QUIMICA Y EL LIDER: abril 2008

domingo, 27 de abril de 2008

OBTENGA REVISTAS TECNICAS GRATIS

Una gran cantidad de revistas tecnicas son publicadas periodicamente por Trade Publications y pueden ser obtenidas gratis. Para suscribirse, vaya a: http://www.tradepub.com/ y seleccione la que le interese. Llenar la solicitud es facil y al ser aprobado, recibira la publicacion por correo electronico e inclusive noticias semanales en los topicos seleccionados.S
FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS AT WWW.TRADEPUB.COM ALSO GET SANITARY MAINTENANCE AT WWW.TRADEPRESS.COM/SMSUB .

sábado, 26 de abril de 2008

"GREEN" VS "NATURAL" CHEMICAL PRODUCTS

It has been known that there is a great difference in the market between "organic" and common vegetables; specially in price!! But what is really an organic or totally natural vegetable, and how is this related to chemical products??
Well by definition a totally natural material is one that has not been contaminated or transformed by any additive or process derived from human source. So if an apple is washed with soap, or washed with chlorinated water, or waxed, is then not natural and if it is collected and processed by a machine, then it is not natural by definition. So if a natural soap which is derived from coconut oils, oleic acid, glycerin and soda is reacted in a reactor and finally filtered, then would not be considered natural. I think that is not fare; since we should really qualify them as natural based on their biodegradability and their re utilization potential, in addition to the safety of use that they represent
Another great topic of concern is the use of "green bio-fuel".
It is known that everybody is now concerned with the environment and the reduction on the use of synthetic and hazardous materials, via the formulation of chemicals that will not harm the environment and are safer to use.
See constant issues and advances on this topics in http://www.icis.com/blogs/green-chemicals/ and in www.icis.com/blog for advances in chemical news. In the April 2008 issue of the publication HAPPI, see at: www.happi.com, we can see the advantages and disadvantages of the use of renewable resources as crops and other vegetables, as a substitute for hydrocarbons derived from the petrochemical industry; also the resolution of some big chains like Wall-Mart are requesting their supplier to provide green products.
The final concern is that even though the use of bio-fuels is practically a need due to lowering availability of oil with time, and its negative effect on the environment, also is very true that the use of crops will reduce its availability for human and animal nutrition and will also require more energy feed to transform them in alcohols or other fuel additives.There has also been concern on the volatile emissions of these bio-fuels into the environment, once they are used as fuel.
One thing seams to be true and this is that there will be no cost reduction on the use of crops as alternative fuel feeds. Methanol from garbage digestion seams to be a good alternative but is less viable due to the extent of conversion and efficiency.
Please feel free to write your comments.

miércoles, 23 de abril de 2008

Amonios Quaternarios Vs Compuestos Fenolicos como Desinfectantes

Los compuestos Cuaternarios tan pronto entran en contacto con las celulas de las bacterias, entran a travez de las paredes celulares por osmosis. Los Cuaternarios interrumpen el proceso metabolico, matando asi la celula bacteriana. En cambio los compuestos Fenolicos son mas extremos en su actuacion; entran en la celula bacteriana, lesionandola e hinchandola a tal extremo que la revientan. Los Quaternarios son residuales en superficies duras, pero los Fenolicos son aun mas; es sin embargo dificil determinar la longitud de la residualidad de ambos y eso dependera de las condiciones del ambiente. Los Fenolicos son agentes Anti-Tubercolosis por excelencia, aunque hay formulas con Quaternarios que tambien se usan para tal fin. Desfavorablemente, los Fenolicos son mas toxicos que los Quaternarios y son mas caros. Ademas los Quaternarios son solubles en agua y los Fenolicos no, haciendo que los Quaternarios sean mas utiles en formulaciones de limpiadores desinfectantes base agua.

GREEN CHEMICALS

The Green Seal certification is granted by the organization with that name and has a great number of members contributing with the requirements to pass a raw material or a chemical product as "green". Generally for a material to be green, has to comply with a series of characteristics like: near neutral pH, low volatility, non combustible, non toxic to aquatic life, be biodegradable as measured by oxygen demand in accordance with the OECD definition.
Also the materials have to meet with toxicity and health requirements regarding inhalation, dermal and eye contact. There is also a specific list of materials that are prohibited or restricted from formulations, like ozone-depleting compounds and alkylphenol ethoxylates amongst others. Please go to http://www.greenseal.com/ for complete information on their requirements.
For information on current issues regarding green chemicals, see the blog from the Journalist Doris De Guzman, in the ICIS at: http://www.icis.com/blogs/green-chemicals/.
Certification is an important — and confusing — aspect of green cleaning. Third-party certification is available for products that meet standards set by Green Seal, EcoLogo, Energy Star, the Carpet & Rug Institute and others.
Manufacturers can also hire independent labs to determine whether a product is environmentally preferable and then place the manufacturer’s own eco-logo on the product; this is called self-certification. Finally, some manufacturers label a product with words like “sustainable,” “green,” or “earth friendly” without any third-party verification.
“The fact that there is not a single authoritative standard to go by adds to the confusion,” says Steven L. Mack M.Ed., director of buildings and grounds service for Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
In www.happi.com of June 2008 edition, there is a report of Natural formulating markets that also emphasises the fact that registration of "green formulas" is very confused at present, due to lack of direction and unification of criteria and that some governmental instittion (in my opinion the EPA) should take part in this very important issue.

