasification. Coal offers strong potential as an important fuel for traditional power generation in the US due to its secure supply and broad availability with large domestic reserves. The importance of coal is recognized by the government through the Clean Coal Initiative. By providing for an improved desulfurization treatment of coal gasification syngas at the desired elevated temperatures, this technology promises to improve overall efficiencies to meet Clean Coal Initiative goals.
At the same time, this technology also serves to facilitate the generation of hydrogen to power fuel cells, as hydrogen is a major component of syngas. Desulfurization of the hydrogen allows for the production of ultra-pure hydrogen with only trace amounts of residual sulfur.

Funding:
To date, development of the Tufts regenerable sorbent technology has been funded by the Army Research Laboratory Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) on Power and Energy and the NASA Glenn Research Center. Given the source of research funding, initial focus has been centered on ensuring the flexibility of design, fuel and size parameters to meet key requirements for intended military power applications.

Intellectual Property:
US and foreign patent applications covering this technology are currently pending. The published PCT patent application WO 2006/052997 is available for download/viewing here:
http://techtransfer.tufts.edu/downloads/T001330_WO06052997A1.pdf

Additional patent pending technologies are also available from Tufts University that may prove to be highly complementary:
Substantially Reduced Metal Catalysts for Fuel Cells (T001234)
- http://techtransfer.tufts.edu/downloads/T001234_UA20060128565A1.pdf

Improved Stabil
Tech Type: Environment Chemical Engineering Environment Chemistry
URL: http://www.tufts.biz/cgi-bin/tech_search.cgi?r=1&case=T001330
Contact: Martin Son
617-636-3605
martin.son@tufts.edu
Organization: Tufts University
source: http://www.masstechportal.org/IP4459.aspx
///////

If you find this kind of information useful, please add me to your LinkedIn® network. Mention the Desulfurization Blog in your invitation to join, and I will accept your invitation.

Why search more than one journal database: ACS v. ScienceDirect

"Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense" -- Mark Twain

Why search more than one journal database? Simple answer … because they cover different journals. Take for example two journal databases, ACS Publications (http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content) and Elsevier’s ScienceDirect (www.ScienceDirect.com).

The American Chemical Society (ACS) publishes Energy & Fuels, a journal that publishes many articles directly addressing desulfurization issues.

ScienceDirect is a database of journals published by Elsevier. Searching ScienceDirect for desulfurization article produces a rich list of journal articles, but that list does not include anything from Energy & Fuels, because Energy & Fuels is not an Elsevier journal.

There is a database the enables a nearly one-stop, comprehensive search of all the technical journals that might include desulfurization articles. It is the digital version of Engineering Index, hosted by Dialog (www.dialog.com). However, you have to pay a monthly fee to access this database.

If your company employs a librarian, you have at the very least indirect access to the EI database.

If not, you have to scrounge. Worst case is that you have to identify and search a number of individual online databases to be sure that when you research a topic, your results reflect everything that is available.

Here is a taste of recently published articles from ACS Publications and ScienceDirect.
///////
ACS Publications Web
///////
Comparative Studies on the Bio-desulfurization of Crude Oil with Other Desulfurization Techniques and Deep Desulfurization through Integrated Processes
Prachi Agarwal and D. K. Sharma
Energy Fuels, 2010, 24 (1), pp 518–524
Publication Date (Web): December 21, 2009 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/ef900876j
Comparative Studies on the Bio-desulfurization of Crude Oil with Other Desulfurization Techniques and Deep Desulfurization through Integrated Processes ... Research work is currently being undertaken around the world to bring about deeper desulfurization of crude oils. ... Bio-desulfurization (BDS) of LCO using Pantoea agglomerans D23W3 resulted in 61.40% removal of sulfur, whereas HCO showed 63.29% S removal under similar conditions. ...
///////
Deep Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuels Catalyzed by Phosphotungstic Acid in Ionic Liquids at Room Temperature
Huaming Li, Lining He, Jidong Lu, Wenshuai Zhu, Xue Jiang, Yan Wang and Yongsheng Yan
Energy Fuels, 2009, 23 (3), pp 1354–1357
Publication Date (Web): February 12, 2009 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/ef800797n
Deep Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuels Catalyzed by Phosphotungstic Acid in Ionic Liquids at Room Temperature ... A simplified extraction and catalytic oxidative desulfurization ... By this desulfurization system dibenzothiophene (DBT), 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT), and benzothiophene (BT) could be effectively removed. ...
///////
Microwave Catalytic Desulfurization and Denitrification Simultaneously on Fe/Ca-5A Zeolite Catalyst
Zaishan Wei, Guihua Zeng and Zhirong Xie
Energy Fuels, 2009, 23 (6), pp 2947–2951
Publication Date (Web): April 14, 2009 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/ef801013w
Microwave Catalytic Desulfurization and Denitrification Simultaneously on Fe/Ca-5A Zeolite Catalyst ... Simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification has been investigated using a microwave reactor packed with ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) and Fe/Ca-5A zeolite or Fe/Ca-5A zeolite only. ... The desulfurization ...
///////
Influence of Desulfurization Methods on the Phenol Content and Pattern in Gas Oil and Diesel Fuel
Nina Kolbe, Oliver van Rheinberg and Jan T. Andersson
Energy Fuels, 2009, 23 (6), pp 3024–3031
Publication Date (Web): May 20, 2009 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/ef9000693
Influence of Desulfurization Methods on the Phenol Content and Pattern in Gas Oil and Diesel Fuel ... The classical hydrodesulfurization was found to lower the phenol content more drastically than the adsorptive desulfurization ... Especially the larger alkylphenols are removed nearly completely during hydrodesulfurization, while they are almost unaffected by adsorptive desulfurization on a Ni/NiO sorbent. ...
///////
Oxidative Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene Using Ozone and Hydrogen Peroxide in Ionic Liquid
Jianlong Wang, Dishun Zhao and Kaixi Li
Energy Fuels, Articles ASAP (As Soon As Publishable)
Publication Date (Web): March 5, 2010 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/ef901324p
Oxidative Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene Using Ozone and Hydrogen Peroxide in Ionic Liquid ... The IL can be recycled 5 times without a significant decrease in desulfurization activity. ... (2, 3) Thus, alternative ways that are carried out at moderate conditions without requiring H2, such as oxidative desulfurization, biodesulfurization, extractive desulfurization, and adsorptive desulfurization, are investigated. ...
Source for ACS Abstracts: http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content
///////
ScienceDirect: Does not include Energy Fuels in its database
///////
Experimental study on desulfurization efficiency and gas–liquid mass transfer in a new liquid-screen desulfurization system
Applied Energy, Volume 87, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages 1505-1512
Zhongwei Sun, Shengwei Wang, Qulan Zhou, Shi’en Hui

Modeling and experimental study on multi-level humidifying of the underfeed circulating spouted bed for flue gas desulfurization
Powder Technology, Volume 198, Issue 1, 20 February 2010, Pages 93-100
Min Tao, Baosheng Jin, Wenqi Zhong, Yaping Yang, Rui Xiao

