Jan 2010: ACCN, the Canadian Chemical News by Chemical Institute of Canada

l’actualité chimique canadienne canadian chemical news ACCN

January|Janvier • 2010 • Vol. 62, No./n o 1

Risky Business

Canada,s faltering hazard control

Formulating weight loss Engineering sage, Stuart Churchill, on education

AChemical Publication of the Chemical Institute of Canada and Constituent Societies / Une publication de l’institut de chimie du canada et ses sociétés constituantes Institute of Canada

Contents

January|Janvier • 2010 • Vol. 62, No./n o 1

Features

Matter of Time 12 ACanada lags behind in curbing major accidents

Pour obtenir la version française de cet article, écrivez-nous à magazine@accn.ca

30 11 Departments 5

From the editor De la rédactrice en chef

Guest Column Chroniqueur invité

16 Weight Loss Formula 18 The Are chemicals a solution to obesity or part of the problem?

Pour obtenir la version française de cet article, écrivez-nous à magazine@accn.ca

Remarks by Preston Manning on Canadianscience policy

Chemical News Actualité chimique

Society News Nouvelles des sociétés

Chemfusion

By Joe Schwarcz

Edge-ucation 20 Cutting Celebrated chemical engineer, Stuart Churchill,

critiques the educationof tomorrow’s graduates On the cover: Fire at Sunrise Propane, Toronto, 2008 • Photo by John Riddell

From the editor De la rédactrice en chef

ACCN Executive Director/Directeur général Roland Andersson, MCIC Editor/Rédactrice en chef Jodi Di Menna, MCIC Graphic Designer/Infographiste Krista Leroux Communications manager/ Directrice des communications Lucie Frigon Marketing Manager/ Directrice du marketing Bernadette Dacey Staff Writer/rédactrice Anne Campbell, MCIC

hen Stuart Churchill spoke at an engineering conference in Montréal last summer, his audience was clearly captivated. People arrived at the session specifically to see him, murmuring now and again in appreciation as he made his case for keeping pace with the real world in engineering classrooms. It’s a subject he takes up in his essay on page 20 of this issue. Sitting in the crowd, one got the sense that it was as much reverence for Dr. Churchill’s extraordinary life’s work as it was the subject of his presentation that provoked his listeners to line up afterward for a chance to shake his hand. At 90, and now professor emeritus, Churchill has achieved the esteem that comes with promise realized and aspirations achieved. His was the kind of career that was cut short for chemist Keith Fagnou who succumbed to H1N1 last fall before he had even turned 40. In this issue, writer Frank Edwards memorializes how Fagnou’s abbreviated work on green chemistry had set him on a path to global recognition. Also in this issue, twenty-five years after the Bhopal disaster, the Process Safety Management Division of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering looks at how Canada measures up when it comes to controlling accident hazards. And finally, we spoke to one of Canada’s experts on weight management to find out how chemicals might factor into the obesity epidemic. I hope you enjoy the read! ACCN

Awards and Local Sections Manager/ Directrice des prix et des sections locales Gale Thirlwall Editorial Board/Conseil de rédaction Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, chair/président Cathleen Crudden, MCIC Milena Sejnoha, MCIC Bernard West, MCIC Editorial Office/ Bureau de la rédaction 130, rue Slater Street, Suite/bureau 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 T. 613-232-6252 • F./Téléc. 613-232-5862 magazine@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$60; outside/à l’extérieur du Canada US$60. Single copy/Un exemplaire CAN$10 or US$10. ACCN (L’Actualité chimique canadienne/Canadian Chemical News) 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 (CIC), the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE), and the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology (CSCT). Views expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the Institute or of the societies that recommend the magazine.

Write to the editor at magazine@accn.ca

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 qui soutiennent le magazine. Change of Address/ Changement d’adresse circulation@cheminst.ca Printed in Canada by Gilmore Printing Services Inc. and postage paid in Ottawa, ON./ Imprimé au Canada par Gilmore Printing Services Inc. et port payé à Ottawa, ON. Publications Mail Agreement Number/ No de convention de la Poste-publications : 40021620. (USPS# 0007-718) Indexed in the Canadian Business Index and available on-line in the Canadian Business and Current Affairs database. / Répertorié dans la Canadian Business Index et accessible en ligne dans la banque de données Canadian Business and Current Affairs. ISSN 0823-5228

www.accn.ca

6 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Guest Column Chroniqueur invité

Eggheads and Babykissers At the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Toronto last October, former science and technologycritic, Preston Manning, identifiedthree science policy challenges in Canada. Here is part of the transcript of that talk.

“

et me start off with the first [challenge], increasing the number and quality of sciencereceptive people at the political level. If you want a stronger and better informed response to science policy proposals … and this sounds utterly simplistic, you need people among the elected members of the senior staff with a science interest and orientation. If there’s no receptor at the political level for science policy proposals, there’s no place to plug them in. The sad fact in Canada is that we simply don’t have them. This not withstanding the fact that an increasing number of public policy issues — environmental issues, health issues, the importance of competitiveness and productivity in the knowledgeeconomy — have a science bent. One of the first things that has to be done is to recruit more science-oriented people to run for public office. Frankly, I’d rather try and add political knowledge and skills to the science-oriented person than I would science to an old-school politician. Second step, establish a parliamentary office of science and technology, like the British parliament has had for a number of years. It creates a place where there is constant work being done to try to orient politicians towards science at least on a general level. The second challenge is raising the strategic and financial commitment to research and development on the part of Canada’s private sector. The challenge of addressing this problem is compounded by the fact that over the last four decades, Canadian business on average has been slightly more profitable than American business despite the low levels of R and D and despite the relatively low levels of productivity. What that tells you is that the incentives and conditions facing Canadian businesses are simply not conducive to increasing R and D and you won’t change their behaviour simply by preaching to them. What has to happen to change the incentives and conditions under which the business environment operates is something that requires public policy changes as well. The third challenge, and this is one of my favourite subjects, is bridging the communications gap between the scientific and the political community. I don’t believe the scientific community has begun to appreciate the extent to which communications utterly dominates the political arena and the public policy arena and dominates the political mind. If a contemporary elected official cannot see within 90 seconds how to communicate to the public through the media the position you are trying to get them to take, that position is in trouble from the beginning no matter what scientific, administrative, constitutional merits there may be. So what to do about this gap? Appreciate the difference between receiver-oriented and sourceoriented communications. Scientists tend to be source-oriented communicators — you want to explain things to people the way they occur to you. But a democratic politician is receiver-oriented. I do not start an address by saying “What do I want to say to these people?” I start by asking, “Who are these people? What are they prepared to listen to?” Secondly, secure the services of people who understand the political mindset and can assist you in putting your science policy messages in a politically communicable form. There is a science of how a signal, an idea, a fact, a word, a notion gets from one ear to the other so that it produces the response that is desired. I propose … the application of the science of communication to the communication of science.” ACCN Preston Manning Canadian Science Policy Conference Toronto, October 2009

Want to share your thoughts on this article? Write to us at magazine@accn.ca january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 7

Chemical News Actualité chimique

Atomic Freeze Frame A new state-of-the-art laboratory in Ottawa will be home to Canada’s fastest X-ray laser flash. The technology will allow scientists to take pictures of molecules during chemical reactions and study the motion of electrons. The X-ray flash is so fast that it can freeze the motion of an electron orbiting an atom. This is the first step to unpacking the molecules that make up all the matter of our universe. Research at the Joint Laboratory for Attosecond Science (JASLab) may lead to scientific breakthroughs in health care, diagnostic medicine, quantum computing, nanotechnology, environmental science and energy. University of Ottawa

Big Break A Queen’s-based water testing lab is celebrating a major growth spurt after being acquired by the leading player in global water systems and receiving $2.4 million in federal funding towards the development of its next generation of water monitoring systems.

Pathogen Detection Systems Inc (PDS), and its new multinational parent company Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) are also joining Queen’s GreenCentre Canada as an industrial partner. “This is an extraordinary example of technology transfer from university to industry,” says John Molloy, President and CEO of Queen’s technology transfer office. Spurred by the Walkerton, Ontario tainted water tragedy, PDS was founded in 2003 to improve water quality through enhanced water monitoring and testing systems. It’s based on a novel fibre optic sensory technology developed by a Queen’s chemistry professor.

