Cargill studies

Polyester chemistry is the same as studied by Carothers long ago, but polyester synthesis is still a very active field. New polymers have been very recently or will be soon commercially introduced PTT for fiber applications poly(ethylene naph-thalate) (PEN) for packaging and fiber applications and poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a biopolymer synthesized from renewable resources (corn syrup) introduced by Dow-Cargill for large-scale applications in textile industry and solid-state molding resins. Polyesters with unusual hyperbranched architecture also recently appeared and are claimed to find applications as crosstinkers, surfactants, or processing additives. 

A series of papers with first systematic studies of SNPs in selected genes have been published recently (Cargill et al., 1999 Halushka et al., 1999, Hacia et al., 1999). In all studies high-density variant detector arrays (Chee et al., 1996 Lipshutz et al., 1999) were used to detect SNPs in PCR products. In the study denaturing high-performance liquid chroma-... 

There would seem, therefore, to be a fruitful field of research in further study of the preparation-dependent properties of amorphous magnetic films. He shows that some results reported in his paper support this view. Cargill (1978b), for... 

Experiments were performed to determine the optimum pH for the extraction of proteins from the industrially defatted canola meal (Federated Co-op Ltd., Saskatoon, SK) and sunflower meal (Cargill Inc., West Fargo, ND), and the minimum solubility pH (isoelectric pH) for precipitation. Details of the experimental methods can be found in (7) and (13) respectively. The extracted protein solutions were then used to recover proteins by precipitation. Four different types of precipitants aqueous HCl, HMP, CMC, and ammonium sulphate, were used for studies on the yields of canola protein. Further studies on isoelectric precipitation (using aqueous HCl as a precipitant) were carried out in three types of precipitators (Batch, MSMPR, and tubular) to study kinetic parameters and effects of precipitator type and operating conditions on PSD. The first two types of precipitators were used for canola protein and all three types were used for sunflower protein. Details of these experimental setups can be found in (7) for canola protein and (13,11) for sunflower protein. 

Cargill Dow Polymers (CDP) regards LCA to be an excellent process development tool to provide an insight about the polylactic acid (PLA) production, to set process improvements goals and to provide eco-profile data to be used by practitioners in performing their own life cycle studies . On the other hand, CDP wants to make information available for the shareholders and the public due to the increasing demand of transparency. CDP started the first LCA in 1993 and updated it 3 times. In 2003, when the 140000 metric ton plant (MTPA) facility will be operative, new engineering data will be available for a next update. 

The above are optimistic applications tm gets for the materials, and while the potential for commercial success has yet to be determined, the challenges associated with commercial development of biodegradable materials are significant and well known. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was studied for about forty years before it was announced by Dow Cargill in January of 2000 that the first large scale production facility for this biodegradable polyester derived fi-om com starch is now scheduled to be built (45). 

Cargill III, G.S., 1981a, in Diffraction Studies on Non-Crystalline Substances, eds. I. Hargittai and W.J. Orville-Thomas (Elsevier, Amsterdam) pp. 731-780. 

Literature concerning LCA studies of pofy(lactide add) (PLA) is rather scarce. Vink et al. gave an overview of apphcations of LCA to pofylactide add (PLA) production and provided insight into how they are ntilized [5]. Two systems bonndaries are depicted PLA production by Cargill Dow at the Blair, Nebraska, facility and the next-generation PLA facility (five years) with biomass feedstock and wind enetgy inpnt... 

A very important property is the water content or water uptake of the biopolymer resin. Only values for PLA resins are known and they are situated near 0.5%. In fact, the main PLA manufacturer (Cargill Dow) explicitly specifies that water should be removed from the resin by drying up to a level below 250 ppm, in order to make good processing of pellets possible. All the biopolymers studied here are rather hydrophilic polyesters... 

A research group from Cargill Dow (a company focused on sustainable and versatile polymers and chemicals entirely made from renewable resources) studied the applications of life cycle assessment to polylactide (PLA) production [2]. 

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