Sep 2004: ACCN, the Canadian Chemical News by Chemical Institute of Canada

Canadian

canadienne

September

â&#x2013;

septembre

2004 Vol. 56, No./no 8

Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gas and oil industry

PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF CHEMISTRY THE CHEMICAL INSTITUTE OF CANADA’S OUTREACH PROGRAM

SPONSORSHIP 2004 Sponsorship categories for Public Understanding of Chemistry (PUC) activities and promotional materials are listed below. Your support will go a long way towards encouraging elementary and high school students to participate in the wonders of chemistry.

NAME THE CIC’S MASCOT CONTEST SPONSORSHIP The PUC’s Name the CIC’s mascot contest is a competition designed to increase the interest of elementary school teachers and their students in chemistry, while having fun all at the same time. During National Chemistry Week in October 2004, over 12,000 classrooms across Canada will receive a postcard intended to encourage teachers to partake in the nation-wide contest, and to promote experiments and articles available on-line at www cheminst.ca/ncw/. Your organization name and logo will be featured on the postcard, in Canadian Chemical News (ACCN), on the CIC Web site and in a press release.

CRYSTAL GROWING COMPETITION SPONSORSHIP The Crystal growing competition encourages Canadian students to grow the best looking crystal and submit it for judging at an upcoming local event. Top crystals are then sent for national judging. Crystals will be judged on shape and clarity as well as size. Schools will receive a resource package with all the necessary materials and instructions. Sponsorship pays for regional competition T-shirts, cash prizes, plaques and a trophy. Your organization will be acknowledged as one of the sponsors at all events, and featured in ACCN and on the CIC Web site.

PROMOTIONAL ITEM SPONSORSHIP Sponsor promotional and educational materials such as periodic tables, the Wonders of Chemistry T-shirts featuring the CIC Mascot, rulers, and pens for various awareness activities held in communities across Canada. Your organization’s logo will appear on the product, in addition to being acknowledged as one of the sponsors in ACCN and on the CIC Web site.

GENERAL SPONSORSHIP Your company’s generosity will help increase the success of each PUC program in order to get Canadian elementary and high school students involved in science. General sponsorship includes acknowledgement as a sponsor in ACCN and on the CIC Web site.

L’Actualité chimique canadienne

■

Canadian Chemical News

September ■ septembre

2004

Vol. 56, No./no 8

Table of contents Table des matières

A publication of the CIC Une publication de l’ICC

Page

Page 16

• Guest Column/Chroniqueur invité Good to the Last Drop Pierre Alvarez

• Letters/Lettres

• Personals/Personnalités

Industry Canada addresses the nation’s energy challenges and opportunities

• News Briefs/Nouvelles en bref

John Margeson, MCIC

Page 20

Feature Articles/Articles de fond Canada’s Energy Outlook

• Chemputing Who’s Snooping Around Your Computer? Marvin D. Silbert, FCIC

• Chemfusion Pop Quiz II Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

• Book Review/Critique littéraire

• CIC Bulletin ICC

• CSC Bulletin SCC

Canada’s petroleum producers take drilling to entirely new levels

• CSCT Bulletin SCTC

Stephen Ewart

• Local Section News/ Nouvelles des sections locales

• Division News/Nouvelles des divisions

• NCW News/Nouvelles de la SNC

• Student News/Nouvelles des étudiants

• Careers/Carrières

• Events/Événements

• Professional Directory/Répertoire professionnel

How Sweet It Is

R&D at Syncrude Canada leads to the upgrade of the bitumen process and product quality Sok Yui, MCIC, and Keng H. Chung, MCIC

Digging Deep

Cover/Couverture How low will it go? The implementation of renewable fuel resources is on everyone’s to-do list. But when will the threat of dwindling gas and oil supplies become a reality? What are Canada’s most viable options? Will we be ready? Cover photos printed courtesy of Ante C., Greg Garvin, Bjarne Hytting, and Jesper Markward Olsen

Guest Column Chroniqueur invité Section head

Editor-in-Chief/Rédactrice en chef Michelle Piquette

Good to the Last Drop

Managing Editor/Directrice de la rédaction Heather Dana Munroe

Investment in new fuel supply is critical Pierre Alvarez

odern industrial societies rely on petroleum to fuel economic growth and prosperity and the world now finds itself in a time when the entire spectrum of energy industries face significant change. Global energy demand continues to surge and put supply systems around the world under increasing pressure to deliver more. One estimate puts the price tag to overhaul the global energy and electricity infrastructure—oil refineries, pipelines, nuclear plants, power grids, etc.—as high as US$10 trillion over the next 30 years. Last summer, people in North America saw dramatic evidence of the importance of reliable energy during a massive power failure. The world also saw the highest oil prices in 20 years in 2003 but it did nothing to curb demand. The International Energy Agency predicts global oil demand will hit 82.5 million barrels a day (b/d) this year—10 million b/d more than in 1997, the year the Kyoto Protocol was signed. If people didn’t get the message the energy world was in the midst of a profound change, National Geographic spelled it out in big, bold letters on the cover story of its June 2004 magazine, “The End of Cheap Oil.” In Canada, federal, provincial, and territorial governments are working with industry in their Council of Energy Ministers (CEM) to address issues emerging around both the supply of and demand for various forms of energy. When the CEM met in September 2003 in Halifax, NS, concern about new energy supplies was paramount for industry. The Canadian market is too small to justify the hugely expensive infrastructure for major projects in the oil sands and remote northern and offshore oil and gas fields. Producers need to supply the domestic market and take advantage of export opportunities to make the projects economically viable. Consider a commodity especially important to the chemical sector—natural gas. Gas demand in Canada was 2.7 trillion 2 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

cubic feet (Tcf) in 2002 and could grow to 4.1 Tcf a year by 2015. To meet that demand, Canada will need the traditional sources of supply and new sources like arctic gas from the Mackenzie Delta, natural gas from coal (NGC), and imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, a study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute says that with appropriate levels of investment, Canadian gas production could reach 8 Tcf a year by 2015. Investment in supply systems, energy efficiency, and new technology is the foundation of a sustainable energy future in Canada. Intense competition for capital to develop energy projects around the world means projects in Canada must provide globally competitive returns on the investment. The consensus from the energy industry in its latest presentation to the CEM process is that governments and industry should adhere to four basic principles as they develop real, sustainable, solutions to Canada’s energy and environmental challenges. The principles are: • • • •

Investment matters; Well-designed markets work; Smart regulation is required; Smart research and development is critical.

To further support the CEM process and improve its efficiency, 14 industry associations recently created the Energy Dialogue Group to speak with a single voice on issues such as regulatory co-ordination, policy coherence, and fiscal regimes. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the changing energy world in Canada is the fact that we are now actively engaged in an energy dialogue.

Graphic Designer/Infographiste Krista Leroux Editorial Board/Conseil de la rédaction Terrance Rummery, FCIC, Chair/Président Catherine A. Cardy, MCIC Cathleen Crudden, MCIC Milena Sejnoha, MCIC John Margeson, 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$50; outside/à l’extérieur du Canada CAN$75 or/ou US$60. Single copy/Un exemplaire CAN$8. 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. 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 à votre disposition sur ligne dans la banque de données Canadian Business and Current Affairs. ISSN 0823-5228

Pierre Alvarez is president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The association represents almost 150 companies that produce 98 percent of Canada’s oil and gas.

septembre 2004

Letters / Lettres

A Battery of Energy Proposals Like Dr. Like Dr. Baird, I found the William E. Rees article in the April 2004 issue of ACCN to be “disturbing.” Baird makes a veiled reference to the Malthus theory and its

solution, chemical fertilizer. I am not sure that this solution solved more problems than it caused. After all, global population has exploded beyond society’s ability to deal with it. To paraphrase Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise, “20thcentury society has progressed in technological areas beyond the ability of our social scientists to deal with the consequences.” And prospects for the 21st century are not looking promising. I have concerns about Baird’s solution to our energy problems. He suggests extraction of energy from the environment using temperature differences between geographical locations in Canada. What would this do to

our weather patterns? Ice caps are already melting. Our northern indigenous peoples are complaining about seas where there once was ice. This year we are currently freezing in the east while the west is roasting. I am reminded of the great promises being made of batteryand hydrogen- operated vehicles. These, of course, will produce more pollution and/or, at the very least, more greenhouse gases than they will save. The electricity to charge the batteries and energy to produce and compress the hydrogen will require more nonrenewable resources to produce than if we simply continued to burn gasoline. I hasten to add that I am no expert in these areas, but

I do remember the entropy laws I studied almost 40 years ago. The only solution is reduction in demand, and dare I say it, zero or negative population growth. It would be interesting to calculate the number of people this planet can support. I am sure that we have sufficient information to arrive at a reasonably accurate figure. This calculation would have to respect current consumption patterns and the division of global wealth—as only global uprisings against the “west” will change the unconscionable per capita high level consumption in, for example, North America as opposed to India. G. Boyce, MCIC

Photo by Philippe Ramakers

Personals Personnalités

University

Ronald Kirk Marat, MCIC, loads a sample into a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.

Ronald Kirk Marat, MCIC, received a Long Service Award from the University of Manitoba. The award is given to honoured employees who have reached the 25-year mark. Marat was one of six in the faculty of science to receive the award. Lee Wilson, MCIC, was appointed May 1, 2004 to the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) chemistry

department faculty. He was the first Métis person to receive a PhD in chemistry at U of S, and he is now one of the first two Aboriginal professors in Canada to receive the 2004 University Faculty Award from U of S. The award is sponsored by NSERC. Wilson is one of 26 professors in Canada to receive this award designed to appoint more women and Aboriginal people to science faculties.

Photo by Julie Ovenell-Carter

held on Wednesdays at noon at SFU. Contact Sophie Lavieri at slavieri@sfu.ca for more information.

Distinction

Honjuan Hu, MCIC, Sophie Lavieri, MCIC, and other members of Chemsemble lift their voices in song.

Chemsemble is a chorale group comprised of Simon Fraser University (SFU) chemistry staff, students, and professors. Honjuan Hu, MCIC, Sophie Lavieri, MCIC, and the other members of this informal choir, invite anyone who likes to sing to join them. Rehearsals are September 2004

Margaret-Ann Armour, FCIC, receives the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences.

Margaret-Ann Armour, FCIC, received the American Chemistry Association’s (ACS)

Canadian Chemical News 3

Personals Personnalités Section head

Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences for her work in the formation and guidance of the program Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST). WISEST created a highly effective community of students, parents, teachers, sponsors, professional engineers, scientists, and university faculty for the encouragement of young women into the chemical sciences. Armour currently serves as Assistant Chair of the chemistry

department at the University of Alberta–Edmonton. The appointment of Jamie Scott as a Canada Research Chair in molecular immunity will help Simon Fraser University’s newest faculty launch a master’s program in population and public health. Scott, a professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and a biomedical researcher, is trying to develop a vaccine against HIV-1, the AIDS virus. Scott’s senior Canada Research

Canada Research Chair Jamie Scott (centre) and colleagues examine a mimic of the protein envelope for HIV-1.

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref Section head

Low Sulfur Gasoline

Photo by Ante C.

4 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Chair from the federal government is for a renewable seven-year term and will help her solve two key riddles. Typically, HIV-1 continually mutates to avoid annihilation by antibodies trying to latch on to it. Four human antibodies have been found that can target and neutralize many different HIV-1 variants, rendering them non-infectious. Scott is using the antibodies to figure out which proteins bind the antibodies to stable vulnerable sites on HIV-1. Scott’s second major challenge is identifying antibodies with fewer mutations than the four currently known to kill HIV-1. The fewer the mutations, the easier it will be for Scott to develop a vaccine. Thanks to the Canada Foundation for Innovation infrastructure grant, accompanying her national chair, Scott is acquiring equipment to hasten her identification of less mutated antibodies in HIV-1-infected people and vaccinated animals.

septembre 2004

Husky Energy will upgrade its Prince George, BC oil refinery to produce low sulphur gasoline and diesel fuels that meet Canada’s new fuel specifications. The estimated project cost will be $73 million, with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2005. The investment in upgrading the facility will make economic sense as Husky will not need to purchase an alternate fuel supply. “It will enhance Husky’s refined products division’s return on investment,” says John C. S. Lau, president and CEO. The Prince George refinery currently produces more than

“It is fitting that our first chair appointment is in vaccine research,” says David MacLean, a co-architect of SFU’s faculty of health sciences and a former medical health officer. “Media stories about infectious diseases, such as AIDS, SARS, and the Avian flu are daily reminders of the importance of vaccine research in halting their spread.”

