Molecular Sieve Zeolites: An Industrial Research Success Story
| Autor: | Edith M. Flanigen |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
Engineering
business.industry Strategy and Management General Engineering Industrial research Class (philosophy) Atmosphere (architecture and spatial design) Corporation Commercialization Management Management of Technology and Innovation Chemistry (relationship) Meaning (existential) business Physical chemist |
| Zdroj: | Research-Technology Management. 48:29-33 |
| ISSN: | 1930-0166 0895-6308 |
| Popis: | The discovery and development of zeolites and molecular sieves depended on many factors, not least of which was management's commitment to support long-range innovative discovery research with no guarantee of commercial success. OVERVIEW: Inspired by "superb" high school and college teachers who made chemistry "exciting, " Edith Flanigen joined the Tonawanda, New York Research Laboratory of Union Carbide's Linde Air Products Division in 1952. There, in "a nearly idyllic atmosphere for creative scientific research," she embarked on a life-long career in the discovery, development and commercialization of zeolites and molecular sieves. Ultimately, she and her colleagues-"scientists of the highest quality, led and motivated by directors and leaders who were focused on discovery and innovation, expected it, and rewarded it"-developed a new generation of molecular sieves. Among the ingredients of her success: an environment that fosters innovation and top management commitment, support, willingness to take risks, and patience to allow a major discovery time to find its place in the commercial world. KEY CONCEPTS: discovery research, team innovation, enlightened management, technical leadership, industrial success. My field is in silicate chemistry and materials, specifically in zeolite molecular sieves, a class of industrial materials used widely throughout the petroleum refining, petrochemical and chemical industries. The roots of molecular sieves go back to 1756, when a Swedish mineralogist by the name of Cronstedt first discovered intriguing crystals in nature that seemed to froth or boil when heated in a blowpipe flame. Cronstedt called this new mineral a "zeolite," derived from the Greek words, "zeo" meaning "to boil" and "lithos" meaning "a stone." In the decades that followed, a number of mineralogists and chemists studied and described the properties of various zeolite minerals, including their remarkable sieve-like ability to separate molecules on the basis of size. This sieving property led McBain in the early 1930s to coin the term "molecular sieve," and more significantly, enticed the first giant of molecular sieve science, Professor Richard M. Barrer of Imperial College, London, to begin a lifetime of pioneering research in zeolite science in the mid 1930s. Of key importance were Barrer's descriptions in the 1940s of gas separations with zeolite minerals that had commercial potential-descriptions that set the stage for Union Carbide's later role in synthetic zeolite discovery. An Idyllic Research Atmosphere I shall turn now to the Tonawanda, New York research laboratory of the Linde Air Products Division of Union Carbide Corporation in the late 1940s. The Tonawanda Laboratory presented a nearly idyllic atmosphere for creative scientific research. The scientists were of the highest quality, led and motivated by directors and leaders who were focused on discovery and innovation, expected it and rewarded it. More than a half dozen successful new businesses were spawned for Union Carbide from a decade of pioneering research at the Tonawanda Laboratory. Enter Bob Milton, a young physical chemist, there only two years when management challenged him to seek new methods of separating air into oxygen and nitrogen, the major products of Linde. Milton was drawn to Barrer's pioneering reports on adsorption separations with zeolite minerals. However, since zeolite minerals were rare and unavailable in practical quantities, he shifted focus in mid-1949 to an exploratory program to synthesize zeolites in the laboratory. By year end, he had discovered a new and practical method to make several novel synthetic zeolites, including two that were to gain commercial prominence, called zeolites A and X. In 1952, Milton was joined by a young inorganic chemist, Don Breck, who continued the discovery and study of more synthetic zeolites including one called zeolite Y, which was destined to become one of the cornerstones of the petroleum refining industry. … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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