UOP Technical Papers

“If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.” -- Lily Tomlin (American Actress and Comedian, b.1939)

UOP posts technical papers that provide interesting reading.  Visit http://www.uop.com/tech-library, enter a search term like "sulfur" and begin browsing.  Here's one ...

"Advanced Mercury Removal Technologies"
New technologies can cost-effectively treat 'wet' and 'dry' natural gas while protecting cryogenic equipment
N. Eckersley, UOP LLC
Hydrocarbon Processing, January 2010

Read the full text at: http://www.uop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/UOP-Advanced-Mercury-Removal-Technologies-tech-paper.pdf 

Today’s tip: Bookmark the UOP site.

Conference Alert and Call For Papers: ERTC in Vienna

“A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all.” -- Rita Mae Brown (American Writer, b.1944)

Would you like to visit Vienna?

Thanks to an alert from Oil Refining: Global Technology Forum, a LinkedIn Group, the following Call for Papers popped up in my email …
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Subject: Announcement from Oil Refining: Global Technology Forum - ERTC 17th Annual Meeting Call for Papers now open
ERTC 17th ANNUAL MEETING
Monday 12th – Wednesday 14th November 2012, Vienna

CALL FOR PAPERS - DEADLINE: FRIDAY 23rd MARCH 2012

This year Global Technology Forum will return to the fabulous city of Vienna for the ERTC 17th Annual Meeting. It has long been the premier event of the year for both Europe and the International oil refining industries with over 550 professionals attending. The conference provides the ideal platform for technology and information transfer for key people in the industry with attendees including refining, technical and operational management and process and technical engineers.

Global Technology Forum has again commissioned an advisory board, comprising of industry experts to make the paper selections for the conference. You are now invited to submit one or two original papers for this conference for acceptance by the advisory board. Acceptance criteria will be originality and technical innovation. At this stage, the only requirements are a working title, subject area and brief description of the proposed content (typically a 200 word abstract).

Preference will be given to papers giving case histories and actual operating experience and we would be pleased to receive abstracts from supply companies that are co-authored with operating companies. We have listed some hot topics for the conference programme on the website www.gtforum.com/ertc-annual-meeting, although abstracts need not be restricted to these topics.

For more information about the ERTC Annual Meeting please visit the website where you will find details of the 2011 event in Barcelona:: www.gtforum.com/ertc-annual-meeting

Important notice: Please note that supplier speakers are subject to registration fees as defined by the organiser

In order to meet the conference-planning timetable and to ensure submission to the advisory board, please submit your abstract to Vicki Pope at vicki.pope@gtforum.com by Friday 23rd March 2012

I look forward to receiving your abstracts.

Kind regards

Vicki Pope
Senior Conference Producer
Global Technology Forum
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Today’s time save tip: if you have not already done so, join LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

If you have already joined LinkedIn, consider joining one or more groups in your area of interest.  Much of the chatter is junk, but occasional nuggets of useful information make the effort worth your time.

Another time saver tip: invite me, Jean Steinhardt, to join your LinkedIn network.  You can view my profile at: www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch

It’s a gas, gas, gas! A White Paper from SPECTRO Analytical Instruments

“Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.” --  George Carlin (American stand-up Comedian, Actor and Author. b.1937)

SPECTRO Analytical Instruments has published a new white paper: "Sulfur Determination from Crude Oil to Gasoline." by Product Manager, Scott Fess.

As with all white papers, its primary purpose is to market specific products.  But the first four pages of the paper describe sulfur determination techniques from a point of view that is not tied to specific products.

Even if you are well versed in sulfur determination techniques, the paper is worth reading for a couple of reasons …

1) It provides a good basis for a presentation to your management team, who may well be unaware of the nuances of the various techniques
2) Are you preparing a conference presentation?  The white paper may save time in articulating your knowledge of the topic.  This is especially helpful when your audience includes people who, while interested in your topic, are not intimately acquainted with the sulfur determination technology you use in your research.