In Memoriam The CIC offers its condolences to the family of Herbert Buchwald, FCIC

Erratum Gosh darm it! Element 110, darmstadtium, was misspelled on page 6 in the May 2004 issue of ACCN.

10,000 barrels per day of gasoline and diesel. With this upgrade, production at the facility could increase to 12,000 barrels per day. The upgraded facility also provides an opportunity for Husky to grow its ethanol-blended fuel business in BC. SNC-Lavalin has been appointed by Husky to provide detailed design and construction management for this project. Hydrogen supplies will likely be required to meet new sulfur in die sel and gasoline regulations. The additional quantities could justify the installation of an SMR unit for hydrogen production at the site. The facility currently makes hydrogen as a by-product from the motor fuel reformer. Camford Chemical Report

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref Section head

facilities need to be exhausted. This could be a good ten years into the future,” he notes. The success of any effort to invest in utilizing oil sands hydrocarbons for petrochemicals will require a highly cooperative effort among industry and government players in Canada to develop the appropriate world-scale infrastructure and technology. One possibility is to create an integrated megacomplex with production of both petrochemicals and high-grade fuels. This will only provide a new “Alberta Advantage” if there is full cooperation among industrial players and government in order to extract all the possible synergies. Instead of exporting crude oil to other locations, it would be upgraded to petrochemicals and fuel products in Alberta. Kinmonth says getting people’s attention today for a project that doesn’t deliver for ten or more years is a significant challenge. There is definitely an abundance of hydrocarbons in Canada’s oil sands and production is becoming increasingly competitive. Petrochemicals made using the Alberta oil sands hydrocarbons may never compete head on with Middle East crude oil and natural gas. But it could, under the right conditions, compete with other production centres in North America. Camford Chemical Report

Where’s the Canada in Petro-Canada? The federal government has decided to sell its remaining 49 million Petro-Canada shares during the 2004–2005 fiscal year. The announcement has been met with mixed reactions. The Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) says the sale is bad business and a betrayal of Canadian interests. “Canadians want and need a role in our oil and gas industry, and now is no time to sell off Canada’s gas station,” says CEP president Brian Payne. “Our investment in Petro-Canada should stay where it is and not be turned into … a windfall for investment brokers.” CEP is calling on the government to consult Canadians before proceeding with the sale of the shares. “Surely our

September 2004

public role in Petro-Canada deserves more than a unilateral announcement,” adds Payne. Harry Roberts, Petro-Canada’s chief financial officer notes, “we welcome this announcement, which represents the final step in a process that the government started in 1991 with our initial public offering.” The timing and details of the share sale will be at the government’s discretion. Petro-Canada’s interest in repurchasing any of the shares will be decided at the time of the sale, based on an evaluation of market conditions and competing priorities at that time.” “We will work with the government to ensure an effective placement of the shares in the market,” adds Roberts. “The government has been a supportive shareholder all along, so this change will not affect Petro-Canada’s business strategies or daily operations.” Camford Chemical Report

Canadian Chemical News 5

Photo by Justin Haworth

With the concern in Alberta regarding diminishing sources of ethane extracted from conventional natural gas, oil sands hydrocarbons are being looked at as a feedstock for the petrochemical industry. The huge abundance of oil sands reserves and lower production costs could benefit the petrochemical industry there. Shell Chemicals Canada, the Alberta government, and Nova Chemicals have looked at this option and they say it has come down to a matter of economics. “Traditional sources of hydrocarbons are diminishing as energy demand continues to rise. An abundance of natural gas was the primary motivation for the significant investment in refining and petrochemical activities in this part of Canada—it was the key element of the ‘Alberta Advantage,’” said Andy Kinmonth, president of Shell Chemicals’ Canada. Kinmonth says there are clear signs that these resources are diminishing. Less gas is being found with each new discovery and the gas is getting more difficult to bring to production. There is also evidence that the gas is less rich in liquids, the key ingredient for the petrochemical sector. At the same time, he says, technology to develop oil sands has improved, lowering the cost of development. “Given the increase in demand and the decrease in other sources of supply, the oil sands could eventually offer a competitive energy alternative.” Before new petrochemical investment in Alberta can be economically feasible, two hurdles must be overcome. “First, the existing oversupply of petrochemicals in North America needs to be absorbed. Then all opportunities for low cost expansion of existing

Photo by Jesper Markward Olsen

Preserving the Alberta Advantage

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref Section head

Photo by Greg Garvin

Pilot Plant Recovers Titanium and Zircon from Oil Sands

The oil and gas industry has been the main driving force behind the expansion of western Canada’s industrial gas capacity. The latest addition is Air Liquide Canada’s new carbon dioxide facility, but the company says it will shortly announce another investment of $30 million in new nitrogen capacity. Air Liquides’ new carbon dioxide plant will have a capacity of 200 tonnes per day. Total cost of the project is $12 million.

NRC Research Press now on Google Research Press scientific content is now being indexed directly by the Google search engine. Google has crawled the entire NRC Research Press Web site, including the approximately 10,000 full-text journal

The facility will exclusively serve the oil and gas industry in western Canada. The facility will recover, purify, and liquefy raw by-product carbon dioxide from Solex Gas Processing’s natural gas processing plant. It will be located on the same site as Solex’s Harmattan gas plant. The carbon dioxide will be used in enhanced oil recovery, mobile carbon dioxide services for oil, natural gas, and coal bed methane, as well as fracturing and stimulation. It will also be used for Air Liquide’s oil field services division, which provides a 24/7 menu of services for the transportation and production of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Camford Chemical Report

articles. Users will be directed to the Research Press Web site for access to the content itself. Searchers who hold a subscription to a title will be taken directly to the full text. Those without subscriptions will see the abstract first, and then click through to a pay-per-view screen if the want to access the whole article. National Research Council Canada

6 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004

Photo by Bjarne Hytting

Supplying the Oil and Gas Industry with CO2

Titanium Corporation has opened the world’s first pilot plant to recover titanium and zircon from oil sands. Located at the Regina Research Park in Saskatchewan, the facility will test Titanium’s Corporation’s proprietary technology to recover high-grade titaniumbearing minerals and zircon concentrates from the oil sand tailings of Syncrude Canada. Titanium Corporation signed a two-year exclusivity agreement with Syncrude and a major titanium pigment producer in June 2003. As part of the agreement, Syncrude will supply its oil sand tailings to Titanium Corporation for testing. The pigment producer, which has the facilities for evaluating the concentrates produced by Titanium Corporation, has the capability of purchasing all of the end product if suitable for its requirements.

“We are very optimistic about the potential of this pilot plant,” says Tony Mankowski, manager of business development at Syncrude. “The pilot plant will confirm the commercial viability of Titanium Corporation’s proprietary technology and provide a realistic determination for the costs of production,” adds Titanium Corporation chair and CEO, George Elliott. The $5 million pilot plant is comprised of a new 4,250 square foot facility built by Titanium Corporation to house its wet mill separation plant, together with an adjoining 2,800 square foot dry mill separation plant that is leased from the Saskatchewan Research Council. The pilot plant can process up to five tonnes per hour of titanium and zircon bearing sand from Syncrude’s centrifuge plant tailings stream to yield marketable titanium-bearing mineral and zircon products. With the growing need for new titanium supplies and an already tight zircon market, the extraction of minerals from Syncrude’s tailings stream could become the premier North American mineral sand project. Camford Chemical Report

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref Section head

Back to the Drawing Board Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc. (ACD/Labs), of Toronto, ON, has announced the integration of their Web-based prediction and database search technology

Petro-Canada Acquires Prima Petro-Canada has successfully completed its cash tender offer for all outstanding common shares of Colorado-based Prima Energy Corporation. Over 90 percent of the outstanding shares were tendered into Petro-Canada’s offer of US$39.50 cash per share. “The acquisition of Prima strengthens Petro-Canada’s core North American gas business,” said Petro-Canada president and CEO, Ron Brenneman. “Prima’s extensive land position in the U.S. Rockies’ natural gas basins and strong capability in unconventional gas production solidly positions Petro-Canada to benefit from the growing unconventional gas segment.”

Photo by Jesper Markward Olsen

into the CambridgeSoft® ChemDraw™ and MDL® ISIS drawing programs. ACD/ Labs Predictors for Intranets and ACD/Labs On-line, previously known as ACD/I-Lab, can now be accessed through ACD/ChemSketch, CambridgeSoft ChemDraw, and MDL ISIS Draw. The integration will allow users of ChemDraw and ISIS Draw to access, through a familiar structure drawing interface, the full range of on-line and intranet services. These services include systematic naming generation, ACD/ Labs’ latest version 8.0 NMR, and physicochemical property prediction algorithms and databases. ACD Labs On-line is available at www acdlabs.com/ilab. Advanced Chemistry Development

“We look forward to welcoming the employees of Prima and working with a strong and experienced team to further develop and expand Petro-Canada’s natural gas business,” Kathy Sendall, senior vice-president North American Natural Gas. The acquisition of Prima Energy will add 55 million cubic feet per day of natural gas equivalent production to Petro-Canada. Prima also has an extensive undeveloped acreage position and 1,600 drillable locations identified. In addition to acreage in the Powder River and DenverJulesberg basins, Prima’s 360,000 undeveloped acres include positions in the Green River, Uinta, and Wind River basins. Petro-Canada expects Prima’s production to double by 2007.

Oil Spill Still a Sticky Situation The ecological consequences of oil spills are longer-term and broader-scale than previously thought. This news comes from researchers studying the effects of the most high profile oil spill in recent times—the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, AK. Daniel Esler, biology research associate at Simon Fraser University, co-authored a paper that was published this summer in the journal Science. Esler’s paper shows that the environmental impact went far beyond the hundreds of thousands of sea birds, marine animals, and organisms killed in the first days and months following the spill. Oil continued to contaminate habitats and food chains for over a decade. Prior to the Exxon Valdez, the impact of oil spills was assumed by researchers to be related to their immediate and visible effects. Esler says the unexpected persistence of toxic subsurface oil that became trapped among sand and rocks led to the chronic exposure of wildlife. The Exxon Valdez disaster struck a particularly pristine environment with a highly visible wildlife community. More than 42 million litres of crude oil contaminated some 2,000 kilometres of shoreline. “People still remember the oily ducks and otters. Those graphic images showed the devastation in the

days and weeks after the spill,” says Esler, who was working as a researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage, AK, at the time of the disaster. Esler remained in the region for the next dozen years, eventually becoming part of a massive research project to track the spill’s long-term fallout. With colleagues from the U.S. and Canada, including lead author Charles H. Peterson from the University of North Carolina, he conducted extensive field research well into 2003. Researchers say chronic, delayed, and indirect long-term impacts must be considered when evaluating consequences or analyzing risks associated with oil pollution or other forms of environmental contamination. In Prince William Sound, substantial amounts of oil remained in subsurface reservoirs under coarse, inter-tidal sediments, protected from weather and retaining their toxicity, becoming “an enduring route of entry into many food chains” for years. Esler says such consequences highlight the need to reconsider the approach to ecological risk assessment. Such data could be useful when considering oil and gas development on the coast of BC, he suggests. “If there is a silver lining, it’s the fact that we are able to learn about the large-scale disastrous effects and better consider how to approach such consequences as they arise,” notes Esler. Simon Fraser University

Petro-Canada

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 7

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref Section head

NOVA Chemicals

Hydrogenics’ Technology for NRC

NOVA Chemicals’ Joffre site in Alberta

NOVA’s Pipeline Construction NOVA Chemicals Corporation announced that Taylor NGL Limited Partnership has agreed to purchase an existing Alberta ethylene pipeline and a proposed pipeline that NOVA Chemicals will operate to transport Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). The NGLs will be transported from Fort Saskatchewan, AB, to NOVA Chemicals’ Joffre, AB, petrochemical facilities. The net cash proceeds from the agreement are expected to total $25 million for NOVA Chemicals during the third quarter of 2004. “The sale of pipeline assets is consistent with our desire to monetize non-strategic infrastructure assets,” said Jeffrey M. Lipton, NOVA Chemicals’ President and CEO. “This agreement also provides NOVA Chemicals more feedstock flexibility for our Joffre facility and enhances its competitive advantage.” Taylor has agreed to pay $25 million for the existing Alberta ethylene pipeline— the Ethylene Delivery System (EDS)—that runs from Joffre to various ethylene consuming

and storage points in Alberta. The proposed Joffre Feedstock Pipeline will be built primarily along an existing NOVA Chemicals pipeline right-ofway. The total value of the asset sale and the construction project, subject to normal closing conditions including financing, is expected to be approximately $80 million. The Joffre Feedstock Pipeline will provide the company’s Joffre facility with propane and other NGLs that will be used as feedstocks in the manufacture of ethylene. NOVA Chemicals will be the sole shipper and will operate the Joffre Feedstock Pipeline, which will be owned by Taylor. The construction of the pipeline was scheduled for late summer 2004, with commissioning and operations expected late in 2004. The project received regulatory approval from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Environment. NOVA Chemicals also noted that this transaction is not related to ongoing preparations for the sale of its interest in the Alberta Ethane Gathering System (AEGS), which delivers ethane to Joffre for use as a feedstock in ethylene production.

