Feb 2006: ACCN, the Canadian Chemical News

l’actualité chimique canadienne canadian chemical news ACCN

Pulp and Paper Canada’s Forest Product Industry Process Safety in Kraft Pulping Research vs.

Commercial Applications History of Paper Making 55th CSChE Conference Highlights

FEBRUARY | FÉVRIER • 2006 • Vol. 58, No./no 2

Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée

2006 0 Young Investigator Award

Bourse Jeune Chercheur

for Organic Chemistry

en Chimie Organique

Applications are invited for the Boehringer Ingelheim Young Investigator Award for Organic Chemistry. This award is intended to support research in synthetic organic chemistry by new faculty members at Canadian universities. Faculty members whose research interests lie in related areas (e.g. bio-organic or physical organic chemistry) but include a significant synthetic organic chemistry component are encouraged to apply. The award consists of an unrestricted research grant of $15,000 per year for three years.

Nous invitons les candidatures pour la Bourse Boehringer Ingelheim, Jeune Chercheur en Chimie Organique. Cette bourse a pour but de soutenir la recherche en chimie organique de synthèse dirigée par de nouveaux professeurs d’universités canadiennes. Ainsi, les professeurs dont les intérêts de recherche résident dans des domaines connexes (par exemple, la chimie bio-organique ou la chimie physico-organique) comprenant une composante importante de chimie organique de synthèse sont encouragés à poser leur candidature. La bourse consiste en un octroi de recherche sans restriction et s’élève à un montant de 15 000 $ par année pendant trois ans.

Les candidats :

Applicants: • Must hold a faculty position at a Canadian university.

• Doivent détenir un poste de professeur dans une université canadienne.

• Should not have been a faculty member for more than three years as of May 1, 2006.

• Ne doivent pas avoir été membre du corps professoral depuis plus de trois ans en date du 1er mai 2006.

Applications should: • Include the curriculum vitae of the applicant and a description of the research which would be carried out under this award.

Les demandes doivent :

• Include a research proposal no more than five (5) pages in length.

• Inclure une proposition de recherche ne devant pas excéder cinq (5) pages.

• Be followed by three letters of support written by scientists familiar with the applicant and his or her research. These supporting letters should not accompany the application but should be sent directly to the address below.

• Être suivies par trois lettres de recommandation écrites par des scientifiques familiers avec le candidat et son domaine de recherche. Ces lettres ne doivent pas accompagner les dossiers de candidatures, mais plutôt être envoyées directement à l’adresse indiquée ci-dessous.

Applications will be judged by senior members of the scientific staff of Boehringer Ingelheim based on the excellence of the applicant and his or her research proposal.

Applications and supporting letters will be accepted until June 2, 2006 2006. The recipient of this award will be informed by June 30, 2006.

For confidential consideration, applications should be submitted to the Director of Chemistry.

Michael Bös, Ph.D. Director, Chemistry / Directeur, chimie

• Inclure le curriculum vitæ du candidat ainsi qu’une description de la recherche qui serait mise à exécution à l’aide de cette bourse.

Les candidatures seront évaluées par le personnel scientifique senior de Boehringer Ingelheim en se basant sur l’excellence du candidat et de sa proposition de recherche.

Les candidatures et les lettres de recommandation seront acceptées jusqu’au 2 juin 2006 et le récipiendaire de cette bourse sera informé du résultat au plus tard le 30 juin 2006.

Les candidatures doivent être soumises, sous pli confidentiel, à l’attention du directeur, chimie.

Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée R&D

* La forme masculine utilisée désigne autant les femmes que les hommes.

2100, rue Cunard, Laval, QC H7S 2G5 Tel./Tél. : (450) 682-4640 Fax/Téléc. : (450) 682-4189

ACCN

FEBRUARY | FÉVRIER • 2006 • Vol. 58, No./no 2

A publication of the CIC | Une publication de l’ICC

Ta bl e o f C o n t e n t s | Ta bl e d e s m a t i è r e s

Guest Column Chroniqueur invité . . . . . . 2 A Fresh Look at the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry W. Robert Wood, MCIC

Ar ticles

10

Personals Personnalités . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Poised for Renewal The forest products industry in Canada Paul Lansbergen

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref . . . . . . . 4

Chemfusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

12 Knock on Wood

The effective management of process safety in kraft pulping is anything but child’s play.

R. Thomas Boughner, MCIC

And in Regulatory News … . . . . . . . . . 19 FRA Safety Advisory on Rail Shipments of Time-Sensitive Hazardous Materials

CIC Bulletin ICC

14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Spanning the Distance Paprican bridges the tremendous gap between fundamental research and commercial applications.

Joseph D. Wright, FCIC

CSChE Bulletin SCGCh . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Division News Nouvelles des divisions . . . 24

16

The Paper Trail Most people have no idea of the complex chemistry involved in making paper.

Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

Student News Nouvelles des étudiants . . . 24

Employment Wanted Demande d’emploi . . 28

Events Événements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Careers Carrières . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

GUEST COLUMN CHRONIQUEUR INVITÉ

A FRESH LOOK AT THE CANADIAN PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY

Editor-in-Chief/Rédactrice en chef Michelle Piquette Managing Editor/Directrice de la rédaction Heather Dana Munroe

Excerpts from a presentation made at the Annual Meeting of the Papirindustriens Tekniske Forening in Oslo, Norway, on November 22, 2005

Graphic Designer/Infographiste Krista Leroux

W. Robert Wood, MCIC

T

wo hundred years ago, Canada’s first paper mill began operation in St. Andrew’s East, QC. Since then, the industry has grown markedly. One hundred and thirty-five mills now manufacture a wide variety of grades of pulp, paper, and paperboard in nine of Canada’s ten provinces.

The industry has progressed well beyond being merely “hewers of wood, and drawers of water.” Pulp and paper mills rely heavily on advanced technologies such as robotics and control systems. After all, a modern paper machine is required to produce a uniform web of cellulose that can be 70 microns thick, 10 metres wide, and travel at 90 km/hr.

Today, the entire Canadian forestry sector continues to be a major employer, providing roughly 900,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Close to 50,000 Canadians work in pulp and paper mills. While the productivity of the domestic industry is improving, faced with strong international competition, Canadian manufacturers are attempting to increase output levels with fewer employees.

Annual shipments by the Canadian industry have plateaued in recent years. This follows steady, if not spectacular growth over much of the latter half of the 20th century.

In 2004, industry output was approximately 31.2 million tonnes, and more than half of all shipments were exported to the U.S. While market pulp and newsprint remain dominant Canadian products, the industry has begun a gradual transition from newsprint to higher value mechanical printing paper grades over the past decade.

Unfortunately, the average Canadian is unaware of the importance of the pulp and paper industry. The vast majority of our citizens reside in large urban centres located a significant distance from mill sites. Few are aware that in 2004, the industry contributed a whopping $17 billion to Canada’s trade balance. There is also an enormous social

2 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

responsibility to maintain jobs when considering the devastating impact of mill closures on small communities. If mills shut down, towns in outlying areas often do not survive.

Presently, Canadian pulp and paper manufacturers are experiencing tough times and most mills are facing enormous challenges, namely: • relatively high value of Canadian versus U.S. dollar; • rising fuel costs; • transaction prices of some grades are at a twenty-year low; • competitiveness in labour, fibre, and energy costs; • difficulties in attracting much-needed capital; • maturation of the North American market for newsprint; • overcapacity of some products; • aging workforce.

Desperate times have called for desperate measures, and in recent years we have seen many inefficient machines idled, and a number of permanent mill closures. Nonetheless, Canada’s position remains intact as the world’s fourth largest manufacturer of market pulp, paper, and paperboard, and the leading exporter of these products.

Continued on p. 20

W. Robert Wood, MCIC, is the executive director of the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) located in Montréal, QC. PAPTAC is the Canadian-based, not-for-profit organization, dedicated to improving the technical and professional capabilities of its members worldwide, and to the advancement of the pulp and paper industry. Each February,

Editorial Board/Conseil de rédaction Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, chair/président Cathleen Crudden, MCIC John Margeson, MCIC Milena Sejnoha, MCIC Steve Thornton, MCIC Bernard West, MCIC Editorial Office/Bureau de la rédaction 130, rue Slater Street, Suite/bureau 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 613-232-6252 • Fax/Téléc. 613-232-5862 editorial@accn.ca • www.accn.ca Advertising/Publicité advertising@accn.ca Subscription Rates/Tarifs d’abonnement Non CIC members/Non-membres de l’ICC : in/au Canada CAN$55; outside/à l’extérieur du Canada US$50. Single copy/Un exemplaire CAN$8 or US$7.

L’Actualité chimique canadienne/Canadian Chemical News (ACCN) is published 10 times a year by The Chemical Institute of Canada / est publié 10 fois par année par l’Institut de chimie du Canada. www.cheminst.ca.

Recommended by The Chemical Institute of Canada, the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, and the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the Institute, or of the societies that recommend the magazine.

Recommandé par l’Institut de chimie du Canada, la Société canadienne de chimie, la Société canadienne de génie chimique et la Société canadienne de technologie chimique. Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement la position officielle de l’Institut ou des sociétés constituantes qui soutiennent la revue.

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ISSN 0823-5228

PAPTAC hosts Paper Week International, the world’s largest annual conference and new technology exhibition serving the pulp and paper industry.

www.accn.ca

PERSONALS PERSONNALITÉS

Industry NEW ACCN BOARD MEMBER ACCN is proud to announce the appointment of Steve Thornton, MCIC, as a new member of the ACCN editorial board. After graduating from the chemical engineering technology program at Mohawk College in Hamilton, ON, in 1981, Thornton was hired by Imperial Oil in Sarnia, ON. His first role was to design, construct, and operate pilot scale refinery process units with the process research group. He later joined the environmental research group as a project leader supporting business operation groups in wastewater treatment, cooling water treatment, site remediation, and waste management projects. Thornton is currently the Sarnia Manufacturing Site’s air emissions specialist within the Environmental Assurance Group.

John W. Hepburn, FCIC (The University of British Columbia), Douglas W. Stephan, FCIC (University of Windsor), and Robert H. Morris, FCIC (University of Toronto), were inducted as fellows of the Royal Society of Canada on November 27, 2005.

Hélène Perreault, MCIC Hélène Perreault, MCIC, of the University of Manitoba, was awarded the Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry.

Distinction The University of British Columbia’s Annick Gauthier, MCIC, has been awarded the Howard Alper Post-Doctoral Prize. The prize is awarded to a post-doctoral Canadian student in one of the natural sciences or engineering disciplines.

Gauthier’s post-doctoral research, now in its second year, is focused on understanding how a remarkably simple virus—a strand of RNA that encodes only ten proteins—hijacks our liver’s cellular machinery while staying hidden from our immune defences.

John W. Hepburn, FCIC, Douglas W. Stephan, FCIC, and Robert H. Morris, FCIC

inscribed medal for his outstanding contributions to the encouragement of scientists and engineers to work across national borders for the betterment of the scientific and engineering disciplines. This is one of the highest awards that the academy gives to scientists and engineers. The other high award, the Einstein Medal, was awarded to Speight in 2001 for outstanding contributions and service in the field of geological sciences.

Commenting on the award, Speight said, “This came as a complete surprise and the award is a reflection of my efforts to encourage all scientists and engineers to work together …”

Speight was elected to the academy in 1996 and awarded the Gold Medal of Honor that same year for outstanding contributions to the field of petroleum sciences. In 1997, the Russian Petroleum Scientific-Research Institute (VNIGRI), St. Petersburg, Russia, also awarded Speight the degree of Doctor of Sciences for extraordinary accomplishments in the field of petroleum science. VNIGRI, a division of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and the Russian Academy of Sciences, is the largest petroleum research institute in the world.

Robert E. Prud’homme, FCIC Robert E. Prud’homme, FCIC, professeur titulaire et directeur du département de chimie de l’Université de Montréal, a été nommé membre de la société honorifique des Compagnons de Lavoisier de l’Ordre des chimistes du Québec lors de l’assemblée annuelle de cet organisme en septembre dernier. Ce club compte une douzaine de membres.