You can download a PDF of the white paper at: http://www.elementalanalysis.org/petrochem/

I was alerted to the white paper by an email from "Oil, Gas & Petrochem Equipment." (http://www.ogpe.com/index.html)  Visit their Web so you can decide whether to register for their free email alerts.

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No registration required to follow the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com). Visit it often for search tips on researching ANY technology topic on the Web.

Finding Nemo … And Other People, Too

"I suffer from short term memory loss. It runs in my family... At least I think it does... Where are they?" -- Dory in the animated film "Finding Nemo"

When you find a company of interest, you may want to contact directly specific people within that company.

Take Sulphur Experts Inc. (www.sulphurexperts.com) for example.  Its Web lists key personnel, with a brief bio of each.  This information is helpful.  However, no contact information for these individuals is provided.

Today’s tip: Google® the “@” sign

This does not always work.  But it is worth a try.  So, if you Google® the following search string …

“@sulphurexperts.com”

One of the results …

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Sulphur Experts International Inc - BCInsight Online Buyer's Guide
www.bcinsightsearch.com/companydetails.aspx?id=5213&url=Cached
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
103 Beacon Hill Mullins St. Peter BB26026 Barbados. Tel: +1 246 422 4988. Web: Website: www.sulphurexperts.com. E-mail: john.sames@sulphurexperts. com ...
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John Sames, as we know from the Sulphur Experts Web, is president of the company.  Now that we know his email address, we can surmise that the same pattern applies to the email addresses of other key personnel.

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Bruce W. Klint, B.Sc.ChE., P.Eng., Director – Engineering
Probable email address: bruce.klint@sulphurexperts.com

Gerald E. Bohme, B.Sc.ChE., P.Eng., Staff Consultant / Production Manager
Probable email address: gerald.bohme@sulphurexperts.com

Peter R. Dale R.E.T. Senior Staff Technologist / Technical Coordinator
Probable email address: peter.dale@sulphurexperts.com
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As I said, this trick is not fool proof.  But it costs nothing to try.

One thing that IS fool proof … adding the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com) to your favorite feeds.  And let your colleagues know about this continuing series of online research tips and tricks.

Expert Alert: Sulphur Experts Inc.

“Space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind union of the two will preserve an independent reality” -- Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist, 1879-1955)

Sulpur Experts Inc. ( http://www.sulphurexperts.com/), a Canada based consulting firm, looks to be an organization of interest to anyone in the desulfurization business.  I did a quick search to gather a little background on the firm.  Some of the search results appear below.

But first, let me show how I found them in the first place.

But even firster (as a blogger, I exercise the power to make up words that suit my purpose), let me explain why I want to show you how I found them in the first place.

The answer: while the Web is a powerful resource for finding useful information, it is even powerfuller (another neologism) when searched iteratively.

I found Sulphur 2011, 7-10 November 2011, Houston Texas while searching for something else (Score one for serendipity.)

It looked interesting.  I explored its Web and noticed that someone from Sulphur Experts Inc. was a presenter.  Googling® Sulphur Experts, I found on its Web the names of key people in the organization.  I then Googled each of these individuals.  A sample of the results appear below.

The thing to take away from this case study is … Creative search techniques = Useful results.

So here is a sampling of the results obtained from the search strategy outlined above …

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Sulphur Experts is an independent process engineering company focused on providing leading edge evaluation services for Sulphur recovery and Amine plants, Filtration systems and Energy efficiency

CONTACTS

Barbados

Tel:  +1 (246) 422 4988

Help@SulphurExperts.com

Canada

Tel:  +1 (403) 215 8400

Fax: +1 (403) 215 8419

CAN@SulphurExperts.com

Europe

Tel:   +31 71 408 8036

EUR@SulphurExperts.com

United States

Tel: +1 (281) 336 0848

Fax:  +1 (866) 407 3485

USA@SulphurExperts.com

source: http://www.sulphurexperts.com/

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Sulphur Experts is an independent process engineering company comprised of fifty dedicated staff including engineers, scientists, technologists and support personnel. We are best known for providing services to the gas processing and refining industries under the following Divisions:

■Sulphur Experts■Amine Experts■Filtration Experts■Energy Experts

What sets Sulphur Experts apart from our competition is our size and technical strength. We have the ability to field up to ten test crews simultaneously with all the equipment and engineering support required to meet the specialised on-site testing and evaluation needs of our clients. And with offices in Canada, the Netherlands and the United States, we can generally mobilise efficiently, to meet the most demanding situations and schedules in a timely manner.