8 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

NOVA Chemicals’ News

septembre 2004

Hydrogenics has announced that National Research Council Canada (NRC) will take delivery of a HyLYZER electrolyzer, which will use solar power to make pure hydrogen from water. The electrolyzer, which will produce 1.9 kilograms per day of hydrogen, is destined for the NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation in Vancouver, BC. The hydrogen produced will be compressed into storage containers

Element Number 111 A joint IUPAC-IUPAP Working Party (JWP) has confirmed the discovery of element number 111 and this by the collaboration of Hofmann et al. from the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany. In accordance with IUPAC procedures, they have proposed a name and symbol for the element. The Inorganic Chemistry Division Committee now

Oil from Space? The hunt for the next big gusher has often been a big news story, but geologists and oil companies say that discoveries near the earth’s surface have already been made. The new sources are several kilometres below the surface, and pumping from that depth is made more difficult by the unique changes that high pressure makes to the oil. This is one reason why scientists are excited about the promise in a new experiment called the Soret Coefficient in Crude

for the building’s backup power system. “This installation at NRC demonstrates perhaps the most important benefit of using hydrogen as an energy carrier,” says Pierre Rivard, president and CEO of Hydrogenics. The company is developing HyLYZER systems in three sizes that range from a personal refueler to a fleet refueler that generates up to 65 kilograms per day of hydrogen. The modular and compact design of HyLYZER refuelers allows them to be scaled for increased hydrogen generation and storage requirements. Camford Chemical Report

recommends this proposal for acceptance. The proposed name is roentgenium with symbol Rg. This proposal lies within the long established tradition of naming elements to honour famous scientists. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895. Share your comments on the committee’s selection by October 31, 2004 by contacting John Corish of the University of Dublin at jcorish@tcd.ie. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

Oil (SCCO). Jointly developed by the petroleum industry, the Canadian Space Agency, and the European Space Agency, SCCO will help the petroleum industry quantify the physical properties, size, and location of oil reserves and help it extract as much oil as possible from each reservoir. SCCO was an experiment on board a Proton/Soyuz that exploded at take-off in October 2002. Its 2005 launch on board a recoverable Russian satellite will determine if the theory of thermal diffusion proves itself in the microgravity environment of space. Canadian Space Agency

Photo by Tammy Sharp

New Hydrogen Plant to Supply Petro-Canada’s Refinery Air Products Canada Ltd. will construct a 71 million standardcubic-feet-per-day hydrogen production plant to serve the Petro-Canada refinery in Edmonton, AB. The hydrogen and steam generating facility will be owned and operated by Air Products under a long-term agreement. It is expected to be on-stream in April 2006. The hydrogen production facility, a natural gas-based steam methane reformer, will help Petro-Canada’s 135,000 barrelper-day refinery to produce cleaner transportation fuels and other petroleum products from heavier, sour crude feedstocks. The Air Products facility will be located adjacent to the Petro-Canada refinery and will also supply other customers in the area. The supply arrangement is one of over 25 that Air Products has undertaken with refiners worldwide. “Producing hydrogen to meet the high reliability needs of our customers is an Air Products strength and has led to numerous long-term relationships within the refining industry,” said Scott Sherman, Air Products’ vice-president and general manager for Energy and Process Industries worldwide. “We are pleased to begin working with Petro-Canada on meeting its increasing hydrogen demands. The Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan area is one of three key Canadian refining centres.

It is an area that will continue to grow in hydrogen demand as more oil sands crude is processed.” Sherman also indicated Air Products plans include a second larger hydrogen production facility to be located in the same region, to be on-stream in 2008, to meet this anticipated growth. “This is a key step for our continued move to reduce sulphur levels in gasoline and diesel,” said Tom Day, general manager of Petro-Canada’s Edmonton refinery. “We understand the importance of these initiatives to Canadians. Longer-term, the hydrogen plant will position the refinery for the continued shift to oil sands feedstocks, as announced in our oil sands strategy in December 2003.” The Canadian hydrogen facility is the 23rd to be built under the global alliance between Air Products and Technip. This alliance continues to provide the worldwide refining industry with competitive technology, plus world-class safety with “over the fence” hydrogen supply. Both companies bring a long history of hydrogen experience to their role in the alliance. Technip provides the design and construction expertise for steam reformers while Air Products provides the gas separation technology. Air Products, through its extensive operating network, and Technip, from its large reference base, also bring effective operational and engineering knowledge to “design-in” high reliability and efficiency. The plants are operated and maintained by Air Products under longterm agreements with customers.

News Briefs Personals Nouvelles en bref Personnalités Section head

Please Pass the Syngas Recent field trials undertaken by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) show that the use of municipal plastic residues as a feedstock in gasification may provide an alternative source of clean energy to help meet the increasing global demand for electricity. Gasification has been in use for more than half a century and is a proven technology currently in operation all over the world. Although often confused with incineration, gasification is significantly different. It uses an atmosphere that has very little, if any, oxygen. This prevents sulphur and nitrogen oxides from forming. Gasification also operates at very high temperatures and produces carbon monoxide and hydrogen (instead of the carbon dioxide and water produced through incineration). Another dramatic difference is that gasifiers produce a “syngas” free of dioxins and furan compounds. Until now, gasification plants relied primarily on coal and petroleum by-products. But two separate field trials conducted by EPIC at Enerkem Technologies’ Sherbrooke, QC, facilities clearly demonstrate that municipal plastic residues are an excellent alternative feedstock. The tests involved two samples of waste plastic from an Ontario municipality. The first included plastic film and the

second involved a mixture of #3 to #7 plastics. Both samples were destined for landfill. Results showed that the plastics offer high energy efficiencies in gasification, with the energy in the feedstock largely converted to syngas. Almost 72 percent of the feed energy was converted to syngas in the first sample and close to 77 percent in the second sample (approximately 15 percent of the original feedstock was lost in cooling the gas). The syngas from both samples was then burned to determine atmospheric emissions. Tests conducted by a third-party, independent consultant showed that all emissions were well below the allowable limits set out under the A-7 guidelines for the province of Ontario (which are among the most stringent in the world). The measured levels of dioxins and furans were as much as 16 times lower than the Ontario emission limits. The gasification of the two samples resulted in a tiny amount of solid residues—both of which showed that any quantities of heavy metals, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury were well below the limits of detection. Further information on EPIC’s gasification study can be found in the full report, entitled The Gasification of Residual Plastics Derived from Municipal Recycling Facilities, which is available free of charge. Contact EPIC at www.plastics.ca/epic. EPIC

like what you see? Send your news and story ideas to editorial@accn.ca

see what you like?

Air Products Canada Ltd.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 9

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref Section head

CEPA 5-Year Review Process Begins When the new Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA ’99) was passed, there was a requirement for a 5-year review. Accordingly, in March 2005, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Environment will have to begin the review process with the Parliamentary Committee. The two departments have established an Advisory Committee on CEPA Review (ACCR) to assist in that process. Fall workshops will be held in Eastern Canada, Montréal , Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver to identify issues and concerns for the CEPA review. The ACCR will have a role in developing these workshops and in analyzing the output from them and possibly from other groups that are reviewing CEPA (internal government review and possible provincial review process). This should assist Environment Canada and Health Canada in preparing advice for their ministers on the scope of the CEPA review to present to Parliament. What is outlined above will be the first stage of the CEPA review process. The rest will be up to the Parliamentary Committee through the recommendations that it develops and the way in which government and stakeholders respond to those recommendations. CHEMEXEC

10 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004

Chemputing

Who’s Snooping Around Your Computer? emember George Orwell’s 1984 with all those references to Big Brother watching you? If you are chemunicating with your computer, you will find that not only is Big Brother peering over your shoulder—so are all his sisters and his cousins and his aunts. There are a few simple things you can do to assure your own computer’s security. If you’re not on top of this, don’t be surprised one day to find that your computer has been infected and, what is perhaps worse, you may have passed that infection to the rest of us. There are multitudes of people out there trying to probe your computer to see if it’s up and what’s installed on it. When I went to high-speed Internet, I quickly realized that this was an always-on connection and that it might be a good idea to install a firewall. I chose the freebie version of ZoneAlarm and was shocked to find that it was blocking more than 500 intruders over the course of a day. They came from all over the world. With intruders coming in at that sort of rate, a firewall is a necessity. You can install one with software using something like ZoneAlarm or the personal firewall built into Windows XP. I prefer to go the hardware route. When I set up a LAN to link my computers together, I found that my router effectively blocked all these invaders without adding another level of software. Whatever you do, don’t trust that your firewall will remain effective forever. There are dastardly people out there continually looking for vulnerabilities in Windows and ways to wreak havoc throughout the Internet. I check my firewall at least once a month. The simplest method is to go to the Gibson Research Corporation Web site at http://grc.com/default.htm. Scroll down the page and select ShieldsUP! You will be given a number of options. Run both File Sharing and Common Ports. If everything is OK, please accept my congratulations. If it points to any vulnerability, act immediately. I have four computers on my LAN that is connected to the Internet. Gibson tells me that they are all invisible to the outside world.

Another major menace to our computers comes from those people who like to install their software on your computer without asking. Many of these fit into that grouping of viruses, Trojans, and worms. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written warnings about these. Install a good virus program to watch over your system, and keep it up-to-date. If it has not been updated in the last week, you are a menace both to yourself and to the rest of us who use the Internet. Do us all a favour. Either keep your virus program up-to-date or pull the plug and reassign your computer to serve as a doorstop or boat anchor.

The other group of unwelcome programs are the cookies that various Web sites use to identify you and what your preferences are using that Web site. I would like to suggest that you shut down your browser’s use of cookies, but I can’t. If you are going to use secure sites such as on-line banking or are a regular visitor to some reputable sites, they require this information and won’t let you on without reading their cookie on your system. While most reputable sites use the cookies in an honourable way, there are also many sites that send tracking cookies to mine data from your computer. Unlike Girl Guide cookies, some of these can be quite nasty and some can

Marvin D. Silbert, FCIC

even take control of your browser while they fulfil their designated duties. There is an excellent Swedish product called Ad-aware that you should get. Go to www.lavasoft.de to download a copy. You can choose the simple freebie that you must run manually or one of the paid pro versions that do everything for you. Your own usage will determine which is most appropriate for you. Be prepared for a shock the first time you run it. There are more people who leave their calling cards than you might expect. Check where Windows files all these tracking cookies and then set up Ad-aware to scan only those subdirectories rather than the entire disk. That will save a lot of time when you do future scans and encourage you to do scans more often. I’m not sure whether I should classify this last item as a security issue, but those popups that jump up while you are visiting various Web sites are a major nuisance. They are easy to stop with a pop-up stopper. If you are using a current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE), go to Google and select more. From the list, take the Google Toolbar and install it. This has a fairly effective popup stopper that also adds a number of useful features to your surfing. There’s something not quite right with my MSIE and I now prefer to use Mozilla in its place. (Version 1.7 of Mozilla is available free at www.mozilla. org.) Mozilla has its own built-in pop-up stopper. I have found that a few pop-ups do manage to slip through the Google toolbar, but none have yet made it through my Mozilla. Latebreaking news: I just installed Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. The firewall is greatly improved and actually works on a network. IE now has its own pop-up stopper and it looks good. You can reach Marvin D. Silbert, FCIC, at Marvin Silbert and Associates, 23 Glenelia Avenue, Toronto, ON M2M 2K6; tel. 416-225-0226; fax: 416-225-2227; e-mail: marvin@silbert.org; Web site: www.silbert.org.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 11

12 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004 Popular science writer, Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is 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. The broadcast is available on the Web at www.CJAD.com. You can contact him at joe.schwarcz@mcgill.ca.