Prud’homme est un chimiste des matériaux, dont l’expertise se situe dans le domaine de l’état solide des polymères.

James G. Speight, FCIC, has been awarded the Scientists Without Borders Medal of Honor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The honor comes with a certificate and

Ashok Vijh, FCIC Ashok Vijh, FCIC, was elected president of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). As the president, Vijh has also become one of the vice-presidents of the RSC, which also includes the Académie des lettres et des sciences humaines and the Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Peter Zandstra, MCIC, of the University of Toronto, was awarded a 2005 NSERC Steacie Fellowship. Winners are selected each year for their achievements, career potential,

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 3

PERSONALS PERSONNALITÉS

and interpersonal and leadership abilities.

Zandstra currently holds the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering at the University of Toronto. Through his research, he has pioneered the ability to grow stem cells in bioreactors—tissue culture vessels wherein the cells’ environment is tightly regulated. The human embryonic stem cells he’ll use will be obtained from stem cell lines approved by the Canadian Stem Cell Oversight Committee.

Among Taube’s many awards were two Guggenheim Fellowships, the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Allied Chemical Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Innovative Science, and honorary degrees from institutions around the world. He won the Nobel Prize for his study of inorganic reactions in solution.

J. E. Guillet, FCIC, died on September 23, 2005. He was born in Toronto, ON, on January 14, 1927. He obtained a BA (honours) in physics and chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1948. From 1952 to 1955, he studied with R. G. W. Norrish at Cambridge University and was awarded his PhD in 1955 for research on the photochemistry of polymers. He was awarded the ScD from Cambridge University in 1974.

Guillet was a specialist in the general field of polymer science, particularly as it relates to the development of synthetic fibres, coatings, and plastics. He held basic patents on processes for the synthesis of photoand biodegradable plastics, high-density polyethylene, polyolefin waxes and coatings resins, and peroxides and other catalysts for olefin polymerization. He published approximately 283 papers in the field of polymer science and was the author of 81 patents.

Guillet was affiliated with Scarborough College, one of the suburban campuses of the University of Toronto, where, in addition to undergraduate teaching, he served as associate dean for research and planning

for the academic year 1983–1984. In 1988, he became coordinator of the polymers and composites program for the Ontario Centre for Materials Research.

He has served as a consultant for Imperial Oil Enterprises Limited, the Glidden Company of Canada, Royal Packaging Industries Van Leer of The Netherlands, Allied Canada Inc., IBM Research Laboratories of San José, CA, Ioptex Research Inc. of Irwindale, CA, Arpeco Engineering Limited of Mississauga, ON, and Innotech of Roanoke, VA. Guillet was instrumental in founding three small high-technology companies resulting from the applications of one or more of his patents.

Guillet was awarded a gold medal and Canada’s patent number 1,000,000 for the invention of photodegradable plastics. He was the recipient of the CIC’s Dunlop Lecture Award, the CIC Montréal Medal, and the International Award of The Society of Polymer Science of Japan. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1981 and a Killam Research Fellow from 1987 to 1989.

Guillet was a Fellow of both the CIC and the Royal Society of Canada. He was chair of the CIC’s Chemical Education Division from 1973 to 1974 and Macromolecular Science Division from 1977 to 1978. He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Chemical Society of London, and the Inter-American Photochemical Society. He was chair of the Canadian Committee for IUPAC from 1986 to 1988, and secretary of the Macromolecular Division of IUPAC from 1993 to 1997. He served on the editorial advisory board of five different scientific journals, and was chair of numerous scientific meetings and symposia.

mill compounds that cause reproductive changes in fish, and in validating a reliable technological remedy.

“The 2005 NSERC Synergy Awards for Innovation celebrate the very best Canadian achievements in R&D collaboration between universities and industry,” said the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for NSERC.

“Collaborations such as these are responsible for new products, new services, and new ways of doing things. They make this country one of the world’s most innovative and ensure our future prosperity and quality of life.”

Six partnerships are singled out for national prizes. The university leaders in the winning collaborations each receive a $25,000 NSERC research grant.

University of Saskatchewan

In Memoriam The CIC extends its condolences to the families of: Junor Barnes, MCIC Donald Laberge, MCIC

Henry Taube, FCIC, winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1983, and alumnus of the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) died November 16, 2005 at his home on California’s Stanford University campus. He was 89 years old. Taube attended high school at Luther College in Regina, SK, before beginning his university career in Saskatoon. He received both a BS and an MS degree from the U of S, in 1935 and 1937 respectively, before travelling to the University of California at Berkeley to do his PhD. Taube became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942. His teaching career took him from Berkeley to Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and finally to Stanford where he served as chair of the department of chemistry from 1972–1974 and 1978–1979.

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

2005 NSERC Synergy Awards for Innovation The University of New Brunswick (Saint John), Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd., and Environment Canada’s National Water Research Institute were honoured for world leadership in pinpointing the source of pulp and paper

NSERC 4 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

Montréal Action Plan The Government of Canada hailed the agreement on the Montréal Action Plan following the successful conclusion of the 11th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, held in Montréal, QC, from November 28 to December 9, 2005.

“This represents a major victory for the global community and the environment,’’ said the Honourable Stéphane Dion, conference president and Canada’s Minister of the Environment. “The Montréal Action Plan provides all of us with a clear roadmap for future work on addressing climate change globally.”

“I am proud to participate in the successful conclusion of this historic international conference on climate change,’’ said the head of the Canadian delegation, the Honourable Pierre Pettigrew. “Canada played a leading role in bringing the world together to achieve an outcome that will effectively address climate change for the long-term.”

The Montréal Action Plan is based upon the successes achieved under each of the key conference objectives—implementing the Kyoto Protocol, improving Kyoto as well as the Convention, and innovating the world’s future approach to cooperation on climate change.

The Montréal Action Plan’s five key components include: • initiating discussions under the Convention on long-term cooperative action to address climate change;

• initiating discussions among Annex 1 Parties to the Protocol on the second commitment period (post 2012); • advancing the Kyoto Protocol through a strengthened Clean Development Mechanism; • moving forward the Program of Work on adaptation under the Convention and implementation of the Adaptation Fund under the Kyoto Protocol; • advancing discussions on the impacts of deforestation and technology transfer.

In addition, early success was reached through the adoption of the Marrakech Accords and agreement on a regime to ensure compliance under the Kyoto Protocol.

Government of Canada

Nanomaterials Company Climbs to the Top Raymor Industries Inc., a leading developer and producer of advanced materials and nanomaterials, has been named as one of Canada’s top emerging public companies as part of the TSX Venture 50TM. The TSX Venture Exchange ranked Raymor as the top company in the Diversified Industries sector based on the company’s performance over the last 12 months.

The TSX Venture 50 are the top ten companies in each of five major industry

Photo courtesy of Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Boyle, AB

sectors—mining, oil and gas, technology, life science, and diversified industries—based on a ranking formula with equal weighting given to one-year revenue, return on investment, market cap growth, and trading volume.

All data was as of August 31, 2005.

“Raymor is proud to be ranked in the TSX Venture 50 as one of Canada’s top emerging companies,” said Stéphane Robert, president of Raymor Industries. “The nanotechnology industry is expected to grow significantly over the next several years and we are uniquely positioned as a leading supplier of materials for a wide range of industrial applications.

While this award recognizes our accomplishments in the last year, it also highlights our strong growth potential going forward.”

Over the last 12 months, Raymor has generated wide-spread interest in its product lines, which add value to a variety of applications, particularly in the biomedical, aerospace, and military industries. All four of Raymor’s operational divisions—nanotechnology products, thermal spray coatings, spherical metal powders, and netshape forming—have achieved significant milestones and secured important contracts for 2005–2006. In particular, Raymor started commercial production of its unique process to produce high-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (C-SWNT) and entered several new industrial markets through sales of C-SWNT, spherical metal powders, and thermal spray coating services to such companies as Boeing, Siemens PG, Wright Medical, and the U.S. Military.

Raymor Industries

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 5

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

Canada’s Forest Industry Surpasses Kyoto Target by More than Four Times The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) announced that the industry has achieved 44 percent improvement in greenhouse gas emissions intensity since 1990. And it continues to make significant strides towards meeting its climate change commitments.

The announcement was made during the 11th Annual United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place in Montréal, QC, November 28 to December 9, 2005.

Canada’s forest products industry has been a leader in addressing greenhouse gas emissions by investing in the development and implementation of new technologies that increase efficiency and enhance the industry’s overall productivity and competitiveness.

Since 1990, the pulp and paper sector has

6 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent while increasing production by over 30 percent and improving intensity— surpassing its Kyoto targets by more than four times. It is also the first industry to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Canada committing it to even further reductions by 2010.

“The forest products industry, more than any other industry in Canada, has a unique perspective on climate change mainly because forests and the products derived from them literally embody carbon,” said Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of FPAC. “Our perspective is also profoundly shaped by the fact that the future of our industry and the prosperity it generates is almost entirely dependent on the continued well-being of our ecosystem. No other industry has been so deeply affected by climate change or has done as much to combat it.”

Canada’s pulp and paper sector currently meets 57 percent of its energy demands with biomass—a clean, green, carbon-neutral energy source derived from industrial

byproducts such as bark, wood shavings, and sawdust. The sector is now the largest industrial source of cogeneration or combined heat and power capacity in Canada, which is largely powered by carbon-neutral renewable biomass. That “cogen” combined with the sector’s small hydro generation produces enough renewable energy to power the City of Vancouver today and into the future. And a number of breakthrough technologies currently under development hold the potential to dramatically increase this potential.

In addition to its exceptional record of emissions reductions in the pulp and paper sector, the forest products industry is also at the forefront in reducing emissions in the solid wood sector as well as in forestry and logging activities. The industry is also active in contributing to global climate change efforts by realizing the potential of forests and sustainable forest management practices to remove carbon from the atmosphere and serve as natural “carbon sinks.”

Forest Products Association of Canada

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

consulted during the drafting of the regulation, which includes the following elements: • requires wholesalers and importers to achieve a five percent average of ethanol content in their gasoline; • provides for simple but enforceable reporting of the trading of renewable fuel credits to those who are unable to reach five percent; • uses technical standards for ethanolblended gasoline to ensure drivability and to maximize environmental benefits; • allows more time for infrastructure development in the north, delaying implementation there until 2010.

For additional information, visit the ministry’s Web site at www.omafra.gov. on.ca/English.policy.oef/index.html.

Ethanol is “In” The Ontario provincial government has finalized its renewable fuel standard requiring ethanol in gasoline sold in the province beginning January 1, 2007.

The government is now ready to accept applications under the Ontario ethanol growth fund. The province expects the 12-year, $520 million fund to ensure that Ontario ethanol plants will be producing as much as 750 million litres of ethanol annually when the renewable fuel standard goes into effect.

The fund will provide capital assistance for financing, operation assistance to address changing market prices, support for independent retailers selling ethanol blends, and a fund to study and develop innovations.

“We are now issuing an invitation to all proponents with an interest in the domestic production of ethanol,” said Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. “Providing construction assistance of up to $32.5 million and variable operating grants will help Ontario’s producers contribute to clean air.” The province believes the new regulations will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the road.

As of January 1, 2006, gasoline sold in Ontario must contain an average of at least five percent ethanol. This may be accomplished by the actual blending of ethanol or through the trading of renewable fuel credits.

Key industry stakeholders, as well as health and environmental organizations, were

Camford Chemical Report

Potential for Spinal Cord Injury Repair Strategies Two innovative new studies in nerve guidance channels have significant implications for peripheral nerve repair and spinal cord injury repair strategies.

In a paper published in the January issue of Biomaterials and now available on-line, researchers describe the development of a new nerve guidance channel design that has shown equivalence to the “gold” standard for peripheral nerve repair. A second paper in the same journal describes how material and growth factor combinations within a nerve guidance channel influence the type of regeneration achieved, which has potential for spinal cord injury repair strategies.