Lights out

Queen’s University

Experimenting with light, molecules and worms, Simon Fraser University scientists have inched research closer to possibly improving how biological processes can be controlled. Led by chemist Neil Branda, researchers fused biochemistry and photochemistry to paralyze and unparalyze tiny worms known as C. elegans.

Branda and doctoral student Usama Al-Altar created a photo-responsive dye that they fed to worms. Under a fluorescence microscope, they could see that the colourless transparent worms had taken up the dye. When the dye-fed worms were struck by ultraviolet light they turned blue and were paralysed. When the scientists zapped the motionless worms with visible light most of them awoke, regained movement and became colourless again. “The worms turn blue because light triggers the photo-reaction of the dye, which looks blue,” explains Branda. “The worms are paralysed by this form of the dye, we think, because it interferes with some electron transport system that controls movement.” The scientists say that the worms regain motion when they use visible light because their dye’s photo-responsive behaviour is reversible. “This is a new molecular tool for studying cells and possibly, much further down the research road, a way of turning off and on biological processes without using invasive drugs and surgery,” explains Branda. Simon Fraser University

Leaving a legacy

From one generation to the next Do you want to ensure that the next generation will contribute chemistry solutions to tomorrow’s global challenges? Do you want to be part of their discovery of the wonders of chemistry? Through the CSC Legacy Fund, you can now leave a gift, either outright or deferred (in a will), to support projectsand initiatives that help the Canadian Society for Chemistry pursue its mandate of education-related projects. Find out how you can make a gift by visiting www.chemistry.ca/legacy.

The CSC Legacy Fund is a charitable fund initiated by the CSC and created in collaboration with the CIC Chemical Education Fund (CEF). It is held and administered by the CEF.

8 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Chemical News Actualité chimique

Non-toxic Grin Amid the ongoing controversy over the safety of mercurycontaining dental fillings, a University of Saskatchewan research team has shed new light on how the chemical forms of mercury at the surface of fillings change over time. Their work, just published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, shows that the surface forms of mercury in older “silver” fillings (also known as amalgams) may be less toxic than previously thought. “The dental amalgam on the surface of an old tooth filling may have lost as much as 95 per cent of its mercury but what’s left is in a form that is unlikely to be toxic in the body,” said Graham George, who led the study. But the team cautions that due to the significant mercury loss over time, human exposure to mercury lost from fillings is “still of concern,” and that further research is needed to determine when, how and in what form mercury is lost from fillings. Mercury-based fillings have been used by dentists to repair teeth for well over a century. But in recent decades, their use has become controversial due to concerns about exposure to potentially toxic mercury. “Mercury can potentially exist in several different chemical forms, each with a different toxicity,” said George. “Prior to our work, little was known about how the chemical forms of mercury in dental amalgam might change over time.” The team used a special X-ray technique at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource to probe the amount and chemical nature of mercury at the surface of both freshly prepared metal fillings and aged fillings (about 20 years old) obtained from the U of S Dental Clinic’s tooth bank. While the fresh fillings contained metallic mercury, which can be toxic, aged fillings contained a form of mercury called beta-mercuric sulfide or metacinnabar which is unlikely to be toxic in the body. For this reason, grinding or polishing during dental cleaning is unlikely to cause any toxic effects. But of potentially greater concern is the nature of the surface mercury lost from fillings. This may be due to evaporation (with subsequent inhalation and leaching of mercury into saliva), exposure to some kinds of dental hygiene products such as those containing peroxides, exposure to certain sulphur-containing foods (such as onion, garlic or coffee), or other factors. “Possibly this missing mercury is in the less toxic form of mercury (metacinnabar) abraded from the surface of the filling. Or alternatively, it may be mercury lost prior to formation of the metacinnabar through various types of exposures,” said George. In North America, the traditional view is that the advantages of mercury-containing amalgam outweigh any possible health risks, and for this reason, mercury-containing dental amalgams are still widely used. However, several countries including Sweden and Norway have banned the use of mercury in fillings. ACCN

Industrial Briefs Bio-Extraction Inc. completed the process to qualify its specialty canola protein products, Isolexx TM and Vitalexx TM as self-affirmed “Generally Regarded as Safe” for use in foods and beverages last November. GRAS is a food safety standard set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and will provide a basis for the Torontobased company to sell their products in America when they start production in early 2010. The company’s focus is on extracting oil and proteins from oilseeds. Isolexx is a canola protein isolate for use in bakery products like cookies, breads and pasta as well as vegetarian food products, meat analogues and protein bars. Vitalexx is a hydrolyzed canola protein extract for use in beverages like fortified soft drinks and protein drinks as well as nutritional products. The U.S. protein food ingredients market is valued at around $4.3 billion annually. The company has begun the certification process to be allowed to sell the products in Canadian and European markets. CO2 Solution Inc. achieved a greater than 50 fold increase in the CO2 reaction rate with carbonate and amine absorbent solutions by applying its patented genetically engineered and thermally optimised ‘5X’ carbonic anhydrase enzyme to CO2 capture. The results, achieved last November by the Quebec City-based company, illustrate the potential of the enzyme to substantially lower the capital and operating costs for carbon capture from coal-fired power plants and other large industrial emitters. Dow Canada was awarded a “Sustainability Star” from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games for its role in constructing energy-efficient venues for the games. Dow supplied insulation materials for the buildings including the ice rinks, the Olympic oval and the Whistler sliding centre. American company Advanced Clean Technologies was able to successfully extract and separate over 99 per cent of oil residue from Alberta and Utah oil sands samples in tests using non-hazardous chemical reagents in an ambient temperature environment, they announced last fall. The extraction rate, which the company claims is significantly higher than traditional methods and much more energy efficient and safer for the environment, could amount to billions of dollars in savings for the oil industry and has been predicted by some to be a “game changer” for the tar sands. Ford Motor Company will use a wheat-straw reinforced plastic, formulated by the Ontario BioCar Initiative, in the storage bins of the 2010 Ford Flex, making it the first automaker to use the material in its vehicles. A multi-university effort between the universities of Waterloo, Guelph, Toronto and Windsor, the BioCar Initiative approached the company with the formulation which is odourless and meets industry standards for thermal expansion and degradation, rigidity, moisture absorption and fogging, demonstrates better dimensional integrity than a non-reinforced plastic and weighs up to 10 per cent less than a plastic reinforced with talc or glass. It’s use in automotives also cuts petroleum consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by tens of thousands of tonnes each year. The Xerox Research Centre of Canada helped develop a chemical armour to protect photoreceptors in order to extend the lifespan of printer components, it was announced last November. When the light-sensitive elements in xerographic machines — which are multi-layer thin film devices that convert light into electrostatic images — are wearing the overcoat, they can withstand more than one million revolutions, almost doubling their usable life. ACCN

University of Saskatchewan

january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 9

 Turning up the Heat

Canada 2010 SCI Canada Annual Awards  Ceremony and Dinner Thursday, March 25, 2010 Hyatt Regency Toronto The Canadian section of the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) will confer four awards in recognition of major achievementin service, industry, and leadership at the 2010 SCI Canada Annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner. “These awards acknowledge outstanding contributions to development and implementation of strategies that have resulted in the strengtheningof Canadian industry, academic, or research institutions in the field of chemistry.” Graham Knowles,SCI Awards Chair and GKCI President The event will be held on Thursday, March 25, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, 370 King Street West, Toronto, ON. To register, please visit www.cheminst.ca/sci_awards. For more information, please contact scidinner@cheminst.ca or call Michelle Moulton at 613-232-6252, ext. 229.

