the resin/mineral complexes formed by its process. Asahi is using a special grade of high-density polyethylene for best process efficiency, but says that basically any commercial grade of the polymer is usable. Only high-density polyethylene and nylon currently are being used as resin bases. Nylon 6 is also usable, and the suitability of polypropylene is being investigated. The mineral component undergoes an undisclosed pretreatment "to endow it with chemical activity," the Japanese company says.
Bacteria aid recovery of oil from shale
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MICROBIAL—Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria may make it easier to recover the oil from oil shale, according to Dr. Teh Fu Yen of the University of Southern California. Dr. Yen notes that a typical oil shale contains about 5 gallons of oil per ton. But with present technology, getting that 5 gallons out of the rock is a very difficult process, one
requiring large energy expenditures and presenting potentially serious ecological problems. Fortunately, Dr. Yen observes, the inorganic portion of the matrix is about 50% limestone. That's where the bacteria come in. Preliminary investigation indicates, he says, that several species of bacteria, particularly Thiobacillus thiooxidans, are able to grow in oil shale. They metabolize sulfur to produce sulfuric acid, which dissolves the calcareous portion of the matrix. The shale, formerly almost impermeable, becomes riddled with interconnecting microscopic voids that facilitate migration of the oil, thus making it more easily extracted by pyrolysis or by other means. In typical experiments, samples of Colorado oil shales had lost 36 to 40% of their original weight after 14 days of leaching with the bacterial preparation. Now, Dr. Yen says, the USC team is looking for bacteria that metabolize silica, the next most abundant component, and hopes, ultimately, to be able to remove about 60% of the matrix shale.
Laser fusion research under way
34th EXPOSITION OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES MANAGEMENT: INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION CO., 200 PARK AVE., NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017
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C&EN Sept. 17, 1973
A project begun last year (C&EN, May 22, 1972, page 18) to explore the potential of high-power lasers to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion is well under way. The project is being carried out at the University of Rochester under joint sponsorship of the university, General Electric, Esso Research and Engineering Co., and Northeast Utilities. The New York State Atomic & Space Development Authority and the Empire State Electric Energy Research Corp. also are supporting the project with grants. Here, Dr. Leonard M. Goldman, a physicist on loan to the project from GE's research and development center in Schenectady, adjusts instrumentation on the target chamber within which fuel pellets of deuterium or lithium deuteride will be heated and vaporized by bursts of light from a highpower laser system. An objective of the study is to gain information and data that will enable prediction of how large the net yields of energy and neutrons could become in a practical system.
