Products of nature

Diamond. Diamond [7782 0-3] is the hardest substance known (see Carbon, diamond, natural). It has a Knoop hardness of 78—80 kN/m (8000—8200 kgf/m ). The next hardest substance is cubic boron nitride with a Knoop value of 46 kN/m, and its inventor, Wentorf, beheves that no manufactured material will ever exceed diamond s hardness (17). In 1987 the world production of natural industrial diamonds (4) was about 110 t (1 g = 5 carats). It should be noted that whereas the United States was the leading consumer of industrial diamonds in 1987 (140 t) only 260 kg of natural industrial diamonds were consumed this is the lowest figure in 48 years (4), illustrating the impact that synthetic diamonds have made on the natural diamond abrasive market. 

In most of the rest of the world the olefins industry was originally based on naphtha feedstocks. Naphtha is the dominant olefins feedstock in Europe and Asia. In the middle 1980s several large olefins complexes were budt outside of the United States based on gas Hquids feedstocks, most notable in western Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Scotiand. In each case the driving force was the production of natural gas, perhaps associated with cmde oil production, which was in excess of energy demands. 

In the mbber industry, formic acid is used for coagulating latex in the production of natural mbber and in the production of certain mbber chemicals (qv) (see Rubber, natural). 

Plants in the United States are basicaHy iodine producers and must extract the solutions from deep (between 2000- and 3000-m) weUs. The depleted solutions are reinjected for environmental reasons and maintain the pressure of the exploitation area. In Japan, on the other hand, iodine is mainly a by-product of natural gas production, and the weUs are less deep (about 1500 m). Depleted solutions are often discarded into the ocean. Costs associated with deep weUs are relatively high, reaching 1.7 to 2.0 x 10 in the United States and up to ca 0.7 x 10 in Japan. 

From the time that isoprene was isolated from the pyrolysis products of natural mbber (1), scientific researchers have been attempting to reverse the process. In 1879, Bouchardat prepared a synthetic mbbery product by treating isoprene with hydrochloric acid (2). It was not until 1954—1955 that methods were found to prepare a high i i -polyisoprene which dupHcates the stmcture of natural mbber. In one method (3,4) a Ziegler-type catalyst of tri alkyl aluminum and titanium tetrachloride was used to polymerize isoprene in an air-free, moisture-free hydrocarbon solvent to an all i7j -l,4-polyisoprene. A polyisoprene with 90% 1,4-units was synthesized with lithium catalysts as early as 1949 (5). 

Other natural gas Hquids include natural gasoline [8006-61 -9] which is composed of the pentanes and heavier components of the natural gas stream, and ethane [74-84-0]. Most recendy ethane has become the principal product of natural gas processing plants. 

Condensable Hquids also are recovered from high pressure gas reservoirs by retrograde condensation. In this process, the high pressure fluid from the reservoir produces a Hquid phase on isothermal expansion. As the pressure decreases isotherm ally the quantity of the Hquid phase increases to a maximum and then decreases to disappearance. In the production of natural gas Hquids from these high pressure wells, the well fluids are expanded to produce the optimum amount of Hquid. The Hquid phase then is separated from the gas for further processing. The gas phase is used as a raw material for one of the other recovery processes, as fuel, or is recompressed and returned to the formation. 

In recent years, especially in the USSR and Europe, synthetic fatty acids, prepared via hydrocarbon oxidation, have been used to prepare fatty amines (2,9). In 1978 Eastern Europeans produced an estimated 0.55 biUion kg of synthetic fatty acids with odd and even numbers of carbon atoms, whereas in the United States, production of natural fatty acids with even carbon atom chain-length acids was 435 million kg. To date, there has been no significant production of synthetic fatty acids in the United States. 

Figure 2 shows a general process flow diagram for almost all production of natural sodium sulfate. Glauber s salt can be converted to anhydrous sodium sulfate by simply drying it in rotary kilns. Direct drying forms a fine, undesirable powder, and any impurities in the Glauber s salt become part of the final product. This process is not used in the United States but is used in other countries. 

Aside from chemical methods, several patents have appeared on the biochemical production of natural vitamin from callus tissue cultures (41). 

Table 3 summarizes the world s production of natural graphite for 1986—1988 (9). As of 1990, the deposits of significant commercial interest were limited to those of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Madagascar, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Austria, the RepubUc of Korea, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, People s RepubUc of China, and Zimbabwe. 

Attached to the expanders, the compressors provide an additional 60 psig without energy cost outlay. Further compression ultimately raises gas pressure to 34 bar. MESA estimates that the arrangement at its Satanta plant saves 45 kW (60 hp) while reliably handling the daily production of natural gas. 

Table 11.14 Production of natural and synthetic rubbers 1983-1992 ( 000 tonnes) (International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers)...

Production of natural gas also has been increasing. World production of dry gas rose from sixty-six trillion cubic feet in 1987 to eighty-two trillion cubic feet in 1996. U.S. domestic di y gas production rose from seventeen trillion cubic feet in 1987 to nineteen trillion cubic feet in 1996, and the nation imported an additional three trillion cubic feet in 1996 to meet demand. Dry natural gas is produced from wellhead gas by removing most of the hydrocarbons hcarncr than methane. These heavy components, which tend to liquefy from the wellhead gas, are added as natural gas liquids to the oil supply and appear in the crude oil statistics. 

Rn. a radioactive isotope of radon, is a decay product of naturally occurring uranium-238. Because it is gaseous and chemically... 

Vogelmann H, Bischof A, Pape D, Wagner F (1978) In Alfermann AW, Reinhard E (eds) Production of natural compounds by cell culture methods. GSF, Munich, p 130... 

The production of natural gas from coal typically requires a stimulation with hydraulic fracturing. Basic studies on the effectiveness of various treatment methods for coal-beds have been presented in the literature [398,1424]. 

Quaternary oxalkylated polycondensates can be prepared by esterification of an oxalkylated primary fatty amine with a dicarbonic acid. An organometallic titanium compound is used as a catalyst for condensation [842]. The reaction product is then oxalkylated in the presence of a carbon acid [841], These polycondensates can be used as demulsifiers for crude oil emulsions and as corrosion inhibitors in installations for the production of natural gas and crude oil they can and also be used in processing. 

May O., Verseck, S., Bommarius, A. and Drauz, K. (2002) Development of dynamic kinetic resolution processes for biocatalytic production of natural and nonnatural L-amino acids. Organic Process Research Development, 6 (4), 452-457. 

If the genetic code in its present form still poses so many questions, the elucidation of its development three to four billion years ago will be even more difficult Some researchers feel that an exact reconstruction of the process of its construction may never be possible, while others see the genetic code as being purely fortuitous, a system which was frozen at some time in history. It appears plausible that the code, just like other organism properties, is the product of natural selection (Vogel, 1998). 

HCOOE1, an organic acid which may be used in diluted form as the latex coagulant in the production of natural rubber. 

In the USA, purity alone often facilitates patenting of a product of nature (Table 4.1). The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) recognizes purity as a change in form of the natural material. For example, although vitamin B12 was a known product of nature for many years, it was only available in the form of a crude liver extract, which was of no use therapeutically. Development of a suitable... 

Table 4.1 Some products of nature that are generally patentable under US patent law. Additional patenting criteria (e.g. utility) must also be met. For many products, the patent will include details of the process used to purify the product. However, process patents can be filed, as can use patents. Refer to text for further details...

---