University of Calgary chemists Jeff Hurd and George Shimizu have taken the science behind a specific type of fuel cell towards a higher level of design. They have discovered a new material that allows a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, known as a PEM fuel cell, to work at a higher temperature. This discovery is extremely important in terms of increasing the efficiency and decreasing the cost of PEM fuel cells. “This research will alter the way researchers have to this point perceived candidate materials for fuel cell applications,” says Shimizu a professor in the Department of Chemistry. A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device which converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and electrical energy. Water usually carries the ions (protons) in a hydrogen fuel cell but this research uses higher boiling molecules trapped in a molecular scaffolding. Currently, PEM fuel cells can produce energy from hydrogen below 90 °C, just under the boiling point of water. With Shimizu’s material, energy can be produced at a higher temperature, up to 150 °C. This could ultimately make the fuel cell cheaper to produce because at a higher temperature less expensive metals can be used to convert hydrogen into energy. Currently, platinum is used which is extremely expensive. Also, reactions at a higher temperature would be faster thus increasing efficiency. “Ours is an entirely new approach that strikes a balance between having a regular molecular structure and mobile components all while showing genuine promise of application,” says co-author Hurd, a PhD candidate studying chemistry at the U of C. Kevin Colbow, director of research and development at Ballard Power Systems, a company that designs and manufactures clean energy hydrogen fuel cells, calls the work significant. “We believe that further improvement on conductivity and robustness of these materials could provide next generation membranes for PEM fuel cells.” ACCN University of Calgary

10 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Chemical News Actualité chimique

International Wire 

By feeding capric acid to female sturgeon, German scientists believe they have hit on a cheap way to chemically tag legally-produced caviar and undermine the black market for the delicacy. New international regulations intended to protect the species from extinction make it illegal to harvest wild caviar, though without a means to distinguish it from the farmed fare, it is a difficult rule to enforce. Since the tracer fatty acid accumulates in the sturgeon eggs after 10 days (but is low enough in concentration to preserve the delicate flavour), adding it to aquaculture feed could be the best way for officials to distinguish cutivated caviar from wild. By developing a new way to control chemical microenvironments with light, researchers at Yale have been able to study how immune cells track the chemical trails left by bacteria as they move through our body. The team used sponge-like microparticles that slowly release a characteristic bacterial “scent” to mimic an infectious agent. Using focused beams of light — known as holographic optical tweezers — to move the mini sponges and control the pattern of released chemicals over space and time, they could study how immune cells respond. It was the first time optical tweezers have been used to manipulate chemical gradients.

Network with fellow science and engineering professionals. Exchange cutting-edge information. Participate in the enhancement of your profession. Engage the next generation.

The deciphering of the genetic code got its just deserts on November 12 when the American Chemical Society officially declared it a National Historic Chemical Landmark. A presentation was made at the National Institutes of Health to recognize the work of Marshall Nirenberg, who along with colleagues, cracked the genetic code of living organisms and deciphered the codons for all twenty amino acids in the 1960s. Other landmarks named through the program have been the invention of Bakelite, the discovery of penicillin and the development of Tide laundry detergent. Ponds may be the culprit for the lethal quantity of arsenic that has contaminated hundreds of thousands of wells and poisoned 2 million Bangladeshis since the late 1970s. Villagers occupying the flood-prone delta of the Ganges have been digging pits for soil to raise their homes above the water for about 50 years leaving a tenth of the delta covered in water-filled pits. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology plotted the chemistry and flow patterns of subterranean water in villages near Dhaka. Organic carbon from sewage and silt that has washed down from the Himalayas settles at the bottom of these ponds where it seeps underground and is eaten by microbes which release arsenic. The researchers found that this microbial oxidation occurs only beneath stagnant ponds, while oxygen-rich rice paddies tend to trap arsenic in surface soils.

JOIN TODAY!

www.cheminst.ca/ membership

China was the world leader in the publication of chemical patents in 2009, according the U.S.’s Chemical Abstracts Service. Though China trailed countries like the U.S. and Japan for many years, Chinese invention applications increased by nearly 1,400 per cent in the last decade, with much of the growth occurring in the pharmaceutical sector. ACCN

january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 11

Industry: Hazards

A Matter of Time Canada lags behind when it comes to protecting its citizens from major accidents. What will it take for regulations to change? Text by Steven O’Neill, Kristen DeJong, Raymond Ang, Nathan Green, Alex Holland. Introduction by Jodi Di Menna It was the worst industrial accident in history and Canada promised to take heed. But 25 years have passed since thousandsdied in the Bhopal, India disaster and little has changed in this country. In 1985, one year after the Bhopal tragedy, the Canadian government released the “Bhopal Aftermath Review,” an extensive documentthat was meant to draw lessons from the tragedy. It laid out 21 recommendations to be implemented to avoid a Bhopal-type accident occurring in Canada. Yet, according to a report from Queen’s University, which was sponsored by the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (CCPA) and supported by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, much has 12 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Sunrise Propane, Toronto, Ontario, August 10, 2008 On August 10, 2008 Sunrise Propane, located in a suburb of Toronto, experienced an enormous blast. In their fall 2008 issue HazMat Management magazine reported that the strength of the explosion “launched … tanks twice the size of rail cars off their mounts; one was projected offsite into a nearby City of Toronto works yard. The end of one of the tanks ended up embedded in a road-salt dome some 500 metres away. The incident caused the closure of Highway 401… and the evacuation of 12,500 people” from their homes. Two people died due to the accident, however it is shocking that more were not affected due to the size of the blast and the fact that it occurred in a metropolitan area. An investigation into the explosion by several offices found propane was being transferred directly betweentanker trucks, a practice prohibited in Ontario. Further, as reportedby the Technical Standardsand Safety Authority (TSSA), a not-for-profit organizationbased in Toronto, it was determined that this unsafe practice was routine at the facility. The legal issues surrounding this incident are as yet unresolved, and even the exact cause of the explosion is not certain, althoughmany articles mention a boiling liquid–expanding vapour (BLEVE) situation, or problems with the truck-to-truck transfer. The TSSA revoked Sunrise Propane’s licenses to operate shortly after the incident because Sunrise had been warned about their unsafe practices previously and failed to comply with ‘cease and desist’ notifications. As this is a very recent incident, the investigative work is incomplete. Firefighters in Toronto devise a plan to tackle the flames after multiple explosions at the Sunrise Propane plant in 2008.

Photo by John Riddell

remained the same. “Reading through the [Bhopal review] one notices the similarities between the weaknesses recognized 20 years ago and the weaknesses still existing today,” the authors — a team of engineering, law and commerce students from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. — write. “It seems [the Bhopal review] accurately identified areas for improvement within Canadian process safety, but they were not remedied.” According to the Queen's report, the Canadian situation continues to be one in which there is effectively no regulation of major industrial hazards on a more than voluntary basis. Their conclusion: “Canada has fallen short in its attempts to reduce the risk of major accident hazards,” particularly in comparison with accident control measures in the United States, the European Union, Australia and South Korea. Excerpted here, part of the report details seven examples of industrial accidents in recent decades, a stark reminder of the potential consequences if Canada remains complacent in the control of major accident hazards. january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 13

Industry: Hazards

Union Carbide, Bhopal, India, December 3, 1984

Phillips Petroleum, Pasadena, Texas, October 23, 1989

On December 3, shortly after midnight, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas was released from a tank at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. Approximately 3,800 people died and several thousand others experienced permanent and partial disability.

On October 23, 1989, 23 people lost their lives and more than 100 people were injured in Pasadena, Texas. The cause of this tragedy was an explosion and ensuing fire at the Phillips Petroleum Houston Chemical Complex. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in addition to the tragic loss of life and injuries, the explosion caused nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars worth of damage. Two polyethylene production plants were destroyed and buildings a half-mile away experienced shattered windows due to a physical shock equivalent to an earthquake registering 3.5 on the Richter Scale.

The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited, an Indian company with Union Carbide Corporation as a majority shareholder. The plant was built in the late 1970s and produced pesticides for use in India. MIC is a highly dangerous chemical, with both reactive and toxic properties. The gas is highly flammable and forms an explosive mixture with air. As evidenced by the mass deaths after its release, the chemical is harmful if swallowed or inhaled.