Deep desulfurization of model gasoline by selective adsorption on Ag+/Al-MSU-S
Catalysis Today, Volume 149, Issues 1-2, 15 January 2010, Pages 138-142
Chunmei Meng, Yunming Fang, Lijun Jin, Haoquan Hu

Desulfurization matching with coal poly-generation system based on dual gas resources
Fuel, Volume 89, Issue 4, April 2010, Pages 833-837
Ju Shangguan, Maoqian Miao, Liping Chang, Fan Li, Kechang Xie

Simultaneous dry reforming and desulfurization of biomethane with non-equilibrium electric discharge at ambient temperature
Chemical Engineering Science, Volume 65, Issue 1, 1 January 2010, Pages 487-491
Yasushi Sekine, Junya Yamadera, Masahiko Matsukata, Eiichi Kikuchi

Polyoxometalate as effective catalyst for the deep desulfurization of diesel oil
Catalysis Today, Volume 149, Issues 1-2, 15 January 2010, Pages 117-121
Rui Wang, Gaofei Zhang, Haixia Zhao

Kinetic study and H2S effect on refractory DBTs desulfurization in a heavy gasoil
Journal of Catalysis, Volume 269, Issue 1, 1 January 2010, Pages 169-178
Leonidas E. Kallinikos, Andreas Jess, Nikos G. Papayannakos

What do you think? Let me know. Post to this blog, or send me an eMail: research@JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com

Technology Tip: Copying & Pasting Research Results into Excel

“The web, then, or the pattern, a web at once sensuous and logical, an elegant and pregnant texture: that is style, that is the foundation of the art of literature.” -- Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Essayist, Poet and Author 1850-1894)

Patterns are important, and they can help manage the results of all the online searching we do. Here’s a tip that may help … Find/Replace.

Take, for example, the results of a recent ScienceDirect (www.ScienceDirect.com ) search for recent desulfurization articles. Using ScienceDirect’s advanced page, I restricted the search to articles published in 2010. I still got over a hundred hits, a few of which appear below …
///////
1.
Experimental study on desulfurization efficiency and gas–liquid mass transfer in a new liquid-screen desulfurization system
Applied Energy, Volume 87, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages 1505-1512
Zhongwei Sun, Shengwei Wang, Qulan Zhou, Shi’en Hui

2.
Modeling and experimental study on multi-level humidifying of the underfeed circulating spouted bed for flue gas desulfurization
Powder Technology, Volume 198, Issue 1, 20 February 2010, Pages 93-100
Min Tao, Baosheng Jin, Wenqi Zhong, Yaping Yang, Rui Xiao

3.
Deep desulfurization of model gasoline by selective adsorption on Ag+/Al-MSU-S
Catalysis Today, Volume 149, Issues 1-2, 15 January 2010, Pages 138-142
Chunmei Meng, Yunming Fang, Lijun Jin, Haoquan Hu

4.
Desulfurization matching with coal poly-generation system based on dual gas resources
Fuel, Volume 89, Issue 4, April 2010, Pages 833-837
Ju Shangguan, Maoqian Miao, Liping Chang, Fan Li, Kechang Xie

5.
Simultaneous dry reforming and desulfurization of biomethane with non-equilibrium electric discharge at ambient temperature
Chemical Engineering Science, Volume 65, Issue 1, 1 January 2010, Pages 487-491
Yasushi Sekine, Junya Yamadera, Masahiko Matsukata, Eiichi Kikuchi

6.
Polyoxometalate as effective catalyst for the deep desulfurization of diesel oil
Catalysis Today, Volume 149, Issues 1-2, 15 January 2010, Pages 117-121
Rui Wang, Gaofei Zhang, Haixia Zhao

7.
Kinetic study and H2S effect on refractory DBTs desulfurization in a heavy gasoil
Journal of Catalysis, Volume 269, Issue 1, 1 January 2010, Pages 169-178
Leonidas E. Kallinikos, Andreas Jess, Nikos G. Papayannakos

Source: www.ScienceDirect.com
///////

A pressing dinner engagement lent a sense of urgency to the situation. Rather than lose the list, I decided to copy the results for offline browsing later.

Now, I like to be able to sort lists of citations by title or author or date or whatever. I use a combination of Notepad, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel to achieve this goal. Here is my strategy. Maybe you can use it to make your search efforts more effective.

This can be pretty tedious, so be patient.

In ScienceDirect or some other journals database, after a search that produces results you want to save for later, copy the list to your clipboard. Note that the rest of these instructions are based on the results of a ScienceDirect search.
Paste the list into a Notepad window. Notepad strips out all the irrelevant (to us) special characters and formatting. Study the pattern of each record in the list.
In Word …
Find/replace each paragraph marker with a tab marker
Find/replace ANY digit.[space][space][space] with a paragraph marker
Copy the results to your clipboard
Paste the results into an Excel worksheet

The result is a list with article titles in one column, authors in a separate column, journal title in yet another column, etc. So you can now sort by article title, or author title, or journal title, etc.

Why … ?
Because as you search across various databases, each with its own peculiar format, you can produce a private database with a consistent sortable list of the results of searches, no matter which database originates the records.

Obviously you won’t want to share the Excel file because that would not be copyright compliant. But the file can make life easier for you.

Sulfur 2010 Review

“Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.” -- Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

Hydrocarbon Engineering’s annual Sulfur Review issue is out.

Quoting from the HE Web (http://www.energyglobal.com/magazines/latestissue/hydrocarbon-engineering.aspx ) …

"The main feature in this issue is the annual sulfur review, providing an overview of sulfur technology currently available to the downstream industry. The April regional reports are from Lloyd’s Register and David Hayes and look at the European and Chinese oil and gas industries respectively. This issue also focuses on petrochemical technologies with articles from Univation, Sud Chemie and John Zink."

"SULFUR RECOVERY IN SMALL REFINERIES
"Tony Barnette, Merichem Chemicals & Refinery Services LLC, Gas Technology Products, USA, looks at the sulfur recovery process for independent refineries in China."

"SULFUR 2010 REVIEW
"Hydrocarbon Engineering provides a comprehensive overview of the key technologies available to plant/refinery operations."

source: http://www.energyglobal.com/magazines/latestissue/hydrocarbon-engineering.aspx

As librarian for Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Services Co., we subscribed to Hydrocarbon Engineering and found it to be very popular among the engineers. If your focus is on desulfurization research, you may not learn that much from a magazine that highlights applied technologies. But if your focus is another area of refining technology, HE makes it easy to keep up with developments in related technologies.

A Palladian publication, HE is unusual in that it is available only to those who subscribe to the hard copy, although hard copy subscribers also have access to PDF versions of each issue.

One caveat … while the information in each article is valuable, you will notice that the company represented by each author coincidentally(?) has a full page ad next to the article. Due diligence requires readers to obtain independent research on the technologies described. Your corporate librarian can help with that.

Copyright Conundrum

"Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." -- Mark Twain
Mark Twain’s complaint notwithstanding, 30 years ago copyright was fairly straightforward. If it was in print, it was owned by somebody, and unless that somebody was the public domain, you had to pay for the privilege of using it … unless your use fell under the category of “fair use.”

The Internet has complicated things. Are email contents protected by copyright? How about Facebook® chatter … or, God help us, tweets?