Thallium nitrate. At one time, thallium compounds were commonly used to poison rats. In humans, they produce terrible neurological effects, followed by death. Hair can absorb thallium from the circulation and because the rate of hair growth is known, a timeline for exposure can be established. In 1997, Robert Curley’s wife was convicted in Pennsylvania based on the fact that his hair showed increasing exposure to thallium over a year. At the time of death, his stomach contents also showed the presence of thallium. His wife had just visited him in hospital and brought him tea, his favourite beverage. Well-laced with thallium, of course. It seems she had been lacing his food with thallium for over a year and assumed her husband’s death would be attributed to some natural neurological disease. But she was caught by a hair.

5. In a celebrated murder case, a woman systematically added a poison to her husband’s food. Hair analysis proved to be the key in getting a conviction because it established a timeline for consumption of the poison. What poison did she use? That vitamin C is an antioxidant. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) reduces elemental iodine (I2) to iodide (I-) by providing electrons. In chemical terms, this is called a reduction. Reduction is the opposite of oxidation, hence the expression “anti-oxidant” to describe the action of vitamin C. In practical terms, this means that vitamin C has the ability to donate electrons to free radicals and neutralize their effect. Free radicals have been linked with various disease processes.

4. When a drop of iodine solution is placed on a vitamin C tablet, the brown colour quickly fades. What does this demonstrate? A beverage made from the root of the kava plant (Piper methysticum) was commonly consumed by natives. Since kava has an effect on behaviour, drinking it was not considered to be a “Christian activity.” Kava was widely sold in health food stores as an anti-anxiety agent until it was linked with liver toxicity. Sales in Canada have since been banned.

3. Missionaries to some South Seas islands in the 19th century became preoccupied with eradicating a beverage commonly consumed by natives. What plant was used to make this beverage? The root of the mandrake plant is shaped like the human body and was therefore thought to have beneficial medical effects. But according to folklore, if a man pulled it from the ground, the plant would feel it was being hung, and would extract revenge. Mandrake does contain compounds such as hyoscine that have pain killing effects.

2. Which plant was traditionally pulled from the ground by tying a dog to it because screams from the plant were reputed to cause madness? William Bailey attempted to capitalize on the publicity given to Marie Curie’s discovery of radium by claiming he had found it to be a sexual stimulant. Bailey managed to sell 400,000 bottles of Radithor that contained radioactive isotopes of radium. The Radithor bandwagon ground to a halt when one of his most famous customers, golf champion and famous lover Eben Byers, lost his teeth and then his life to bone cancer. Bailey also died of cancer, and when his body was exhumed 20 years later, it was still radioactive.

1. Why was certified radioactive water (a.k.a. “Radithor”) a popular commercial product in the 1920s?

Joe Schwarcz, MCIC Holidays done? Warm up the ol’ grey matter for your return to class with more of Dr. Joe’s chemistry trivia.

Pop Quiz II Section head

Chemfusion

Book Review Critique éraire Sectionlitthead

The Genie in the Bottle: 67 All New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life By Dr. Joe Schwarcz 20 cartoons by Brian Gable, published by ECW Press: Toronto, Canada, 2000. ISBN 1-55022-442-5

e are continually bombarded with information overload. Internet and newspaper scare stories, misinformation, and urban myths abound. Montréal’s McGill University Office for Chemistry and Society was founded to educate the public about science in general and chemistry in particular—attempting to sort the hype from the truth. Its director, Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is a chemistry professor with an interest in applying chemistry to everyday life. He is the author of this witty and enlightening book, which successfully advances the office’s goals. I heartily recommend it to scientists, chemists, educators, and anyone interested in the multifaceted ways in which science impacts our quotidian lives. Schwarcz’s personal crusade is to demystify science. He has hosted a weekly radio show on chemistry (CJAD) in Montréal since 1982, has been a commentator on the Canadian Discovery TV channel since 1995, a columnist for the Montréal Gazette since 1997, and has been writing columns for ACCN since 2000. He has given more than 600 presentations to conferences, universities, schools, and interest groups, and more than a thousand presentations on TV and radio. He is he recipient of the Chemical Manufacturers Association Catalyst Award (1986) and the American Chemical Society’s James Flack Norris Award (1990) and the James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public (1999). Schwarcz’s purpose in writing this book is to provide a few scientific glimpses into the workings of our complex world. Schwarcz asserts, “My hope is that by offering explanations for a variety of common phenomena I can help the reader develop a feel for how the scientific method functions, and at the same time, lay down a solid foundation for critical thinking.” With The Genie in the Bottle, he has not only succeeded in attaining this goal, but he has also produced an effective and practical antidote for today’s epidemic of chemophobia and anti-scientific attitudes that permeate our current society. The essays range in length from three to nine pages. In the first of the book’s five sections, “Health Matters,” Schwarcz deals with a variety of commonplace topics. He presents a balanced evaluation of the benefits and risks of alternative herbal remedies. In “Food Matters,” the book’s second section, he duly notes the effects on nutrition, weight, trace element and cholesterol levels, metabolism, and general and specific body chemistry. “Chemistry Here, There,

Everywhere” opens with the essay that gives the book its title, “The Genie in the Bottle.” According to Schwarcz, “Chemistry is like a genie. It can do a great deal of good if you use it the right way, but if you are thoughtless, the consequences can be dire.” “Learning from the Past,” the fourth section, uses a primarily historical approach to introduce a variety of scientific topics and the people who contributed to them. “Silly Stuff” debunks such pseudoscientific or anti-scientific claims. The reader is instantly drawn into each of the essays by their humorous, ingenious, or catchy titles. Moreover, in contrast to most popular books on science, many of the essays bear the authoritative stamp of a first-person experience. In addition to learning lots of practical science, especially chemistry, the reader learns much about Schwarcz’s family, friends, and personal life. As one who has written popular articles on chemistry and science for newspapers and magazines, I kept asking myself where did Dr. Joe unearth all these curious and little known facts? Schwarcz has a way with words and an amazing talent for creating vivid images to elucidate scientific facts and concepts. George B. Kauffman is a Guggenheim Fellow, and recipient of the Dexter Award in the history of chemistry, in addition to numerous other honours. He is a contributing editor of seven journals and magazines and a frequent contributor to scientific literature.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 13

CANADA’S ENERGY OUTLOOK Industry Canada addresses the nation’s energy challenges and opportunities John Margeson, MCIC

anada is rich in energy resources that underpin our economy and our lifestyle. Most of our energy is derived from hydrocarbons—coal, natural gas, and oil. These are used both as direct fuels and in the production of electricity. The only significant non-hydrocarbon energy sources are hydroelectricity and nuclear power. Renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and geothermal account for less than one percent of the total energy supply today. Utilization of these alternate sources will expand, but they will not become more than small, specialized niche contributors to our energy supply for the foreseeable future. All of these sources have a role to play in our energy future. The challenge will be to optimize our resources by matching each end-use with the most appropriate source of energy, and seeking ways to take maximum advantage of our energy resources within Canada. Over the past decade, there has been a trend on the part of large energy consumers and the general public toward increased use of natural gas as the fuel of choice. This has been particularly noteworthy in the electricity generation industry. Gas-fired plants are cheaper to build and take less time to construct than any of the alternatives. This rapid growth has not been accompanied by corresponding growth in gas production. This has created the situation we face today of a tight supply-demand balance for natural gas, and markedly higher prices. While higher prices are good for energy producers, at least in the short-term, there is a risk that high energy prices will cause energy-consuming industries to 14 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

shift production to other countries, and to make their new investments elsewhere. Thus a balance needs to be found where both energy producers and energy consumers are able to be competitive and prosper on a sustainable basis.

Conventional oil For over 30 years, consumers have become very familiar with price volatility for oil and the direct link between the price of oil and global geopolitical events. Periods of rapid price increases typically lead to slowed economic growth, and sometimes to recession. Because oil is a global commodity, its impact on economies is also global, although the relative health of a regional economy at the time of a price spike affects the severity of its impact from one part of the world to another. Based on Canada’s production rate, we have ten years or less of proven reserves. This does not mean that we run out of oil in ten years. It means this is the size of our resource based on the oil pools we know about today, our production rate, and the portion that is recoverable using existing technology.

Oil sands With the recent international acceptance of Alberta’s estimates for established reserves of recoverable bitumen, Canada now has the world’s second largest reserves of oil behind

septembre 2004

only Saudi Arabia. Canada produces about 1.7 million barrels per day of conventional crude oil, and one million barrels per day from the oil sands. It is projected that by 2012, Canada will be producing about 3.3 million barrels per day. Production from conventional crude will have declined to 1.3 million barrels per day. Production from the oil sands will double to two million barrels/day due to the huge new investments that are going into the Athabasca region. Based on current production rates and reserves, the oil sands have a remaining life of the order of 500 years.

Natural gas Canadian production of natural gas has probably already peaked, and will gradually decline as wells mature and become exhausted faster than new discoveries are made. This is certainly true for our major gasproducing formation—the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB ). Declining production from the WCSB will be partially offset by growth in production in other regions such as Sable Island, offshore Newfoundland, and the Mackenzie Delta. Natural gas also exists trapped in coal formations. Technology for recovering “coal bed methane” is being developed, and it is projected to make a significant contribution to Canada’s overall production of natural gas beginning in the next decade. Based on the current proven reserves to production ratio, Canada has about a ten-year supply of natural gas.

Photo by Jan Sagemueller

... a balance needs to be found where both energy producers and

denied. Their reaction is based on fears of an explosion hazard. Another option being considered is to do the re-gasification at sea and deliver the gas to shore via pipeline. In August 2004, two Canadian sites received regulatory approval for construction of LNG terminals, one in Nova Scotia and one in New Brunswick.

plants. Whether, and at what cost, the Government of Ontario will follow through with its commitment to close its coal-fired generation capacity by 2007 is an issue of great concern to industry at present.

Hydrocarbon upgrading

energy consumers are able to be competitive and prosper on a sustainable basis. While oil is a global commodity, gas is largely limited to serving regional markets where pipeline infrastructure exists to move the gas to markets. The world’s largest reserves of natural gas exist in the former Soviet Union countries and the Middle East. To transport gas across oceans it must first be converted in liquefied natural gas (LNG) by supercooling the gas at its source. At the destination, the liquid is re-gasified and distributed to market through existing pipeline infrastructure. As LNG becomes more prevalent, we will start to move toward a global price for natural gas like we have for oil. Shell estimates that eight percent of global natural gas is converted into LNG today. By 2020, they project that this will increase to 11 percent. LNG is an expensive proposition. The cost of the liquefaction plant, specialized ships, and the re-gasification facility is in excess of $5 billion. Despite this high capital cost, it is believed that LNG can be economical in North America as long as the price of gas is above US$3 per million Btu. There are a few LNG terminals in the U.S., and none in Canada. Companies are looking at potential sites for new LNG terminals in both countries. Finding sites for these terminals has become a major issue with local residents in target communities fighting to have construction permits

Photo by Paul Fris

Coal On an equivalent energy basis, coal is by far the cheapest hydrocarbon fuel source. The size of Canada’s coal resource dwarfs all other energy forms, even the oil sands. Based on current production rates, Canada has a 1,000year reserve of coal. Canada must develop ways to use coal in a manner that is environmentally acceptable. Technology exists today to handle the emissions of pollutants like SOx and NOx. The remaining major challenge is to address emissions of carbon dioxide. This will probably require that the coal first be gasified. The resulting gases could be used as the fuel source rather than burning the coal directly. Research programs are underway to develop this “clean coal” technology, but it will probably be sometime in the next decade before this is ready for commercial exploitation.