The first study shows that “the innovation is in the design of the nerve guidance channel,” says Molly S. Shoichet, MCIC, of the University of Toronto’s departments of chemistry, chemical engineering, and applied chemistry, the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and the Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering.

The design used coil-reinforced hydrogel tubes that promoted nerve regeneration equivalent to that of nerve autografts; a polymeric coil embedded within the wall structure of the

nerve guidance channel created a reinforced polymeric channel that significantly enhances regeneration by ensuring that the tube stays open, allowing severed peripheral nerve ends to regenerate both inside and beyond the tube.

“What was innovative about this design was that it used a coil-reinforced hydrogel,” a soft material, says Shoichet. “Nerve is a very soft tissue, and we wanted to match the mechanical properties of soft tissue to the channel we’re implanting.” A mismatch can cause cell death. At the same time, “the problem with soft material is that over time it can collapse; that’s what we saw with an earlier study. So we reinforced these tubes with a coil imbedded into the tube wall. We’re still matching the properties of soft tissue, but it won’t collapse because of the coil.”

The second study employed similar strategies, says Shoichet, using nerve guidance channels designed for implantation into soft tissue to repair spinal cord transection, which can be caused by gunshot or stabbing. “Here, the innovation is in what we are filling the tubes with.”

The researchers found that depending on the materials placed in the nerve guidance channel, “we stimulated different parts of the brain to regrow,” thus helping the repair of the spinal cord. The materials experimented with included collagen, fibrin, Matrigel, and methylcellulose. The use of fibrin, and smaller “tubes within channels,” both showed a consistent improvement in locomotor function at seven and eight weeks.

“In no way did we overcome spinal cord injury, but we did demonstrate that different combinations of materials placed in the nerve guidance channels will impact different brain neurons to regenerate.”

Research for the first paper was a collaborative effort between the laboratories of Shoichet, Rajiv Midha of Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre (now at the University of Calgary), and Matregen Corp., and was funded by the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund’s Advanced Regenerative Tissue Engineering Centre. Research for the second paper was conducted in the laboratories of Shoichet and Charles Tator of the Toronto Western Hospital Research Institute, and was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

University of Toronto

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 7

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

Canada’s First Commercial-Scale Biodiesel Plant

CCPA Forecasts Substantial Increase in Sales for 2006

Rothsay, a division of Maple Leaf Foods, announced the commissioning of Canada’s first commercial-scale biodiesel plant. The new facility has the capacity to produce 35 million litres per year of biodiesel and is located in Sainte-Catherine, QC, on Montréal’s south shore.

Rothsay biodiesel is a renewable fuel made by converting animal fats and recycled cooking oils into an environmentally sustainable alternative fuel that reduces greenhouse gases. The biodiesel can be used in all diesel engines today without modification.

Rothsay’s product is made using a process pioneered and developed at the plant in Montréal.

“With this new state-of-the-art plant, biodiesel is going big in Canada,” said Scott McCain, president and COO, agribusiness group, Maple Leaf Foods. “This plant is the first in the country to produce biodiesel on a large scale, making an important milestone in the diversification from conventional fossil fuels to environmentally friendly fuels.”

Rothsay helped foster the development of the biodiesel industry in Canada with studies such as the city of Montréal’s BioBus and BioMer projects. The company has also operated a smaller pilot plant in Montréal for the past three years.

Biodiesel is made by combining a natural oil or fat with an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol. The process leaves behind two products—methyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerin. It has an energy balance between 3.2 and 5 units, meaning every unit of input energy required produces 3.2 to 5 units of biodiesel energy. Biodiesel can be used in cold climates in blended form, generally B20 (a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 petroleum diesel).

According to Natural Resources Canada, the 35 million litres of biodiesel produced at Sainte-Catherine are equivalent to taking 12,000 light trucks or 22,000 cars off the road—or eliminating 122,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

CCPA’s year-end survey of members indicates that basic chemicals and resins sales value is expected to increase by 12 percent (5 percent in volume) in 2006. This is following a 5 percent increase in sales value to $23 billion in 2005. Exports that were up 17 percent in 2005 are expected to increase by a further 11 percent in 2006. Operating profits before interest, taxes, and special write-offs, which have been at a record high, eased slightly (down 3 percent) in 2005 and are forecast to increase substantially (up by one third) in 2006.

Camford Chemical Report

8 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (CCPA)

ChemSketch on Chmoogle Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc. (ACD/Labs) has integrated their commercial and freeware ChemSketch application to the Chmoogle® Web site at www.chmoogle.com.

Chmoogle was created by eMolecules, Inc. Chmoogle is the world’s leading openaccess chemistry search engine with the mission to discover, curate, and index all of the public chemical information in the world, and make it available to the public for free. Chmoogle distinguishes itself by extremely fast searches, an appealing presentation of results, high-quality chemical drawings, and powerful advanced search capabilities like persistent hitlists and hitlist logic operations.

ACD/Labs has integrated Chmoogle to the commercial ChemSketch software at www.acdlabs.com/products/chem_dsn_ lab/chemsketch/ and freeware at www. acdlabs.com/download/. This software has been downloaded by over 530,000 scientists around the world. This integration gives ChemSketch users direct access to Chmoogle’s structure and substructure searches at www.acdlabs.com/download/ chemsk_websearch.html.

“The world’s knowledge in chemistry is an invaluable resource,” said Klaus Gubernator, eMolecule’s CEO. “It lies dormant until it becomes searchable by every chemist. The language of chemistry is chemical structures. Chmoogle makes the world’s chemistry searchable by structure. Just draw a molecule using your favourite structure drawing tool and hit Go! We are very intrigued by the clever integration of structure drawing and searching in Chmoogle that ACD/Labs is providing and we are even more excited about the fact that it is free for chemists around the world.”

Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc.

New Prize for Medicinal Chemistry The IUPAC-Richter Prize in Medicinal Chemistry was established by a gift from the Chemical Works of Gedeon Richter, Ltd., in Budapest, Hungary, to acknowledge the key role that medicinal chemistry plays in improving human health. By establishing this prize jointly with IUPAC, Richter wishes to contribute to the international recognition of the role of research in medicinal chemistry, publicize the company’s commitment to medicinal chemistry research, and further appreciation of IUPAC’s activities.

The prize of U.S. $10,000 will be awarded to an internationally recognized scientist, preferably a medicinal chemist, whose activities or published accounts have made an outstanding contribution to the practice of medicinal chemistry or to an outstanding example of new drug discovery. The prize will be awarded biennially by a selection committee that will be appointed by the Subcommittee on Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Development of the IUPAC Chemistry and Human Health Division. The first prize will be awarded at the XIXth International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry, August 29–September 2, 2006, in Istanbul, Turkey.

The call for nominations is now open with a deadline of March 31, 2006. For further information on the prize, please contact C. Robin Ganellin at c.r.ganellin@ucl.ac.uk.

IUPAC

O

n January 10, 1910, Doctor Hawley Harvey Crippen purchased five grains (325 mg) of hydrobromide of hyoscine at a chemist’s shop in London.

Also known as scopolamine, this compound can be extracted from henbane, a plant with a long history of folkloric use.

In small doses it depresses the central nervous system and has a calming effect, but in higher doses it can cause confusion and hallucinations. Legend has it that henbane was used as an ingredient in the ointment that witches ceremonially applied to their mucous membranes to create the illusion of flying. But if they weren’t careful with the dosage, witches took the chance of soaring right out of this world. And that was the aspect of hyoscine that interested Crippen. His domineering wife and her succession of lovers had made his life miserable. Dispatching her seemed like a good idea, especially after Crippen himself fell in love with Ethel Le Neve, a young typist barely half his age. The poisoning of Mrs. Crippen with hyoscine was to become one of the most celebrated cases in the annals of British crime.

Crippen is sometimes depicted as an unfortunate man driven to murder by a wicked wife. But the good doctor was never exactly an upstanding citizen. Even his status as a “Dr.” was questionable. Crippen trained at Cleveland’s Homeopathy Hospital and followed a dubious medical path. He invented a nerve tonic called “Amorette,” and when that failed, he got a job at the Drouet Institute for the Deaf, which specialized in swindling patients. The Institute sold plasters to be worn behind the ear to improve hearing.

It was eventually closed due to the death of a patient who developed an abscess from the product. Undeterred, Crippen founded the Aural Remedy Company that sold various pills and patches to patients after diagnosing their disease from mailed-in questionnaires.

When that venture failed, he set up shop as a “painless dentist.” He was unsuccessful in this enterprise as well, which was not surprising since he had no dental training.

But it was murder—not medical malarkey—that earned him a permanent place in Madame Tussaud’s famed “Chamber of

Horrors.” Crippen had worked at the Royal Bethlehem Hospital in London (“Bedlam”) where patients were commonly sedated with hyoscine. He thought hyoscine was just the right drug for the ultimate sedation of his wife. After poisoning her, he buried the dismembered torso under the stone blocks in the cellar. To explain his wife’s disappearance, he claimed she had run off with a lover and later died in America. This account did not wash with Mrs. Crippen’s friends, who alerted the police about their suspicions. The doctor’s house was searched, but no evidence of foul play was found. Crippen decided to flee London with his mistress, Ethel. When the couple disappeared, the police intensified their search of the house and made the gruesome discovery in the cellar. By the time a warrant was issued for their arrest, Crippen and Ethel had boarded a passenger liner to Quebec. He changed his appearance and disguised Ethel as his son.

It was the duo’s misfortune that the ship’s captain, Henry Kendall, fancied himself an amateur sleuth. He had read about Crippen’s disappearance in the newspapers, and his suspicions were aroused when he noticed that a passenger who called himself Mister Robinson seemed to squeeze his son’s hand with an unusual frequency. Furthermore, the man had a mark on the bridge of his nose from spectacles that were now absent. Kendall invited the suspicious couple to dinner at his table to have a closer look at them. He saw that “Master Robinson” used safety pins on her clothes to disguise a female shape.

Kendall’s ship was one of the first vessels with a wireless radio, which he now used to summon the London police. Scotland Yard dispatched an officer aboard a faster ship.

Crippen and Ethel were arrested in Quebec and returned to England. Crippen rejected his defense attorney’s suggestion that he had accidentally poisoned his nymphomaniac wife when he gave her hyoscine to cool her demands on him, and opted for a plea of innocence. He claimed the dismembered body was in the basement when he bought the house. The jury did not buy Crippen’s argument—especially after a pajama salesman testified that the fabric used to wrap the remains had not been available until

Hyocine for Homicide

CHEMFUSION Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

after the Crippens moved into the house.

But the pivotal evidence was the discovery of hyoscine in the torso, which coupled with the chemist’s record of Crippen’s purchase of same, was enough to convince the jury.

Crippen was hanged on November 23, 1910.

There was no evidence to implicate Ethel and she was released.

Hyoscine is still available today. It is often applied in a patch behind the ear to prevent motion sickness. If Crippen (who had a familiarity with ear patches) had investigated the medical uses of hyoscine, he might have forged a successful career. And his wax likeness might not be standing at Madame Tussaud’s as a testimonial to a horrendous crime that introduced hyoscine as a homicidal weapon.

Popular science writer, Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is a chemistry professor and the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society.

He hosts the Dr. Joe Show every Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Montréal’s radio station CJAD and on CFRB in Toronto. The broadcast is available on the Web at www.CJAD.com.