And how about this. If I bring your attention to the following abstract …

Effect of the Incorporation of Nitrogen to a Carbon Matrix on the Selectivity and Capacity for Adsorption of Dibenzothiophenes from Model Diesel FuelMykola Seredych, Denisa Hulicova-Jurcakova and Teresa J. Bandosz
Langmuir, 2010, 26 (1), pp 227–233
Publication Date (Web): August 28, 2009 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/la902059y
Langmuir, 2010, 26 (1), ... Then they were investigated as adsorbents of dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4, 6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (DMDBT) from simulated diesel fuel under dynamic conditions with the total concentration of sulfur being 20 ppmw. ...
Source: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/la902059y
Is this fair use? Depends on who you ask. I believe it is. Were you to Google® this you would be able to read the abstract for free. I make no money, and if you decide to purchase the full text of the article, the publisher will benefit.

The publisher might disagree and tell me to remove the item from the Desulfurization Blog, which I would do. No harm done.

However, if you are part of a corporation with deep pockets, the danger is greater. There could be real money involved.

Enter the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com/). The CCC’s goal is to encourage copyright compliance. And to further that goal, they seek out ways to make compliance as painless as possible. Here, for example, is a news release from the CCC site …

Copyright Clearance Center Presence in Elsevier's Scopus Introduces Copyright Permissioning into Advanced Databases
Opens Linking Opportunities for Other Application and Web Services Providers
DANVERS, MA, June 24, 2006—Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), the world's largest provider of copyright licensing solutions, today announced that its rights licensing services will be available within Scopus, Elsevier's abstract and citation database of scientific research literature and quality Web sources. Elsevier, which is the world's largest scientific publisher and has licensed its content through CCC for more than 10 years, joins 10 other CCC integration partners, including Docutek, OCLC and Xerox.

The Scopus-CCC link, which will go live in mid-July, is designed to aid academic faculty and staff as well as corporate scientists and researchers who want to share content found in Scopus with students or colleagues. Scopus is the world's largest abstract database. Updated daily, it offers over 15,000 titles from more than 4,000 publishers.

Using the available links, librarians can now choose to allow their Scopus users to see within their search results a "Get Permissions" button when a document or article is available for licensing through CCC. By clicking on the button, users are directed to a new permissions summary page on CCC's Web site that lists all of the available electronic and print rights for that content. Users can then select the rights they want, such as sharing the content with their workgroup or posting the text in a course management system.

"We believe that placing rights licensing at the article level, where content users will see it, can support organizations and institutions with their copyright compliance efforts." said Niels Weertman, Head of Scopus Product Management.

"Integrating these capabilities demonstrates CCC's commitment to technological solutions that improve the user experience and simplify copyright permissions," said Tracey Armstrong, CCC Executive Vice President. "It underscores the growing presence of our copyright capabilities within technologies that search and find content, and we believe this integration has major implications for other search engine providers and application developers."
source: http://www.copyright.com/viewPage.do?pageCode=au122
You can do your executive management … and your legal department … a favor by steering them to CCC

Bookmark This Site: Improved Oil Recovery Symposium

"Why pay a dollar for a bookmark? Why not use the dollar for a bookmark?" -- Steven Spielberg

The Seventeenth SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium is coming up soon. Specifically …

Renaissance Hotel, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
24-28 April 2010
Source: http://www.speior.org/

Why bookmark a conference site, when it will soon be obsolete? Because if you save the bookmark in your “conferences” folder, you will be able to refresh your memory from time to time of future conferences you might wish to attend. Yes, the 2011 SPE conference will have a different URL, but the fact that you have saved the 2010 URL will jog your memory when you next come across it.

In answer to Spielberg’s question …
"If I used a dollar for a bookmark, someone would probably steal my book." - Monica S., The Bibliophilic Book Blog
source: http://www.miragebookmark.ch/wb_bookmark_quotes.htm

Remember to bookmark the Desulfurization Blog, if you haven’t already done so … and send the URL to a colleague.

Heavy Crude Oil: A Global Analysis and Outlook

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." -- Thomas Edison, 1931

Tom may have been right … it may be that solar power will be our salvation. Plants have been on to solar power for billions of years. Until then, and while we transition to that future, we will need to find green ways to use the hydrocarbons that millennia of past generations of living organisms have bequeathed to us.

For those of us engaged in this endeavor, reports like the following will be useful …

“Hart Energy Consulting (http://www.hartenergyconsulting.com/) recently published its annual report “Heavy Crude Oil: A Global Analysis and Outlook”. Heavyoilinfo.com (http://www.heavyoilinfo.com/) spoke to Laura Atkins, one of its authors, about the background to the report and some of its key findings”
Hart Energy Consulting
1616 S. Voss, Suite 1000
Houston TX 77057
kklavers@hartenergy.com

Quotes of interest from the report description include …

“Hurdles to growth for heavy oil are much the same as for conventional oil production, but environmental issues are even more significant. GHG emissions from production and refining are double those for conventional oil production.wever, it is important to compare GHG emissions with other non-conventional sources, such as oil shale and coal to liquids (CTL), which are considerably higher (CTL emits twice the GHGs as the most energy intensive bitumen process). In Canada, the pressure to reduce GHG emissions may provide additional incentives to build new upgraders. Integrated upstream/upgrading projects have the capability of reducing both natural gas consumption and to capture CO2 for injection underground (sequestration). This requires significant investment, but there is growing realization that the causes of climate change need to be addressed.”

And …

“The report summarizes the major components of costs in different regions. Fiscal regimes are discussed in detail only where they are known to be a major issue or where they have recently changed or are expected to change. An example is the recent increase in royalty on Canadian oil sands, and how this is expected to affect development plans. In many countries, fiscal terms are project-specific and are established through negotiations between the government and the contractor.”

And …

“Looking ahead to the next 10 to 20 years, global production of light and medium crude oils will remain flat while heavy oil and non-conventional crude production will grow slowly. Demand will continue to increase. The balance between crude supplies and demand will be met by gas liquids, with small contributions from biofuels, GTL and CTL. Qualitatively, the report concludes that global average liquid supplies will not become heavier because it will be balanced by a higher portion of condensates and natural gas liquids. However, in some regions, additional heavy oil refining capacity will be required to handle the higher volumes.”

And …

“Technology is the big enabler that will facilitate change. For example, if the new processes such as toe-to-heel-air-injection (THAI®), vapor extraction (VAPEX), or electrical heating prove successful on a commercial scale, then the scenario could change significantly. Several alternative technologies suitable for deeper reservoirs are now being tested, such as injecting lighter hydrocarbons as a vapor, either on their own or with steam to make steam use more efficient. In Alaskan shallow reservoirs an immiscible rich water-alternating gas (WAG) scheme is being tested, where the gas is intended to swell the cold viscous oil enough to enable enhanced production by water sweep. The technologies being tested are at various levels of maturity, some are involved in pilot projects while others are still in the laboratory.”

Can you buy the report?