The Phillips complex produced high-density polyethylene, a substance used to make plastic containers. Prior to the incident the facility produced approximately1.5 billion pounds of plastic each year. According to the United States Fire Administration National Fire Data Center the explosion was caused by the failure of a 10-inch line carrying ethylene and/or isobutene. The pressure in the pipe could have been as high as 700 pounds per square inch. During regular maintenance on one of the plant’s polyethylene reactors more than 85,000 pounds of these highly flammable gases were released through an open valve, forming a vapour cloud. Within 90 to 120 seconds, the

The release occurred when a large amount of water entered the MIC storage tank. The release was noticed by employees at 11:30 p.m., but the supervisor notified failed to take action. At midnight, 40 tonnes of MIC poured from the tank and spread over a city of nearly 900,000 people. On top of the nearly 4,000 people who died, estimatesof those who suffered long-term effects from the release are as high as 400,000. Officially, the Bhopal disaster was the result of a combination of legal, technological, organisational and human errors. Unreliable temperature and pressure gauges were ignored, refrigeration units were ineffective, the gas scrubber used to neutralise escaping MIC was shut off, the flare tower was turned off, the water curtain ineffective, warning systems were ineffective and finally, the tank was filled beyond the recommended capacity. Although Carbide claimed a disgruntled employee was responsible, a 1997 report from American University in Washington, D.C. suggests that the negligent behaviour of the company likely contributed to the consequences of the accident. The overwhelming tragedy of the Bhopal disaster spurred action among developed nations to evaluate the state of their emergency preparedness and process safety management (PSM). Many of the regulations and voluntary initiatives around the world were developed in response to this tragedy.

Damage caused by the fire and explosion at the BP refinery.

vapour cloud came into contact with an ignition source and exploded with a force equivalent to 2.4 tons of TNT. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation revealed internal company audits had previously identified unsafe conditions, but were ignored. The investigation also revealed a lack of management systems that resulted in the inability to: Prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable vapours; Minimise the effects of a release of flammable vapours, including the elimination of position ignition sources; Provide adequate fire protection. A settlement between OSHA and Phillips 66 led to the latter paying a $4-million fine and an agreement to institute PSM procedures at HCC and the company’s sister facilities through Texas and Utah.

Azote Fertilizant, Toulouse, France, September21, 2001 On September 21, 2001 a massive explosion occurred at the Azote Fertilizant (nitrogen fertilizer) company near Toulouse, France, totally annihilating two entire buildings and leavinga crater 20 to 30 meters deep and 200 meters across. Thirty people were killed, 50 were critically injured and 2,500 seriouslywounded. According to reports, two thirds of the city’s windows were shatteredand 10 per cent of the city’s population(4,000 people) were made homeless. The explosion was triggered when a mix of sodium dichloroisocyanurate and ammonium nitrate was dumped on a stockpile of 300 tonnes of additional ammoniumnitrate. A combination of cases of negligence was indicated for the incident. Several reports mentioned long-term concern about the safety of the plant though this unfortunately was not followed up. According to Gema, the group of mutual insurers, the estimatedcost of the explosion was expected to be around 97 million Euros.

BP Refinery, Texas City, Texas, March 23, 2005 On March 23, 2005 a fire at BP’s Texas City Refinery’s isomerisation unit cost 15 people their lives and injured 170 more. According to the BP America report, “The incident was caused by heavier-than-air hydrocarbon vapours combusting after coming in contact with an ignition source, probably a running vehicleengine.” The report explains that the failure to take effective emergency action resulted in the loss of containment that preceded the explosion. Failure to follow many established policies and procedures, inadequate supervision and crowding of bystanders allowed the consequences to escalate to such proportions. The likelihood of this incident could have been reduced by installing inherently safer options, which were available at the time. The report also claims the working environment at the plant was resistant to change, process safety and systemicrisk reduction. Complex organisation left individuals unaware of their responsibilities and poor communication led to inadequate warning systems. Finally, an insufficient level of hazard awareness and PSM resulted in people accepting higher levels of risk than that of comparableinstallations. The outcome of this disaster for BP specifically was a thorough analysis of management structures and procedural systems. For developed nations in general, this disaster reminded industryof the fallibility of their systems and the importance of risk management. Several of the people interviewed during the research for the Queen's report commented specifically on this accident and how an event of similar proportions in Canada could cause government to react with drastic, “knee-jerk” legislation to appease public concerns.

january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 15

Industry: Hazards

Nearby homes were damaged in the explosion.

Aerial photo of Danvers, Massachussetts following the accident.

The Imperial Sugar Refinery following the massive dust explosion and fire (above and right).

Photos courtesy of U.S. Chemical Safety Board.

CAI Inc., Danvers, Massachusetts, November22, 2006 On November 22, 2006 an explosion in a chemical plant in Danvers, Massachusetts damaged nearly 90 buildings in a busy municipal area. Fortunately, there were only minor injuries, sending10 people to hospital. According to Governor Mitt Romney, the explosion was equivalent to a 2,000-pound bomb going off. The explosion occurred at CAI, Inc., a chemical company making solvents and ink. According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Investigation the most probable cause for the explosion was a chemical vapor explosion of overheated heptane vapor. The ignition source was undetermined, but several potential ignition sources existed in the building. The heptane explosion initiated a chain reaction of other chemicals detonating, leading to the complete destruction of the building.

The Control of Major Accident Hazards in Canada report makes three recommendations: The creation of a body which would audit, verify and generally conduct inspections for Canadian industrial facilities meeting threshold minimums; The implementation of a regulatory code of process safety management practices including a statement that any company falling within the thresholds must submit to mandatory membership to the new body; Creation of an organization similar to the American Chemical Safety and HazardInvestigation Board. Adapted from the reportThe Controlof Major AccidentHazards in Canada, a Queen's University project sponsored by the CanadianChemical Producers’ Association (now the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada). The report is published by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering and is available at http://www.cheminst.ca/index. cfm?ci_id=2243&la_id=1.

Imperial Sugar Refinery, Port Wentworth, Georgia, February 7, 2008 A massive explosion occurred at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia on February 7, 2008. Fourteen deaths are attributed to the explosion and 38 people were injured. According to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Identification Board (CSB), the explosion was fueled by massive accumulations of sugar dust throughout the facilities. The CSB investigation is still underway, however the explosion has been attributed to fine sugar dust, which can become combustibleif it is too dry and a static charge accumulates. This incident prompted the CSB to propose that the U.S. OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA) adopt the CSB Recommendation on a Comprehensive Combustible Dust Standard.

Want to share your thoughts on this article? Write2010 to usCanadian at magazine@accn.ca january Chemical News 17

Chemistry: Health

QA &

Q & A with

Arya Sharma

The Weight Loss Formula

Canadians are getting fatter. Are chemicals part of the solution or part of the problem?

or many, every New Year brings a new resolution to drop a few pounds. Losing weight is increasingly more than a question of vanity in this country. With one in four adult Canadians suffering from obesity, the mental, physical and economic burden of an overweight population is very real. ACCN recently spoke with Arya Sharma, chair for Obesity Research & Management at the University of Alberta and scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network, to see where chemicals figure in to this national epidemic.

ACCN: Is obesity a chemical problem? A.S.: If you include biochemical, I would say yes. ACCN: How so? A.S: We know that behaviour and metabolic processes are of course physiological processes that involve a large number of molecules that have to interact in certain ways in the body to control things like hunger, appetite, satiety, activity level down to the regulation of your body temperature. All of which can have profound effects on your energy and metabolism.

ACCN: Could there be a chemical solution? A.S.: Because you’re dealing with processes that are influenced by chemicals, as in many disorders, there is the possibility that you can influence these processes by using a pharmacological agent or hormone that can 18 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

bind to receptors, change enzyme activity, change expression of certain genes as we do for other conditions.

ACCN: How much of a role do you see drugs playing in addressing the obesity epidemic in the future? A.S.: I think it’s going to play a big role because we know from all of the studies that the amount of sustainable weight loss that you can get through lifestyle interventions is actually quite modest, usually in the range of three to five per cent of initial body weight. Which does have some clinical benefits, but for people who have moderate to severe obesity, that amount of weight loss is generally not enough.