Electricity Currently about 60 percent of Canada’s electricity comes from hydro projects, 18 percent from coal combustion, 13 percent from nuclear, 5 percent from natural gas, and the balance from oil and renewables. Most of the announced new North American generation capacity is based on natural gas. If all of this capacity gets built, the supply-demand balance for natural gas in North America will continue to remain tight, and probably worsen. Ironically, as the prices of natural gas and oil have soared, coal-based generation capacity has become very profitable. Producers that have the ability to swing between fuel types have been shifting toward coal, and idling their oil and gas-fired

Hydrocarbons are not only used as fuels, they are also used as feedstocks for value-added products like petrochemicals and the downstream derivatives resulting from petrochemicals such as plastics. In Alberta, the petrochemical industry is based almost exclusively on liquids derived from natural gas, whereas in Ontario and Quebec, both natural gas and crude oil fractions are used. In Alberta, the supplies of natural gas liquids are essentially tapped-out, and new world-scale investments cannot occur without a major development of some form. One option that might lead to new investments is a pipeline moving Alaskan natural gas to market, provided that Canada gets market-value access to the entrained liquids. A second scenario that is currently being explored is using by-product streams from oil sands processing and upgrading as a feedstock to produce petrochemicals and refined petroleum products. The viability of this second scenario is still uncertain, but if it proves to be economically and technically attractive, it would represent a very long-term, secure source of feedstock for the Alberta petrochemical industry. Parts of this note are based on information presented at the Canadian Energy Research Institute Petrochemical Conference held in Kananaskis, AB, June 6–8, 2004. The theme of the conference was “Positioning for Recovery.” For the past 15 years, John Margeson, MCIC, has worked at Industry Canada where he is the sector specialist with responsibilities for the chemicals and plastics industries. He received a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Ottawa. ACCN would like to welcome Margeson to its editorial board.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 15

HOW SWEET IT IS R&D at Syncrude Canada leads to the upgrade of the bitumen process and product quality Sok Yui, MCIC, and Keng H. Chung, MCIC

he Canadian oil sands resource is spread across 77,000 km2, mostly in northern Alberta. It holds about 1.6 trillion barrels of bitumen. Of this, about 300 billion barrels (that is equivalent to Saudi Arabia’s crude oil reserves) can be recovered by currently known in-situ and surface mining technologies. Three oil sands projects are now commercially operating and many other projects are under development.1

with cumulative SSB production exceeding 1.5 billion barrels. Figure 2 illustrates historical SSB production. Current production volume is equivalent to about 13 percent of the Canadian crude oil consumption. The Upgrader Expansion (UE-1) project that will be completed in 2006 will substantially add production volume and improve product quality. The new improved-quality SSB will be called Syncrude Sweet Premium (SSP).

1. The projects need to be economically viable; 2. The technology applied and its operation must be reliable; 3. The projects must be beneficial to local and aboriginal communities; 4. The operators must comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Environmental considerations drive the need for more energy efficient processes to minimize environmental emissions, and to produce more environmental friendly commodities. As the production of SCO increases to replace the depleting conventional crude oil reserves, improvement in SCO quality such as diesel fuel cetane number (CN), jet fuel smoke point, and heavy gas oil (HGO), as a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) feed, are technical challenges for oil sands operators. Syncrude strives for the highest standard in oil sands operation and constantly works to develop sustainable technologies. The UE-1 project is an example of such efforts. The project deals with: 1. increasing production at reduced cost, 2. improving product quality, and 3. reducing SO2 emissions.

Figure 1.

Figure 1 illustrates recently reported major Canadian oil sands projects. Syncrude Canada Ltd. operates a surface mining oil sands plant at the Athabasca oil sands deposit and produces synthetic crude oil (SCO: product name is Syncrude Sweet Blend or SSB) from the extracted bitumen. Its operation started in 1978 and the annual SSB production has increased from 28 million barrels in 1979 to 77.3 million barrels in 2003

16 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Oil sands operators are facing tremendous challenges:

The UE-1 project deals with the improvement of diesel CN and jet fuel smoke point, whereas improvement of the HGO quality will be addressed in the next stage of expansion at a future date. Improving the process of oil sands bitumen recovery and product quality is part of Syncrude’s R&D focus.

Figure 2. Cumulative SSB production since Syncrude’s start-up in 1978

septembre 2004

Photo by Paul Fris

is more critical than the sulfur removal. Both light and heavy naphthas are treated in the naphtha hydrotreater. The heavy naphtha is also used as makeup diluent for the upstream Froth Treatment process. The LGO and HGO are treated in the LGO hydrotreater and HGO hydrotreater, respectively. The bottoms are routed to a coker.

Hydrogen plant (3 units; 4th unit will be installed with UE-1) The hydrogen is produced by steam reforming natural gas (98.7 mol percent CH4) over alumina-based Ni catalysts, followed by shift conversion. The first two units are normal reforming to produce 97 percent purity H2 and the third one is a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) type to produce 99.99 percent purity H2. A fourth unit will be installed as part of the UE-1 project. Figure 3. Syncrude’s upgrading process

Syncrude’s upgrading processes Figure 3 illustrates a simplified flow diagram of Syncrude’s current upgrading process.2 Some highlights follow:

Diluent recovery unit (DRU: 2 units, 3rd unit will be installed with UE-1) The diluted bitumen from the extraction and froth treatment plants is fractionated in the atmospheric DRU. The diluent (heavy naphtha from LC-Finer) is recovered by steam stripping and returned to the Extraction plant. The oil sands bitumen contains some light gas oil (LGO) fraction. Most of the virgin LGO is recovered and routed to the LGO hydrotreater. Part of the atmospheric topped bitumen (ATB) goes to the Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU: installed in 1999). The remaining ATB is directed to the Fluid Cokers and LC-Fining hydrocracker. There are presently two identical DRUs. A third DRU will be installed by 2006 as part of the UE-1 project.

Fluid coker (2 units; 3rd unit will be installed with UE-1) The fluid coker thermally cracks heavy hydrocarbons to lighter products. The feeds are ATB, VTB, and LC-Finer bottoms. The products are sour gas, hydrocarbon gases, liquid products, and coke. The liquid products are fractionated into naphtha, LGO, and HGO. The coker products contain high sulfur and nitrogen. The unique features of the coker products are that they contain relatively high olefins (e.g. 30 vol percent or 80 bromine number of naphtha) and diolefins (e.g. 5 vol percent or 10 diene number of naphtha); and high aromatics (e.g. 58 wt percent in LGO) therefore, a low CN (e.g. 29). Naphtha is treated in the naphtha hydrotreater. The LGO and HGO are combined and treated in the HGO hydrotreater. There are presently two identical cokers. A third coker will be installed as part of the UE-1 project. The new coker will be equipped with a flue gas desulphurisation unit to convert sulfur in off gas into ammonium sulfate fertilizer as a by-product.

LC-finer hydrocracker (1 unit) Vacuum distillation unit (VDU: 1 unit) The VDU further distils the ATB into light (LVGO) and heavy vacuum gas oils (HVGO), and vacuum bottoms (or vacuum topped bitumen, VTB). The LVGO and HVGO are directed to the LGO hydrotreater and HGO hydrotreater, respectively, and the VTB is routed to the Fluid Cokers and LC-Finer.

The LC-finer cracks the heavy hydrocarbons in an ebullating catalyst bed with hydrogen. The feeds are ATB and VTB. The products are fractionated into light naphtha, heavy naphtha, LGO, HGO, and bottoms. Compared to the coker products, the LC-Finer products contain lower sulfur, but comparable nitrogen. This means that nitrogen removal of LC-Finer products

Hydrotreating units (5 units; 6th unit will be installed with UE-1) Syncrude now has five fixed-bed hydrotreating units: two naphtha hydrotreaters, one LGO hydrotreater, and two HGO hydrotreaters. Details of the existing units are explained in an earlier paper, “The Role of Catalysis in Syncrude’s Operation” (ACCN July/August 1999 pp. 25–27). The ongoing UE-1 project will revamp the existing units to improve processability and product quality, and add a new aromatics saturation unit to substantially improve the product quality. Some key developments include: • Naphtha hydrotreater: The reactor configuration of the existing units allows gas-liquid mixed phase reactions, thereby causing flow misdistribution and hot spots in the reactor. The UE-1 project will eliminate the mixedphase by splitting the diolefin reactor product into light and heavy fractions, and charging them separately into the following two main reactors. By doing so, flow misdistribution and hot spots are expected to be minimized, and therefore, the catalysts will perform much better. • LGO hydrotreater: This unit now has one reactor vessel. The UE-1 project will add three more parallel reactor vessels to handle a higher feed rate and improve diesel CN. • Aromatics saturation unit: Thirtyfour CN diesel and 15 mm smoke point jet fuels are typical from current SSB.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 17

This new unit will be installed to produce higher CN (48) diesel and higher smoke point (25 mm) jet fuels from combined LGO feeds, thereby producing on average 40 CN diesel and 19 mm smoke point jet fuels in overall Syncrude Sweet Premium (SSP). • HGO hydrotreater: The existing units will be modified to draw the LGO cut from the total hydrotreated products. The LGO side stream will be further treated in the new UE-1 aromatics saturation unit.

Syncrude Sweet Blend (SSB) and Syncrude Sweet Premium (SSP) The liquid products from all hydrotreaters are blended as SSB and shipped by pipeline to refiners in Canada and the U.S. Unlike conventional crude oils, the SSB does not contain any residue as shown in Figure 4. Refiners use the naphtha, LGO, and HGO fractions of SSB as catalytic reformer feed, diesel and jet fuel blending stock, and FCC or hydrocracker feed, respectively. After completion of the UE-1 project in 2006, much-improved-quality SSP will be produced.

Bitumen upgrading R&D initiative Hydrotreating Hydrotreating is a vital upgrading step that enhances bitumen-derived products to meet environmental and downstream refinery process specifications. For years, it has been the common belief that distillate hydrotreating is a mature technology and all petroleum distillates behave similarly. Syncrude’s experience, however, has shown that Athabasca bitumen-derived distillates exhibit some distinct hydrotreating process behaviours as compared to conventional petroleum distillates. For example, the nitrogen species in bitumen are relatively difficult to remove compared to other crude oils. As a result, the catalysts used for nitrogen removal from conventional crude are not necessarily effective for bitumen-derived distillates. To meet the challenges of higher throughput, better quality products, and longer unit run length, Syncrude initiated comprehensive R& D programs on stream characterization, hydrotreating catalysis, and catalyst development.

• Stream characterization: The objective is to quantify the molecular species in various bitumen-derived distillates employing state-of-the-art analytical techniques. The findings are linked to the hydrotreating catalysis research. The data show that the types of hydrocarbon molecules are quite similar in both

• Hydrotreating Catalysis: The objective is to develop custom-designed catalysts for bitumen-derived distillates. The challenges are to process heavier feeds, higher throughput, and longer run length. Development of catalysts for Syncrude’s feedstocks is well underway. A new catalyst for HGO hydrotreating has been developed and will soon be commercialized.

Product quality improvements With more stringent diesel fuel specifications being developed, refiners continually look for new processes to improve diesel fuel quality: lower sulfur and aromatics, and higher CN. As the oil sands industry expands , more SCO from bitumen will become available on the North American crude oil market. The SCO market share could be limited, however, because of certain properties, particularly its high aromatics, low diesel fuel CN, low jet fuel smoke point, and less desirable HGO as FCC feed. New means of producing better quality SCO are being explored. • LGO quality: From the research conducted at Syncrude, we learned that there is a direct relationship between aromatic saturation of LGO and product CN. At typical feed rates and reactor pressures, maximum aromatic saturation is achieved at about 380°C reactor temperature with NiMo catalyst, at a much lower temperature with novel metal catalysts and somewhere between these two with NiW catalyst.

Figure 4. SSB does not contain residue

18 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

bitumen and conventional distillates, but the compositions in various boiling ranges are different. As expected, bitumen-derived distillates contain high aromatic species. With an increase in the boiling point, aromatics content increases as does heteroatoms content. Also, molecules become more complex and difficult to distinguish from their functional groups. The obscure nature of these molecules may hinder the selectivity of catalyst function, hence impacting hydrotreating reactions.

septembre 2004

Reducing aromatics to increase the CN is an incidental reaction in the current LGO hydrotreater operation. Syncrude has explored process conditions to improve the diesel CN and jet fuel smoke point. We conducted comprehensive two-stage hydrogenation pilot plant tests; the first-

Syncrude’s experience has shown that oil sands bitumen is an economically viable energy source. stage over NiMo catalyst to reduce sulfur and nitrogen, and second-stage over either noble metal or NiW catalysts to saturate aromatics. From the research findings, Syncrude decided to install a new twostage LGO aromatics saturation unit with NiW catalyst as part of the UE-1 project. The ASTM cetane index (CI) correlations (D976 and D4737) are commonly used to predict CN based on density and distillation data. However, the ASTM CI correlations over estimate when applied to the bitumen-derived LGOs. For example, the calculated CI by D976 is about 8 units higher than actual CN for coker

gas oil. Therefore, a new CI correlation for bitumen-derived LGOs was developed and has been successfully used for SSB marketing, development work, and the UE-1 studies. The new CI correlation may also be useful for monitoring of the new aromatics saturation unit. • HGO Quality: Future SCO market expansion may also require the improvement of HGO quality. For the past 10 years Syncrude has conducted comprehensive studies and concluded that Athabasca oil sands bitumen can produce quality FCC feeds by choosing appropriate processes. A development study is underway to implement a process to improve HGO quality in the next stage Upgrader Expansion project.

