Materials petroleum based

Although the rapid cost increases and shortages of petroleum-based feedstocks forecast a decade ago have yet to materialize, shift to natural gas or coal may become necessary in the new century. Under such conditions, it is possible that acrylate manufacture via acetylene, as described above, could again become attractive. It appears that condensation of formaldehyde with acetic acid might be preferred. A coal gasification complex readily provides all of the necessary intermediates for manufacture of acrylates (92). 

Higher aliphatic alcohols (C —C g) are produced ia a number of important industrial processes using petroleum-based raw materials. These processes are summarized in Table 1, as are the principal synthetic products and most important feedstocks (qv). Worldwide capacity for all higher alcohols was approximately 5.3 million metric tons per annum in early 1990, 90% of which was petroleum-derived. Table 2 Hsts the major higher aliphatic alcohol producers in the world in early 1990. 

The first resins to be produced on a commercial scale were the coumarone—indene or coal-tar resins (1) production in the United States was started before 1920. These resins were dominant until the development of petroleum resins, which were estabHshed as important raw materials by the mid-1940s. Continued development of petroleum-based resins has led to a wide variety of aHphatic, cyclodiene, and aromatic hydrocarbon-based resins. The principal components of petroleum resins are based on piperylenes, dicyclopentadiene (DCPD), styrene, indene, and their respective alkylated derivatives. 

Currently, nearly all domestic pitches are obtained from either coal tar or petroleum precursors [5] The pitch products, whether petroleum-based or coal-tar based, arc prized by the ancillary industnes that are dependent upon them but such pilches arc, nevertheless, considered to be derived from byproduct materials. In addition, besides being derived from byproducts, the yield of pitch typically amounts to no more than 5 wt% based on the initial quantity of coal or crude feedstock [6]. 

A further source of C9 material is coal tar. Structures of the two resins precursors are roughly similar, except the presence of small quantities of coumarone in coal tar feedstream. There is a significant difference in the concentrations of individual monomers coal-tar-based raw material is richer in indene (styrene/indene ratio =1 7) than the petroleum-based feedstream (styrene/indene ratio =1 1). 

Our discussion here is for the typical petroleum-based waste or low hazard chemical waste. For this situation we prefer the common-sense approach to the handling of hazardous materials. Wliatever process is effective in making sure that the hazardous materials stay on the site and are disposed of in an appropriate manner should be utilized. 

Nitrile rubbers, including fiber-reinforced varieties, are used both as radial shaft-seal materials and as molded packing for reciprocating shafts. They have excellent resistance to a considerable range of chemicals, with the exception of strong acids and alkalis, and are at the same time compatible with petroleum-based lubricants. Their working temperature range is from —1°C to 107°C (30°F to 225°F) continuously and up to 150°C (302°F) intermittently. When used on hard shafts with a surface finish of, at most, 0.00038 mm root mean square (RMS), they have an excellent resistance to abrasion. 

These have been developed for special uses. For example, since petroleum-based materials harm natural rubber, a grease based on castor oil and lead stearate is available for use on the steel parts of rubber bushes, engine mountings, hydraulic equipment components, etc. (but not on copper or cadmium alloys). Some soft-film solvent-deposited materials have water-displacing properties and are designed for use on surfaces which cannot be dried properly, e.g. water-spaces of internal combustion engines and the cylinders or valve chests of steam engines. 

A novel non-petroleum based biodegradable plastic produced from sugar based agricultural raw materials as sweet sorghum, sugarcane and molasses, having potential properties comparable with conventional or synthetic plastics, is under development and could lower the contribution of plastic wastes to municipal landfills at about 20% of the total waste by volume and 10% by weight and can achieve a satisfactory for the environmental imperative. 

People in the global elastomer industry are continuously working with non-petro-based materials to reach a significant breakthrough to reduce petroleum-based raw material to less than 30%. The trend of raw material usage in the global rubber industry is as follows ... 

