Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Collaborations and Technology Transfer
EPA Grant Number: R825503C005Subproject: this is subproject number 005 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R825503
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: The Waste Minimization And Management Research Center
Center Director: Cassidy, Patrick E.
Title: Collaborations and Technology Transfer
Investigators: Cassidy, Patrick E. , Venumbaka, S R
Institution: Texas State University
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: March 1, 1998 through February 28, 2003
RFA: Targeted Research Center (2004) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Targeted Research
Objective:
The Waste Minimization and Management Research Center (WMMRC) exists as a major entity within the Technology Development Branch of the Institute for Environmental and Industrial Science (IEIS) on the campus of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The IEIS applies the multidisciplinary scientific and technological expertise of this hundred-year-old university to the solution of industrial and environmental problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided primary funding for the WMMRC. The WMMRC’s mission is to apply the multidisciplinary scientific and technological expertise of Southwest Texas State University toward the utilization and mitigation of waste through the identification and optimization of resources and processes for the Texas petrochemical industry. The WMMRC will facilitate the formation of industrial partnerships to ensure that the concepts developed will be effective and, therefore, implemented.
The WMMRC’s short-term objective is to provide a small-scale laboratory to research and develop improved processes and methods for waste minimization and management. The WMMRC’s long-term objectives are to: (1) develop industrial partnerships and be a self-sufficient national research center; (2) focus on the product of research rather than on research alone; (3) provide an educated and trained workforce for Texas industry; (4) educate people on waste minimization and management; (5) create a supercritical fluid technology base for chemical processes; (6) provide information on industrial waste components; and (7) develop recyclable (polymeric) products.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The IEIS enjoys collaboration with other universities and government agencies such as the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, University of Maine, the U. S. Air Force, Navy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and numerous private companies including Systems and Materials Research Consultancy, Texas Research Institute, and Southern Clay Products. These relationships are both enhanced and informed by the activities of the WMMRC. Twenty-six collaborations have occurred because of these visits, 5 with higher education institutes and 21 with industrial partners.
Dissemination of the results of our research is carried out in two major efforts. One is the writing and presenting of papers at technical/professional meetings. We have presented several papers.
Another avenue of technology transfer exists in our collaboration with industrial partners and also with other universities. We have, to date, made onsite visits to several of the following companies, or have met with their representatives at our facility:
- Alcoa Alumina & Chemicals, L.L.C., Point Comfort, TX
- BP Chemicals Inc., Port Lavaca, TX
- The Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, TX
- DuPont Chemicals and Intermediates, Victoria, TX
- DuPont-Dow Elastomers Company, Freeport, TX
- Energy BioSystems Corporation, The Woodlands, TX
- Exxon Chemical Company, Baytown, TX
- Exxon Company, Clifton, NJ
- Formosa Plastics Corporation, Point Comfort, TX
- Huntsman Corporation, Austin, TX
- The Inteplast Group, Lolita, TX
- NCH Corporation, Irving, TX
- NexCycle, Inc., Irving, TX
- NURESCO Polymers, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- PEAR Industries, Inc., Ontario, Canada
- Southern Clay Products, Inc. Gonzales, TX
- Union Carbide Corporation, Port Lavaca, TX
These visits have proven extremely successful in providing an exchange of information and ideas. Some have led to partnerships within the Center; others hold promising prospects for future collaboration.
Supplemental Keywords:
waste minimization, waste management, petrochemical industry, liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, thermoplastics, polymers, desulfurization, biofilm,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, TREATMENT/CONTROL, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Sustainable Environment, Treatment Technologies, waste reduction, Environmental Chemistry, Technology, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Aquatic Ecosystem, Technical Assistance, Environmental Engineering, biofilm, cleaner production, sustainable development, waste minimization, supercritical carbon dioxide, biotechnology, water quality, polymer design, supercritical fluid reaction media, technology transfer, alternative chemical synthesisProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractMain Center Abstract and Reports:
R825503 The Waste Minimization And Management Research Center Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R825503C001 Separation and Analysis of Non-Volatiles in Petroleum Industry Products
R825503C002 Reduction/Elimination of Industrial Wastes Using Supercritical CO2 as a Medium for Addition and Condensation Polymerizations and Preparation of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks
R825503C003 Waste Minimization and Management of Thermoplastics
R825503C004 Effective Control of Biofilms in the Petrochemical Industry
R825503C005 Collaborations and Technology Transfer
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.