ACCN: Do you think drugs will play a larger role? More so than they have? A.S.: Absolutely, I think pharmacological therapy for obesity will play as big a role as it does for other chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension. ACCN: We’ve been talking about prescription drugs. But there’s lots of over-the-counter remedies out there. Do some of these diet pills actually work? A.S.: They don’t. There’s virtually no evidence that any of the non-prescription drugs that are on the market and are sold in pharmacies actually work. in fact there’s evidence that some of these

compounds may actually be unsafe. We’re constantly hearing stories about these products being removed from the market because of health concerns. A last major example being Hydroxycut, which wasn’t sold in Canada, but was taken off the market [in the U.S.] because it was causing death. The problem is that a lot of these natural products contain ingredients which in high doses, or in animal studies, can have some effect on metabolism. But the dose that is ultimately put into these drugs is just not effective, or not effective enough. Generally there’s very little clinical data, most of it anecdotal. There is no randomized control trials, for example, that would meet the criteria that you would normally want to see from prescription drugs which are often studied in thousands of people. You have to go through a whole process in terms of evaluating their efficacy and their safety. Natural products don’t have to do that. It’s very easy to just put things on the market and just claim things based on either very poorly conducted studies or some theoretical ideas that people have regarding how these ingredients work. So you see a lot of those products out there. Often, they’re being sold with claims that defy the laws of thermodynamics. When you have a drug out there that claims that somebody can be 10 pounds or even five pounds lighter in two weeks, that’s a lot of weight loss. The amount of calories that you’d have to burn in two weeks to lose that amount of weight is just impossible.

ACCN: What’s the mechanism by which these over-the-counter remedies claim to work? A.S.: Oh there’s everything, from bodycleansers to appetite suppressors to metabolic boosters to all kinds of stuff. They all come out with some story about how they work. To put it this way, if there was a natural product that actually did work, I’m sure that some pharmaceutical company would have converted that into a pill long ago.

ACCN: They’re essentially all scams? A.S.: They’re pretty much scams or any biological effect from these products is vastly oversold.

ACCN: How do you see the obesity problem, say, 20 years from now? A.S.: In 20 years if obesity is still a problem, we will have recognized that it’s a complex disorder, that there are many causes of obesity, that there’s not going to just be one treatment that works for everybody. We are going to get much more sophisticated at subdividing obesity into very specific different groups based on the etiology of what exactly is causing the weight gain in a given person. We will probably have a much larger armament of medical treatments that we can use in these patients. We might have nutraceuticals or other developments that might help people control their body weight. I think there’s also going to be advances in bariatric surgery which is growing quite significantly and is becoming safer all the time. There will probably also continue to be a market for medical devices and surgical treatments for obesity at least for the foreseeable future.

ACCN: We’ve been talking about the chemicals or the drugs that could potentially help with weight control. What about the flip side? There have been some studies linking environmental toxins, particularly endocrine disruptors like bisphenol A among others, to obesity. Do you think there’s something to that idea? A.S.: There very much could be something to that because we do know that a lot of the lipophyllic organic compounds do accumulate in adipose tissue and there is evidence that when you lose weight, a lot of these compounds get mobilized and can effect hormonal function, liver function and other organs. While it is not clear exactly how they contribute to weight it’s very much a possibility because we do know that many of these compounds are in fact biologically active.

ACCN: I’m wondering if we can be specific here. What compounds are we talking about? A.S.: These could be compounds like

polyphenal hydrocarbons that can accumulate. Virtually all your environmental toxins that are out there that you take up in the food that you eat or the water you drink or whatever, can accumulate in the body and can have biological effects.

ACCN: Describe how BPA, for example, would work inside the body. A.S.: My understanding is that it has some biological action that can promote insulin resistance which means it can make your body cells less sensitive to insulin. We do know that insulin resistance is one of the underlying factors for the development of the cardiovascular risk factors including type-2 diabetes. What concentration of BPA do you need? How long do you have to be exposed? Do different people have different vulnerability to the exposure? A lot more needs to be learned about these compounds before we can conclude that they’re not causing the obesity epidemic or are not part of it.

ACCN: Many people struggle with weight loss. Do you have any advice? A.S.: Losing weight is one thing, keeping it off is a whole different story. I think that most people overestimate the amount of weight they can lose and keep off because it does take a lot of effort once you’ve lost the weight to actually keep it off. That’s why we consider obesity to be more of a chronic condition that requires ongoing treatment whether that treatment is a lifestyle change or whether that treatment is a medication that you take or bariatric surgery. What we do know is that when the treatment stops, the weight comes back.

ACCN: Invariably? A.S.: Invariably. Want to share your thoughts on this article? Write to us at magazine@accn.ca

dioxins, these could be compounds like january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 19

Chemical Engineering: Education

Cutting Edge-ucation A celebrated veteran chemical engineer takes a hard look at how the education of tomorrow’s graduates risks slipping off the leading edge By Stuart W. Churchill Stuart W. Churchill has changed the way we live through his inventions, mentored an impressive roll of prodigies, and published an extraordinary number of pivotal papers and books. Soft-spoken and moustachioed, you might not immediately peg the 90 year-old as one of the most prominent chemical engineers of the 20th century, but it doesn’t take long to recognize his passion for and authority on the subject. In his career, he has made contributions to nuclear safety, the secure handling of liquefied natural gas, NASA’s space program and U.S. national defence. He developed a thermally stabilized burner for quieter and cleaner combustion and created a catalytic reactor that incinerates cigarette smoke, toxic compounds and microorganisms in the air. He also pioneered better computer models for turbulent flow and convection. During the Second World War, he helped design new processes for producing aviation fuel. Perhaps most important among his contributions is the impression he continues to make as a teacher. Here he examines the legacy left to tomorrow’s graduates through their text books and lesson plans and points out how, in a fast-moving field like chemical engineering, keeping pace in the classroom is critical.

hemical engineering is an indispensable global resource of mankind. It is essential that we make greater efforts to remain up-to-date in evermore rapidly changing times. However, many of the widely used textbooks and handbooks in chemical engineering — though praiseworthy in a general sense — are out of date and out of sync with state-of-the-art theory and concept. As a consequence,

it is often the theoretical advances arising from academic research that fail to appear in textbooks.

Obsolete, Missing, and Underemphasized Concepts in Chemical Engineering Education Numerical methods. The developments in electronic computing over the last halfcentury have provided a means to advance education and industrial practice in chemical engineering by expediting the numerical solution of the equations of conservation for a

20 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

some aspects of chemical engineering education and practice remain mired in the past. Industrial practice is the primary function of chemical engineers, but it is the teachers and the authors of the textbooks who are the gatekeepers for advances in the field. Our profession has been a lively one for over a century. Industry necessarily responds creatively to the new technologies arising from

widening range of conditions. Although this methodology has given birth to simulation as a component of most academic courses in design and as a standard tool in industrial practice, it has not yet been fully exploited, and few of the results so-obtained have appeared in the textbooks and handbooks. As an example, the most influential textbook of all time in chemical engineering still does not utilize or even point out the utility of numerical methods, such as finite-difference ones, to solve the “equations of change.” On the other hand, many proprietary computer

packages for numerical solutions for some particular subjects such as fluid mechanics have serious flaws that should be identified by their teachers. Coefficients for transport. Although the heat transfer coefficient, the friction factor, and the like have a sound theoretical basis, the crude graphical representations of the dependencies of these coefficients on other variables sometimes lead students to misinterpret the coefficients as “fudge factors.” Texts and teachers should correct this misimpression.

new processes and new products. Those developments are in due course incorporated into existing chemical engineering courses and eventually appear in new and revised textbooks. Perhaps surprisingly, it is often the theoretical advances arising from academic research that fail to enter the loop and to appear in textbooks. Those advances are not necessarily evident from the title, list of keywords, or even the abstract of the published articles in which they are first described. Those who are themselves involved in research in that topic are apt to identify such advances when they first appear in print because they read or at least scan the entire article. But most others, and particularly the generalists (who are most likely to write textbooks) are subject, along with the rest of us, to an overload of information, and are often turned away by the specialized subject matter and the advanced mathematics of the very manuscripts that incorporate theoretical advances. Online access is helpful but subject to choice and chance, and it requires more self-discipline than did the systematic browsing of hard copy in the library that was once a standard practice for most faculty members. Techniques for searching and screening the details of the literature have not kept pace with other aspects of information technology. Chemical engineers who enter industry upon graduation, and they constitute the vast majority, are often brought up to date and helped to

stay up to date in those elements of practice that are important to their employer, but they generally make-do the rest of their careers with the mathematics, science, and engineering science that they learned in school. Very few of them scan titles and abstracts, let alone study articles in journals. Access to information on advances in technology by practicing engineers is primarily through the computer packages for

The textbooks and handbooks acquired in university remain students’ primary source of reference — a source that soon becomes out of date.