“Atkins states that, for operators with interest and/or expertie in heavy oil, the new report will point them towards new opportunities, including the resource potential, refining and disposition of heavy crude, and the technologies that may allow new and more challenging heavy oil developments in the future. It provides more than just data; it also offers integrated analysis that tries to pull it together, linking upstream to downstream. It gives companies an overview of the future of heavy oil and information useful to the strategic planning process.
Further information, and ordering details for Heavy Crude Oil: A Global Analysis and Outlook and other reports can be found here: http://www.hartwrfs.com/heavycrudeoil.php
Alternatively, contact Glenn Dubin gdubin@hartenergy.com
source: http://www.heavyoilinfo.com/feature_items/heavy-crude-oil-a-global-analysis-and-outlook

Visit Wikipedia for a good overview of the technologies mentioned in the report described above.

Oil sands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
6 Extraction process
6.1 Surface mining
6.2 Cold flow
6.3 Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)
6.4 Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)
6.5 Vapor Extraction Process (VAPEX)
6.6 Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI)
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands#Vapor_Extraction_Process_.28VAPEX.29

Looking to expand your LinkedIn® network? Mention the Desulfurization Blog in your invitation to me and I will accept. View my profile at … www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch

Collecting Keys

“If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.” -- Mario Andretti (Italian born American Race driver. b.1940)
In my garage is a box of old keys that my wife and I have collected over the years in the belief that they must go to some lock or other and that if we throw one of them away we will regret it.
I also collect key words … but they have proven to be more useful. Every three or four months I go through the list and Google® them, adding the current year to the search string. The searches still dredge a number of irrelevant results, but sifting the list usually produces some useful nuggets.

Here are three examples …
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Google Search String:
Conversion extraction desulfurization 2010

Oxidative Desulfurization of Aromatic Sulfur Compounds over Titanosilicates
Guohua Gao, Prof. *, Shifu Cheng, Ying An, Xiaojuan Si, Xianlei Fu, Yueming Liu, Haijiao Zhang, Peng Wu, Ming-Yuan He
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, Department of Chemistry, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Rd., Shanghai 200062 (P.R. China), Fax: (+86) 21-62233323
email: Guohua Gao (ghgao@chem.ecnu.edu.cn)
*Correspondence to Guohua Gao, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, Department of Chemistry, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Rd., Shanghai 200062 (P.R. China), Fax: (+86) 21-62233323
Funded by:
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing
China University of Petroleum
973 Project; Grant Number: 2006CB202508
Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project; Grant Number: B409
Keywords
desulfurization • oxidation • silicates • thiophenes • titanium

Abstract
The application of several titanosilicates to the oxidation of aromatic sulfur compounds such as thiophene, benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene, and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene with H2O2 under mild conditions is reported. Superior to other titanosilicates, Ti-MWW demonstrates a higher activity for the oxidation of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene owing to the unique pore structure of the MWW topology. The effects of solvent, temperature, catalyst amount, and H2O2/S ratio on the oxidation of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene over this catalyst are studied in detail. The catalyst is also applied to the oxidative desulfurization of commercial diesel. The sulfur compounds in the commercial diesel were oxidized to the corresponding sulfones, which could be readily extracted by acetonitrile, resulting in a maximum sulfur removal of 88 %

source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123276443/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 ///////
Google Search String:
“oxidative desulfurization” 2010
Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
Received: 30 November 2009; Revised: 12 January 2010; Accepted: 16 January 2010
Published Online: 9 Mar 2010
ReviewOxidative processes of desulfurization of liquid fuelsJ.M. Campos-Martin *, M.C. Capel-Sanchez, P. Perez-Presas, J.L.G. Fierro
Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica, CSIC, Marie Curie 2, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain. http://www.icp.csic.es/eac/
email: J.M. Campos-Martin (j.m.campos@icp.csic.es)
*Correspondence to J.M. Campos-Martin, Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica, CSIC, Marie Curie 2, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
Keywords
oxidative desulfurization • biodesulfurization • liquid phase • catalysis • clean fuels • selective oxidation

Abstract
Environmental concerns have introduced a need to remove sulfur-containing compounds from light oil. As oxidative desulfurization is conducted under very mild reaction conditions, much attention has recently been devoted to this process. In this contribution, the developments in selective removal of organosulfur compounds present in liquid fuels via oxidative desulfurization, including both chemical oxidation and biodesulfurization, are reviewed. At the end of each section, a brief account of the research directions needed in this field is also included. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry

source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123308749/abstract ///////
Google Search String:
“Adsorptive desulfurization” 2010
Adsorptive desulfurization on a heteroatoms Y zeolite prepared by secondary synthesisJournal SCIENCE CHINA Chemistry
Publisher Science China Press, co-published with Springer
ISSN 1674-7291 (Print) 1869-1870 (Online)
Issue Volume 53, Number 1 / January, 2010
Pages 281-286
Ke Tang1, Xin Hong1 , YongHua Zhang1, LiJuan Song2 and ZhaoLin Sun2
(1) School of Material and Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Institute of Technology, Jinzhou, 121001, China
(2) College of Petrochemical Engineering, Liaoning University of Petroleum & Chemical Technology, Fushun, 113001, China

Abstract
Gallium atoms have been introduced into the framework of Y zeolite by treating the zeolite with an aqueous solution of ammonium hexafluoro gallate. Desulfurization of various model fuels containing about 500 μg/g sulfur has been studied over the synthesized Y zeolite ([Ga]AlY). The sulfur adsorption capacity is 7.0, 17.4, 14.5, 16.9, 6.9 and 5.8 mg(S)/g adsorbent for thiophene, tetrahydrothiophene (THT), 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT), dibenzophiophene (DBT), benzothiophene (BT) and 4-methyldibenzothiophene (4-MDBT), respectively. The charges on the S atom in thiophene, THT, 4,6-DMDBT, DBT, BT and 4-MDBT, calculated using the density functional theory (DFT), are −0.159, −0.298, −0.214, −0.211, −0.193 and −0.188, respectively, implying that the S-M bond between the adsorption sites and thiophene is much weaker than that between the adsorption sites and THT, 4,6-DMDBT or DBT. The sulfur removal of FCC gasoline on [Ga]AlY is 68%.
Keywords isomorphous substitution - DFT - model fuels - adsorptive desulfurization

source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/76n15r0813560275/ ///////

That’s Heavy, Man … Bitumen & Very Heavy Crude Upgrading Technology

“This administration is going to be cussed and discussed for years to come.” -- Harry S Truman (American 33rd President of the United States, 1884-1972)

This is a report worth reading, especially if you are designing or administering a research program.

Bitumen & Very Heavy Crude Upgrading Technology-A Review Of Long Term R&D Opportunities

“The Focus of this Review: This review has focused on the identification of emerging and developing technologies that can, when fully developed, either be applied directly to upgrade bitumen and very heavy crudes, or are integral to new approaches to upgrading. Although very heavy crudes do not have the same reserve potential as the oil sands … they are included in this report as they might also gain from upgrading to lighter crudes using similar upgrading technology.”

