Commercial Outlook

Silicon carbide has a clear place in society today, yet it has only one major commercial application today, which basically is materials or, more specifically, substrates for LED applications. This is perhaps not such a glamorous place to be in the commercial market but it does represent a significant starting point for SiC. 

The military has had SiC on its radar screen for many years for radar applications, electronic warfare, more electric airplanes, more electric ships, more electric combat vehicles, and rail guns (which, we suppose, are also of the more electric variety). These applications require high-quality materials and large wafer sizes. Thanks to the military and its requirements for large wafers of high quality, the 

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I telephoned Max Tishler, outlined the situation, and he said he would call back that afternoon. Max contacted the Merck Medical Department, who stated that Wilson s Syndrome was a rare condition affecting only about 50 to 100 patients a year, and was terminal. However, Max was able to launch a crash program to prepare penicillamine at Merck and get quick FDA approval under the "orphan disease category, in spite of the unpromising commercial outlook. 

Gradually partnerships were formed between life sciences and fine chemicals industries, the latter having resources to respond to the specific needs in terms of products and technologies. The relationship between life sciences and fine chemicals industries has evolved from a vendor-purchaser approach to a strategic partnership. There has been a much broader sharing of information, be it with respect to cost improvement programs or to commercial outlook for the product(s). Both partners focus their resources on their core competencies. 

Anonymous, Commercial outlook for biodegradable polymers, PERP Program PERP-94/95-S13, Nexant, Process Evaluation/Re-search Planning (PERP), White Plains, NY, USA, 1997. 

Sugar and Sweetener Situation and Outlook Keport, SSSV20N2, Commercial Agriculture Division, Economic Research Service, USD A, Washington, D.C.,June 1995. 

Susta, M.R., Luby, P., Mat, S.B. 2003. Biomass energy utilization and environment protection commercial reality and outlook. Power Gen Asia, http //www.powergeneration.siemens.com/ download/pool/industrialheatpower 02.pdf Accessed 2009. 

The outlook for conductive polymers is similar to that for other new materials discussed in this chapter. Researchers must still solve a number of technical problems before the products are likely to find significant commercial applications. Conductive polymers, for example, tend to develop large amounts of static electricity, which can interfere with the products in which they are used. This problem must be solved if wide applications of the material are to occur. Still, the market for conductive polymers is promising, with experts predicting growth rates of about 5 percent per year over the next decade. As more types of conductive polymers become available and as researchers solve the technical problems associated with them, consumers are more likely to encounter these exciting substances in the products they use in their daily lives. 

Membrane processes have been applied successfully to a wide variety of liquid separations. Table VIII lists a number of typical applications by industry and by technology. In the following sections, the function and applications of each process are illustrated by commercialized examples. The outlook of each technology segment is also discussed. 

This paper describes the status of the development of the Exxon Donor Solvent (or EDS) coal liquefaction process. It includes an overview of the jointly funded project and a brief description of the EDS process. It also includes a discussion of the project status, including a description of coal feed flexibility, hydrogen and fuel gas production alternatives and the progress in the construction of the 250 T/D pilot plant. Other communications have covered the R D program, the outlook for commercialization, and the organization of the EDS Project (1,2, 3,, 5, 6, J) ... 

The technology is rapidly approaching a state of development that can provide reliable commercial design data. Just as rapidly, the critical nature of the world energy outlook is becoming more definitized, making it obvious that any reasonable alternatives to crude oil as a source of fuel and petrochemicals must be evaluated for commercial potential as expeditiuosly as possible. 

The brute force approach to achieve this goal is to employ a solid-state photovoltaic cell to generate electricity that is subsequently passed into a commercial-type water electrolyzer. Although efficiencies obtained are relatively high, i.e., close to 8 %, these devices are very expensive. Hence the price of hydrogen produced this way cannot compete with conventional sources. The long-term outlook is better for systems that borrow their principles from natural photosynthesis (see Section 1.4.1 above). 

Applications based on technologies to be further developed give a very encouraging outlook. If the development can be finished successfully, the IGCC could come very near to competitiveness. If cheap fuel can be provided or special prices for power generated by biomass can be achieved, biomass IGCC s will be competitive in the near future. Industrial applications of fixed bed gasification CHP seems also to be quite near to competitiveness, if further development is successful. The same can be stated on ORC-CHP-applications. These applications are very near to a commercial... 

In this chapter, an overview is presented of the main optical biosensors, the operating principle of the different devices, the design of the sensors, the technology of fabrication, the resolution, the dynamic range and detection limit of each device, the most important applications and the commercial devices on the market. Finally, an outlook of futtu"e prospects for this technology is given. 

Fig. 13 (A) An outlook of a commercial puller having magnetic fields and recharge tank. (B) An as-grown 8 in.-diameter silicon single crystal. (Courtesy of Taisil Electronic Materials Inc., Taiwan.) (View this art in color at www.dekker.com.)...

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