Sulphur Experts has been providing solutions to sulphur plant problems for more than 30 years under the internationally-recognized name – Western Research. The company comprises the same engineers and technologists, products and services that were pioneered by the process engineering group of BOVAR Western Research. Sulphur Experts continues the tradition of providing quality process engineering consulting and sulphur plant optimization services to industry.

We also produce the world’s most sophisticated sulphur plant simulation software (Sulsim®) and provide operations training both through our international technical training courses and customized on-site training programs.

Amine Experts was incorporated as a Division of Sulphur Experts in 1998 to meet client needs upstream of the sulphur plant. It was a logical step that was driven by customer need and took full advantage of our plant testing and analytical expertise, and our applied process and operations knowledge.

Filtration Experts is the newest member of the Sulphur Experts team, added in 2009. The significant benefits that effective separation and filtration technology brings to oil and gas processing should go without mention. However, it is an area that is often overlooked. Sulphur Experts recognized this opportunity and now provides expert design and troubleshooting services to industry through Filtration Experts.

Energy Experts focuses on improving energy efficiency in all types of oil and gas facilities with two objectives in mind – conserve our valuable non-renewable energy resources and reduce the environmental footprint associated with their production. Our Energy Experts team can help reduce fuel gas and energy consumption while reducing the Greenhouse Gas emissions that challenge the industry.

Sulphur Experts, together with all its divisions, have a common objective in mind – to help the industry operate in the most cost-effective and environmentally sound manner possible.

Source: http://www.sulphurexperts.com/aboutus/CompanyProfile.aspx

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John A. Sames, M.E.Chem.E., P.Eng.

President & CEO

John is a chemical engineer and recognized worldwide as an authority on sulphur recovery, particularly in the field of plant operations and process optimization. His company, Sulphur Experts, (and its predecessor Western Research) is focused on the efficient operation of sulphur recovery processes in oil and gas applications and has earned a reputation as the technical leader in process knowledge and plant evaluation. John has established a number of divisions under the Sulphur Experts’ banner to extend this expertise to related processes including: Amine Experts; offering similar services to amine processing plants; Energy Experts, focusing on energy conservation and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction; and Filtration Experts providing process support for separation and filtration units.

John has been involved in every aspect of the optimization of sulphur recovery processes for over 30 years, initially working in a large gas plant in northern Alberta, and for the past 30 years at Western Research/Sulphur Experts.

John is the author of over 30 technical papers on various subjects relating to sulphur recovery and is the co-author of the definitive text on the subject. He is the principal speaker at the Sulphur Experts’ internationally recognized Sulphur Recovery and Amine Treating courses and has participated in more than 200 courses throughout the world.

Bruce W. Klint, B.Sc.ChE., P.Eng.Director - Engineering

Bruce is a Chemical Engineer with over 28 years experience in the gas processing and sulphur recovery industry. He has a combination of design engineering, plant operations and process optimization/troubleshooting experience and is Sulphur Experts’ Director of Engineering.

Over the past 23 years Bruce has been directly involved in all aspects of the process engineering consulting work conducted by Sulphur Experts. He has provided expert advice and consulting services in the area of plant inspections, testing and plant optimization for the sour gas and oil refining industries. This includes working on plant optimization projects in more than 200 operating facilities around the world.

Bruce is one of the primary speakers at Sulphur Experts’ world recognized Sulphur Recovery Technical Training Course which has been presented at nearly 100 sites around the world. He also has primary responsibility for co-ordinating and completing all engineering tasks related to Sulphur Experts’ sulphur plant simulation package Sulsim® which is recognized as the leading process simulation package for sulphur recovery processes in the industry.

