Writing – Page 3 – Yours truly, Yasmin

Are Growth Prospects Stunted for Plant-based Chemicals?

Originally published 03 March 2015 on IHS Engineering360.

Crude oil and natural gas have long been the primary feedstocks for the global chemical industry. But renewable feedstocks such as sugar (from corn or sugarcane) and glycerin (from vegetable oils) have recently challenged the dominance of fossil fuels. Natural fats and oils have long served as feedstocks for fatty acids and fatty alcohols; starches and sugars are well-established starting materials for ethanol, lactic acid and sorbitol.

More recently, plant-derived feedstocks have emerged as starting materials for commodity chemicals such as ethylene, isoprene and para-xylene, as well as for novel chemicals such as 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, isosorbide and farnesene. These bio-based building blocks are in various stages of commercial development.

The chemicals industry remains in constant motion, however, and recent developments in the petrochemical market have significantly changed the outlook for renewable chemicals. A glut of naphtha-based cracking capacity is coming on stream in Asia, easing concerns about future shortages of C3, C4, C5 and pygas feedstocks. Those concerns drove much of the interest in alternative routes to butadiene, isoprene and other chemicals.

Even so, corporate sustainability initiatives play a role in the development of bio-based chemicals and plastics. Coca-Cola Co., for instance, pledged in 2009 to use PlantBottle bio-based packaging for all Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles by 2020. Automaker Ford used PlantBottle material for interior fabric fitted into a Ford Fusion Energi, introduced in 2013. The fabric consisted of up to 30% plant-based materials and covered the car’s seat cushions, seat backs, head restraints, door panel inserts and headliners.

Read more at
IHS Engineering360, March 2015.

Propylene in Demand: Roadblocks and Opportunities

Originally published 05 February 2015 on IHS Engineering360.

The petrochemical industry is made up of seven building blocks: synthesis gas, the three olefins— ethylene, propylene and C4 olefins—and the three aromatics— benzene, toluene and the xylenes. Among the olefins is propylene, one of the most significant chemical building blocks produced industrially for polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile, propylene oxide derivatives and other uses.

Two-thirds of the world’s propylene goes to PP production. Demand for PP has been high for the past decade due to its versatility and reasonable price. Since its invention in 1954, PP has evolved into one of the most widely used products of the olefins industry. It is used in day-to-day products such as plastic parts, carpeting, paper and material found in loudspeakers and similar electronics. PP is also used in thermoplastic fiber, reinforced composites and laboratory equipment.

At present, global propylene demand is roughly 90 million metric tons (MMT) and is estimated to rise to 130 MMT by 2023, approximately 30% of which will be on-purpose production based according to IHS Chemical.

Propylene is largely produced in traditional processes such as steam cracking and fluid-catalytic-cracking (FCC) units. In the U.S., refinery-based production makes up a large portion of the supply given the many FCC units located in the country, says Chuck Carr, Global Olefins director at IHS Chemical.

Algal Biofuels: Closer to Sustainability?

Originally published 16 December 2014 on IHS Engineering360.

To tackle concerns driven by carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, chemical majors are using bio-process engineering technologies to convert carbon sources into new energy forms.

Presently, organic materials like plants, agricultural waste, forest residues, microbes and other sources otherwise known as biomass are being transformed into useful biofuels such as methane or transportation fuels: ethanol and biodiesel to meet environmental sustainability goals. To encourage those efforts, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced a $25 million fund for biofuel research with one target: to drive down the cost of algal-derived biofuels to below $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) over the next five years.

Biofuels are split into four generations based on their biomass source. The first generation is produced from food crops such as sugars and vegetable oils. The second one (also known as advanced biofuels) is generated from non-food crops like agricultural waste and lignocellulosic biomass.

Membrane Technology & Industrial Applications

Originally published 13 November 2014 on IHS Engineering360.

Membrane technology like pervaporation (PV) and membrane filtration has been getting a lot of attention in the industry because of its energy efficiency and ability to break azeotropic systems.

The principle behind this technology is simple: the membrane behaves like a fixed filter that will allow water to pass through, while it catches suspended solids and other materials. Membranes are manufactured in a variety of configurations, such as hollow fiber, spiral, and tubular shapes. Each configuration offers a different degree of separation depending on the membrane process and the mixture to be separated.

PV in particular has been the only membrane process largely utilized for chemical purification over the last few decades with application in three primary areas: organophilic separation, removal of organic compounds from a dilute solution like water and dehydration of aqueous mixtures.

Islamic Bioethics & the Unconventional Gift of Life

Originally published in the November 2014 issue of the Muslim Science.

The ability to have children has always been an important aspect of the lives of many. For Muslim Middle Easters and others as well, having children is highly desired, as parenthood is culturally mandatory. In that regards, many unconventional reproductive technologies are being explored to lessen the effects of infertility. Globally, one in six couples encounters an infertility problem at least once throughout their reproductive life span. Infertility in women is approximately nine percent for individuals aged 20 to 44[1].

Compared with the west, Muslim women have limited options as third party reproductive assistance is largely banned with only Iran and Lebanon utilizing such technology in the Muslim Middle East[2]. “It is important to bare in mind that none of these technologies existed at the time and all that can be done to legitimize them is to interpret what the religion would have said,” says Dr. Soraya Tremayne, Founding Director of the Fertility and Reproduction Studies Group (FRSG), Oxford University. “The Shia have made extensive use of ‘ijtihad’ and allowed all sorts of reproductive technologies, including stem cell research, sex selection etc all within the religious boundaries and through ijtihad.” Ijtihad is an Islamic legal term meaning independent reasoning.

Surrogacy
The main purpose of surrogacy is to achieve genetic motherhood via a surrogate who is willing to carry an embryo belonging to a sterile pair (the biological parents) to full term and deliver the infant to them upon birth[3]. To many Islamic scholars, the practice is also referred to as ‘hiring a womb’. Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, the Associate Director of Mosque Foundation believes surrogacy is forbidden in Islam: “It is not permissible to hire a womb (surrogacy) for it introduces a sperm of a man to a uterus of a woman that he is not married to, and God Says in the Holy Quran – Those who guard their private parts except from their spouses…Whosoever goes beyond that are indeed transgressors, 23:5”.

Read more at
Muslim Science, November 2014.