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 9

Poised for Renewal C

anada is blessed with an abundance of resources, an educated workforce, a diverse manufacturing sector, and the largest single market in the world to our immediate south. Together, these assets have made us one of the world’s most successful exporting nations and have made Canada the world’s largest exporter of forest products by a significant margin. This leadership carries substantial

Forest Products Exports 2004 (CAN$Billions) Canada

38.3

Germany

20.7

United States

20.4

Finland

17.6

Sweden

16.7

France

9.4

Russian Federation

8.3

Austria

8.1

Indonesia

6.0

China

5.8

Italy

5.6

Belgium

5.1

Netherlands

4.3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Canada is the world’s leading exporter of forest products.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization

economic benefit to communities across the country. However, the forest products industry has been dealing with extraordinary challenges that threaten both its viability today and its competitiveness for the future. Improving productivity is the most constructive response

10 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

The forest products industry in Canada Paul Lansbergen

possible in the face of an appreciating Canadian dollar, U.S. softwood lumber duties, and a steady increase in global competition.

The forest products industry is committed to overcoming its shortterm challenges and securing a prosperous and sustainable future in Canada for decades to come—but it cannot do it alone. For its part, the industry invests some $4 billion per year in capital improvements and $500 million per year on research and development. It leads all other manufacturers in entering emerging markets. In 2004, forest products were the largest export to India, China, and South Korea. It has been a productivity growth leader in the Canadian economy over the past several years and is one of few Canadian industries where labour productivity rates are higher than those in the U.S. industry. Additionally, it has formed dozens of new joint ventures and other partnerships with Aboriginal communities, and it is a world-leading environmental performer in the areas of third-party forest certification, recycling, air quality, and climate change.

The most critical current challenge to the Canadian forest products industry has been the rapid and sustained appreciation of the Canadian dollar. Since January 2003, the Canadian dollar has appreciated by 34 percent or 23 cents against its U.S. counterpart. While all manufacturers feel the impact of a higher dollar, the export intensity of Canada’s forest products industry combined with the fact that all of its major inputs—fibre, energy, and labour—are sourced in Canada make it one of the most vulnerable to exchange rate shocks.

For the pulp and paper sector, the problems associated with a rapidly appreciating currency are exacerbated by other challenges including declining structural demand, especially in newsprint and an aging capital stock. Demand for newsprint in North America is expected to remain flat over the next decade. Combined, these challenges put a substantial portion of the industry and the communities it supports at near-term risk.

The performance of the wood products sector has been mixed. Eastern mills have struggled with a higher cost structure relative to their Western counterparts. Strong productivity improvements in reaction to the softwood duties and increased fibre (due to salvage efforts of

beetle-killed timber) have enabled the BC firms to prosper in 2004. In fact, BC lumber producers had the highest profits of all forest and paper products companies in the world in 2004. The strong market fundamentals for wood products have already started to show a decline with many companies posting losses in 2005. Softwood lumber continues to be an issue in this sector and will impact the market significantly if/when decisions are made.

These market challenges are driving companies to rationalize high-cost facilities and shift production to more efficient operations.

Recognizing that the mountain pine beetle will result in substantial harvest reductions in future years and that Quebec and Ontario are in the middle of adjusting downward their allowable cuts—rationalization and consolidation will continue.

Policy change is essential and for this reason, the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has been calling on government to play an immediate active role in addressing policy areas that will improve the industry’s overall business climate.

In November 2005, the federal government announced its intention to invest in transformative technology research, market diversification, and the further development of biomass capacity. These are all significant initiatives that will greatly enhance the industry’s competitive position. Add to this a global demand for forest products forecast to grow by three percent annually well into the future, and both Canada’s wood products and pulp and paper industry are well positioned to address opportunities and challenges to ensure their long-term viability.

Renewal through research and development Realizing the promise of the future will not be easy. The industry has to develop new products, new markets, and accelerate its capital stock renewal. All of these can be helped through research and development.

Given its commodity nature, it may come as a surprise that this industry is investing substantially in research and development.

With R&D expenditures of over $500 million in 2004, the forest products industry is a leading source of private sector innovation in the Canadian economy. Through various funded programs and in-house research efforts, governments in Canada also make significant

investments in forest-sector-related science and innovation. Despite this substantial R&D effort and a long history of global leadership, there is evidence to suggest that Canada is falling behind its leading competitors in forest sector innovation. Given the federal government’s recent commitment to investing in technology for the industry, there is hope that Canada will be at the forefront in benefiting from various emerging technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the industry’s products and production processes and lessening its environmental footprint.

The industry has already demonstrated its commitment to innovation and looking forward, and a number of innovations under development in such diverse areas as building products, pulp and paper, biochemicals, bioenergy, and forestry hold the potential to revolutionize the forest and paper sector.

They include: Bio-energy: Technologies like gasification could dramatically increase the sector’s potential to serve as a source of low impact green power. The first commercial scale wood waste gasifier is being installed in Western Canada.

Black liquor gasification may follow later.

System closure: System closure technologies can reduce the environmental footprint of the industry by reducing or eliminating effluent and emissions into the environment from pulp an d paper facilities.

Bio-refineries: Marginal or uneconomic pulp and paper facilities may be able to find niches producing ethanol, petro-chemical substitutes, or other co-products instead of or in addition to traditional forest products.

Nanotechnology: In addition to its potential to transform paper coating and other production processes within the sector, nanotechnology applications in the industry could lead to a range of new pulp and paper products like “self-cleaning” packaging that prolongs the life by destroying bacteria and fungi.

Fibre: Canada’s fibre basket is more diverse compared to many of its competitors because it comes from a naturally occurring array of more tree species, and has desirable characteristics because it is grown slowly in a northern climate. Tree species and growth rate interact to give Canadian fibre unique properties like density, strength, and aesthetic visual properties, and intrinsic fibre attributes like cell wall thickness and micro-fibril angle.

Focused research and product development can help translate these properties into

economic value, which in turn can help Canadian producers compete against lower cost, uniform plantation fibre from the Southern Hemisphere.

Building systems and solutions: Growing global demand for housing creates an opportunity for the Canadian wood products industry to supply healthy, energy efficient, environmentally preferable, durable, and disaster resistant shelter and building solutions to markets around the world.

These investments in research and development give a strong basis for developing a strategy going forward.

Going forward The forest products industry is worth stabilizing and growing, and we have the vision—the new business model—to do it.

All of it is within reach and some of the elements are already in place. Governments are beginning to show the industry, with tax cuts and incentives, that they too must be part of the renewal of an industry responsible for over 350,000 direct jobs and three percent of GDP. The ability to make major investments in new technologies will enable us to develop new revenue streams immune to the vicissitudes of global markets.

These are the key drivers of the industry’s renewal: • renew our competitiveness in traditional markets and products; • harness the potential of new technologies; • establish a market-driven industry structure; • innovation in customer service; • excellence in human resources; • leadership in forest management and sustainability; • innovative partnerships.

The industry is taking action to address the challenges that it confronts—through capital investment, R&D, diversifying markets, and steadily improving its environmental performance. We believe that with the right policy framework in place, the industry is poised for strong renewal.

Paul Lansbergen is association secretary and director of taxation and business issues for the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC).

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 11

Knock on Wood P

ulp and paper process safety risks may appear to be less serious than in other industries. But a number of significant side streams of the main fibre line and process liquor cycle in kraft process pulp mills have significant combustive, explosive, or toxic characteristics. One type of risk involves the crude forms of turpentine and methanol (materials naturally occurring in the wood) that are released during the pulping process. Another type is the release of organic sulphur compounds that occurs when wood component molecules react with the sodium sulphide in the white liquor. Both groups pose significant PSM risks that must be effectively managed.

Reduced sulphur compounds Kraft pulp mills emit distinctive odours due to the use of sodium sulphide enhancing sodium hydroxide for the digestion of wood chips.

In the digester reactions, the sulphide ion combines with lignin and hemicellulose molecules to form organic sulfides.

Hydrogen sulphide, H2S with a boiling point of –60ºC is emitted as a gas from recovery boiler combustion, smelt dissolving, slaking, evaporator non-condensables, and effluent treatment. It is highly toxic and may be fatal if inhaled at a concentration of 1000ppm. Methyl mercaptan, CH3SH, (MeSH) is a central nervous system depressant; dimethyl sulfide, (CH3)2S, (DMS) is a serious eye irritant; dimethyl disulfide CH3)2S2, (DMDS) may be fatal if inhaled. Explosive limits range from 1.1–4.3 percent lower to 16–46 percent upper—the lower number corresponding to the higher molecular weight, in both cases.

Turpentine Turpentine compounds volatilize from the wood chips at cooking temperature, 165–180ºC. Softwoods contain mono- and di-terpenes with the general formula (C5H 8) n. British Columbia interior fibre

12 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

The effective management of process safety in kraft pulping is anything but child’s play.

R. Thomas Boughner, MCIC with lodgepole pine at 50–80 percent of the furnish, has roughly onethird monocyclic terpenes, one-third bicyclic terpenes, and one-third a miscellaneous assortment of acyclic terpenes, oxygenates, and other compounds. Monocyclic terpenes include β-phellandrene, 20–25 percent and cis-limonene, 2–5 percent. Bicyclic terpenes are α-pinene, 15–18 percent, ∆-3 carene 12–14 percent, and β-pinene 7–10 percent. Other components include cis-limonene, 2–7 percent.

Turpentine irritates mucous membranes and eyes. It is harmful if inhaled at concentrations over 750 ppm. Its National Fire Protection Association flammability rating is three, “severe fire hazard.” It has an auto-ignition temperature of 253ºC and a lower flammable limit of 0.8 percent by volume. The boiling point ranges from 150–180ºC, depending on composition.

Methanol Methanol, another naturally occurring component, was first produced from wood—hence the old name, “wood alcohol.” If swallowed or inhaled, it can cause a wide range of harmful effects, from sickness and heart and liver damage to reproductive harm, blindness, or death.

Methanol ignites easily, even in aqueous solutions. The explosion limits for methanol are unusually wide: 6–36 percent.

Reduced sulphur compounds Odour reduction is accomplished by oxidizing reduced sulphur compounds to sulphur dioxide, which has an odour threshold of 300–1,000 parts per billion. For comparison, it is 5 ppb for H2S and 0.2 ppb for methyl mercaptan.

Two different types of TRS streams originate from the pulping process. High-volume, low-concentration streams come from chip bin vents, brown stock washer hoods, and heavy black liquor storage tank

Photo courtesy of Tembec Industries, Inc, Cranbrook, BC

area. The storage tank receives the decanter overflow turpentine stream in the top and the water underflow stream in the bottom for secondary decantation and to ensure the tank is always hydraulically full. Typically storage tanks are located below ground for explosion containment.

Condensate stripping

vents. The key is to keep the concentration below the LEL and use the stream as part of the combustion air supply. Low volume-high concentration streams come from digester condensate, turpentine recovery systems, strippers, and black liquor evaporators. The key is to keep the concentration above the UEL and use it as a fuel component.

Collected TRS gases can be combusted in existing process equipment such as lime kilns or power boilers or in a new dedicated incinerator equipped with SO2 scrubbers and optional heat recovery. Disposal in recovery boilers is becoming more commonplace now that the Black Liquor Recovery Boiler Advisory Committee has set out guidelines for safe NCG introduction.

Turpentine concentrations can be high on chip feed sources making collection hazardous, requiring safe collection and disposal. Brown stock washers are the largest volumetric source, particularly if the hoods are not properly enclosed. Heavy black liquor tanks are operated hot—vent gases contain substantial amounts of water vapour. This hot, wet stream needs a large diameter gas collection pipe and a condensate handling system. Heavy black liquor tanks can also accumulate high TRS concentrations during shutdown periods. Start-up procedures are needed for optimal safety.

LVHC gases are corrosive, toxic, and potentially explosive. They contain concentrated reduced sulphur gases, methanol, and terpenes from digesters, turpentine recovery systems, strippers, and multiple effect evaporators. A reliable system requires

Photo courtesy of Pope & Talbot Mackenzie

multiple levels of protection allowing for the toxic, corrosive, and flammable nature of these gases. Elimination of tramp air is mandatory. Hardware features must include pressure/vacuum breakers, flame arresters, rupture discs, and fail-safe controls for emergency diversion.

Critical process considerations include proper piping layout for effective condensate collection, suitable location of rupture discs, provisions for back-up incineration options, etc. A hazard and operability study is always conducted to ensure safety and reliability.