Prior to joining Sulphur Experts (and its predecessor companies), Bruce spent 6 years operating, designing and constructing both upstream and downstream oil and gas facilities including: well head equipment, pipelines, gas treating units, sulphur recovery units and gas compression equipment.

ARTICLES:

Low Quality Natural Gas

http://www.netl.doe.gov/kmd/cds/disk28/NGP8.PDF

Low quality natural gas sulphur removal/recovery

http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/DOE/_conf_proc/MISC/Conf-931156/931156%20Complete%20Conf/931156,%20Part%207,%20Pages%20416%20-%20497,%205.83MB.pdf

Gerald E. Bohme, B.Sc.ChE., P.Eng.

Staff Consultant / Production Manager

Gerald is a chemical engineer and senior consultant with over 20 years of experience in all aspects of the process engineering work conducted by Sulphur Experts.  In addition, Gerald is Sulphur Experts’ Production Manager and fills a very demanding role overseeing all of Sulphur Experts’ field crews and technical reports for both domestic and international projects.  Gerald’s expertise is global and includes plant inspections, testing and plant optimization for the sour gas and oil refining industries, including completion of optimization projects in more than 200 operating facilities in more than 50 countries.

Gerald is also a regular speakers at the Sulphur Experts’ world recognized Sulphur Recovery Technical Training Course and is very active in training plant operators and engineers through our specialized on-site training programs.

Peter R. Dale R.E.T.Senior Staff Technologist / Technical CoordinatorPeter is Sulphur Experts’ Technical Coordinator and has responsibility for all analytical systems and test procedures.  His primary function is to co-ordinate and supervises all technical aspects of sulphur recovery unit performance testing. Other duties include the design and construction of gas chromatograph systems, developing test methods and procedures and training of technical personnel.

Peter joined the Western Research/Sulphur Experts organization in 1974 and was involved in pioneering many of the highly specialized sampling and analytical procedures employed today.  He is an integral part of our analytical team and is our “go-to” person to address unique and challenging sampling and analytical issues.  Over his 35+ year career, Peter has been directly involved in sulphur plant optimization projects at more than 150 operating facilities around the world. Peter has also designed and manufactured over 35 "Sulphur Analytical Systems", Sulphur Experts proprietary gas chromatograph analytical system.

James A. Swallow, MEng (Chemical), P.Eng., P.E.Regional Manager – US and Latin America

Jamie has a master’s degree in chemical engineering and nearly 25 years experience in the petroleum industry. He joined Sulphur Experts in 2004 following careers in the environmental service industry, facility operations and instrumentation and controls system design.

Jamie is Sulphur Experts’ Regional Manager responsible for all projects, marketing and sales in the United States and Latin America. He is intimately familiar with all aspects of the process engineering consulting work conducted by Sulphur Experts having completed more than 50 sulphur plant optimization and engineering studies worldwide. In addition, his well-rounded experience includes participation in our other core businesses including amine, filtration and energy optimization projects.Jamie is one of the key presenters at the Sulphur Experts international sulphur recovery seminars and routinely participates in both the Kananaskis and Kemah seminars.

Jan B. Kiebert, B.Sc. MERegional Manager - Europe, Middle East and AsiaJan Kiebert has B.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering andBusiness Economics and is the Regional Manager for Sulphur Experts European, Middle East and Asia operations.  He has over 20 years of experience and has been directly involved in all aspects of the process engineering consulting work conducted by Sulphur Experts. He has conducted numerous sulphur plant inspections, design evaluations, testing and optimization projects for a wide range of facilities and clients.  Jan is also a specialist regarding burner systems for sulphur recovery plants and process incinerators.

Jan is one of the primary speakers at Sulphur Experts’ world recognized Sulphur Recovery seminar. Since 2005 Jan has worked in more than 30 countries, conducting in-house training courses and assisting with optimization and improvement of Sulphur Recovery Units. Prior to joining Sulphur Experts, Jan was Marketing and Sales Manager with Duiker Combustion Engineers and involved in world wide sales of combustion equipment.