The report examines R&D needs in a detailed and comprehensive manner. For example, it mentions the need to consider how to handle the sulfur that is produced as a consequence of increased desulfurization activity. To quote …

“Bitumen contains on average close to 5% by weight sulphur. The removal of sulphur (desulphurization) occurs through various upgrading processes, and is recovered via hydrogen sulphide gas scrubbing. Recovered sulphur is either stockpiled or shipped to markets, but the land-locked location of much of the oil sands industry makes this difficult, with the current worldwide glut in sulphur, and consequent low prices at the closest western export port, Vancouver … New technologies to use the sulphur by-product in non-traditional ways, such as in cement, sulphur enhanced road asphalt, as well as growing agricultural soil nutrient demand growth all offer ways to mitigate the world supply-demand imbalance in the log term.”

The section labeled TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT NEEDS IN BITUMEN & HEAVY CRUDE UPGRADNG states …

“The main intent in this study is to identify areas for pre-competitive (basic and early applied research) that should be the main focus for government-industry jointly funded R&D. This is expected to cover a wide variety of technology options, at the scouting level, where technical or scientific uncertainty is also higher.”

The report was produced in 2004, a long time ago in the technology arena. But the goals identified in the report are so well organized that it is still worth the time required to browse its contents.

View the full text of the report at:
www.ptac.org/links/dl/osdfnlreport.pdf

Pass this on to your colleagues … and let them know about the Desulfurization Blog (http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/)

Arabic Web Searching for the Rest of Us

Avoid the company of a liar. And if you can't avoid him, don't believe him (Arabic Proverb)
source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arabic_proverbs
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Languages fascinate me, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts. Sad, really, since I have no natural ability in this area of interest. Still, when I run across a Web like Onkosh.com (www.onkosh.com) , I can’t help but share it, even if it does not bear directly on desulfurization technology. This can be a useful site to explore for news that might pertain to developments in the oil business … and that’s no lie.

Description from the Onkosh Web …

Onkosh is the search portal for the Arabic web. Anything in Arabic on the web, we've got it. Anything Arabic-related in English or French on the web, we've got it.

Onkosh.com understands the Arabic language and utilizes advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to ensure that you receive the best results for your search query. We don't just say that, we mean it.

Onkosh Web Search – Search the web for Arabic and Arabic-related sites.
Onkosh Image Search - Search images on the web for Arabic and Arabic-related sites.
Onkosh Blog Search – Everybody's talking blogs in the Arab world these days, and we're listening. View the most popular blog posts and search through thousands of blogs.
Onkosh News Search – A world quality service from Onkosh.com that specializes in aggregating all the recent news from different Arabic sources. Whenever an article is published, within a few minutes it will appear and be searchable on Onkosh. This service offers the unique functionality of grouping the similar articles together along with on-the-fly classification of the articles.
Onkosh Forum Search – Search millions of posts in several Arabic or Arabic-related forums. With this specialized search from Onkosh, the results take you to the exact forum post that is relevant to your search query, not just the URL of the forum page.
Onkosh File Search – Search for music files, mp3s, music videos, applications and other files that users are sharing on Arabic Forums and listed on Arabic music sites. With Onkosh File Search the latest files are always just a click away.
Onkosh Directory – View and search the Arabic Open Directory listing, a categorized and comprehensive listing of Arabic sites on the web.
Onkosh Thanaweya Amma results – Exclusively on Onkosh, View and search Thanaweya Amma results by Name.
Onkosh Sudoku – Play and Practice Sudoku at three different levels
Onkosh Bel-3araby – Search for Arabic using English characters and popular character replacements like "3" for "ع" and "7" for "ح". Give it a try.
We have a very exciting roadmap ahead, so continue to stay tuned for all the great features that Onkosh.com will be adding over the coming period.

Onkosh is an Orascom Telecom product.

source: http://www.onkosh.com/en/about/

Heavy Oil Info from Schlumberger

"Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish" -- Ovid (Roman poet, 43 BCE – 17 or 18 CE)

Most vendor sponsored blogs are little more than infomercials, but occasionally a chance encounter makes the life of an information beachcomber like me seem worthwhile.

The Heavy Oil Info (http://www.heavyoilinfo.com/) blog tended by Schlumberger’s Dr. Kambiz Safinya is one such find.

Here are some recent posts from the blog …

Heavy Oil Info Blog
Opinions and thoughts from Dr. Kambiz Safinya.

Modeling of complex fluid systems
The SPE paper "Modeling of Complex Fluid Systems in Gimboa Field Block 4: An Offshore Field in Angola With Biodegraded Heavy Oils" reviews the importance of understanding compositional variations in heavy oil reservoirs through geochemistry and other fluid data and analysis.

Growing scope and diversity of global heavy oil development
The March 2010 JPT Online features a variey of articles covering a range of heavy oil topics and reservoir environments.

Integration of fluid log predictions and downhole fluid analysis
An interesting case study in the application of Downhole Fluid Analysis or DFA and compositional equation of state modeling to better understand reservoir fluid compositional grading was presented at the Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference & Exhibition, 4-6 August 2009, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Reservoir analysis in a fractured carbonate heavy oil reservoir
This SPE paper details production logging results in Eygpt's Issaran heavy oil carbonate field and provides insight on job planning, operations, and approaches for field re-development

Heavy oil recovery techniques that reduce CO2 emissions and water consumption
Thermal heavy oil recovery techniques such as SAGD or cyclic steam injection that require the generation of steam require significant amounts of water and in turn produce large quantities of CO2. While thermal processes have proved to be the most effective and economic for heavy oil recovery, there are emerging technologies for non-thermal recovery that lower water resource requirements and reduce CO2 output.

Heavy oil sampling with wireline formation testers
Schlumberger's Peter Weinheber, presented a compelling paper on heavy oil sampling with Wireline Formation Test (WFT) tools at the recent December 2009 International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha, Qatar.

SPE Applied Technology Workshop (ATW) on water management
At the recent SPE ATW, "Integrated Water Management: From Planning to Operations", held in Edinburgh, UK, a number of engineers reviewed the latest technologies and strategies for improved oil field water management.

Water resources management and the energy industry in Alberta, Canada
This article originally published in the Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology explores the challenges associated with managing Alberta's water resources balancing population growth, agricultural expansion, and the consumption needs of the the heavy oil energy industry.

Water management in heavy oil
In this series of blog posts, we will explore some of the challenges and opportunities associated with water management in heavy oil production.

Source: http://www.heavyoilinfo.com/blog-posts

Some background information on Dr. Safinya …

Kambiz Safinya is Heavy Oil Theme Director for Schlumberger. He has 28 years experience in the oil and gas industry and has held various management positions with Schlumberger in Operations, Marketing, Research and Product Development in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia and holds more than 18 US patents. He received his PhD in Atomic Physics from Harvard University in 1979 and is a member of SPE.

Source: http://www.spe.org/events/kipce/speakers/heavyoil.html

Another blog you should follow … Jean Steinhardt’s Desulfurization Blog at http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/

An easy way to search for dissertations and theses

“Between repetition and forgetting, it is a marvel that a new thought ever struggles into existence” -- Mason Cooley

Keeping up can be hard to do, and I am always looking for ways to ease the process. One way is to monitor dissertations being produced by doctoral candidates. If you are part of a corporation large enough to support a library, you probably have access to Dissertation Abstracts International, a ProQuest (http://www.proquest.com/) product.

