Chemical Industry,the Environment,and Russian Provincial Society: The Case of the Kokshan Chemical Works (1850–1925)

This article explores interactions between the chemical industry, the environment, and Russian provincial society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, using the example of the Kokshan chemical works, in the Elabuga District, Viatka Province, Russian Empire (today Mendeleevsk District, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation). The plant’s location facilitated its rapid development due to a number of factors, including a cheap labour force, the availability of raw materials, and the absence of local competition. However, the factory’s development came in conjunction with the deterioration of the environment and subsequent health problems for employees and the surrounding population. Conflicts connected with the Kokshan works illustrate differences between this case and similar examples in Russia and Europe. In Viatka Province, the local community remained mostly silent regarding these issues, and made no demands for improving sanitary control and working conditions or reducing pollution; rather, it was distant activists who personally suffered no harm who intervened in the interest of social justice. The history of the company reflects the contrast between the transfer of European technological innovations to Russia and laborious efforts to increase national wealth on the one hand, and the exploitation of the environment and endangerment of workers’ health on the other.     

Introduction to the Chinese Society of Chemical Science and Technology in the UK(CSCST-UK)and Chinese Section of Society of Chemical Industry(SCI-CS)

ＴｈｅＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＳｏｃｉｅｔｙｏｆＣｈｅｍｉｃａｌＳｃｉｅｎｃｅａｎｄＴｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙｉｎｔｈｅＵＫ(ＣＳＣＳＴ ＵＫ)ｉｓｐｒｏｆｅｓｓｉｏｎａｌｏｒｇａｎｉｚａ ｔｉｏｎｏｒｇａｎｉｚｅｄｂｙＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＳｃｈｏｌａｒｓｃｕｒｒｅｎｔｌｙｗｏｒｋｉｎｇｉｎｔｈｅＵＫ .ＩｔｗａｓｅｓｔａｂｌｉｓｈｅｄｉｎＡｐｒｉｌ 1994ｉｎＬｏｎｄｏｎｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｈｅｌｐｏｆｔｈｅＥｄｕｃａｔｉｏｎＳｅｃｔｉｏｎｏｆＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＥｍｂａｓｓｙｉｎｔｈｅＵＫａｆｔｅｒｔｈｅｉｎｉｔｉａｔｉｏｎｆｒｏｍ…     

2002—Emergence of the Gas-to-Liquids Industry:a Review of Global GTL Developments

This paper reviews the status of the gas-to-liquids (GTL) industry-including current commercial plants, announced projects and the technologies that are likely to be implemented in these future projects. Today, only 35,000 B/D of GTL products (0.1% of market) are manufactured from commercial gas-based plants. Advances in technology have lowered the cost of plants to the point where GTL plants can be profitable at crude oil prices of ＄16/B. The advanced stage of development of several proposed GTL projects and attractive integrated economics, for both the gas field and plant, show that GTL can be a significant alternative for monetizing natural gas in the 21st century. GTL technologies includes more than Fischer-Tropsch technology and extends to other liquid fuels, especially in the oxygenate family (methanol, dimethyl ether, etc.).     

The Study of Electrochemical Behavior of Dopamine at Nano—gold Modified Carbon Fiber Electrode

In the field of detection of neurotransmitters carbon fiber ultramicroelectrode has attracted extensive attention due to its specific features such as particular steady state diffusion profiles and very small IR drop values as well as the ability to work in living organism1. Carbon fiber microelectrodes have been used successfully to detect dopamine in vivo2,3. The electrochemical behavior of dopamine at nano-gold modified carbon fiber electrode was studied in this paper. The electrochemica…     

The History of Artificial Ultramarine (1787–1844): Science,Industry and Secrecy

Abstract

Between 1826 and 1828 three ways of synthesising artificial ultramarine were found independently in Toulouse, Tübingen and Meissen. This paper is about the scientific development that led up to these events, the industrial production and marketing of ultramarine, and the roles played by Jean-Baptiste Guimet, Christian Gottlob Gmelin, Friedrich August Köttig, Carl Leverkus and Thomas Leykauf. Special attention is paid to the chemical analyses of lapis lazuli, natural ultramarine and the blue residues from soda furnaces prior to 1824, as well as the crucial roles played by chemical education, laboratory experiments and the scientific background of the early ultramarine manufacturers.     

The Synthesis and Some Chemical Properties of New 1,2:5,6-DI-O-Isopropylidene-α -D-Glucofuranose Hydrophosphoryl Derivatives

Methods for the synthesis of major monosaccharide hydrophosphoryl derivatives have been developed with the phosphorylation of 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α -D-glucofuranose (diacetoneglucose) as an example. The study of their chemical transformations has been launched.     

Bacterial Reduction of Cr(VI) at Technical Scale—The Malaysian Experience

The bacterial reduction of Cr(VI) from industrial wastewater was evaluated using a 2.0-m³ bioreactor. Liquid pineapple waste was used as a nutrient for the biofilm community formed inside the bioreactor. The use of rubber wood sawdust as packing material was able to immobilize more than 10⁶?CFU?mL^?1 of Acinetobacter haemolyticus cells after 3?days of contact time. Complete reduction of 15?C240?mg?L^?1 of Cr(VI) was achieved even after 3?months of bioreactor operation. Cr(VI) was not detected in the final effluent fraction indicating complete removal of Cr from solution from the flocculation/coagulation step and the unlikely re-oxidation of Cr(III) into Cr(VI). Impatiens balsamina L. and Gomphrena globosa L. showed better growth in the presence of soil?Csludge mixture compared to Coleus scutellarioides (L.) Benth. Significant amounts of Cr accumulated at different sections of the plants indicate its potential application in Cr phytoremediation effort. The bacterial-based system was also determined not to be detrimental to human health based on the low levels of Cr detected in the hair and nail samples of the plant operators. Thus, it can be said that bacterial-based Cr(VI) treatment system is a feasible alternative to the conventional system especially for lower Cr(VI) concentrations, where sludge generated can be used as growth supplement for ornamental plant as well as not detrimental to the health of the workers.     

Degradation of cellulose at the wet-dry interface: I—study of the depolymerization

The degradation of cellulose in paper due to the formation of a tideline at the wet-dry interface when paper is suspended in water was explored. SEC/MALS was used to assess the molar mass, while ICP/MS, SEM/EDS and CE/UV provided a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the elements and inorganic ions present in the paper. Immediately after the formation of the tideline, no significant depolymerization was observed at the wet-dry interface, despite the accumulation of water soluble brown and/or fluorescent degradation compounds and salts containing sodium, chlorine, sulfur and calcium. Various artificial aging configurations were applied to the paper with tidelines to evaluate the effect of the material accumulated at the wet-dry interface on the long-term stability of paper. The decrease in the molar mass of cellulose (above, at and below the tideline) differed depending on the type of aging, i.e. whether the entire sheet of paper was aged or whether small amounts of paper from the different areas were sampled and aged, individually or together, which evidences a complex degradation pathway. In the former aging configuration the material accumulated in the tideline affected the degradation of the tideline area to the same extent or more than the other areas. When the different areas of the paper sheet were sampled and aged together, it was found that the presence of the tideline clearly affected the degradation of the other paper areas. Conversely, in that case, cellulose within the tidelines was the least degraded. The area below the tideline, through which the water migrated, showed the most significant degradation.