Turpentine recovery Operation of condensers cold enough to optimize recovery causes contamination with DMDS and DMS. After condensation and separation, the crude turpentine is a valuable by-product, either for sale to chemical processors for purification, or to burn as a fuel.

The recovery system removes entrained fibre and liquor before the condenser, condenses water vapour and turpentine at a temperature that maximizes turpentine recovery without causing emulsification, vents the non-condensable gases for collection and incineration, permits phase separation of turpentine from water, and then sub-cools the turpentine stream to minimize vaporization in storage. The decanter is contained in a dyked

Exhaust vapour streams from the digester and evaporator condense forming odorous streams containing significant amounts of methanol, DMS, and DMDS. The respective boiling points of 65ºC, 38ºC, and 109ºC cause them to exist together. Steam stripping is an effective technique for separating and concentrating the methanol/TRS for incineration. Operating without strippers to save steam and diverting foul condensates to effluent treatment imposes a significant COD burden and leads to ambient odours at the treatment basins.

The product from condensate stripping is a condensable gas containing about 50 percent methanol, water vapour, TRS, and turpentine. This off-gas has significant fuel value, allowing for a reduction in the use of fossil fuel. A second rectification stage can yield methanol at 80 percent, for use as additional fuel.

Conclusion A number of significant side streams in kraft process pulp mills have combustive, explosive, or toxic characteristics that merit PSM focus. In spite of that, they can be managed with focus on the basic discipline of process safety management—specifically thorough operability and hazard analysis in process design. These precautions ensure that operators and managers are knowledgeable in the processes. The inherent risks are reduced through the use of protective devices and the integrity of careful measurement.

R. Thomas Boughner, MCIC, is general manager of Mackenzie Operations Pope & Talbot Ltd. He is the industrial liaison director on the board of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering.

Spanning the Distance Paprican bridges the tremendous gap between fundamental research and commercial applications.

Joseph D. Wright, FCIC

P

The author takes the podium at the Capturing Canada’s Natural Advantages Workshop held November 21, 2005, in Montréal, QC. This workshop focused on the opportunities and challenges facing the Canadian pulp and paper industry, including the exploration of manufacturing alternatives that may result in new uses of bio-based feedstocks to maximize the value of biomass resources.

14 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

aprican, the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada, is the largest research institute dedicated to the pulp and paper industry in Canada. We are a not-for-profit, consortium-based, research institute with a driving vision to deliver innovative, economical solutions through research. Our mission is to create competitive advantages by working in partnership with our global members and clients in the pulp and paper and related renewable resource industries through the generation and application of knowledge. Our business plan, developed with our member companies, addresses the global forces driving the pulp and paper industry.

For the Canadian industry, some of the current challenges are: • weakening demand for both fine paper and newsprint; • soaring energy prices; • older and smaller than world-scale manufacturing processes; • grade substitutions and imports; • low-cost foreign plantation-based fibre; • the ongoing strengthening of the Canadian dollar; • reductions in allowable cuts for fibre; • softwood lumber duties.

Our business plan, structured in such a way that Paprican can operate in an entrepreneurial style:

Above: The Capilano Suspension Bridge, North America’s longest suspension bridge, is just north of Vancouver, BC. Photo by Steven Stinson

• presents a very flexible and global research strategy; • enables delivery of technology with maximum efficiency and effectiveness; • positions the institute as a competitive research and technology business.

Meeting the needs of the pulp and paper industry Our Core Research Program is driven by the high-priority issues of the industry and encompasses product performance, cost competitiveness, and sustainability, including environmental issues. Priorities are set by an industry-based Research Program Committee that drives our research program toward applied technologies. Our Future Awareness Committee ensures the relevance of our longer-term strategic research goals.

The principles of 3rd Generation R&D Management as first outlined by Arthur D. Little in the 1990s ensure that the focus, even for basic science, is firmly grounded in the business needs of our clients. The historical excellence of the Paprican research team and the breadth of skills in the institute give us a unique capability to bring a multidisciplinary system’s perspective to complex industrial problems.

Supplementing our Core Research Program is a set of smaller research projects that address the specific needs of both members and other clients. In general terms, these projects tend to have a shorter-term set of objectives that can be completed within a two-year timeframe.

Finally, we also offer services in which dedicated teams of experts provide solutions to complex problems and crisis situations, on a timely basis. These services allow our members and other clients to leverage Paprican expertise as well as our unique facilities. Our services range from analytical measurements, standards, and calibrations, to the application of established Paprican technologies, and the use of world-class pilot plant facilities.

Relationships with academic researchers A critical part of our business plan is the strengthening of our historical links to the Canadian university system—in line with the national innovation strategy

that places very significant emphasis on university partnerships. Paprican was recognized in 2004 for its unique and extensive partnerships with the Canadian university system when it was awarded the Leo Derikx Synergy Award for Innovation for outstanding university-industry partnerships.

Today, we have expanded our partnerships with universities through the creation of Pulp and Paper Network for Innovation in Education and Research (PAPIER). Through PAPIER, the seven Canadian universities that operate Pulp and Paper Centres form a nucleus of academic researchers who work in partnership with Paprican, the Canadian industry, and many industry supplier companies to direct the focus of academic research and to tie it to strategically driven industry research needs.

The first major success of PAPIER was to prepare an NSERC Research Network Proposal for an innovative new research program on bio-active paper. The research could make possible intelligent food packaging, bio-active sensors, security devices, and virus-trapping paper substrates to give but a few examples.

The new network is called Sentinel and has been successful in attracting new partners from outside our sector to participate in the traditional commodity-oriented pulp and paper industry.

Behind Paprican The success of Paprican over its more than 80-year history is our focus on the key issues of our members and our ability to generate a continuous flow of new technologies that start in research but end only when successfully applied in real commercial operations. For example, in the past year we have made major advances in a number of areas, including: • THPS (tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulphate)—a novel technology for bleaching mechanical pulps developed in collaboration with The University of British Columbia; • an innovative set of technologies to enable highly filled papers to deliver excellent product performance at competitive costs; • families of near infrared (NIR) sensors for a variety of on-line measurements in wood chip quality, pulping, and bleaching processes; • significant progress with respect to use of fibres from the massive Mountain Pine

Paprican was recognized in 2004 for its unique and extensive partnerships with the Canadian university system Beetle infestation in British Columbia and Alberta; • EvaluTree—a unique fibre and wood chip property analysis laboratory, based on the award-winning SilviScan technology from Australia, that will position Canada first in the world for fibre-quality assessment and evaluation; • many implementations of Paprican technologies long used by member companies in an expanded international client base; • families of technologies that enable progressive closure of the operating processes in pulp and paper manufacture while maintaining product quality with simultaneous reductions in cost; • energy-reduction strategies that enable the pulp and paper industry to maintain its leadership in Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.

Paprican’s unparalleled ability to apply science and to develop technologies in a complex industrial environment bridges the tremendous gap between fundamental research and commercial applications.

Paprican experts and their results-oriented research provide economic value, filling a critical gap in Canada’s innovation strategy.

The effective and efficient transfer of technology from basic science including that from the university system, enables an industry challenged by global competitive forces to respond. Their advantage is that they are able to deliver innovative new products, both economically and sustainably, based on the value they can realize from technology.

Joseph D. Wright, FCIC, is president and CEO of the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada (PAPRICAN). Previously, he has been vice-president and centre manager of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada, and a professor of chemical engineering at McMaster University.

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 15

The Paper Trail Most people have no idea of the complex chemistry involved in making paper.

I

t was a quasi religious moment. There in front of me, in a display case at the British Museum, lay the original copy of The Adventure of the Missing Three Quarter in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s own hand. Like any other Sherlock Holmes fan, I have read and reread the detective’s adventures numerous times, but never before had I gazed upon an original version.

Unfortunately, the hallowed moment was tainted by the appearance of the manuscript. It was a brownish yellow in colour! Of course, one would expect a hundred-year-old piece of paper to show its age—that was no surprise—but the appearance of the Missing Three Quarter’s neighbour, was. A Gutenberg Bible, produced over five hundred years earlier, looked as good as new! And it will likely be on display long after the Sherlock Holmes manuscript has crumbled away along with millions of other books stored in the British Library and other major libraries around the world. What is the difference?

The type of paper that was used.

Ah, paper. We don’t give it much thought, but our society would grind to a halt without it. Remember those promises that computers would provide a “paperless society”? Forget it. We use more paper

16 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

than ever. Rough copies spew out of our printers and we use reams of paper to feed our Internet habit. Yet, most people have no idea of the complex chemistry involved in producing the marvelous product that gives us grocery bags, facial tissues, toilet paper, books, newsprint, and a myriad of other products.

The earliest forms of paper were not that complicated. Thousands of years ago, the Egyptians scraped out fibres from the inside of the bark of the papyrus plant (our word “paper” derives from this) and pressed them into sheets. Actually, papyrus wasn’t really paper. Not by our modern definition, anyway. Paper is the substance that forms when a slurry of disintegrated cellulose fibres is allowed to settle on a flat mold. When the water is drained away, the deposited layer can be dried into paper. The oldest surviving such piece was discovered in 1957 in a Chinese tomb and dates roughly to 100 B.C. The first paper with writing on it is also of Chinese origin, and can be traced to about 110 A.D. Supposedly, this paper was made by a process developed by Ts’ai Lun, the “chief eunuch,” in the Emperor’s court. Ts’ai Lun apparently discovered that macerating hemp fibres, old rags, and scrapings from the inner bark of mulberry trees with water, and

… the death knell is sounding for millions of books and manuscripts stored in libraries around the world then spreading the resulting pulp thinly on a drying frame, resulted in a material suitable for writing.

Amazingly, news of this discovery did not spread to the Western world for about 1,000 years. Europeans recorded their history on parchment, laboriously made from animal skins. When word finally reached Europe through the Arabs who had learned about paper making from the Chinese, one would have expected the Church to jump on the new technology. Such was not the case.

Parchment was the only material fit to carry the Sacred Word, the Church maintained, and called papermaking a “pagan art.” Initially there was not much opposition to this curious view because papermaking was not an easy task for Europeans. There were no mulberry trees, which seemed to be the key to Chinese paper. Finally, they turned to hemp fibres along with cotton and linen rags as raw materials. These were boiled in water to a point of disintegration and were then pounded into a pulp before pouring into drying trays. Treatment with animal gelatin usually followed to prevent water absorption and to reduce the spreading of the ink. Each sheet had to be made by hand, but the paper was of remarkably good quality, as witnessed by the spectacular condition of manuscripts such as the Gutenberg Bible.

Gutenberg printed bibles both on parchment and on paper and thus, his work represents the transition from the old to the new.

As more people learned to read, and the Industrial Revolution began to pick up steam, rags were no longer able to meet the demand for paper manufacture. This forced the English to pass a law that all burial garments had to be made of wool, a substance that could not be used to make paper. By the mid-19th century, the shortage was so severe that Americans imported linen wrappings from Egyptian mummies to make paper. And then came a breakthrough—Friedrich Keller

in Germany devised a method of making paper from trees!

This idea that paper really does grow on trees had actually been brewing since the early 18th century. That’s when René Réaumur, a French mathematician, physicist, and nature lover had a problem publishing his research due to a simple lack of paper.

Then one day, while out on one of his nature walks, he happened to take a close look at a nest fashioned by North American wasps. Its light, thin walls looked as if they were made of paper. Several months of study led him to the realization that the insects dined on twigs that their digestive system somehow converted to paper. In 1719, he excitedly reported to the French Royal Academy that the American wasp made a fine paper by extracting the fibre of common wood. “They teach us,” he said, “that one can make paper from fibres of plants without the use of rags or linens, and seem to invite us to try whether we cannot make fine and good paper from the use of certain woods.”