Most of the plastics and synthetic polymers that are used worldwide are produced from petrochemicals. Replacing petroleum-based feedstocks with materials derived from renewable resources is an attractive prospect for manufacturers of polymers and plastics, since the production of such polymers does not depend on the limited supply of fossil fuels [16]. Furthermore, synthetic materials are very persistent in the environment long after their intended use, and as a result their total volume in landfills is giving rise to serious waste management problems. In 1992,20% of the volume and 8% of the weight of landfills in the US were plastic materials, while the annual disposal of plastics both in the US and EC has risen to over 10 million tons [17]. Because of the biodegradability of PHAs, they would be mostly composted and as such would be very valuable in reducing the amount of plastic waste. 

Hot melt adhesives based on poly(3HB-co-3HV) have also been described [119]. Hot melts are commonly used in bookbinding, bag ending and case and carton sealing and are mostly based on synthetic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene ethylene-vinyl acetate and styrene block copolymers [119]. Hot melts based on PHAs alleviate the dependence on petroleum based materials and allow the development of biodegradable alternatives based on natural raw materials. 

The increased importance of renewable resources for raw materials and recyclability or biodegradability of the material at the end of its useful life is demanding a shift from petroleum-based synthetics to agro-based materials in industrial applications. Increased social awareness of environmental problems posed by the non-degradable, non-recyclable content of their products is forcing manufacturers to enhance the biodegradable content, which in turn favors a switch to biomaterials [1]. 

Table 21 reports the ash content and ash composition (determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy, ICP-AES) for all of the calcined cokes used to fabricate the test graphites. It can be seen that the amount of ash and its make-up are variable, but are within the range observed for petroleum-based calcined cokes. Although the ash contents in all of the calcined cokes appear rather high, these materials may still be acceptable because many of the metallic species are driven off during graphitization. This aspect is addressed in the next section. 

Can biofuel be used to replace petroleum-based fuels Biofuel can be made from biological materials, snch as plants and animal fats. Biodiesel and ethanol are the two most common biological fuels. As part of your research, find ont what biofnel is nsed for. Think about factors that may be holding back the sale of biofuel on the Canadian market. 

Fig. 16 Blown film processing of Bionoiie Table 3 Mechanical properties of petroleum-based and bio-based materials...

Low levels of cresols are constantly emitted to the atmosphere in the exhaust from motor vehicle engines using petroleum based-fuels (Hampton et al. 1982 Johnson et al. 1989 Seizinger and Dimitriades 1972). Cresols have been identified in stack emissions from municipal waste incinerators (James et al. 1984 Junk and Ford 1980) and in emissions from the incineration of vegetable materials (Liberti et al. 1983). Cresols have also been identified as a component of fly ash from coal combustion (Junk and Ford 1980). Therefore, coal- and petroleum-fueled electricity-generating facilities are likely to emit cresols to the air. The combustion of wood (Hawthorne et al. 1988, 1989) and cigarettes (Arrendale et al. 1982 Novotny et al. 1982) also emits cresols to the ambient air. Cresols are also formed in the atmosphere as a result of reactions between toluene and photochemically generated hydroxy radicals (Leone et al. 1985). 

The International Landmark Environmental, Inc., Aminoplast Capillary Technology (ACT) is an absorbent product for hydrocarbon and petroleum-based liquids. It can be used for contamination in soil or on surfaces, including liquid surfaces because the material is hydrophobic (will not absorb water) and floats. According to the vendor, ACT also has bioremediative characteristics, acting as a slow release fertilizer, enconraging microbe growth for the break down of toxic waste liquids. 

A variety of natural and synthetic materials are used throughout fuel and lubricant systems. Examples include transfer lines, hoses, fan blades, impellers, small gears, housings, and a host of supporting framework. Some plastics can be degraded by fuels, lubricants, additives, and various petroleum-based compounds. The most resistant material is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Ryton and Viton are less resistant, but are still quite stable in fuel and lubricant systems. Characteristics of PTFE and Ryton are shown below ... 

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