Summary Syncrude has been successfully operating an oil sands plant in northern Alberta. Its SSB production has almost doubled the designed capacity since the plant start-up in 1978. Environmental impacts have been substantially reduced. The SSB production will further increase with improved quality through the ongoing Upgrader Expansion project. Syncrude continuously strives for sustainable development. The bitumen upgrading R&D programs in the product quality improvement are well underway to meet future market requirements. Syncrude’s

experience has shown that oil sands bitumen is an economically viable energy source.

References 1. Guntis Moritis, “Oil sands drive Canada’s oil production growth,” Oil & Gas J., pp. 43–52, June 7, 2004. 2. Sok Yui and Keng H. Chung, “Processing oil sands bitumen is Syncrude’s R&D focus,” Oil & Gas J., pp. 46–53, April 23, 2001. Sok Yui, MCIC, is a senior research associate at the Edmonton Research Centre of Syncrude Canada Ltd. His research involves quality improvement of the products from oil sands bitumen, including hydrotreating, hydrocracking, fluid catalytic cracking, aromatics saturation, and catalyst evaluation. He holds BSc, MS, and DEng degrees from the University of Tokyo, all in chemical engineering. Keng H. Chung, MCIC, is a senior research associate at the Edmonton Research Centre of Syncrude Canada Ltd. He is also a distinguished professor at the University of Petroleum in China. He holds BSc and MSc degrees from Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, and a PhD from the University of Calgary, all in chemical engineering. Keng is a recipient of the Syncrude/ASTech innovation in oil sands research prize in 2002.

The Upgrader Expansion project under construction

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 19

DIGGING DEEP Canada’s petroleum producers take drilling to entirely new levels Stephen Ewart

anada’s petroleum producers are rising to the challenge to meet rising global energy demand. Forecasts are calling for a record 20,000 oil and gas wells to be drilled in Canada in 2004—and some estimates go as high as 22,000 wells. All that activity translates into a staggering $75 billion a year of total economic activity generated by the Canadian upstream petroleum sector. Canada’s oil patch has seen a number of significant trends in recent years—the influx of U.S. independents, the emergence of royal trusts, and a revitalized junior sector—but the dominant theme in the industry today is the ability of the drill bit to unearth crude oil and natural gas. All of this drilling is helping Canada secure its status as the world’s third largest natural gas producer and ninth largest crude oil producer. In fact, Canada is one of the few major producing countries in the world that has the ability to significantly expand its petroleum production in the next decade. As the respected British magazine The Economist noted in 2003, energy developments in Canada’s oil sands can “put to rest the absurd but still oft-voiced concern that the world is about to run out of oil.” Oil sands production is expected to reach 2.6 million barrels per day by 2015. These vast petroleum reserves mean that Canadians can receive both energy and economic benefits from the country’s natural resources. A vibrant and active energy sector also plays a critical role in North America’s economic competitiveness and helps ensure the quality of life in Canada remains among the highest in the world. Canada has a key role to play in the global petroleum supply but this will hinge on the ability to attract investment capital—capital needed to economically develop the vast untapped oil and gas

20 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

resources amid higher operating standards and ever-more-stringent environmental requirements. If Canadian petroleum producers hope to continue to drill 20,000-plus wells a year, then industry and government need to work cooperatively to address three major areas of concern around public policy: access to resources, access to markets, and global competitiveness. Here is a breakdown of the areas of co-operation for industry and governments that will ensure Canadians can reap the enormous benefits of an industry that has helped to create 500,000 jobs across the country: • Access to resources Improve regulatory efficiency and time lines; Reduce federal/provincial/ overlap and duplication. • Secure and efficient access to markets Continue to support market-based energy development; Resolve infrastructure shortfalls in areas like refineries and pipelines that limit supply growth; Resist linking oil and gas exports to other trade issues. • Global competitiveness Recognize increasing cost pressures on the industry; Build on success of NAFTA and deregulation; Adopt a North American approach to research, innovation, and labour.

septembre 2004

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and other energy industry associations presented a submission to Canada’s Council of Energy Ministers in July 2004 that said the key factor in improving Canada’s ability to respond to demand for more supply is to create better investment conditions. The projects that now are critical to Canadian energy supplies (e.g. oil sands, offshore, frontiers). All require immense

… developments in Canada’s oil sands can “put to rest the absurd but still oft-voiced concern that the world is about to run out of oil.” capital funding. The Canadian market is simply too small to justify the extraordinary expense of these major projects. Although oil and gas investment will likely continue at historically high levels in Canada, new reserves are increasingly high-cost and high-risk. The next suite of opportunities lies in more remote settings further north or on ocean peripheries of the continent.

There is strong international competition for investment dollars. The International Energy Agency has said private and foreign capital is very sensitive to the nature and stability of government policies. If our policy and regulatory processes are clear, efficient, and effective, then Canada’s many other attractive features will make it a destination for energy investment. David Crane, economics editor at the Toronto Star, echoed those same sentiments in his column on August 4, 2004: “We don’t have an energy crisis in Canada today. But we could have if we fail to make major new investments, running into the tens of billions of dollars, in energy conservation and efficiency, new energy supply, and new forms of energy from wind power to fuel cells.” The ability to efficiently deliver oil and gas to domestic and foreign markets is critical to the success of Canada’s petroleum sector. About half of Canada’s oil and gas production is sold to foreign buyers—primarily in U.S. markets—and the benefits to Canada cannot be understated. Recently, some politicians raised the threat of restrictions on Canadian oil and gas exports to the U.S. to apply pressure on the U.S. to resolve other bilateral trade issues. Others have argued that keeping Canadian oil in Canada would help to create a lower retail price for gasoline for consumers hurt by the current high global commodity prices. These appear to be simple solutions to big issues but linking trade disputes or restricting energy exports make bad public policy. Previous restrictions on oil and gas exports have simply led to higher prices in Canada. Linking trade disputes within the world’s biggest trading partnership creates an endless set of problems to resolve. In fact, the success of Canada–U.S. oil and gas trade should be seen as a model for other sectors to follow. With progress in just a few key policy areas, the petroleum sector can continue to drill at record rates in this country and be an engine that drives the Canadian economy for decades to come. Stephen Ewart is the manager of communications and media relations for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Prior to joining CAPP, Ewart reported on the oil and gas industry for the Calgary Herald and The Canadian Press. His reporting on the Bre-X Minerals saga earned him a National Newspaper Award in 1998.

On August 14, 2003, at 4:11 p.m., the largest power blackout in North American history affected most of Ontario and the Northeastern U.S. One year after a massive blackout supposedly convinced Ontarians of the need to conserve electricity, consumption in Canada’s most populous province is higher than ever.

ARE YOU DOING YOUR PART? For more information on ways to conserve energy, in both the short and long term, please see the many programs and initiatives offered by Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency. Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency offers a good selection of free in-house case studies and reports. In addition, the Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies (CADDET) offers publications that outline new money-and energy–saving technologies from around the world. Order your copies today, while supplies last, at http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/cipec/ieep/newscentre/reports_vol_vii_17.cfm? Photo by James Black

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 21

Facts on Ca nadia n Oil and Gas Natural gas • Canadian gas output was down slightly in 2003 from the average 6.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) produced annually in recent years. However, record drilling in the first quarter of 2004 should see gas output climb back to around 6.3 Tcf this year. • More than 15,000 gas wells will be drilled in western Canada this year. Most new wells will be spudded across the shallow gas regions of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Wells with the highest gas production rates are being drilled along the eastern front of the Rocky Mountain Foothills in northern Alberta and northeast British Columbia. • The prospect for moving Arctic gas from the Mackenzie Delta into the North American pipeline network appears promising. An application for a pipeline through the Mackenzie River Valley is expected this year, with gas flowing by late 2008 or early 2009. • Overall, there is an estimated 363 Tcf of remaining gas resource potential in Canada. That does not include an estimated 167 Tcf of untapped natural gas from coal (NGC) resources. Fewer than 800 NGC wells were drilled in Canada in the past 20 years; however, there’s likely to be 1,150 wells drilled in 2004, ramping up to 1,500 in 2005.

Crude oil • Canada’s oil out put of 2.5 million barrels a day (b/d) was up slightly last year because Shell Canada’s new oil sands project came on-stream. Total oil sands production surpassed the 1 million b/d milestone by the end of 2003. • CAPP expects Canada’s crude oil output to grow again in 2004, primarily due to increasing oil sands production. Oil production offshore of Atlantic Canada is also expected to rise from 330,000 b/d to 500,000 b/d by 2006 when White Rose joins the Hibernia and Terra Nova projects. • Total Canadian production is projected to increase from the current 2.6 million b/d to 3.6 million b/d by 2015. Oil sands production is expected to reach 2.6 million b/d by 2015. • Conventional crude oil accounts for one in every two barrels produced in Western Canada. Advances in technology continue to prolong the lifespan of conventional resources but by 2015, three out of every four barrels of oil produced in Canada will come from oil sands. • There’s an estimated 175 billion barrels of oil-sands reserves. To put the size of the opportunity in perspective, it would take—at current production rates—about 400 years to deplete the reserves.

22 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004

CIC Bulletin ICC Section head

50 YEARS STRONG The CIC salutes our 50-year members It is with great pleasure that I congratulate the 33 members who have reached the milestone of 50 years of membership with The Chemical Institute of Canada. On behalf of the Institute and the constituent societies, I thank them for their contributions to the profession of chemical sciences and engineering and to the betterment of Canada. P. Sundararajan, FCIC, CIC Chair

Douglas H. Andrews, FCIC

Donald S. Gamble, FCIC

H. M. McFarlane, MCIC

M. T. Antonaides, MCIC

David A. I. Goring, FCIC

William O. Munns, FCIC

Robert H. Betts, FCIC

F. M. Hager, FCIC

J. W. Murphy, MCIC

Arnold C. Bradley, MCIC

R. M. Heggie, FCIC

J. A. Pinder, MCIC

Francis L. Chubb, FCIC

W. H. W. Husband, FCIC

William M. D. Powrie, FCIC

W. C. Cooper, FCIC

Ming P. Lee, MCIC

Douglas G. Rodenburg, MCIC

F. R. Crowne, MCIC

Bruno Lepore, MCIC

Maurice A. Ryant, FCIC

H. James Devlin, MCIC

Wendell I. Mackinnon, MCIC

Michel Senez, MCIC

janet R. Dickson, MCIC

Roland F. Mann, FCIC

Donald G. Smith, FCIC

Peter J. Dyne, FCIC

J. F. Matthews, MCIC

Gordon S. Trick, FCIC

Edi Elsermann, FCIC

John R. McAdam, FCIC

Raymond H. Zienius, FCIC

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 23

CSC Bulletin SCC

CNC/IUPAC TRAVEL AWARDS FOR 2005 BOURSES DE VOYAGE DU CNC/UICPA POUR 2005 The Canadian National Committee for IUPAC (CNC/IUPAC) established a program of Travel Awards for young Canadian scientists in 1982. These Awards are financed jointly by the Canadian Society for Chemistry’s Gendron Fund and by CNC/ IUPAC’s Company Associates (Merck Frosst, Boehringer Ingelheim). The purpose of these Awards is to help young Canadian scientists and engineers, who should be within 10 years of gaining their PhD, present a paper at an IUPACsponsored conference outside Canada and the U.S.

Deadline for receipt of applications: October 15, 2004

Le Comité national canadien de l’Union internationale de chimie pure et appliquée (CNC/UICPA) remet des bourses de voyage aux jeunes scientifiques canadiens depuis 1982. Ces bourses sont subventionées par le Fonds Gendron (administré par la Société canadienne de chimie) et par les compagnies associées (Merck Frosst, Boehringer Ingelheim) au CNC/UICPA. L’objectif de ces bourses est de venir en aide aux jeunes scientifiques et ingénieurs canadiens, qui sont à moins de 10 ans de l’obtention de leur doctorat, afin de leur permettre de présenter leurs travaux lors d’une conférence commanditée par l’UICPA à l’extérieur du Canada et des États-Unis.