Jacob Schaffer, a German clergyman, successfully mimicked the work of the wasps and produced paper samples from various woods. Friedrich Keller, another German, capitalized on the idea and devised a papermaking process based upon chipping wood and beating the chips into pulp. The pulp could be mixed with water, and the resulting slurry poured through a fine screen. Drying the residue from this “mechanical pulping” yielded sheets of paper.

Joy was short-lived as the new-fangled paper proved to be of poor quality. Chemists soon discovered why. The pulping process degraded the wood fibres into shorter fragments that weakened the paper and, unlike cotton or linen, wood pulp contained a substance called lignin that caused the paper to discolour readily. As revealed by examination under a microscope, wood is made up of vertical stacks of hollow fibres, anywhere from 1 to 3 millimetres long, held together with the glue-like lignin. Because lignin is such a strong binding agent, it was difficult to separate the fibres intact by mechanical grinding. They ended up being ripped into smaller fragments that gave a weaker pulp than one made of the longer fibres found in cotton or linen.

And there was the problem of yellowing.

Lignin reacted with oxygen and light to produce coloured molecules that were

responsible for the discoloration of the paper.

So, chemists tried to dissolve the lignin out of the pulp. They soon discovered that this could be done by “chemical pulping,” a process that involved boiling wood chips in a sulfite solution. It was superior to mechanical pulping, but the process also degraded some of the cellulose fibres. Good enough for newsprint, but not for quality paper.

Around 1880, German paper manufacturers introduced the “kraft” process. Digesting wood pulp with a mixture of sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide yielded paper that was strong (kraft is German for strong) but still yellowed because of residual lignin. It was great for many uses, including grocery bags (we still use kraft paper for these) but had to be bleached if it were to be converted into writing paper.

Bleaching was not a particular problem as chemists were already familiar with the ability of chlorine to remove colour from fabrics. It had the same effect on lignin still left in the paper. But chlorine also degraded cellulose (just think of what happens if you leave bleach on a cotton fabric too long). It also reacted with components of lignin to produce the notorious dioxins, compounds that are toxic in minute concentrations.

This forced the industry to look for alternate bleaching methods. Today, most bleaching is carried out with oxygen or chlorine dioxide, which do not produce dioxins. Another problem that plagued paper manufacturers was the smell produced by the delignification process. Anyone who has ever been near a paper mill will agree that the aromas of methyl mercaptan or dimethyl sulfide are not among one’s treasured memories. Mercifully, modern pollution control equipment has dramatically reduced the emissions.

By the late 1800s, many of the paper production problems had been solved, but certainly not all. Cellulose’s natural affinity for water was a major concern. Paper lacked resistance to moisture, which meant that any ink applied would spread too easily.

Chemists had to find a way to waterproof the paper’s surface. And they did. The water repellant properties of rosin, a substance that could be extracted from the southern pine tree, were well known. But how could it be applied to paper? Aluminum sulphate (alum) was already used at the time as a “mordant,” a substance that allowed dyes to stick to fabrics, so applying the same

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 17

chemistry to paper was logical. It worked.

This was the very first example of “sizing” paper. The word derives from the Latin assidere to “set in place.” Basically, waterproofing chemicals are set in place on the surface of the cellulosic fibres.

Paper was further improved by the addition of materials such as starch and kaolin (a type of clay) that filled some of the pores in between the fibres, and titanium dioxide, which added opacity and brightness. Beautiful printed pages began to roll off the presses.

Everything seemed hunky dory. But not for long. Aluminum sulphate is an acidic substance. And acids break the glucose-glucose links in cellulose. This of course weakens the paper and discolours it to boot. The fragments of cellulose now can be oxidized by air to molecules that contain “aldehyde” groupings and such fragments are yellow. That’s why books printed on acid paper begin to turn yellow and crumble after 30 years or so even if the lignin has been removed. That’s why the death knell is sounding for millions of books and manuscripts stored in libraries around the world.

Intense efforts have been mounted to save these works. Deacidification processes

18 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

ranging from rinsing individual sheets in alkaline solutions (calcium hydroxide for example) to exposing whole books to gaseous bases such as diethyl zinc have met with various degrees of success. But they cannot be applied to millions and millions of aging books. As with many other things in life, prevention is better than treatment. And once again, chemists have taken up the challenge.

Sizing materials that do not leave an acid residue have been developed. They have names like “alkyl ketene dimers” or “alkyl succinic anhydrides,” which do not easily roll off the tongue. But water does roll easily off paper treated with them. These compounds leave an alkaline residue rather than an acid one. That means that the expensive titanium dioxide whitener can be replaced by cheaper calcium carbonate. This cannot be used in acid papers because it reacts with acids to liberate carbon dioxide gas. Alkaline paper that uses this technology was introduced around 1990 and is replacing acid papers.

Tests show that not only is alkaline paper stronger, it is more readily recycled and can last for hundreds of years. Its manufacture is less polluting, requires less energy, and leads to less machine corrosion.

There have also been dramatic developments in mechanical pulping. It turns out that if wood chips are heated with steam, the lignin softens enough that the wood fibres can be pulled apart without much damage. The lignin is left in, but can be decolourized with hydrogen peroxide. Whereas 25 years ago, mechanical pulp had to be blended with bleached kraft pulp to make paper strong enough for newsprint—today it can often be made with 100 percent “thermomechanical” pulp. Obviously, paper is being constantly improved. So save this book and read it again in 100 years.

You’ll be amazed how some of the problems described here will have been solved.

Excerpted from Joe Schwarcz’s new book, Let Them Eat Flax.

Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is one of North America’s foremost educators. He is the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, which is dedicated to demystifying science for the public, the media, and students. He is also a professor in the chemistry department and teaches nutrition and alternative medicine in McGill’s Medical School.

Photo by Uta Kroder

And in REGULATORY NEWS …

FRA Safety Advisory on Rail Shipments of Time-Sensitive Hazardous Materials

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safety advisory for U.S. DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) addresses the safety of shipments of time-sensitive hazardous materials (dangerous goods). The concern is based on a recent incident where a tank car of time-sensitive materials, carrying an inhibitor, was allowed to languish on the same (short-line) railroad for seven months. The stabilizing agent eventually expired causing a reaction that ultimately led to an unintended product release and precautionary evacuation. The incident lasted five days. The FRA advisory calls for “Enhanced efforts by chemical producers, users, and carriers to monitor their shipments appropriately.” That is, ensure that time-sensitive products are properly tracked from origin to destination. The FRA “strongly encourages all railroads to develop procedures that conform to AAR Circular OT-55-H and reminds offerors and cosignees of time-sensitive hazmat of their obligations under DOT’s Hazardous Materials Regulations, and requests that all parties work together to reduce the risk of incidents involving time-sensitive materials.”

Read the FRA’s advisory at http://a257.g. akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/ edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/pdf/ 05-20097.pdf.

Canada’s Chemical Producers

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 19

CIC BULLETIN ICC

HOWARD ALPER ELECTED CIC HONORARY FELLOW

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he CIC board of directors has approved Howard Alper, HFCIC, as the latest CIC member to be granted the title of Honorary Fellow. Alper’s contribution to the chemical sciences profession is recognized nationally and internationally.

Alper is a professor of chemistry and vice president, research, at the University of Ottawa. Alper has been pursuing organic and inorganic chemistry, with potential applications in the pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and commodity chemical sectors of industry. He has discovered new reactions using homogeneous, phase transfer, and heterogeneous catalysis (e.g. clays, dendrimers). He has also used chiral ligands in metal catalyzed cycloaddition and carbonylation reactions, and succeeded in preparing valuable products in pharmacologically active form. He has published 474 papers, has 37 patents, and has edited several books.

Alper has received a number of prestigious fellowships including the E. W. R. Steacie (NSERC, 1980–1982), Guggenheim (1985–1986), and Killam (1986–1988) fellowships. Major Canadian Society for Chemistry awards bestowed on Alper include the Alcan Award for Inorganic Chemistry (1986), Bader Award for Organic Chemistry (1990), and the Steacie Award for Chemistry (1993). The CIC has

presented Alper with the Catalysis Award (1984), the Montréal Medal (2003), and the CIC Medal (1997)—its highest honour. He also received the Urgel Archambault Prize (ACFAS) in physical sciences and engineering. In 2000, the Governor General of Canada presented him with the first Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal in Science and Engineering, the most prestigious award in Canada for science and engineering. The following year, he was given the National Merit Award for contributions to the Life Sciences. In 2002, he received the Le Sueur Memorial Award of the Society of Chemical Industry (U.K.), and the award of Officer, National Order of Merit by the president of the Republic of France.

Alper has served on a number of NSERC committees (e.g. Committee on Research Grants), and as chair of the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE). He is actively engaged in policy creation and implementation for research and innovation in Canada and abroad.

He chairs the Steacie Prize committee (NRC) and is a member or chair of several corporate boards. He represents Canada on the NATO Science Committee. Alper was appointed as a Titular Member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (1996), and as an Officer of the Order of Canada (1999). He was named president of the Royal Society of Canada for a two-year term commencing November 2001. In 2004, he was elected to a three-year term as co-chair of the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Science (IANAS). In 2005, he was elected chair of the board of the Canadian Academies of Science.

He represents Canada to the G8 Academies.

Alper is passionate about Canada, research, and chocolate.

A FRESH LOOK AT THE CANADIAN PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY Continued from p. 2

20 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

In light of these challenges, the Canadian industry holds the keys to a prosperous future, notably: • well-educated and knowledgeable workforce; • abundance of natural resources; • FAO market outlook for continued growth in global demand (greater than two percent per annum); • exceptional reputation of research facilities (Paprican, universities); • high-quality, renewable fibre; • proximity to major markets; • excellent existing infrastructure.

The Canadian pulp and paper sector has also made tremendous progress over the past 15 years or so with respect to forest management practices, paper recycling, secondary effluent treatment, air emission reduction, odour control, and occupational health and safety.

Over the next decade more than half of the industry’s existing workforce will retire.

The greying of the Canadian workforce will no doubt translate into many lucrative and exciting jobs for the next generation of papermakers.

CSChE BULLETIN SCGCh

Toronto Blue Jays president, Paul Godfrey (second from right), stands with Grant Allen, MCIC, Lillian DeMelo, and Paul Chavez, ACIC.

REPORT ON THE 55TH CANADIAN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONFERENCE

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he 55th Canadian Chemical Engineering conference was a great success. It took place October 16–19, 2005, at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto, ON. The conference brought together a record number of people with almost 1,300 attendees, including over 400 undergraduate students. We had excellent industrial participation and a strong international flavour with delegates from 18 countries.

The conference theme, “Innovation for a Healthy Planet,” was reflected in the more than 650 papers contained in 97 sessions that included our major symposia on “Emerging Energy Issues,” “Frontiers in the Global and Urban Environment,” and “Challenges in Regenerative Medicine,” as well as a forum on “Design in Chemical Engineering.” The three opening plenary speakers invoked some excellent discussion on topics relevant to our theme with talks on innovation, regenerative medicine, and the future of nuclear power.

The sessions were well attended, and were indicative of the high calibre of chemical engineering research in Canada and abroad. Lots of networking and discussion took place including some fine dining at the banquet in the CN Tower.

The student program was very successful. It kicked off with an inspiring talk from Paul Godfrey, president of the Toronto Blue Jays

and a chemical engineering graduate. The students also had a very popular and successful program that included paper competitions, a career fair, industrial tours, and a stunning social program every evening. This year featured, for the first time, a graduate poster competition that included 40 entries from 17 universities. This poster competition, combined with the other conference posters and a reception, brought together lots of people who were engaged in scientific discussion. There were several student awards (undergraduate and graduate). Read more about it on p. 24 (see Student News).

The conference owes its success to a dedicated team of people from academia, industry, and government. The organizing committee, consisting of faculty and students from the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, local industry, and the CIC national office, was supported by symposium organizers and chairs from across Canada. Another key factor in the success of the meeting was the excellent financial support that we received from the 32 sponsors listed on p. 26.

Overall, we had a very successful conference last year in Toronto.