Graham P. Latonas, B.Sc., MNRM, P.Biol.

Regional Manager  - Canada

Graham is an environmental professional with over 30 years experience in the environmental industry. His broad experience covers all aspects of regulatory approvals, environmental impact assessment and waste management studies in Canada and internationally.  Graham joined Sulphur Experts in 2008 to lead market development and management of the company’s eco-efficiency and energy management business.  He has been involved in a number of energy and sulphur-related projects since joining the company and is currently Regional Manager of Sulphur Experts’ Canadian operations.

Graham has extensive project management and regulatory affairs experience through senior management positions with Western Research, Manitoba Hazardous Waste Management Corporation, BOVAR Waste Management and Gartner Lee Limited.

Ben H. Spooner, B.Sc. PetE., P. Eng

Senior Process Engineer / Product Champion - Amine

Ben is a Petroleum Engineer with over 15 years experience providing technical support to the amine industry as an operator, technical specialist and as a consulting engineer. He joined Amine Experts in 2003 and has worked in over 25 countries on hundreds of various amine systems, providing expert assistance and advice regarding plant operations, troubleshooting, optimization and operator training.

Ben has written and presented papers worldwide at various conferences such as Laurence Reid, SOGAT, NACE, and Sulphur. Ben is one of the primary speakers at Amine Experts’ world recognized Amine Treating course and heads our amine service practice area. As Product Champion, Ben is responsible for aligning our amine services with customer needs and ensuring our position as a world-leader in this area is maintained. Ben is the key technical contact for clients seeking information and support on amine-related issues.

ARTICLES:

Amine Plant Sulphur‐Related Corrosion

http://www.nacecalgary.ca/pdfs/Sulfur-related%20Corrosion%20of%20Amine%20Plants%20and%20Sour%20Water%20Strippers.pdf

Maximizing Co2 Slip In Mdea Tail Gas Treating Units

Sulphur 2011, 7-10 November 2011, Houston Texas

http://www.crugroup.com/content/events/41425/41481/41511/Technical_Absracts-_SULPHUR_and__SULPHIDES.pdf

David B. Engel, Ph.D. (Organic Chemistry)

Staff Consultant / Product Champion - Filtration

David is a chemist with over 15 years of industrial experience in a variety of areas ranging from chemical synthesis to phase separation technologies. David is the inventor in over 12 United States Invention Patents (and 15 patent applications) on various subjects relating to technology development for sensors, nanotechnology, coatings, pharmaceuticals, pipeline systems, chemical additives and separation technology. David has also presented a number of seminars on a variety of technical subjects throughout the Americas.David joined Sulphur Experts in 2009 and leads our Filtration Experts service area. As the Product Champion, David is responsible for developing our separation and filtration services and providing ongoing technical support to clients in this area. He brings his unique research skills and process knowledge to troubleshoot issues with existing separation and filtration systems and provides practical solutions. David is also a key speaker at the Sulphur Experts’ Amine seminars and has developed a stand-alone seminar on Separation and Filtration for the gas processing and refining industries.

Michael T. Cundall, B.Sc., M.Sc. P.Eng.

Senior Process Engineer / Product Champion - Sulphur

Mike has a master’s degree in chemical engineering with nearly ten years experience focused primarily on sulphur plant optimization and engineering. He has spent his entire career at Sulphur Experts providing consulting services in the area of plant testing and optimization for various configurations of sulphur recovery and tail gas clean-up units in the sour gas and oil refining industries. Prior to joining Sulphur Experts, Mike conducted his master’s research, specializing in catalytic and reaction engineering related to sulphur recovery.

Mike has used his specialized knowledge to help train plant operations and engineering staff through our on-site training seminars. He also participates as a speaker at the Sulphur Experts’ Sulphur Recovery Technical Training Courses. Mike is our Product Champion for all sulphur-related services including plant testing, optimization and engineering services. Mike’s responsibilities include internal strengthening of our sulphur analytical and engineering services as well as being the primary technical contact for all sulphur-related inquiries.