Date limite pour postuler les demandes : le 15 octobre 2004 Renseignements supplémentaires : www.cnc-iupac.org

Details of the applications procedures can be found at: www.cnc-iupac.org.

CSCT Bulletin SCTC

CSCT BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOMINATIONS Canadian Society for Chemical Technology The CSCT nominating committee is chaired by Murray Watt, MCIC, of Imperial Oil. Under the terms of CSCT bylaws Article V, bylaw III—Officers and Directors, Section 2—the committee has proposed the candidates listed below to serve as CSCT Officers and Directors for the terms indicated for 2004–2005. Further nominations must be submitted in writing. Nominations must include the signed consent of the nominee to serve if elected. It must also be signed by no fewer than ten members in good standing. The deadline for receipt of any additional nominations is Monday, October 18, 2004. Those elected—whether by ballot or acclamation—will take office immediately following the annual general meeting of the

24 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Society at Mohawk College in Hamilton, ON, on Friday, November 5, 2004. President 2004–2005 Tom Sutton, FCIC Mohawk College Department of Mathematics Hamilton, ON Sutton received his BSc from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1965 and a BSE degree from McMaster University in 1967. He joined the staff of CIP Research Ltd. as a pulping research engineer and statistician until 1971, and then moved to Mohawk College, in Hamilton, ON, where he is a statistics coordinator and professor. Sutton completed his MEng at McMaster in 1976, with a thesis on “Design and Analysis of

septembre 2004

VLE Experiments.” In 1998, Sutton received the President’s Award of Excellence from Mohawk College. Sutton has been active in the CSCT serving as director of Local Sections and Student Affairs. He was a member of the executive of the Hawkesbury Local Section from 1967 to 1971, including a term as section chair. He has served on the Hamilton Local Section Executive, which he also chaired and was councillor for Southwestern Ontario on the CIC Council. In addition to his Local Section activities, Sutton has been faculty advisor to the CSCT Student Chapter at Mohawk College.

CSCT Bulletin SCTC

Vice-President 2004–2005 Joffre M. Berry, MCIC British Columbia Institute of Technology Burnaby, BC

the British Columbia Institute of Technology and is an adjunct professor for the departments of chemistry and kinesiology at Simon Fraser University.

Treasurer 2004–2007 Murray Watt, cCT, MCIC Imperial Oil Sarnia, ON

Berry received his BSc in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, a doctorate in chemistry and a post-doctoral fellowship from the University of British Columbia. Today he heads the Environmental Chemistry and Waste Management Program at

Berry is also president of JMB Research Ltd., an environmental consulting firm, where he has managed numerous scientific projects and has applied research programs in the areas of organic chemistry, environmental chemistry, and waste management.

Watt graduated from the Science Laboratory program at Fanshawe College in London, ON. He is currently employed as a senior research technologist at Imperial Oil holding the position of research operations support contact. In this job, he establishes additive specifications agreements and maintains Lube product specifications. Watt has served on the CSCT Board since 1998 including two years as president for the 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 terms.

Local Section News Nouvelles des sections Section head locales

75th LECTURE PROGRAM Planning is underway for the next invited speaker in the 75th CSC Conference lecture program of the Edmonton CIC Local Section. Jacqueline Barton, the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, has accepted the invitation of the organizing committee to come to Edmonton, AB, on September 20–21, 2004. This visit will be co-sponsored by the 75th CSC Conference lecture committee and the E. Gordon Young lecture program. (administrated by the Chemical Education Trust Fund. Barton has won many prestigious awards from the American Chemical Society, the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, and other agencies. She has received six honorary degrees, and medals from Barnard College and Columbia University. She has served on many

governmental and industrial boards and advisory committees and is presently on the Board of Directors of The Dow Chemical Company. Barton will present two lectures: • A public lecture entitled “DNA: A Different Perspective” on Monday evening, September 20, 2004 in the auditorium of The King’s University College. • The second lecture will be a more technical one, “DNA, Recognition with Metallointercalators,” at the University of Alberta on Tuesday morning, September 21, 2004. Stay tuned to Infochem or visit www. cicedmonton.org/events.htm for more details on both these lectures or contact Kirk Michaelian at michaeli@nrcan.gc.ca.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 25

Division News Nouvelles des divisions

REPORT ON THE 18th CANADIAN SYMPOSIUM ON CATALYSIS Montréal, May 16 –19, 2004 The biennial Canadian Symposium on Catalysis that took place in Montréal, QC, from May 16–19, 2004 (18th edition), was once again a success. Organized by the Catalysis Division and dedicated to all aspects of catalysis, including fundamental, applied, and industrial research, the Canadian Symposium on Catalysis serves as a forum for showcasing the latest developments in the field of catalysis, particularly in Canada. It promotes the exchange of interdisciplinary ideas and stimulating new directions. Since 1965, when the first symposium was held in Montréal as part of the annual meeting

Jacques Monnier, MCIC, Chair of the Catalysis Division, presents the 2004 Catalysis Award to Colin A. Fyfe, MCIC.

of the Chemical Society of Canada, the Canadian Symposia on Catalysis has enjoyed ever-increasing interest. The dedicated commitment of all the organizers of the 18th symposium to make the event a memorable one has paid off. The world-class scientific program attracted an unprecedented number of participants (189 registrations), in particular graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (72), from 17 countries. The scientific program featured the excellent plenary lectures of professors Gabor A. Somorjai, University of California, Berkeley, Tobin J. Marks, Northwestern University, Colin A. Fyfe, MCIC, University of British Columbia (recipient of the 2004 CIC Catalysis Award), and Douglas W. Stephan, FCIC, University of Windsor and winner of the 2004 Ciapetta Lectureship Award. In addition, 13 informative keynote lectures introduced topics in specific sessions. The topics included: applications of surface science in catalysis, catalysis for fuel cells and fuel processors, catalysis in green chemistry, catalytic polymerization reactions, environmental catalysis, photocatalysis, and unsteady catalytic processes. Seventy-five regular oral presentations were also delivered . Forty posters were presented at a well-attended and highly animated session accompanied by a reception. Overall, the technical program reflected a current preoccupation of the scientific community with problems concerning global protection of the environment. Many of the presentations related

to more efficient processes oriented toward the goal of a clean environment. The success of the 18th Canadian Symposium on Catalysis would not have been possible without you, the participants. Thus, we wish to thank to all of you for taking part in this event. Do not miss the next 19th symposium in 2006, in Saskatoon, SK. Jitka Kirchnerova, MCIC Chair, 18th Canadian Symposium on Catalysis École Polytechnique, Montréal, QC

Symposium organizers from left to right: Dimitrios Berk, Jacques Monnier, MCIC, Davit Zargarian, MCIC, Faïçal Larachi, MCIC and, Jitka Kirchnerova, MCIC, Michel Poirier, MCIC, Philip Jessop, MCIC, Raymond Le Van Mao, and Marten Ternan, FCIC. Absent: Chris Bertole, MCIC, and Peter McBreen.

26 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004

Photos by Jinlian Ju

NCW News Nouvelles la SNC Sectiondehead

Student News Nouvelles deshead étudiants Section

Graduate Studies Fair

October 5, 2004, 13:00–16:00

National Chemistry Week October 16–23 octobre 2004

Semaine nationale de la chimie www.cheminst.ca/ncw

Public Understanding of Chemistry The Sponsors (as of August 5, 2004) Gold Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research

Silver H.L. Blachford Ltd. Syncrude Canada Ltd.

Bronze John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd. Manulife Financial Meloche Monnex Recochem Inc. Seastar Chemicals Inc. Torcan Chemical Ltd.

Representatives from graduate schools throughout Canada will be present at the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference to answer questions and provide information regarding their individual programs. This fair is always an excellent opportunity for students to explore graduate possibilities in a relaxed, informal setting where they can: • • • •

Learn about various schools and programs; Learn what graduate programs are available; Talk to schools representatives; Find out requirements for specific programs.

Anyone interested in graduate programs is welcome. Visit the CSChE conference Web site for more information (www.csche2004.ca).

Career Fair

October 5, 2004, 9:00–16:00 Graduating students (BSc, MSc, and PhD), postdoctoral fellows, and unemployed members will have the opportunity to meet with a number of industrial representatives and explore the possibility of future employment at the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference. Companies are invited to hold interviews on-site, post jobs, or set up career information booths. Résumés are being collected in advance for those companies wishing to host interviews. Résumés should be sent by e-mail (Word or WordPerfect format) to Gale Thirlwall-Wilbee, career services and student affairs manager, at gwilbee@cheminst.ca before September 15, 2004. Late arrivals and those résumés dropped off on-site will be given to the companies to be considered for on-site interviews following the conference. For more information visit the conference Web site at www.csche2004.ca. Participating companies will be listed as they become available.

Ichikizaki Fund for Young Chemists The recipients of the 2004 Ichikizaki Fund for Young Chemists are Helen Lebel, MCIC, Université de Montréal; Shawn K. Collins, MCIC, Université de Montréal; and Karine Auclair, MCIC, McGill University. The Ichikizaki Fund for Young Chemists provides financial assistance to young chemists who show unique achievements in basic research by facilitating their participation in international conferences or symposia. The next deadline for submissions is December 31, 2004 for conferences taking place April 2005– March 2006. September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 27

Student News Nouvelles deshead étudiants Section

Canadian Students Shine at International Olympiad

Des étudiants canadiens brillent à l’Olympiade internationale

I am thrilled to announce the wonderful results of the Canadian Team at the International Chemistry Olympiad, which was held in Kiel, Germany, from July 18–27, 2004.

J’ai l’immense plaisir d’annoncer le palmarès de l’équipe canadienne à l’Olympiade internationale de chimie 2004 qui s’est tenue à Kiel, en Allemagne, du 18 au 27 juillet :

Participant Mara Inniss Adam Lerer Jeffrey Mo Ye Tao

Province Quebec Ontario Alberta Quebec

Medal Bronze Bronze Silver Gold

Tao finished 29th out of 337 competitors. The IChO results are now posted under the link “Catalyzer” for July 26 at www.icho.de. On behalf of all of us at the Canadian Olympiads, warm congratulations to all the members of our Chemistry and Physics teams! Well done indeed! This is the first time that Canada wins two gold medals in the same year—Amirali Modir Shanechi of Ontario also won a gold medal for the International Physics Olympiad in Pohang, South Korea, in July 2004. I am enormously grateful to the team leaders: Gordon Bates, FCIC (chemistry, University of British Columbia), and François Gauvin, MCIC (chemistry, University of Manitoba), who accompanied the team to Kiel. Many thanks also to the participants, to their teachers, and to all who helped select and prepare our finalists and team members. Best wishes, Pierre Savaria National Director, Canadian Chemistry and Physics Olympiads

2005 AWARDS

Médaille Bronze Bronze Argent Or

Tao a terminé 29e sur un total de 233 concurrents. Le palamarès officiel est disponible via le lien « Catalyzer July 26th » sur le site www.icho.de. Au nom de tous les responsables des Olympiades canadiennes, chaleureuses félicitations à tous les membres des deux équipes pour cette grande réussite! Bien joué! C’est d’ailleurs la toute première fois que le Canada remporte deux médailles d’or la même année. Amirali Modir Shanechi de l’Ontario a aussi gagné une médaille d’or à l’Olympiade internationale de physique 2004 qui s’est tenue à Pohang, en Corée du Sud, en juillet 2004. Tous mes remerciements aux chefs d’équipe, Gordon Bates, FCIC (chimie, University of British Columbia) et François Gauvin, MCIC (chimie, University of Manitoba) qui ont accompagné nos participants. Merci également à tous les participants, à leurs enseignants et enseignantes, et à tous ceux qui ont contribué à la préparation et à la sélection de nos finalistes et de nos équipes. Meilleures salutations à tous! Pierre Savaria Directeur, Olympiades canadiennes de chimie et de physique

The Norman and Marion Bright Memorial Award

The Canadian Society for Chemical Technology

Province Québec Ontario Alberta Québec

The Award will be presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in Canada to the furtherance of chemical technology. The person so honoured may be either a chemical sciences technologist, or a person from outside the field who has made a significant and noteworthy contribution to its advancement.