We are all looking forward to seeing everyone at next year’s conference in Sherbrooke, QC! Grant Allen, MCIC Co-chair, 2005 CSChE Conference

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 21

55th CSChE Conference Highlights

22 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 23

DIVISION NEWS NOUVELLES DES DIVISIONS

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

Broader Professional Issues CSChE Inaugural Graduate in Chemical/Science Education Poster Competition

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he central theme of the Chemical Education Division’s (CED) symposia at the 2005 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, May 28 to June 1, 2005, in Saskatoon, SK, was broader professional issues in chemical and science education. A report was produced that summarizes points raised during this meeting, both in formal lectures and in workshops and discussion sessions. Science educators with a wide range of expertise compared experiences on the planning, implementation, content, and barriers for inclusion of this type of pedagogy in degree programs. It is hoped this summary will be of use to institutions interested in moving science education beyond its normal disciplinary boundaries.

Unique cultural values and behavioural norms develop within any society and its subunits such as science, chemistry, education, etc. Most cultural values are assimilated via a subconscious process, and their influence on our logic and actions are often invisible to us. While the culture of the scientific and chemical enterprises has received considerable attention outside of science, this aspect had been largely ignored within science and science education. The increasing complexity of the relationship between research, university, and industry, and the intractability of some issues such as the role of women in science, public trust and support of science, conflict of interest, and scientific fraud, is causing many professional scientific associations to re-examine science’s role in these issues.

Science is a social activity and its results have little or no meaning until they are integrated into society. Our decisions on what research to pursue, the selection of students and faculty, choice of research funding, the content of our courses and programs, and our pedagogical approaches are influenced by the values in our culture. The influence of our values on our reasoning is shown in recent scientific research on the nature (physical and psychological) of human and animal thought processes. The results indicate that conscious reasoning is not a “logical” process in the conventional sense, but a complex combination of brain circuits with heavy involvement of emotional circuitry (traditionally considered non-rational). Consequently, a proper understanding of science and science education and their role in society must include some consideration of the culture of science.

For a list of topics, speakers and a summary of each session, visit chem4823.usask.ca/~cassidyr/. The site also includes links to some of the papers presented.

Richard Cassidy, FCIC University of Saskatoon 2005 CSC Conference Chemical Education Division Representative

24 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

Marisha Ben-Tchavtchavadze, MCIC, first-place winner in the Graduate Student Poster Competition.

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Laura Fuentes de Maria, MCIC (left), and Sonam Mahajan were the runners-up.

raduate students from the University of Toronto organized the inaugural Graduate Stude nt Poster Competition as part of the 2005 Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference. The competition received 41 entries from 19 universities across Canada.

Representing many fields within chemical engineering, the posters were judged by an equally diverse group of 50 volunteers. Conference delegates volunteered to judge as they came to view the posters. The winners received the highest mean scores of all entrants based on more than 150 evaluations.

Marisha Ben-Tchavtchavadze, MCIC, École Polytechnique de Montréal, won first place and $500 for her poster, “Design and Optimization of a Small-Scale Bioreactor for In Vivo Nmr Analysis of Cho Cells.” Laura Fuentes de Maria, MCIC, and Sonam Mahajan, both of the University of Toronto, won second and third place, respectively.

Fuentes de Maria won for “Adsorption of Mercury onto Sulphur Dioxide-Treated Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite.” Mahajan won for “The Production of Standard Biodiesel from Soybean Oil: A SingleStep Process Using Sodium Hydroxide.”

The competition organizers would like to thank all the delegates who volunteered as judges. Thank you also to the Analytical Chemistry, Environmental, and Process Safety Management Divisions; and to John Wiley and Sons for their financial support.

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

Results of the 55th CSChE Student Competitions

Chemical Technology— Learning about Careers

UBC SNC♦Lavalin design team presenters, left to right, Elton Lu, Karyn Ho, Karen Lau, and Shaun Lamoureux

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ndergraduate oral student competitions were held at the 55th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference in Toronto, ON, in October 2005. Here are the final results of these competitions:

SNC♦Lavalin Student Plant Design Competition First place The University of British Columbia Team: Karyn Ho, Karen Lau, Elton Lu, Shaun Lamoureux, Jesse Berton, Jimmy Sumaryo, Michael Lee, Amberly Bailey-Romanko, Satya Nookala, Neil Sutherland Project: Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Britannia Water Treatment Plant

Second place McGill University Team: Sua Ali, Joelle Jureidini, Léonie Rouleau Project: Fiberline Upgrade

Third place Dalhousie University Team: Michael Beresford, Jeffrey MacDonald, Richard Roda Project: Liquid Phase Alkylation of Benzene with Ethylene

Robert G. Auld Student Paper Competition First place Sébastien Bergeron, Université de Sherbrooke

Second place Amanda D’Cruz, University of Saskatchewan

Third place François Rivard, Université de Sherbrooke

Reg Friesen Oral Paper Competition First place David Si, The University of British Columbia

Second place Sara Cooper, University of Alberta

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hirty-five chemical technology students from Toronto and Hamilton colleges as well as chemical engineering student delegates attending the CSChE Conference attended a halfday career symposium. This event was hosted by the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology to inform students about careers in the chemical profession.

Students were provided with a variety of speakers who covered different aspects of job searching and opportunities. Grant Trump, MCIC, president and CEO of Environmental Careers Organization gave an overview of the environment industry and spoke about his organization’s environmental job board. Cathy Cardy, MCIC, Imperial Oil Limited, spoke about her experiences in getting where she is today as environmental group leader at Imperial Oil. She also provided very useful information on the types of questions that students can expect to be asked during interviews with many firms.

Dell Reekie, a graduate from Mohawk College, spoke about her career path that led her to become the market development manager at Arkema Canada Inc. Maureen Calhoun, Durham College, spoke about how one career path leads to another and how she came the full circle from student to working in industry to return to work at the college. Roland Andersson, MCIC, executive director of the CIC, gave the students some career advice based on his experiences in industry and associations. The students were then given an overview of the CIC’s Career Services from Gale Thirlwall-Wilbee, career services manager. CSCT vice-president, Joffre Berry, MCIC, hosted the event and also spoke on his work through the British Columbia Institute for Technology and in industry.

The CSCT Career Symposia have been carried out in conjunction with the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conferences.

The CSCT also carries out annual Student Symposia. These events are usually focused on one or two schools at a time. The Student Symposium is an opportunity for students to present material learned in their classes, while competing for prizes. Information on upcoming CSCT Student Symposia will be listed at www.chem-tech.ca/ students/csct_conferences__e.htm as details become available.

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 25

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

55th CSChE Conference Sponsors

Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry 2005 Summary

PATRON

he second biennial Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry (BSOC) was held from November 10–12, 2005, in Banff, AB. The intimate and interactive graduate student-organized conference was jointly organized by committees from the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, as well as Simon Frasier University. Participants in the conference from across Canada and abroad enjoyed a weekend of engaging organic chemistry discussion amidst the majestic beauty of Banff National Park’s picturesque surroundings.

There were 24 graduate student and post-doctoral fellow oral presentations throughout the weekend, providing insights into emerging research involving target-oriented synthesis, organometallic catalysis, methodology, and bio-organic chemistry. In addition, 49 poster presentations during an evening social demonstrated further highlights of noteworthy graduate-level research. BSOC 2005 provided a first opportunity for many of the presenters to display their achievements in research, and will serve as a valuable experience for future discussions on organic chemistry.

The excellent chemistry that was displayed also included engaging talks by some of academia and industry’s key performers, including Carolyn Bertozzi (University of California, Berkeley), Matthew Shair (Harvard University), John Hartwig (Yale University), Ben Feringa (University of Groningen), and Cheng Chen (Merck & Co. Inc.). The plenary lecturers provided an enthusiastic account of their scientific achievements, and it was clear that those in attendance shared this enthusiasm throughout the course of the conference. The weekend’s presentations, social events, and one-on-one discussions with some of chemistry’s brightest minds had proven to be educational and inspirational.

Funding for this instalment of the symposium was accomplished through the generous support of industry and university donations that allowed for a suitably subsidized registration fee. As such, BSOC 2005 was an affordable, accessible conference that maintained an emphasis on both quality of research and hospitality.

Organization of the next Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry has already commenced. The new committee includes an array of graduate students from across Western Canada. BSOC 2007 will be a joint effort, employing the organizational efforts of the Universities of Alberta, Calgary, and British Columbia. We look forward to seeing you in Banff in 2007.

Please visit www.bsoc.ca for further information.

Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto

ELITE Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd Bantrel Inc. Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University Dow Chemical Genentech, Inc. Komaba Techno-Research Ontario Power Generation

LEADERSHIP Apotex Pharmachem Inc. Ashland Canada Colors and Chemicals Ltd. CellNet Eco-Tec Inc. E.I. du Pont Canada Company H.L. Blachford Ltd. Imperial Oil Ltd. Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto Methanex Rohm and Haas Canada Inc. Tembec Inc. University of Ontario Institute of Technology

OTHER SPONSORS Brenntag Canada Inc. Canadian Biomaterials Society Canadian Nuclear Association Chemical Education Fund Chemical Engineering Research Consultants Ltd. ERCO Worldwide Manulife Financial Meloche Monnex Recochem Inc. SGS Lakefield Research Techint Goodfellow Technologies Inc.

26 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

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Vincent Ziffle and Rick Bauer BSOC 2005 Organizing Committee

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

NOMINATE YOUR FACULTY ADVISOR

SOUMETTEZ LA CANDIDATURE DE VOTRE CONSEILLER

Reward your advisor’s efforts by nominating him or her for the Student Chapter Faculty Advisor Award. Each Constituent Society offers an award (i.e. three awards are given annually, judging is carried out by each Society). You can find the Terms of Reference below. Nominations are due by March 31, 2006.

Récompensez les efforts de votre conseiller aux étudiants en soumettant sa candidature pour le Prix du conseiller de l’année décerné par la section étudiante. Chaque société constituante offre un prix (c’est-à-dire que trois prix sont octroyés chaque année, chacune des sociétés jugeant ses propres candidats). Vous trouverez ci-dessous les conditions de mise en candidature. Les candidatures doivent nous parvenir le 31 mars 2006 au plus tard.

Student Chapter Faculty Advisor Award Guidelines 1. The awards shall be presented on an annual basis to one faculty advisor from each Society who has demonstrated exceptional performance working with students to plan and implement Student Chapter activities.

2. The criteria for the awards shall include the following: • evidence of outstanding leadership by the faculty advisor in creating enthusiasm among Student Chapter members; • evidence of creating sustained interest in professional societies; • evidence of continuing involvement in Student Chapter affairs.

3. The awards will be presented at the annual CSC or CSChE conference or at a CSCT symposium.

4. The awards shall be commemorative plaques.

5. The award winners shall be selected from the teaching faculty at any Canadian university or college that has a Student Chapter in chemistry, chemical engineering, or chemical technology, which is registered in good standing with its Society.

6. Nominations for these awards shall be made by the Student Chapter at the university or college at which the faculty advisor teaches.

7. The nominations shall be made in writing and shall be signed by the president and one other member of the Student Chapter and by the head or chair of the department. The nomination forms shall be sent to the student affairs manager at the CIC. 8. Nominations shall be accompanied by supporting documentation, including: • a biographical sketch, curriculum vitae and other pertinent information about the nominee; • a summary of Student Chapter activities over the past three years, especially those attributable in whole or in part to the efforts of the faculty advisor; • a list of Student Chapter involvement in public or off-campus activities.

9. Previous winners of the awards shall not be eligible to receive the awards.

10. Faculty advisors currently serving as directors or officers of the CIC or any of its Constituent Societies shall not be eligible until they have completed their terms.

11. The nominations shall be submitted by March 31 of the year the award is presented. Each nomination shall remain in force for three years and will be considered annually by the Selection Committee.

12. There shall be a Selection Committee consisting of the student affairs Society director, who will chair the committee, plus two additional board members from the Society.