ARTICLES:

Direct oxidation of hydrogen sulphide to sulphur using impregnated activated carbon catalysts

Ajay K. Dalai*, Michael T. Cundall, Mahuya De

The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Volume 86, Issue 4, pages 768–777, August 2008

Catalysis and Chemicals Reaction Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N5C9

Abstract

Low concentrations of H2S were directly oxidized to sulphur and small quantities of SO2, over seven different activated carbons with or without impregnation. The effectiveness of virgin activated carbon was tested at 175°C, 700 kPa, and O2/H2S ratio with 5% greater than stoichiometry. The conversion of H2S was 99.9 mol% with SO2 production of 3–6%, for 360 min runtime for Fisher coconut shell activated carbon and 648 min for Envirotrol bituminous (EB) activated carbon. Then the activated carbons became deactivated due to deposition of sulphur on the surface. Under these conditions mesoporous activated carbons such as EB and Hydrodarco had the longest breakthrough time. The addition of 5.5 wt% ammonium iodide, potassium iodide and potassium carbonate individually to EB decreased the production of SO2 while having minimal effect on the overall H2S conversion. The addition of 5.5 wt% NH4I decreased the average SO2 production from 2.5% to 0.9%. The activation energy for the H2S oxidation on the 5.5 wt% NH4I on EB activated carbon was determined to be 40 kJ/mol.

Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cjce.20034/abstract

Farsin Derakhshan, B.Sc, P.Eng. Senior Process Engineer / Regional Engineer, Europe & Middle East

Farsin is a professional engineer with over 16 years of experience. He joined Sulphur Experts in 1996 initially working out of the Germany Office and has been directly involved in all aspects of our process engineering consulting work since that time. Now residing in Canada, Farsin is one of our most experienced and well-travelled sulphur plant engineers, providing expert advice and consulting services to clients around the world. His specialty areas include sulphur plant troubleshooting and process optimization.

Farsin is the Regional Engineer for Europe and the Middle East; technically responsible for all projects in these regions. Farsin is also a speaker at our internationally-recognized Sulphur Recovery seminars.

Philip Olesky, B.S. (Chemical Eng.)

Senior Process Engineer / Regional Engineer – United States

Phil is a Chemical Engineer with over 25 years experience, nearly half of which has been with Sulphur Experts. He joined Sulphur Experts in 1999 in the United States and has been directly involved in all aspects of our process engineering consulting work since that time. Phil is the Sulphur Experts’ Regional Engineer for the United States and is responsible for all plant testing and optimization projects conducted in the US.

Phil’s career with Sulphur Experts has focused on troubleshooting and optimization of gas treating systems at both refineries and gas processing facilities. Phil has provided engineering services for clients in the US and around the world.

Juan Carlos Ruiz, B.Sc. (ChemEng), M.Sc. (Refining) P.Eng.

Senior Engineer / Regional Engineer - Latin AmericaJuan is a chemical engineer with a master’s degree in Refining Engineering and Gas Processing.  He has over 10 years experience, six years of which was spent as an operations engineer responsible for the sulphur plant and amine units at a refinery in Venezuela. Juan joined Sulphur Experts in 2007 and has participated in a large variety of sulphur plant and amine system projects including start up and shut down activities, operations support and facility optimization.Juan was recently appointed as Sulphur Experts’ Regional Engineer responsible for all projects in Latin America

source: http://www.sulphurexperts.com/aboutus/SeniorStaff.aspx

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To recap … the search strategy the produced the above results was …

Sulphur 2011, 7-10 November 2011, Houston Texas à Google® Sulphur Experts Inc à Sulphur Experts Web à Names of Sulphur Experts people à Google® Individual Members of Sulphur Experts Inc

It’s all a matter of detective work … for a continuing stream of online research detective strategies, follow the Desulfurization Blog (http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/) … and advise your colleagues to do so, as well.