The less fortunate among you have to scrounge for other ways to access this valuable information. First stop … your local public library. I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating … public libraries, many of them, are doing their best to provide online access to databases that individuals cannot afford to subscribe to.

My public library … Houston Public Library (http://www.houstonlibrary.org/) … for example, offers access for library card holders to FirstSearch (WorldCat), an OCLC (www.oclc.org) product.

Search WorldCat for dissertations containing the keyword “desulfurization,” for example, and you come up with a list of titles like the one that appears below.

Incidentally, I want to put in a plug for OCLC in particular, and librarianship in general. Libraries were on board with the power of computers to network information way back in 1967 …

"OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to furthering public access to the world's information and reducing the rate of rise of library costs".[1] It was incorporated on July 6, 1967 as the not-for-profit Ohio College Library Center.[2] 72,000 libraries in 86 countries and territories use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials."
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC

///////
WorldCat results for: kw: desulfurization and mt: deg and yr: 2008-2010
Records found: 18 (English: 16) Rank by: Number of Libraries

1. Computational fluid dynamics simulation of chemically reacting gas flows through microfibrous materials
http://repo.lib.auburn.edu/EtdRoot/2008/SPRING/Aerospace_Engineering/Dissertation/Duggirala_Ravi_35.pdf
Author: Duggirala, Ravi Kumar, 1980-; Roy, Christopher. J., Publication: Auburn, Ala., 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2008.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File
Libraries Worldwide: 1

2. Functional roles of conserved active site amino acids in the desulfonation reaction catalyzed by the alkanesulfonate monooxygenase from Escheria coli
http://hdl.handle.net/10415/1426
Author: Carpenter, Russell, 1979-; Ellis, Holly R., Publication: Auburn, Ala., 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File
Libraries Worldwide: 1

3. Oxidative desulfurization of diesel fuels /
Author: Alshahrani, Farhan Mohammed.; Green, M. L. H.,; Dilworth, John,
Publication: 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (D.Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2008.
Document: English : Book
Libraries Worldwide: 1


4. Constructed wetland treatment system an approach for mitigating risks of flue gas desulfurization waters /
http://etd.lib.clemson.edu/documents/1249066367/
Author: Eggert, Derek Anderson. Publication: 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Clemson University, 2009.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File
Libraries Worldwide: 1

5. Deep desulfurization of transportation fuels via supported ionic liquid membranes /
Author: Kindt, Richard Anthony. Publication: 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (M.S.)--University of Toledo, 2009.
Document: English : Book : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Archival Material
Libraries Worldwide: 1

6. Oxidation of mercury during selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide
https://www.mhsl.uab.edu/dt/2009p/tong.pdf
Author: Tong, Giang. Publication: Birmingham, Ala. : University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File
Libraries Worldwide: 1

7. Shi shi pai yan tuo liu zui jia cheng ben han shu zhi tan tao = Cost function for wet desulfurization of flue gas /
Author: Zhu, Guowei . Publication: 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.) -- National Taiwan University Dept. of Environmental Engineering .
Document: Chinese (Show non-Roman characters) : Book : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Archival Material
Libraries Worldwide: 1

8. Nanopowder nickel aluminate for benzothiophene adsorption from dodecane
http://hdl.handle.net/1853/26580
Author: Berrigan, John Daniel. Publication: Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (M. S.)--Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009.
Document: English (Show non-Roman characters) : Internet Resource : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Computer File Archival Material
Libraries Worldwide: 1

9. Transition metal catalysts for hydrodesulphurization reactions applied to petroleum industry
http://0-proquest.umi.com.lib.utep.edu/login?COPT=REJTPTU0YmImSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=2515
Author: Torres Escobar, Brenda. Publication: 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009.
Document: English : Internet Resource : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Computer File Archival Material
Libraries Worldwide: 1

10. Hydrodesulfurization of metallic phosphide catalysts : from base metals to noble metals /
Author: Gaudette, Amy F.; Bussell, Mark E. Publication: 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (M.S.)--Western Washington University, 2009.
Document: English : Book : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Archival Material
Libraries Worldwide: 1

11. Sulphur removal using regenerable sorbents of rare earth/transition metal oxides
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07092008-054914/
Author: Kalakota, Vikram Reddy, 1985- Publication: [Baton Rouge, La. : Louisiana State University, 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (M.S. in Ch.E.)--Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 2008.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File
Libraries Worldwide: 1

12. <>.
http://www.cetd.com.tw/ec/thesisdetail.aspx?etdun=U0001-2207200821363500
Author: Chu, Kuo-Wei. Publication: 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.)--National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of environmental engineering.
Document: Chinese (Show non-Roman characters) : Internet Resource : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Archival Material
Libraries Worldwide: 1

13. Biological sulfide oxidation by natron-alkaliphilic bacteria : application in gas desulfurization /
Author: Bosch, Pim L.F. van den.
Publication: [S.l. : s.n.], 2008
Dissertation: Proefschrift Wageningen.
Document: English : Book
Libraries Worldwide: 1

14. Biological sulfide oxidation by natron-alkaliphilic bacteria : application in gas desulfurization /
Author: Bosch, Pim L. F. van den.
Publication: [Wageningen : s.n., 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (doctoral)--Wageningen Universiteit, 2008.
Document: English : Book
Libraries Worldwide: 1

15. Mechanistic studies and practical applications of stereoselective glycosylation
Author: Li, Linfeng. Publication: 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Wayne State University, 2009.
Document: English : Computer File : Document
Libraries Worldwide: 1

16. Sol-gel synthesized nanomaterials for environmental applications
http://hdl.handle.net/2097/884
Author: Yang, Xiangxin. Publication: Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Kansas State University, 2008.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File
Libraries Worldwide: 1

17. Desulphurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuel /
Author: Wong, Sin Wa. Publication: 2009
Dissertation: Thesis (M.Phil.)--; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,; 2009.
Document: English : Book : Thesis/dissertation/manuscript Archival Material Internet Resource
Libraries Worldwide: 1

18. Sol-gel synthesized nanomaterials for environmental applications
http://hdl.handle.net/2097/884
Author: Yang, Xiangxin. Publication: Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2008
Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Kansas State University, 2008.
Document: English : Internet Resource Computer File

source: WorldCat
http://www.firstsearch.org/

More Than One Way to Skin a Cat: Polyoxometalate

"One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives" -- Mark Twain in Pudd'nhead Wilson

Let’s be clear … cats should not be skinned, and why you would want to know more than one way to skin one is beyond me. But the thought behind the phrase is valid … there is more than one way to solve a problem. And that includes the problem of digging out the information you need to advance your research.

When it comes to online research, keywords are extremely important. They are so important that I look for them whenever I find an article with valuable content.

Today’s tip: do what I do. Read for content … Look for key words.