Directives concernant le Prix du conseiller de l’année décerné par la section étudiante 1. Les prix sont présentés annuellement par chaque société à un conseiller d’étudiants membre qui a fait preuve d’un rendement exceptionnel auprès des étudiants dans la planification et la mise en oeuvre d’activités conçues pour la section étudiante.

2. Les critères de remise des prix sont les suivants : • le leadership du conseiller a suscité l’enthousiasme chez les membres de la section étudiante; • le conseiller a généré un intérêt soutenu à l’égard des sociétés professionnelles; • la participation continue du conseiller dans les affaires de la section étudiante.

3. Les prix sont présentés au congrès annuel de la SCC, la SCGCh ou au symposium de la SCTC. 4. Les prix prennent la forme de plaques commémoratives.

5. Les gagnants des prix sont sélectionnés parmi les membres du corps enseignant des universités, collèges ou cégeps canadiens ayant une section étudiante en chimie, génie chimique ou technologie chimique dûment inscrite auprès de sa société respective.

6. Les candidats à ces prix doivent être choisis par la section étudiante de l’université, du collège ou du cégep où le conseiller travaille.

7. Les mises en candidatures doivent être présentées par écrit, en utilisant le formulaire approprié, signé par le président et un autre membre de la section étudiante, ainsi que par le chef ou le directeur du département. Les formulaires de mise en candidature doivent être envoyés à la directrice des affaires étudiantes à l’ICC. 8. Les formulaires de mise en candidature doivent être accompagnés des documents complémentaires suivants : • une brève biographie, un curriculum vitae et d’autres renseignements pertinents concernant le candidat; • un résumé des activités des trois dernières années de la section étudiante, particulièrement de celles qui sont attribuables en tout ou en partie aux efforts du conseiller aux étudiants; • une liste des activités publiques ou hors-campus auxquelles la section étudiante a participé.

9. Les personnes qui ont déjà remporté les prix ne sont pas admissibles à d’autres mises en candidatures.

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 27

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

10. Les conseillers aux étudiants assumant des fonctions d’administrateur ou d’autres fonctions officielles au sein de l’ICC ou de ses sociétés constituantes ne seront admissibles qu’à la fin de leur mandat.

11. Les candidatures doivent être soumises avant le 31 mars de l’année précédant la remise du prix. Chaque candidature reste en vigueur pendant trois ans et est réexaminée chaque année par le comité de sélection.

12. Le comité de sélection est présidé par l’administrateur de la société chargé des affaires étudiantes et comprend deux autres membres du conseil d’administration de la société.

La forme masculine utilisée désigne autant les femmes que les hommes.

EVENTS ÉVÉNEMENTS

Canada Conferences February 22–23, 2006. Canadian Nuclear Industry Seminar, “Nuclear’s Path Forward—Building for Tomorrow,” Ottawa, ON, visit http://cna.ca/pdf/ CNA-06_BroElctrEN_(eBk)_Dec6.pdf for registration discounts May 9–12, 2006. Climate Change Conference, Ottawa, ON, www.ccc2006.ca May 15–17, 2006. EnviroAnalysis 2006—Sixth Biennial Conference on Monitoring and Measurement of the Environment, Toronto, ON, www.enviroanalysis.ca May 25–27, 2006. College Chemistry Canada (C3), Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, www.c3.douglas.bc.ca May 27–31, 2006. 89th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition , Halifax, NS, www.csc2006.ca July 23–28, 2006. 23rd International Carbohydrate Symposium, Whistler, BC, www.ics2006.org, ics2006@nrc.gc.ca October 15–18, 2006. 56th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Sherbrooke, QC, www.csche2006.ca May 26–30, 2007. 90th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition,Winnipeg, MB, www.chimiste.ca/conferences/cic_calendar__e.htm October 28–31, 2007. 57th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Edmonton, AB, www.chemeng.ca/conferences/csche_annual__e.htm October 19–22, 2008. 58th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Ottawa, ON, www.chemeng.ca/conferences/csche_annual__e.htm August 23–29, 2009. 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering and 59th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference , Montréal, QC, www.chemengcongress2009.com

EMPLOYMENT WANTED DEMANDE D’EMPLOI

U.S. and Overseas March 26-30, 2006. 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, www.acs.org.

Junior Chemist with one year co-op experience looking for work in the Ottawa region; graduated in fall 2005; mature, highly ambitious, organized, and fast learning; interested in all fields of chemistry, but would like to specialize in analytical chemistry, material characterization using analytical and spetroscopic instrumentation, and material science; résumé available on request at 613-440-0013 or dsabic@gmail.com.

April 23-27, 2006. AIChE Spring National Meeting, Orlando, FL, www.aiche.org.

June 26–29, 2006. Balticum Organicum Syntheticum 2006 (BOS06), Tallinn, Estonia, www.bos06.ttu.ee, contact Krista Voigt, chemistry department, Queen’s University, baderadm@chem.queensu.ca June 26–29, 2006. 10th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference, “Designing for a Sustainable Future,” Washington, DC, greenchem2006@acs. org, www.greenchem2006.org August 27–30, 2006. 11th APCChE Congress, Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, www.apcche2006.org

28 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

CAREERS CARRIÈRES

FEBRUARY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 29

Sim & McBurney Patent & Trade-mark Agents Sim, Lowman, Ashton & McKay, LLP Barristers & Solicitors

The Advanced Sciences Group Michael I. Stewart Patricia A. Rae, Ph.D. Kimberly A. McManus, Ph.D.

John H. Woodley Lola A. Bartoszewicz, Ph.D. Kenneth K. Ma, Ph.D.

We protect all innovations in biotechnology, proteomics, pharmaceuticals and chemistry on a global basis.

Please contact us at Sim & McBurney and Sim, Lowman, Ashton & McKay LLP 330 University Avenue, Sixth Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1R7 Telephone: 416-595-1155 Fax: 416-595-1163 E-Mail: mailsim@sim-mcburney.com or mailsim@sim-lowman.com

National Engineering Week February 25 to March 5, 2006 Engineering—Visions of Things to Come National Engineering Week (NEW) is a national celebration of engineering excellence.

The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering (CJChE) publishes original research, new theoretical interpretations and critical reviews in the science or industrial practice of chemical and biochemical engineering or applied chemistry. The CJChE has an eighty-year successful history of producing high-quality, cutting-edge research.

The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering can now accept your manuscript submissions on-line.

La Semaine nationale du génie du 25 février au 5 mars 2006 Le génie – vision du futur La Semaine nationale du génie (SNG) est une célébration nationale de l’excellence en génie.

w w w. n e w - s n g . c o m

Published on a non-profit basis by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the CJChE welcomes submissions of original research articles in the broad field of chemical engineering and its applications.

The CJChE publishes six issues per year. Each volume contains fully reviewed articles, notes, or reviews.

From the new on-line submissions site: (a) authors can submit their manuscript electronically (MS Word file, TeX file, or PDF file) and track its status as it goes through the review process; and (b) reviewers should be able to check out the manuscripts for review and then submit their reviews electronically.

www.cjche.ca/submissioninstr uctions.htm

Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering 30 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE FÉVRIER 2006

The Chemical Institute of Canada

2007AWARDS

The Chemical Institute of Canada Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the science of chemistry or chemical engineering in Canada.

Sponsored by the Chemical Institute of Canada.

Award: A medal and travel expenses.

The MontrĂŠal Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and honour to a resident in Canada who has shown significant leadership in or has made an outstanding contribution to the profession of chemistry or chemical engineering in Canada. In determining the eligibility for nominations for the award, administrative contributions within The Chemical Institute of Canada and other professional organizations that contribute to the advancement of the professions of chemistry and chemical engineering shall be given due consideration. Contributions to the sciences of chemistry and chemical engineering are not to be considered.

Sponsored by the MontrĂŠal CIC Local Section.

Award: A medal and travel expenses up to $300.

The Environmental Improvement Award is presented to a Canadian company, individual, team, or organization for a significant achievement in pollution prevention, treatment, or remediation. Sponsored by the Environment Division.

Award: A plaque and travel assistance up to $500.

The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award is presented to an individual who, while resident in Canada, has made a distinguished contribution to macromolecular science or engineering. Sponsored by NOVA Chemicals Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,500, and travel expenses.

The CIC Award for Chemical Education (formerly the Union Carbide Award) is presented as a mark of recognition to a person who has made an outstanding contribution in Canada to education at the post-secondary level in the field

of chemistry or chemical engineering.

Sponsored by the CIC Chemical Education Fund.

Award: A framed scroll, $1,000 cash prize, and up to $400 travel expenses.

Deadlines The deadline for all CIC awards is July 3, 2006 for the 2007 selection.

Nomination Procedure Please submit your nominations to: Awards Manager The Chemical Institute of Canada 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 Tel.: 613-232-6252, ext. 223 Fax: 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca Nomination forms and the full Terms of Reference for these awards are available at www.cheminst.ca/awards/ cic_index_e.html.

Important ...

Submission deadline is July 3, 2006

The Canadian Society for Chemistry

2007AWARDS

The Alcan Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguishing contribution in the fields of inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Alcan International Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses up to $1,000.

The Alfred Bader Award is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition for excellence in research in organic chemistry carried out in Canada. Sponsored by Alfred Bader, HFCIC. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $3,000, and travel expenses up to $500.

The Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has made an outstanding contribution to inorganic chemistry while working in Canada, and who is within ten years of his or her first professional appointment as an independent researcher in an academic, government, or industrial sector. Sponsored by the Inorganic Chemistry Division.

Award: A framed scroll, travel expenses for a lecture tour.

The Boehringer Ingelheim Award is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant whose PhD thesis in the field of organic or bioorganic chemistry was formally accepted by a Canadian university in the 12-month period preceding the nomination deadline of July 3 and whose doctoral research is judged to be of outstanding quality. Sponsored

by Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses.

The Clara Benson Award is presented in recognition of a distinguished contribution to chemistry by a woman while working in Canada. Sponsored by the Canadian Council

of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC).

Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of

$1,000, and travel expenses up to $500.

The Maxxam Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of analytical chemistry while working in Canada.

Sponsored by Maxxam Analytics Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses up to $1,000.

The R.U. Lemieux Award is presented to an organic chemist who has made a distinguished contribution to any area of organic chemistry while working in Canada.

Sponsored by the Organic Chemistry Division.

Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses up to $1,000.

The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada, who shall not have reached the age of 40 years by April 1 of the year of nomination and who has made a distinguished contribution in the fields of organic chemistry or biochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses.

The Bernard Belleau Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of medicinal chemistry through research involving biochemical or organic chemical mechanisms. Sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. Award: A framed scroll and a cash prize of $2,000.

The Fred Beamish Award is presented to an individual who demonstrates innovation in research in the field of analytical chemistry, where the research is anticipated to have significant potential for practical applications.

The award is open to new faculty members at a Canadian university and they must be recent graduates with four years of appointment.

Sponsored by Eli Lilly Canada Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses.

The Keith Laidler Award (formerly the Noranda Award) is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of physical chemistry while working in Canada.

The award recognizes early achievement in the awardee’s independent research career.

Sponsored by Systems for Research.

Award: A framed scroll and a cash prize of $1,500.

The W. A. E. McBryde Medal is presented to a young scientist working in Canada who has made a significant achievement in pure or applied analytical chemistry. Sponsored by Sciex Inc., Division of MDS Health Group.

Award: A medal and a cash prize of $2,000.

Deadline

The deadline for all CSC awards is July 3, 2006 for the 2007 selection.

Nomination Procedure

Please submit your nominations to: Awards Manager The Canadian Society for Chemistry 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 Tel.: 613-232-6252, ext. 223 Fax: 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca Nomination forms and the full Terms of Reference for these awards are available at-www.chemistry.ca/awards/ csc_index_e.html.

Important ...

Submission deadline is July 3, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT – For information/comments please see www.chem.ucalgary.ca/csc2000/milestones.htm

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