The deadline for submission to this award is December 1, 2004. For the full Terms of Reference, please visit the Web site at www.chem-tech.ca or contact the CIC National Office for a hard copy. Please submit nominations to: Awards Coordinator, Canadian Society for Chemical Technology, Suite 550, 130 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2; tel.: 613-232-6252 ext. 235; fax: 613-232-5862; e-mail: awards@cheminst.ca.

Submission deadline is December 1, 2004

Corporate Achievement Award: The Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering wishes to recognize Canadian-based companies that have achieved significant and recent commercial success as a result of innovative chemical engineering research, design, and practice.

C S Ch E

S C G Ch

The Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering

2005 AWARDS Submission deadline is December 1, 2004

Companies having more than 500 employees will compete in one category and those with less than 500 employees in a second category. An award winner will be selected for each category. Presentation of both awards will take place at the annual conference CSChE Award in Industrial Practice (sponsored by Lanxess Inc.): The award is given to a resident of Canada, a Canadian citizen, or a Canadian group who has made a distinguished contribution in the application of chemical engineering or industrial chemistry to the industrial sphere. This contribution will relate to the practice of chemical engineering and/or industrial chemistry whether it be in research and development, design, construction, and production or some combination of these. Preference shall be given to activities specific to Canadian industry. D. G. Fisher Award (sponsored by the department of chemical and materials engineering, University of Alberta, Suncor Energy Foundation, and Shell Canada Limited): The D. G. Fisher Award is awarded to an individual who has made substantial contributions in the field of systems and control engineering. The award is given in recognition of significant contributions in any, or all, of the areas of theory, practice, and education. R. S. Jane Memorial Award: The R. S. Jane Memorial Award is awarded to an individual for exceptional achievement

in the chemical profession and the chemical industry in Canada. It is the premier award of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering. The Process Safety Management Award (sponsored by AON Reed Stenhouse Inc.): The award will be presented as a mark of recognition to a person who has made an outstanding contribution in Canada to the Process Safety Management (PSM) Division of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering recognizing excellence in the leadership and dedication of individuals who have led Canada in the field of process safety and loss management (PSLM). The Syncrude Canada Innovation Award (sponsored by Syncrude Canada Ltd.): The award shall be given to a resident of Canada who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of chemical engineering while working in Canada. Nominees for this award shall not have reached the age of 40 years by January of the year in which the nomination becomes effective. The deadline for submission to these awards is December 1, 2004. For the full Terms of Reference, please visit the Web site at www.chemeng.ca/ cscheawards/ or contact the CIC National Office for a hard copy. Please send all documents as an e-mail attachment in the format of your choice. For any other paper documents that cannot be sent electronically, mail one copy. Submit nominations to: Awards Coordinator, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, Suite 550, 130 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2; tel.: 613-232-6252, ext. 235; fax: 613-232-5862; e-mail: awards@cheminst.ca.

Careers Carrières

Canada Research Chair Colloid Chemistry The Department of Chemistry, St. Francis Xavier University, invites applications for a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Colloid Chemistry. The Department has an excellent teaching record and established research strengths in the traditional chemistry sub-disciplines. Colloid chemistry and polymer chemistry have been identified as areas of strategic importance for the Department and the Tier I CRC is an essential step in the expansion of the Department’s research interests in these areas. While the position is research driven, it also includes a teaching commitment. The appointment is conditional upon the successful applicant being approved as a Tier I CRC. The CRC program is described in detail at%http://www.chairs.gc.ca. Further information about the Department of Chemistry and its research and teaching can be found at http://www.stfx.ca/people/chemist/. St. F.X. University has established the Centre for Applied Petroleum Sciences which will help service the research needs of the burgeoning oil and gas industry in Northern Nova Scotia. Colloid Chemistry is seen as a core component of the Centre’s expertise; hence, the Colloid Chemistry CRC is one of the key positions that will provide leadership to the Centre. In order to augment the Department’s surfactant research programs on the thermodynamics of self-assembly, surfactant synthesis, microemulsions, and polymer/surfactant interactions, the Department invites applications from interested individuals with research interests in Colloid Science, and, in particular, welcomes applications from candidates whose Colloid research programs have a significant oil and gas component. St. F.X. University, located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, is a top-ranked Canadian undergraduate institution. St. F.X. is in the midst of an impressive renewal program including a new Physical Sciences complex which will open in the summer of 2004 and will house the Department of Chemistry. The Town of Antigonish, a community noted for its quality of life, is only minutes from the rugged coastal beauty of Northern Nova Scotia, and 30 minutes from Cape Breton Island, long one of the premiere tourist destinat ions in Eastern Canada. Through its twenty-five academic departments, St. F.X. University offers a wide range of undergraduate programs. The University and in particular, the Department of Chemistry, has a long and distinguished history of training top quality undergraduate students and researchers. In addition, the Department has an active, long established, graduate program at the Masters level. As part of its overall mission statement, St. F.X. sees faculty involvement in research and creative work as an integral part of delivering on its promise of excellence in undergraduate instruction. St. F.X. provides strong support for the encouragement of these priorities. Among the smaller, primarily undergraduate universities, St. F.X. rates very highly in NSERC competitions for research grants Applications will be considered beginning September 15, 2004. The competition will remain open until a nominee is selected. Applications should include a CV, a research dossier including a statement of their research vision and how it relates to the Department’s objectives, a statement on their teaching philosophy and experience, and the names of at least three referees, who will be contacted later in the selection process. Applications should be sent to the address below: Dr. E.J. McAlduff, Dean of Science St. Francis Xavier University P.O. Box 5000 Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5 Tel.: (902) 867-3903 • E mail: emcalduf@stfx.ca

30 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004

EMPLOYMENT WANTED Chemist/Geologist with several graduate level courses seeking a part-time Product Development position in the Calgary area. I possess relevant research experience pertaining to elastomeric paint, stucco, detergents, asphalt emulsions and drywall joint cement compounds. I plan on taking mining geophysics next fall. Please contact David at 403-280-7706 or by e-mail at macneildavid@hotmail.com. Chemical Engineer (PhD) with 18+ years research experience in mathematical modeling of various chemical and engineering processes for their optimization is looking for Canadian employer who is interested in developing new, effective, ecologically benign process of natural gas conversion into synthesis gas (hydrogen). Contact Michael at 416-650-9309 or mgranovskiy@sympatico.ca.

Visit www.cheminst.ca/ncw for ideas on how to

CELEBRATE NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK October 16-23, 2004

Careers Carrières

POSITION IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY-BIOCHEMISTRY The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Université du Québec à Montréal is seeking candidates for a tenure-track professorship in analytical chemistry or biochemistry. Hiring should be at the Assistant Professor level but could also be at the rank of Associate or Full Professor. Candidates with interests in mass spectrometry, NMR, bioanalytical methods and metabolomics will be given special considerations. They are expected to develop an original research program that can be funded by major granting agencies. The candidates should be able to teach analytical chemistry and/or biochemistry at the undergraduate and graduate levels in French. More information on the department is available at: http://www.er.uqam.ca/ nobel/dep_chim/dep_chim.htm . Qualified applicants must send a curriculum vitae, a five-page research proposal, a statement of teaching interests and should arrange for three letters of reference to be sent to: Dr. René Roy, Chair of the Search Committee Département de chimie et de biochimie Université du Québec à Montréal C. P. 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, QC Canada H3C 3P8 Email : roy.rene@uqam.ca Review of applications will begin November 1st, 2004 and will continue until the position is filled. The start date could be as early as January 1st 2005.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 31

Careers Carrières

Tenure-Stream Appointment in Polymer Chemistry The University of Toronto at Mississauga, Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences, invites applications for a tenure-stream position in Polymer Chemistry at the rank of Assistant Professor, effective July 1, 2005. Applications will be accepted in all areas of polymer chemistry but preference will be given to candidates with research interests in polymer synthesis, polymer self-assembly, materials synthesis and characterization, nanotechnology or the study of polymeric materials at the polymer-biology interface. Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in chemistry, with extensive research experience in the areas of polymers, a strong academic background, an excellent research record and potential for excellence in teaching. The successful candidate will be expected to conduct an active and innovative research program and to teach at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The successful candidate will be located in the Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences, University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM), and will also be a member of the graduate Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto. Further information can be found at http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/cps. The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, members of sexual minority groups, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Applications will be accepted until October 15, 2004. Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae, statement of teaching philosophy and interests, an outline of their proposed research, and should arrange to have three confidential letters of recommendation sent on their behalf to: Dr. Alexander Cruden, Chair, Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 1C6.

GET NOTICED Advertising in ACCN puts your message in front of 6,000

chemists, chemical engineers and technologists every month at a very low cost. 32 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

septembre 2004

Events Événements

Professional Directory Répertoire professionnel

Canada Seminars and courses October 4–5, 2004. ICPES—Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy, Canadian Society for Chemical Technology, Calgary, AB. Tel.: 888-542-2242; Web site: www.cheminst.ca/profdev. October 4–5, 2004. Laboratory Safety, Canadian Society for Chemical Technology, Calgary, AB. Tel.: 888-542-2242; Web site: www.cheminst.ca/profdev. November 5–7, 2004. The 15th Quebec–Ontario Minisymposium in Synthesis and Bio-Organic Chemistry (QOMSBOC), Ottawa, ON. Contact: Louis Barriault or William Ogilvie; Tel.: 613-562-5800.

Conferences September 25, 2004. First Annual General Meeting of Nova Scotia Chemists’ Society, Halifax, NS. Contact: Jim Frazee; E-mail: jfrazee@accesswave.ca.

Careers Carrières

October 3–6, 2004. Energy for the Future—54th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Calgary, AB, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE); Tel.: 613-232-6252; Web site: www.csche2004.ca. July 31–August 4, 2005. 18th Biennial Chem Ed Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Web site: http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/chemed2005/welcome.htm. August 19–26, 2005. 20th International Symposium on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (ISPAC 20), Toronto, ON. Contact: Chris Marvin; Tel.: 905-319-6919; E-mail: Chris. Marvin@ec.gc.ca. August 19–26, 2005. 25th International Symposium on Halogenated Environmental Organic Pollutants and POPs (Dioxin 2005), National Water Research Institute, Toronto, ON. Contact: Mehran Alaee; Tel.: 905-336-4752; E-mail: Mehran.Alaee@ec.gc.ca; Web site: www.dioxin2005.org.

U.S. and Overseas September 17–18, 2004. Public Images of Chemistry in the 20th Century, Commission for the History of Modern Chemistry, Paris, France. Web site: www.hyle.org/service/chmc2004/. October 18–19, 2004. International Symposium for Engineering IT (ISEIT) 2004, AVEVA, Houston, TX. Web site: www.iseit.com. October 18–22, 2004. Fifth International Congress on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Cuban Chemical Society, Havana, Cuba. Web site: www.loseventos.cu/scq2004/. November 7–12, 2004. AIChE Annual Meeting, Austin, TX; Tel.: 212-591-7330; Web site: www.aiche.org. July 10–15, 2005. 7th World Congress on Chemical Engineering (WCCE7), IchemE and the European Federation, Glasgow, Scotland. Contact: Sarah Fitzpatrick; E-mail: sarah. fitzpatrick@concorde-uk.com. August 13–21, 2005. IUPAC 43rd General Assembly, Beijing, China. Contact: IUPAC Secretariat; Tel.: +1 919-485-8700; Fax: +1 919-485-8706; E-mail: secretariat@iupac.org.

September 2004

Canadian Chemical News 33

Careers Carrières

www.chemistry.mcmaster.ca NEW FACILITIES FOR TEACHING AND GRADUATE RESEARCH

U O Y E SE GARY! L IN CA

October 3–6, 2004

www.csche2004.ca

Analytical & Environmental Chemistry Biological Chemistry Inorganic Chemistry Materials Chemistry Organic Chemistry Physical & Theoretical Chemistry

34 L’Actualité chimique canadienne

Telus Convention Centre

septembre 2004

55e Congrès canadien de génie chimique

Annonce préliminaire du 16 au 19 octobre 2005 Metro Toronto Convention Centre Toronto (Ontario) Canada Société canadienne de génie chimique • www.csche2005.ca

55th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference

October 16â&#x20AC;&#x201C;19, 2005 Metro Toronto Convention Centre Toronto, Ontario, Canada Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering â&#x20AC;˘ www.csche2005.ca

PM40021620

Preliminary Announcement