Today’s key word: Polyoxometalate

Here are a couple of articles that resulted from Googling® polyoxometalate

Zinc-Substituted Polyoxometalate for Oxidative Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene
Authors: J. Lai a; G. Luo a
Affiliation: a Department of Chemistry, Liaoning Shihua University, Liaoning, P.R. China
Published in: Petroleum Science and Technology, Volume 27, Issue 8 January 2009 , pages 781 - 787
Abstract
An oxidative desulfurization process for model compound has been studied using Na12[WZn3(H2O)2(ZnW9O34)2] • 46H2O as catalyst and 30 wt% aqueous hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizing agent. The effects of the reaction time, the reaction temperature, the amount of the oxidizing agent and the catalyst on the removal of dibenzothiophene (DBT) were investigated. The oxidated resultant was removed by extraction with polar solvent to reduce the sulfur level in the model compound. The maximum removal of DBT was up to 70%.
Keywords: desulfurization; dibenzothiophene; hydrogen peroxide; oxidative polyoxometalates
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Fuel Processing Technology
Volume 90, Issue 3, March 2009, Pages 411-414
Oxidative desulfurization of Gas oil by polyoxometalates catalysts
W. Trakarnpruka, c, , and K. Rujiraworawutb
aDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
bProgram of Petrochemistry and Polymer Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
cCenter of Excellence for Petroleum, Petrochemicals, and Advanced Materials, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Abstract
Several polyoxometalates: Na2HPM12O40, H3PM12O40, Na2HPM12O40, (VO)H[PM12O40] and (n-Bu4N)3[PM12O40] (M = Mo and W) as well as (n-Bu4N)3 + x[PW12−xVxO40] (x = 0–3) were synthesized and characterized. Benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyl-dibenzothiophene were used as model sulfur compounds in gas oil. The oxidation reaction was performed using different polyoxometalates as catalyst and H2O2/acetic acid. The experimental results show that the W-based polyoxometalate catalysts are more active than the Mo catalysts. The oxidation reactivity of the catalysts depends on the type of countercation: Na+ > H+ > (VO)+ > (n-Bu4N)+. In a series of (n-Bu4N)3 + x [PW12−xVxO40] (x = 0–3) the order of catalytic activity is V3 > V2 > V1 > V0. The reactivity order of the sulfur compounds is: dibenzothiophene > 4,6-dimethyldibenzo-thiophene > benzothiophene. The catalytic system in this work was used for the oxidation of gas oil combined with solvent extraction to remove sulfur content in gas oil. Under mild reaction condition, high sulfur removal up to 98% can be achieved with high oil recovery (90%).

Stay tuned for future posts.
Jean Steinhardt, Principal
Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC
www.JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com
research@JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com

LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch
Desulfurization Blog: http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/

Cite Sources: Research Advances In Oxidative Desulfurization Technologies For The Production Of Low Sulfur Fuel Oils

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." — Albert Einstein

How many times have you received a “must read” email from a colleague … only to spend several hours tryig to locate the thing?

Do your colleagues a favor … when you find something you want to share, copy the URL from the address bar at the top of your browser, and paste it into the email you send. It will save them a lot of time. And more importantly, it will make them more inclined to pay attention to your next email.

I make a point of doing this in each post to the Desulfurization Blog. For example, the following …

Research Advances In Oxidative Desulfurization Technologies For The Production Of Low Sulfur Fuel Oils
Petroleum & Coal ISSN 1337-7027
Gaofei Zhang, Fengli Yu, Rui Wang*
School of Environmental Science & Enginering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China
Abstract.
The oxidative desulfurization (ODS) technology has been widely recognized as one of the most effective methods for the removal of fuel oils, due to the very mild operation conditions it requires. According to the oxidants involved, the ODS methods to date can be divided into the following categories: H2O2 oxidation method, organic oxidant method, photochemical oxidation method, as well as those involving the use of plasma or ultrasound. Status of research progress in these ODS methods was systematically reviewed, whereby the future work of importance was proposed.
Source: www.vurup.sk/pc/vol51_2009/issue3/pdf/pc_3_2009_wang_rui_030.pdf

In this case, the link takes you to the full text of the article. In most cases, the link is to the abstract of the article. Either way, your colleagues will have the information they need to find the full text of whatever you have found.

Moral … cite your sources … you’ll be glad you did.

News Source: Al Neft

"Hoping to Rise? Master the Elevator Talk" -- Gabe Goldberg, Special to The Washington Post, April 20, 2008

One of the unpleasant things about doing really useful things, such as desulfurization research, is justifying your existence to the people who control your budget. You can make that task more pleasant, or at least more productive, by creating 10-second and 30-second scripts that you can use when you are waiting for the elevator with one of your executives. Think of it as small talk with a purpose.

Unfortunately, most executives have only a vague idea of what you do. So to relate to them, you may have to use some of that creativity you use in your research. That’s where a news aggregator like Al Neft (www.alneft.com) can help.

According to its Web …

“Al Neft or Crude Oil in arabic is the story of modern Middle East and its importance to Global economy and politics. The site aims to provide objective analysis on developments & trends within the Oil & Gas Industry in the Middle East & North Africa and overall macro-economic environment within the region and worldly wisdom.”

There are hundreds of news aggregators on the Web. The interesting thing about Al Neft is that it filters the news from a Middle East perspective. The emphasis is on news about oil related events in the Middle East, and on global oil related events that will affect developments in the Middle East petroleum business.

This can lead to some interesting talking points when you have found yourself next to one of your execs. The executive may not understand the importance of your research, but he or she will understand the implications of …

“Saudi local consumption of Crude Oil continue to climb with current estimate of 2.8 m bpd in 2010 from 2.6 m bpd in 2009. Saudi total production stood at 12.5 m bpd. Heavy subsidies of feedstock to Industrial users and gasoline pump price and lack of sufficient natural gas will pose potential constraints on future exports from the world’s central bank of oil.”
Source: http://alneft.com/?p=46

I don’t care who you are … if you’re in the oil business, an item like this will be food for thought. And a thoughtful executive is just the kind of person you need to cultivate.

Monitoring Tip: Biodesulfurization

“The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer” -- Ed Murrow

When monitoring developments in your field, ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com) is a good source … not the only source, but free, and easy to use.

Save yourself some time by going beyond the obvious in forming your search string. For example, if you are interested in the use of rhodococcus to desulurize petroleum products, and you are interested in recent developments in the field, the following search statement is designed to retrieve just what you need.

rhodococcus desulfurization 2010

Here are a few of the results of the search …

Biodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene by a newly isolated Rhodococcus erythropolis strain
Bioresource Technology, Volume 101, Issue 3, February 2010, Pages 1102-1105
Fatemeh Davoodi-Dehaghani, Manouchehr Vosoughi, Abed Ali Ziaee

Identification and functional analysis of genes required for desulfurization of alkyl dibenzothiophenes of Mycobacterium sp. G3
Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Volume 100, Issue 4, October 2005, Pages 398-402
Nobuhiko Nomura, Masaki Takada, Hideki Okada, Yuko Shinohara, Toshiaki Nakajima-Kambe, Tadaatsu Nakahara, Hiroo Uchiyama

Biodesulfurization of refractory organic sulfur compounds in fossil fuels
Biotechnology Advances, Volume 25, Issue 6, November-December 2007, Pages 570-596
Mehran Soleimani, Amarjeet Bassi, Argyrios Margaritis

Analyses of substrate specificity of the desulfurizing bacterium Mycobacterium sp. G3
Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Volume 93, Issue 2, February 2002, Pages 228-233
Hideki Okada, Nobuhiko Nomura, Tadaatsu Nakahara, Kenji Maruhashi

By bringing to your online search strategy the same creativity you use in your research, you will improve the effectiveness of your efforts in both areas.