Dimensional analysis. Although all students are exposed to dimensional analysis, very few gain a real understanding or working knowledge. That outcome is intolerable because most rate data are preserved in the form of dimensionless groupings of variables. The difficulty that students encounter in choosing the variables can be eased by interpreting that choice as a speculation to be tested with experimental data or numerical solutions. Techniques for the dimensional analysis of a mathematical model (such as that of Hellums and Churchill, 1964, which identifies any possible similarity

simulation and design made available by their employer, and for the most part the users are only dimly aware of the technology inherent in those packages. The textbooks and handbooks acquired in university thereby remain their primary source of reference — a source that soon becomes out of date. I have spent considerable effort over the past two decades in a somewhat unique endeavour, namely trying to survey the state-of-the-art in various aspects of chemical engineering. Herein, I have identified a few obsolete and missing elements in a few anonymous textbooks (see sidebar below). It is not my intention to be comprehensive but rather to inspire others to critique their own subjects of expertise.

transformations) are within their capabilities but are seldom taught. Correlating equations in the form of power laws. Plotting experimental data in the form of dimensionless groups on logarithmic coordinates, representing the plotted values by a straight line, and thereby inferring an algebraic correlating equation in the form of a power-law have been characteristic practices in chemical engineering for over a century. However, it is now known that power-law dependences are valid only in asymptotic limits, if at all.

An alternative form of correlation (Churchill and Usagi, 1972) based on the power-mean of the bounding asymptotes has two significant advantages. First it incorporates information whose omission dooms any correlation on theoretical grounds. Second, although an approximation in most applications, it leads to highly accurate representations for almost all physical behavior if appropriate asymptotes can be identified or derived. Correlating equations based on this methodology have almost wholly replaced simple power-law expressions in several textbooks on heat transfer january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 21



Chemical Institute of Canada

22 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Chemical Engineering: Education

In tracing some of the possible root causes of these errors and omissions, I have found they can originate from a host of different sources: the curriculum, textbooks, computer packages, teachers, the lack of student input, practicing engineers and the gap between the research community and the general community of chemical engineers. The core curriculum in chemical engineering appears to have remained relatively static for many decades with only a few conspicuous changes such as the introduction of courses in transport phenomena and in chemical-reaction engineering. However, this is a superficial and misleading impression. Because the required courses — stoichiometry, chemical-engineering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, separations, process dynamics, process control, and process design — are general in nature, it’s possible to continually revise and update the content. New topics such as nanotechnology and new applications such as biomedical technology are sometimes introduced by means of elective courses but more often by means of illustrative examples and homework assignments in basic courses. So the fixed structure of the curriculum is not in itself the culprit of the failures to modernize. Efforts to keep the curriculum up-to-date are undermined if the authors of the textbooks used in these courses don’t revise them often enough. Even when text books are revised, the authors frequently fail to introduce the latest advances and to discard out-dated concepts and methodologies. It goes without saying that when a new textbook is written and published, the authors intend it to reflect the state-of-theart in both a practical and a theoretical sense. Unfortunately, many

(see, for example, the book by Lienhard, 1981). Although the potential improvements are even greater, such expressions have not yet appeared in most textbooks on flow and mass transfer. An a l o g i e s . C h e m i c a l e n gi n e e r i n g h a s uniquely utilized analogies to minimize the need for experimental data and correlating equations. However, some of those in current textbooks, for example that of Colburn (1933) between momentum and heat transfer, are seriously in error both functionally and

textbooks do not live up to that goal. A subtle but major reason for the inclusion of obsolete concepts in new textbooks is often the penchant of the authors for elegance, ingenious concepts (whether right or wrong), and simplicity.

It is more inspiring and challenging to write a book on a new topic than to revise one. Textbooks should be revised as often as justified by new developments. The reasons for the failure to revise textbooks often enough are many: The authors may not be familiar with new developments because of the afore-mentioned overload of information or a change in their own interests; Multiple authors may no longer wish to collaborate; The prospects for the incremental sales of a revised text may be poor; The publisher may not be receptive; It is more inspiring and challenging to write a book on a new topic than to revise one. Computer packages may be another root cause of obsolescence. It is difficult to identify the correlating equations, models, and methods of solution in those proprietary computer packages for design and analysis whose usage is introduced in undergraduate courses and that

numerically. Some, for example those for heat and mass transfer, have severe limits of applicability (see Papavassiliou and Hanratty, 1997). Others, such as the approximate one of Emmons (1954) for buoyant processes, the semi-empirical one of Churchill (2006) for energetic chemical conversions and heat transfer, the essentially exact ones of MacLeod (1951) and of Abbrecht and Churchill (1960) for round tubes and parallel plates, and of Churchill (2001) for transient behavior, are missing. The absence of the 2006 analogy is understandable but the

existence of the dependence has been known but overlooked in textbooks for over 40 years. Reaction engineering. Reaction engineering, as currently described in many textbooks, is sullied by simplifying concepts that are not so much out-of-date as unnecessary and inappropriate. Notions like fully developed flow (which is a poorer approximation for homogeneous reactions than for heat, mass, and momentum transfer); isothermal and adiabatic conditions (which cannot be achieved with energetic gasphase reactions); the use of an uncorrected heat january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 23



Continuing Education for Chemical Professionals

Laboratory Safety course 2010 Schedule May 31 – June 1, 2010

Toronto, ON October 4-5, 2010

Calgary, AB

he Chemical Institute of Canada and the Canadian Society for Chemical

Technology are presenting a two-day

For more information about the course and locations, and to access the registration form, visit:

www.cheminst.ca/ profdev

• Introduction

and working experience of chemical technologists

• Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

and chemists. All course participants receive the

• Safety Policies, Training and Audits

CIC’s Laboratory Health and Safety Guidelines, 4th edition. This course is intended for those whose responsibilities include improving the operational safety of chemical laboratories, managing laboratories, chemical plants or research facilities, conducting safety audits of laboratories and chemical plants. During the course, participants are provided with an integrated overview of current best practices in laboratory safety.

24 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

• Hazard Classification Systems • WHMIS, NIOSH, and beyond • Hazardous Materials • Flammable and Combustible Materials • Corrosive Chemicals • Toxic Materials • Reactive Materials • Insidious Hazards • Compressed Gases • Cryogenic Liquids

 Day

• Physical Hazards

Instructor Eric Mead, FCIC, a former instructor with the chemical technology program at SIAST, has taught and practised laboratory workplace safety for more than 30 years. A former chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada, Mead has been commended for his work on behalf of the chemical industry. “The chemical field and profession are

• Fire • Glassware • Electrical Hazards • Machinery • Storage • Chemical Storage • Chemical Inventory • Storage Methods for Specific Hazard Classifications • Chemical Spills and Waste Disposal • Spill Containment and Cleanup • Spill Control Kits

built on a foundationof trust with society.

• Properties of Wastes

An integral part of that trust is the safe

• Hazard Assessment and Control

operationof facilitiesincludinglaboratories,

• Identification and Control

whether industrial, academicor government.

• Eye and Face Protection

The educationof engineers, scientists and

• Head, Feet and Body Protection

technologistsmust reflect that level of trust.

