Technology S curve

Fig. 1 Polyethylene technology S curve (modified from S curve by ChemSystem)...

Figure 2.11 The benefits of additive S-curves. (See Brown, D. Target selection and pharma industry productivity What can we learn from technology S-curve theory. Curr. Opin. Drug. Discov. Devel. 2006, 9, 414 18.)...

Fig. 1-7 The technology S curve [Specht 1988, Blumenberg 1994] The productivity of the research and...

FIG. 48 Technology S-curves in the produetion of polyolefins. PE, polyethlene PP, polypropylene UCC, union carbide catalyst. (From Ref. 68.) Reprinted with permission from Ref. 68. Copyright 1997 American Chemical Society. 

James Wei Thermodynamics in service to oil and gas and commodity chemicals is a very successful model. It s a mature technology on the S curve. The problem is to know the material properties in very great detail so we can optimize each percent improvement in efficiency, which represents a lot of money. Early in his lecture, Keith mentioned new materials and speciality chemicals. In these applications, we re going into a different mode, and a different type of a commitment is needed. For instance, many biotechnology products and some of the microstructured fluids and solids are produced in very small volume, they have a short product cycle, and we cannot be assured that the same product will still be produced ten years from now. It s important to get these specialty chemical products on the market speedily. Because they are produced in very small volume, we cannot afford large amounts of time or research money. Let s say that one percent of the sales volume is a reasonable research dollar. Instead of methane,... 

If an organization can hx its position on the life cycle curve (S curve), and it has a sense of the slope of the curve, it has an excellent mechanism for determining where its technology is headed, and it can also determine the relative rapidity of that movement. Understanding this dynamic yields unique insights on how to direct product/service development and R D processes, as well as how to proactively align core competencies with new technology imperatives. 

Figure 9.3c shows that the log N versus log S curve is very steep, so that homogeneous nucleation rates are very low when log S is less than 3 but they become very fast as log S increases from 3 to 4. When log S is less than about 3, barite nucleates so slowly that it is unlikely to cause a technological problem. Barite formation for log S < 3 will involve heterogeneous nucleation (Kashchiev and van Rosmalen, 2003), which is modeled using a modified geometry and surface free energy for the critical cluster. 

With reference to Fig. 48, it was forecast that the application of single-site metallocene technology will define the first in a series of new S-curves [68] for the polyolefin industry. The second in the series will be driven by the emerging nonmetallocene catalysts. In this S-curve, product design capability will expand to include polar monomer incorporation and control of intermolecular distributions [68]. After this second technology wave the direction of development will shift to control of intramolecular architecture. 

Nowadays, production of polyolefins has grown into a huge industry, and the amount of polyolefins produced is about 46 million metric tons per year throughout the world. These developments are supported by enormous research activity in catalysts and process technologies, which have followed an S curve over the last 60 years. This simple pattern shows their introduction, growth and stabilization or maturity [1]. 

Rose, 1967. Steven Rose. The S Curve Considered . Technology and Society. 4 33-39. 

Theoretically based correlations (or semitheoretical extensions of them), rooted in thermodynamics or other fundamentals are ordinarily preferred. However, rigorous theoretical understanding of real systems is far from complete, and purely empirical correlations typically have strict limits on apphcabihty. Many correlations result from curve-fitting the desired parameter to an appropriate independent variable. Some fitting exercises are rooted in theory, eg, Antoine s equation for vapor pressure others can be described as being semitheoretical. These distinctions usually do not refer to adherence to the observations of natural systems, but rather to the agreement in form to mathematical models of idealized systems. The advent of readily available computers has revolutionized the development and use of correlation techniques (see Chemometrics Computer technology Dimensional analysis). 

The column was 25 cm long, 4.6 mm I.D. and packed with Partisil 10. It is seen that linear curves were obtained for three different solutes and two different moderators in n-heptane. Scott and Beesley [14] obtained retention data for the two enantiomers, (S) and (R) 4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone. The column chosen was 25 cm long, 4.6 mm I.D. packed with 5 mm silica particles bonded with the stationary phase Vancomycin (Chirobiotic V provided by Advanced Separations Technology Inc., Whippany, New Jersey). This stationary phase is a macrocyclic glycopeptide Vancomycin that has a molecular weight of 1449.22, and an elemental composition of 54.69% carbon. 

FIGURE 12.18 Stress-strain curves of rubber-fiber composites developed for solid rocket motor insulator A, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber-carbon fiber composites B, EPDM mbber-melamine fiber composites C, EPDM mbber-aramid fiber composites and D, EPDM rubber-aramid pulp composites. 1 and 2 stands for unaged and aged composites respectively. Carbon fiber- and melamine fiber-reinforced composites contain resorcinol, hexamine, and silica in the concentrations 10, 6 and 15, respectively and aramid fiber- and aramid pulp-based composites contain resorcinol, hexamine, and silica in the concentrations 5, 3 and 15, respectively. (From Rajeev, R.S., Bhowmick, A.K., De, S.K., and John, B., Internal communication. Rubber Technology Center, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, 2002.)... 

Selectivity and Interference Selectivity means that only that species is measured which the analyst is looking for. A corollary is the absence of chemical interferents. A lack of selectivity is often the cause of nonlinearity of the calibration curve. Near infra-red spectroscopy is a technology that exemplifies how seemingly trivial details of the experimental set-up can frustrate an investigator s best intentions Ref. 124 discusses some factors that influence the result. 

Trasatti, S. (2003) Adsorption - volcano curves, in Handbook of Fuel Cells -Fundamentals, Technology and Applications, Vol. 2, Part 2 (eds W. Vielstich, A. Lamm and H.A. Gasteiger), John Wiley Sons, Ltd, Chichester. 

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