Commercial-scale field application

G. L. Woo and co-workers, SufurFoam and Commercial-Scale Field Application Equipment, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1978, pp. 

Sulfur Foam and Commercial-Scale Field Application Equipment... 

The technology has been used in full-scale field applications and is commercially available. IT has several pilot systems available for on-site treatability studies. 

Bugs-hPlus is a product that combines a nutrient source and microorganisms selected for their ability to degrade hydrocarbon contaminants in soil. It can be applied in situ or ex situ. Bugs-hPlus is a registered trademark of WIK Biosystems, Inc. It is commercially available and has been used in multiple full-scale field applications. 

Ruthenium-NHC complexes exhibit activity in a very wide field of applications. Due to their unique ability to break and reassemble olefin bonds under reaction conditions very favourable to design simple processes, applications in nearly any chemical discipline can be foreseen. This field may span from manufacturing of specialty polymers and rabbers to pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical intermediates, agrochemicals, fragrances, dyes, specialty chemicals for electronic applications or fine chemicals from natural feedstock and many more. Below are described Ru-NHC catalysed reactions applied from pilot to full commercial scale. 

Despite all the intellectual property generated in this field, the application has not reached commercial scale. It does not mean that there has not been any progress. In fact, the biocatalyst development has greatly advanced, much of it due to the advancements in the techniques, methods and tools related to MB and GE. MB techniques raised the understanding of the biocatalyst from the level of whole cells to clearly defined... 

All this basic information has set the stage for bioremediation as an inexpensive and effective approach for cleaning contaminated soils, waters, and sediments. Considerable efforts are currently underway to develop the necessary field application techniques that make this a wholesale commercial reality. However, the complexities of the biodegradation processes involved make the efforts challenging if not, in some cases, frustrating. This is especially true for larger-scale field studies because increased variability and heterogeneity Cause difficulties in data interpretation. 

The results from these and other laboratory studies have now led to the testing of various PCB bioremediation approaches in pilot demonstrations. The field trials are designed to demonstrate the applicability of field-scale treatment of soils, with the ultimate goal of commercial-scale bioremediation of PCB-contaminated sites, or demonstrated efficacy of intrinsic bioremediation. 

Carbon dioxide removal by reactive absorption in amine solutions is also applied on the commercial scale, for instance, in the treatment of flue gas (see later in this chapter). Another possible application field of the technique is gas desulfurization, in which H2S is removed and converted to sulfur by means of reactive absorption. Aqueous solutions of ferric chelates (160-162) as well as tetramethylene sulfone, pyridine, quinoline, and polyglycol ether solutions of S02 (163,164) have been proposed as solvents. Reactive absorption can also be used for NOx reduction and removal from flue or exhaust gases (165,166). The separation of light olefins and paraffins by means of a reversible chemical com-plexation of olefins with Ag(I) or Cu(I) compounds in aqueous and nonaqueous solutions is another very interesting example of reactive absorption, one that could possibly replace the conventional cryogenic distillation technology (167). 

Chevron has demonstrated that it is commercially feasible to use sulfur composites as protective coatings and construction materials. This was done with large-scale field installations using special equipment and application procedures. Future efforts will focus on the commercial development of Chevron Sucoat products for these and other practical uses. 

Large-scale uses for this type of foamed-in-place insulation and application equipment are anticipated as the Canadian Arctic is developed. Successful results from these field tests and the prospects of commercial uses of the sulfur foam prompted Chevron Chemical Co. to proceed with the design, engineering, construction, and demonstration of a commercial-scale sulfur foam field application unit. 

The trend for market penetration will probably follow a path as shown schematically in Fig. 1.2. The figure does not pretend to give quantitative information but merely shows the relative importance of different application fields in time and illustrates the increasing complexity. Gas separation with microporous membranes will probably only start on a commercial scale if membrane business for liquid filtration has become sufficiently profitable to bear the developments necessary to produce commercial gas separation membranes. Commercial availability should therefore be improved for applications not directly making use of liquid filtration membranes. 

Wang, B.-Y., Zhang, J., Jia, Z.-S., 1997a. Study of commercial scale application of polymer flooding in Daqing Oil Field. Petroleum Exploration and Development 24 (6), 51-55. 

Stage 5 General conclusions were formulated regarding the application of steam treatment in oil fields containing high viscosity crudes. These conclusions were based on broad data collected during commercial-scale production from the Zybza field both before and after the application of steam treatment. 

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