• Hearing and Breathing Protection

We all share in the responsibilityfor safe

• Fume Hoods and HVAC

and ethical research, chemical processing

• Machinery

and analysis." —Eric Mead



course designed to enhance the knowledge

Registration fees

$550 CIC members $750 non-members $150 student members

 Day

Canadian Society for Chemical Technology Janvier 2010

Chemical Engineering: Education

are employed almost universally in industrial practice. However, the existence of shortcomings in some of these packages can readily be discerned by comparing their predictions with those from the latest expressions. Such comparisons reveal, in many instances, the same deficiencies as those of the textbooks. I still remember the shock when, as a graduate student, I was told that many expressions in our textbook were seriously in error. My shock and my memory thereof imply that it was an effective measure. It is a responsibility of teachers to convince their students that the concepts, models and correlating equations in their text books are not “holy scripture” but subject to error and depreciation, and thereby to improvement and replacement. This is perhaps best accomplished by examples that illustrate the missteps as well as the contributions of our idols such as Isaac Newton, Ludwig Prandtl, and Allan P. Colburn. Most teachers know that it is more difficult to eradicate false or out-dated ideas than to avoid them in the first place. For that reason it is essential that textbooks be as up-to-date and free from obsolete concepts, models, and expressions as possible. Faculty members are obligated to identify the concepts, models, and expressions that are false, questionable, of limited accuracy or scope, or out-dated. But identification is not enough; the students should be given replacements or supplements for obsolete and missing elements. Student input should be encouraged. We profess to teach our students to question authority, including ourselves, and their textbooks, and by inference their computer packages, but in reality such questioning is not always encouraged by the faculty or by the veteran

practitioners with whom they later collaborate. Furthermore, some of the students express resentment if their fellow students interrupt or challenge the teacher. Because of over-respect for the content of textbooks that they acquire as a student and the lack of any other icons of theoretical authority, practicing engineers often cling to outdated concepts.

I still remember the shock when, as a graduate student, I was told that many expressions in our textbook were seriously in error. Finally, and most important, the new concepts, models, and methodologies, and the improved correlative and predictive expressions that are published in archival journals, do not immediately become known outside the research community and often remain unknown to the general community of chemical engineers until they are accorded the imprimatur of appearance in a widely used textbook. Obsolete and overlooked concepts exist in every book on chemical engineering. Although improvements are to be expected in new books and revised editions, advances in theory and new concepts will also continue to arise, and the overall situation cannot be expected to change. Teachers must continue to assume the burden of keeping up to date and passing this information along to students by preparing and distributing supplements. Fortunately, advances in electronic communication continue to ease that process. ACCN Stuart Churchill is the Carl V. S. Patterson professor emeritus in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania

transfer coefficient for an energetic reaction in tubular flow (which, in reality, varies grossly and chaotically); the ingenious and elegant solution of Denbigh for perfectly mixed reactors in series (which, as he is careful to point out, is based on the postulate of an asymptotic approach to equilibrium in each stage and gives erroneous values for the optimal relative volumes); and reaction rates expressed in concentrations (which is inconsistent with thermodynamic models for equilibrium and with the Arrhenius model). Also, the use of global models for combustion, which proceeds

wholly by free-radical reactions, the postulate of equilibrium or a pseudo stationary state for the free radicals in combustion, models for solid-catalyzed reactions that include more arbitrary constants than can be justified by the experimental data (as well-documented in a 1969 paper by Mayer and Stowe) and perfect mixing for stirred reactors are all ideas that over-simplify reality. Finally, the most pernicious idealization is that of “plug-flow”, which occurs in the real world only when a semi-soft solid such as ice cream is pushed through a tube by a plunger. The approximate solutions

obtained by virtue of this gross idealization can be rationalized as those for perfect radial mixing — a physically conceivable asymptotic condition. However, this interpretation still results in the disconnection of reaction kinetics from fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and numerical methods, and surrenders the superiority of chemical engineering vis-à-vis chemistry by completely neglecting the effects of transport. ACCN

january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 25

Become a Certified Chemical Technologist (cCT) cCT certification offered by the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology (CSCT) • Is recognized nationally by employers • Is based on Canada-wide technology standards • Allows for greater career mobility CSCT members in good standing who have attained the required combination of education and experience in chemical technology need only apply once for the cCT for the one time fee of $25 plus tax. Certification remains valid as long as CSCT membership is maintained. For more information or to apply go to www.chem-tech.ca/cct or contact Kevin Ferris, CSCT Certification Director at kferris@ ferrischemicals.com.

26 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Society News Nouvelles des sociétés Planned Giving

Planning a Legacy Pierre Beaumier, MCIC, is a lucky man. At a young age, he got hooked on chemistry. He has built a successful career and was instrumental in growing a small company into a respected 1,500-employee analysis laboratory. Today, he’s moved on to other challenges but remains proud to be a chemist and knows that his involvement with the Canadian Society for Chemistry has helped his career. That’s a big part of why, as president and now past president of the CSC, he has been a strong supporter of the Society’s new planned giving program which was launched in November. Through the CSC Legacy Fund, a charitable reserve held by the CIC Chemical Education Fund, members can leave a gift, either outright or defered (in their will), to help the Society pursue its mandate of education-related projects. “I have been lucky to make a living out of chemistry,” says Beaumier, who plans to make a contribution. “I want to make sure that youth have more opportunities to discover chemistry. I’m confident that my gift and that of others will help them in that regard”. Visit www.chemistry.ca/legacy for more information.

Sister Societies

Chemists in Cahoots The American Chemical Society and the U.K.’s Royal Society of Chemistry — two of the world’s largest chemical societies — pledged in November that they would work together to address global sustainability challenges. By combining their resources and the knowledge and talent of their members, the two organizations aim to contribute to efforts to develop sustainable energy, provide abundant food and water and address other threats to the planet. Some of their plans include joint scientific seminars, a “primer” to help the general public better understand the basic chemistry of global issues and their potential solutions, and training for chemists to communicate compellingly and convincingly. The collaboration is expected to be a hub to which other societies worldwide can be linked.

Lobbying

Making the Case for Research The Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR) met with federal Finance Minister James Flaherty in October to discuss research funding in the next budget. The CCR Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance made two recommendations: an increase of five per cent to the granting councils for basic research without compromising targeted research dollars and that funding for indirect costs of university research rise to represent 40 per cent of direct costs. CIC executive director and chair of the CCR, Roland Andersson, is optimistic about the outcome. “Flaherty had a strong understanding of, and indicated strong support for, basic research.”



CIC can help with your career! Being a member of one of the CIC Societieshas its advantages during uncertain times: • If you lose your job, and have been a full-fee member for at least one year, the CIC will waive your membershipfees. This optionis available for up to two years; • Unemployed members can attendthe annualCSC or CSChE conferencesat the same price as an undergraduate student. They can stay informed on what’s going on in the scientific community and participate in careerbuilding events; • Local Section activities are valuable networkingopportunities. Most positions are not advertised; • Take advantage of our range of CareerServices. See details at

www.cheminst.ca/careers

january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 27

Society News Nouvelles des sociétés Recognition

Upcoming Events

Margaret A. Armour, FCIC, Associate Dean of Science, University of Alberta will participate as a mentor in the Order of Canada Mentorship Program, in which she is paired with young people who share her passion and interest in bio-safety and the disposal of hazardous waste.

Canada

Conferences and Awards March 25, 2010. Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Canada Annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner, Toronto May 9–12, 2010. 21st Canadian Symposium on Catalysis, Banff, Alta., www.21csc2010.ca May 29–June 2, 2010. 93rd Canadian ChemistryConferenceand Exhibition, Toronto, Ont., www.csc2010.ca

Ashok K. Vijh, FCIC, Institut de Recherche d’Hydro-Québec, is the first person of Indian origin to be elected an Honorary Fellow of The Chemical Research Society of India.

August 4–6, 2010. Fundamentals and Applications, Ottawa, Ont., www.international-aset.com (click on “Conferences”) August 15–19, 2010. 3rd International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry, Ottawa, Ont., www.icgc2010.ca October 24–27, 2010. 60th Canadian ChemicalEngineering Conference, Saskatoon, Sask., www.csche2010.ca

The Magazine

U.S. and Overseas

We’ve got mail!

Conferences

The October issue had a very good selection of articles — factual, current, and of appropriate length. The Joe Schwarcz articles are always good.