QUALITY CERTIFICATIONS

What Is ISO 14001 And Should I Care?
Increased awareness of sustainable development gives environmentally credible companies a competitive edge in national and international markets. A certified Environmental Management System proves that your business is taking active steps to fulfill your responsibility.
What Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS 18001) and Should I Care?
An OHSMS promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing a framework that allows your organization to consistently identify and control its health and safety risks, reduce the potential for accidents, aid legislative compliance and improve overall performance.
OHSAS 18001 is the internationally recognized assessment specification for occupational health and safety management systems. It was developed by a selection of leading trade bodies, international standards and certification bodies to address a gap where no third-party certifiable international standard exists.
What Is ISO 9000 And Should I Care?
ISO 9000 consists of a series of Quality Management System standards that are designed to facilitate and enable consistency of a product or service and thereby ensure that customer requirements are met or exceeded. They can be applied in any manufacturing industry or service sector.
The value of certification to customers is evident, but the quality of the certificate is also important. All certificates are not equal.

VISGAGE POCKET VISCOSITY COMPARATOR

This is another simple viscosimeter , to check relative viscosity of oils (from light motor oils to heavy machinery and gear oils)and can be used on site without the use of stopwatch or thermometer. It consists of a plate and a spreading device, see details at : http://www.visgage.com/
The latest version for high viscosity liquids is the Efflux test Cup, that can be used for hot fluids, up to 50000 cps. The cup has internal pins to measure laminar flow instead of transitional flow out of the cup's botom and has different hole sizes to handle various viscosity ranges. See www.viscosity.com for more details.

HOW TO SELECT THE BEST SOLVENT FOR A CLEANING JOB

To clean heavy grease, resins, tar or heavy hydrocarbon residues, a solvent based cleaner is necessary for a fast and effective job. To select the appropriate solvent or solvent combination, there is a fundamental list of characteristics to check:
1-Flash Point: the highest the flash point, the lower the risk of ignition. Also if the flash point is above 140 F, the product can be shipped as non hazardous.
2-Toxicity: important to know if the solvent will be used outside or in enclosed areas and check the allowed exposure levels from the MSDS.
3-Odor: again, will it be used in enclosed areas, will you need an extraction hood, is the odor irritating?
4-Evaporation rate: if the evaporation rate is too slow it may leave residue or too slow drying, if too fast may have not enough time for cleaning.
5-Solvency or cleaning power:checking the Kauri Butanol
is an indication, the higher value the better.
6-What is the cost?: this might be a limitating factor in using the selected solvent in your product.
7-VOC: the volatile organic compound classification from a regulatory standpoint, may limit the use of the solvent.
8-Compatibility: with other components of the formulation. 9-Biodegradability: in water and land.

NOTAS DE UTILIDAD....COMO AGREGAR FRAGANCIA AL CLORO

HAY CIERTAS FRAGANCIAS QUE SON COMPATIBLES CON EL HIPOCHLORITO DE SODIO. LA MAYORIA DESACTIVAN EL CLORO O LO LIBERAN DE SOLUCION. SIN EMBARGO EL USO DE POCAS CANTIDADES DE FRAGANCIA PUEDE SER EMUSIONADA SIN SACRIFICAR MUCHO LA ESTABILIDAD. EN ESPECIAL POCA CANTIDAD DE FRAGANCIA DE LIMON O DE PINO LE DAN UNA BUENA CONNOTACION Y DEBEN SER AGRAGADAS, LUEGO DE AGREGAR UNA CANTIDAD SIMILAR DE LAURIL SULFATO DE SODIO CON OXIDOS DE AMINAS COMO EMULSIONANTES. NO MEZCLE LOS SURFACTANTES CON LA FRAGANCIA PREVIO A INCORPORARSE.

HLB: HYDROPHILIC / LIPOPHILIC BALANCE

This balance will determine a surfactant's relative solubility in water or oil.
The range of values for the HBL will determine its application and performance:
VALUE APPLICATION
3.5-6 Water in oil emulsifier
7-9 Wetting agent
8-18 Oil in Water emulsifier
13-15 Detergent
15-18 Solubilizer and microemulsions

The HLB value in the surfactants is given by the extent of etoxilation which results from the reaction of linear or aromatic alcohols with molecules of ethylene oxide.
Thus as a guide, 1-3 moles of etoxilation will give a value for the HLB round 3.5-6; 4-6 moles EO will result in a 7-9 HLB; 7-12 moles EO, 10-15 HLB; over 12 moles EO will give an HLB between 15-18.