Expert Alert: Dr. Theresa Phillips

"When all think alike, then no one is thinking." — Walter Lippman

This will be my last post for a few days … I will be on travel. Here is today’s offering.

I ran across a blog by Dr. Theresa Phillips. One of her posts succinctly describes the obstacles to commercialization of biodesulfurization. To quote from her post …

"Biodesulfurization was viewed as a way to reduce costs and the environmental impacts associated with the chemical processes. However, few microorganisms could remove sulfur species from oil, and those that did (Rhodococcus sp. of bacteria, for example) did not survive well in the toxic crude oil, with minimal available water ... A review by Soleimani et al. 2007 indicates that nothing much changed in this area of research at least in the first year after I left, and that more research is needed in nearly all the areas I had been investigating"
Source: http://biotech.about.com/b/2009/02/09/will-biodesulfurization-ever-work.htm

The cite for the Soleimani article she mentions is …

Soleimani, M., Bassi, A., and Margaritis, A. 2007. Biodesulfurization of refractory organic sulfur compounds in fossil fuels. Biotechnol. Adv. 25(6):570-96.
Source, with free view of entire article: http://www.scribd.com/doc/26432297/Biodesulfurization-of-Refractory-Organic-Sulfur-Compounds-in-Fossil-Fuels

Join my LinkedIn network ... view my profile at www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch

The Heavy Lifting of Document Delivery

“He has to do the heavy lifting and the windows and the wash, and also protect the president.” -- Alan K. Simpson (Wyoming politician born 1931)

There are lots of things, thanks be to the Internet, that we can do ourselves these days. But just because we can do almost anything doesn’t mean we should try to do everything.

For example … while it can be a good thing to do your own online research, obtaining copies of the articles and papers you unearth can be so time consuming that you don’t have time to do anything else.

Document delivery, as it is called, is a task best done by your friendly corporate library staff. They are more efficient and paid less.

A concrete example … I found an interesting article on biodesulfurization.

Microbiology (2008), 154, 2169–2183
Biocatalytic desulfurization (BDS) of petrodiesel fuels
Ghasemali Mohebali1 and Andrew S. Ball2
Correspondence Ghasemali Mohebali (mohebaligh@ripi.ir)
1Department of Petroleum Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Research Institute of
Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran
2School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia

One quote from the article was particularly interesting …

“Therefore, with respect to these advantages, placing the BDS unit downstream of an HDS unit as a complementary technology to achieve ultradeep desulfurization, rather than as a replacement, should also be considered.”
source: http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/reprint/154/8/2169.pdf

As I often do, I glanced at the article’s references to see what else I might want to read. Some technical articles list 10 references. This article lists almost 10 PAGES of references.

Imagine spending your precious time obtaining even a fraction of the references from such an article. You could do so … and you could wash your own windows, while you’re at it, and vacuum your own area, not to mention cleaning the rest room.

But why, when you have a perfectly good corporate library to assign this task to? (Document delivery, that is, not cleaning toilets)

And if you don’t have a corporate library, find a good document delivery specialist on the AIIP – Association of Independent Information Professionals Web (www.aiip.org)

Here is one page of the references from the above article …

First Page of References from Biocatalytic desulfurization (BDS) of petrodiesel fuels
Abbad-Andaloussi, S., Lagnel, C., Warzywoda, M. & Monot, F.
(2003). Multi-criteria comparison of resting cell activities of bacterial
strains selected for biodesulfurization of petroleum compounds.
Enzyme Microb Technol 32, 446–454.
Alves, L., Salgueiro, R., Rodrigues, C., Mesquita, E., Matos, J. & Gı´rio,
F. M. (2005). Desulfurization of dibenzothiophene, benzothiophene,
and other thiophene analogs by a newly isolated bacterium, Gordonia
alkanivorans strain 1B. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 120, 199–208.
Arensko¨ tter, M., Bro¨ ker, D. & Steinbu¨ chel, A. (2004). Biology of the
metabolically diverse genus Gordonia. Appl Environ Microbiol 70,
3195–3204.
Armstrong, S. M., Sankey, B. M. & Voordouw, G. (1995). Conversion
of dibenzothiophene to biphenyl by sulfate-reducing bacteria
isolated from oil field production facilities. Biotechnol Lett 17,
1133–1136.
Armstrong, S. M., Sankey, B. M. & Voordouw, G. (1997). Evaluation
of sulfate-reducing bacteria for desulfurizing bitumen or its fractions.
Fuel 76, 223–227.
Bahrami, A., Shojaosadati, S. A. & Mohebali, G. (2001).
Biodegradation of dibenzothiophene by thermophilic bacteria.
Biotechnol Lett 23, 899–901.
Caro, A., Boltes, K., Leton, P. & Garcıa-Calvo, E. (2007).
Dibenzothiophene biodesulfurization in resting cell conditions by
aerobic bacteria. Biochem Eng J 35, 191–197.
Chang, J. H., Chang, Y. K., Cho, K.-S. & Chang, H. N. (2000).
Desulfurization of model and diesel oils by resting cells of Gordona sp.
Biotechnol Lett 22, 193–196.
Chang, J. H., Kim, Y. J., Lee, B. H., Cho, K.-S., Rye, H. W., Chang, Y. K.
& Chang, H. N. (2001). Production of a desulfurization biocatalyst by
two-stage fermentation and its application for the treatment of model
and diesel oils. Biotechnol Prog 17, 876–880.
Coco, W. M., Levinston, W. E., Crist, M. J., Hektor, H. J., Darzins, A.,
Pienkos, P. T., Squires, C. H. & Monticello, D. J. (2001). DNA
shuffling method for generating highly recombined genes and evolved
enzymes. Nat Biotechnol 19, 354–359.
Denis-Larose, C., Labbe, D., Nergron, H., Jones, A. M., Greer, C. W.,
Al-Hawari, J., Grossman, M. J., Sankey, B. M. & Lau, P. C. K.
(1997). Conservation of plasmid-encoded dibenzothiophene desulfurization
genes in several rhodococci. Appl Environ Microbiol 63,
2915–2919.
Denome, S. A., Olson, E. S. & Young, K. D. (1993a). Identification
and cloning of genes involved in specific desulfurization of
dibenzothiophene by Rhodococcus sp. strain IGTS8. Appl Environ
Microbiol 59, 2837–2843.
Denome, S. A., Stanley, D. C., Olson, E. S. & Young, K. D. (1993b).
Metabolism of dibenzothiophene and naphthalene in Pseudomonas
strains: complete DNA sequence of an upper naphthalene catabolic
pathway. J Bacteriol 175, 6890–6901.
Denome, S. A., Oldfield, C., Nash, L. J. & Young, K. D. (1994).
Characterization of the desulfurization genes from Rhodococcus sp.
strain IGTS8. J Bacteriol 176, 6707–6716
source: http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/reprint/154/8/2169.pdf