December 15–20, 2010. Pacifichem 2010, Honolulu, Hawaii, www.pacifichem.org

Georgina Shelton, MCIC A C h i ro p ra c t o r ’s Re s p o n s e To ‘ Swe e t Delusions’: Although I am not a subscriber to your manazine, I was very curious to read ‘Sweet Delusions’ in your October 2009 edition, brought to me by my fabulous high school chemistry teacher Russell Mudry. I really enjoyed the article. I thought it was well written and entertaining. I only hope that your reading public do not make the same mistake with the chiropractic profession that the chiropractors described in the article made with sugar — a sweeping generalization — that all chiropractors, much like pure glucose, are “bad”. Michael Nazar, D.C.

In Memoriam The CIC wishes to extend its condolences to the families of Louis T. J. Delbaere, FCIC and Edward A. Woods, MCIC.

28 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

Saviez-vous Toutes les éditions d’ACCN parues avant 2009 peuvent être lues gratuitement sur le Web à

www.accn.ca?

ACCN

Society News Nouvelles des sociétés In Memoriam

Dr. Keith Fagnou. 1971–2009 By Frank B. Edwards Keith Fagnou seemed destined to become one of Canada’s scientific super stars. Seven years into his career as a chemistry professor at the University of Ottawa, his work had been recognized with numerous major awards, including the Sloan Research Award in 2008. In 2009, he became the only Canadian recipient of the OMCOS Award for organometallic chemistry research, honouring scientists under the age of forty. His brilliant career ended prematurely last November when he died suddenly of complications from the H1N1 influenza. He was 38 years old. Mark Lautens, a professor of chemistry at the University of Toronto and Fagnou’s PhD advisor, remembers his protégé as “a super high-profile student” during the mid-1990s when he first met Fagnou who was then an undergraduate. “He was so bloody smart. He was always like a colleague, even as a student,” says Lautens, recalling that in their five years together, the young doctoral candidate, a farm boy from Saskatchewan, published 18 papers and registered one patent along with numerous reviews which were widely cited. Chemists around the world, both industrial and academic, know Fagnou for his research into C-H bond activation in which he and the students of Ottawa’s “Fagnou Factory” sought to minimize substrate pre-activation and replace it with reactions using simple organic

molecules that left fewer by-products. His work was of particular interest to the pharmaceutical and agro-chemical industries because it could significantly reduce the production of toxic waste metals. In his research lab, Fagnou combined the management skills he learned during eight years as a naval reserve officer with his infectious sense of humour. He was a chemist, teacher, mentor, human resources expert, marketer and grinning ringmaster. “Keith wasn’t like a boss or even a colleague,” recalls PhD student Sophie Rousseaux. “He was a friend and a big, big inspiration to all of us on a professional and a personal level… He was admired for the work he did and also his motivation and enthusiasm.” Shortly after Rousseaux’s arrival in the laboratory, Fagnou put her to work producing a Star-Wars-themed trailer in which he explained his research in language that his friends and family could understand. The link to the film clip was tucked discretely at the bottom of the web page that detailed the laboratory’s work with arene and alkane functionalization in organic synthesis. He published forty scientific papers in the past six years and, in 2003, won both the John C. Polanyi Award in Chemistry and a Governor General’s Award for Physical Sciences and Engineering. In 2007, he gained tenure as an associate professor

and was made the University of Ottawa Research Chair in Novel Catalytic Transformations. Early in 2009, Fagnou published a paper in JACS showing that “palladium-catalyzed direct arylation can be performed with a broad range of azine and azole N-oxides.” He felt the process provided a useful alternative to cross-coupling techniques in the “synthesis of appropriate heterobiaryl compounds,” a development of interest in the manufacture of medicinal compounds. A university colleague, Deryn Fogg told the Ottawa Citizen that Fagnou was “changing how chemists think about carbon-carbon bonds.” “Keith’s work overturned prior ideas of what is possible,” she said. Fagnou received constant invitations to international conferences. His final lecture was at the 8th annual Process Chemistry in the Pharmaceutical Industry conference held in Durham, NC. He died a week later, on November 11, 2009. “He stood to be a leader of Canadian science,” says Lautens. “He was destined to be known around the world. It’s beyond tragic.” Keith Raymond Fagnou, MCIC. Born: Saskatoon, Sask. June 27, 1971. Died: Ottawa November 11, 2009. He leaves his wife, Danielle Gervais, MD and children Zachary, Clara and Samuel. The University of Ottawa has established the Dr. Keith Fagnou Scholarship in Science in his memory.

january 2010 Canadian Chemical News 29

Chemfusion Joe Schwarcz

commemorating the Age of Misinformation

t seems like the new millennium dawned just yesterday, but here we are 10 years into the 21st century. At the end of the 1990s, the “information age” was already well upon us, with the media spewing daily reports

30 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010

about the hottest scientific studies. Virtually every day seemed to dawn with some “breakthrough” research that either warned us about some substance that would hasten our demise, or comforted us with the wonderful prospects of some novel drug or dietary supplement. People from all walks of life, from established scientists to uneducated laymen, weighed in on these issues with their opinions. Allegations about research tainted by vested interests were met with accusations of irrational fear-mongering, often leaving the public bewildered and disturbed. Adding to the confusion was the incredible amount of information instantly available with a few key strokes. It was clear that the Internet was a wonderful source of reliable information if one knew where to look, but it was also evident that websites promoting nonsensical views or products were often more seductive than those based on rational science. Charlatans and assorted kooks were successfully trapping people in a web of deceit. In 1999, we launched the McGill Office for Science and Society with a mandate of interpreting science for the public, fostering critical thinking and separating sense from nonsense. Our hope was that we would contribute towards untangling that web and serve as a voice of reason, separating myth from fact, hype from hope. Over the last decade my colleagues Ariel Fenster, David Harpp and I have tried to champion the cause of making decisions based on proper scientific research rather than on hearsay or emotion. Ten years in, we continue to deal with a broad scope of issues and are called upon to answer a large variety of questions. Of course there are some common recurrent ones with relatively easy answers. Is it true that plastic water bottles left in a hot car leach cancercausing chemicals into the water? No! Can tiny amounts of lead in the blood really affect the IQ of children? Yes! But the fact is that most questions that come our way do not have a clear yes or no answer. Queries about phthalates in toys, genetically modified foods, herbal remedies, cell phones, Teflon, fluoride, dental fillings, pesticides, vitamins or cosmetic ingredients fall into that category. Our task here is to offer an opinion based on the most reliable current information. It certainly is possible that such an opinion may change as more facts come

to light. After all, science is an ongoing and self-correcting discipline. There are also amusing questions galore. Like the one from a lady who wanted to know if what her “health naturalist” told her was correct. (I think I could have made a pretty good guess at that one even before hearing the question.) Apparently this sage opined that the earth and all things in it rotate clockwise and that cooking food in a microwave oven alters the natural rotation and makes chromosomes in the food rotate counterclockwise, destroying its nutritional value. That just may be the most ludicrous claim I ever heard, although the competition in this area is very stiff. Witness the suggestion by another caller that taking clozapine had affected her aura which had been long and wide but was now withering. As you may have guessed, clozapine is used to treat mental problems. Some questions can raise interesting points. A lady visiting her sister in the Caribbean found that while the sister's bed was overrun with ants, hers was free of the creatures. Could it have anything to do with the fact that her sister was a diabetic? Possibly. At one time physicians used to diagnose diabetes by tasting a patient's urine to see if it was sweet. And ants are known to go for sweets. Ditto fruit flies. A gentleman queried whether wine in which some fruit flies had drowned was safe to drink. It is. But the question gave us an idea for fruit fly control. Just leave a few glasses of wine around and wait till the flies drink themselves to death. It works! Sometimes there are questions we just can’t answer. Where do you go to get a goldfish autopsied if you think it has been poisoned? What is the best way to remove the green color from an emu egg before dying it? Does favouring the “flat” or the “drum” of a chicken wing reveal anything about the diner’s personality? One of my favourites: Can a gentleman’s lack of success on his honeymoon night have anything to do with having just consumed 12 bananas? I didn't dare ask about the motivationfor the banana frenzy. ACCN

Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. He hosts the Dr. Joe Show on Montréal’s radio station CJAD and Toronto’s CFRB. The broadcast is available at www.CJAD.com.

PM40021620

32 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Janvier 2010