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BC Research Inc. is a Canadian process technology incubator, specializing in R&D, chemical process development, clean technology innovation, and technology commercialization. [1] BC Research Inc. (BCRI) is part of the NORAM Group, a vertically integrated group of companies under common Canadian ownership and located in the Vancouver, B.C area that specialize in the development, scale-up and full-scale commercialization of chemical processes. The group provides a wide range of services from technical consulting to complete, turn-key chemical plants. We have a 35+ year track-record in taking novel technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace. Headquartered in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, BC Research operates primarily from their "Technology Innovation and Commercialization Centre" on Mitchell Island in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, BC.
BCRI focuses on the development of innovative chemical processes related to Clean Technology. Key areas of focus include:
BCRI has an extensive Intellectual Property portfolio of international patents and can work with partners to develop new technologies in a collaborative fashion.
BCRI's Technology Innovation and Commercialization Centre has a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) facility that containss a pilot plant development and operations area with 30 ft (9.2m) vertical clearance, wet laboratory space, state-of-the-art analytical chemistry equipment, engineering and design office space, as well as a machine shop and fenced outdoor piloting space. Technologies are scaled up from concept to pilot or demonstration scale in preparation for commercialization.
As part of the NORAM Group, BC Research works in the advancement of process and equipment technologies, in mature industries such as mononitrobenzene production, sulfuric acid manufacture, pulp and paper industry, green chemistry, water treatment, mineral processing, and environmental industry.
BCRI executes projects worldwide and works in close collaboration with other NORAM Group companies including: NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd, NORAM Electrolysis Systems Inc. (NESI), NORAM International AB, Axton Inc, and ECOfluid Inc.
Previously, BC Research occupied a scientific research and development company located at the BC Research and Innovation Complex at the south end of the University of British Columbia campus close to the TRIUMF particle accelerator centre. [2] This facility closed in November 2007. The company specialized in consulting and applied research and development in the area of plant biotechnology and environment, health and safety, process and analysis, transportation and ship dynamics.
The company can be traced back to 1944 as it developed from the non-profit BC Research Council to a private company in 1993, founded by Dr. Hugh Wynne-Edwards, Ph.D, DSc., FRSC, a member of the Order of Canada, who served as the founding Chief Executive Officer and developed the facility into an incubator in the fields of biotechnology, drug discovery and alternative fuel technologies.
In 2000, part of BC Research was purchased by Immune Network Ltd and was sold to Cromedica (now PRA International) in July 2001. Its plant biotechnology team was mostly spun off in Silvagen Inc. which specialized in clonal reforestation and which became a part of CellFor. In 1999 Azure Dynamics, a hybrid commercial vehicle systems developer, was formed with some of the transportation team and left the facility in 2004 having gone public in 2001 as Azure Dynamics Corporation. Radient Technologies, specializing in microwave-assisted cannabis extraction, purification and isolation, was also spun off in 2001 as a joint venture with Environment Canada. The remaining laboratory and consulting business functions continued under the name Vizon SciTec until August 2006 when CANTEST Ltd. announced its acquisition from BC Research Inc. which continues as a privately held technology holding company.
BC Research Inc. is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the NORAM group, a private, vertically integrated portfolio of businesses serving process scale-up, engineering, R&D, pilot plants, demonstration plants, modular plants, custom fabrication, and site assistance. In 2010, BC Research Inc. (BCRI), opened again for business in Burnaby, B.C under the NORAM Group of Companies. The Company continued to provide specialized consulting and applied research and development in an expanding number of different technologies and industries, including fluidized beds, storage of energy in batteries, fuel cells, electrochemical cells, corrosion testing and analysis, hydrogen, sulfur, chlorine, nitration, water treatment, and pulp and paper chemistry.
In 2017, moved to a newly constructed Technology Innovation and Commercialization Center on Mitchell Island in Richmond, BC to expand their capabilities. This current facility is described in detail above.
Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a process that occurs in water at temperatures and pressures above a mixture's thermodynamic critical point. Under these conditions water becomes a fluid with unique properties that can be used to advantage in the destruction of recalcitrant and hazardous wastes such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Supercritical water has a density between that of water vapor and liquid at standard conditions, and exhibits high gas-like diffusion rates along with high liquid-like collision rates. In addition, the behavior of water as a solvent is altered - it behaves much less like a polar solvent. As a result, the solubility behavior is "reversed" so that oxygen, and organics such as chlorinated hydrocarbons become soluble in the water, allowing single-phase reaction of aqueous waste with a dissolved oxidizer. The reversed solubility also causes salts to precipitate out of solution, meaning they can be treated using conventional methods for solid-waste residuals. Efficient oxidation reactions occur at low temperature with reduced NOx production.
The Fischer–Tropsch process (FT) is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at temperatures of 150–300 °C (302–572 °F) and pressures of one to several tens of atmospheres. The Fischer–Tropsch process is an important reaction in both coal liquefaction and gas to liquids technology for producing liquid hydrocarbons.
Ames National Laboratory, formerly Ames Laboratory, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Ames, Iowa, and affiliated with Iowa State University. It is a top-level national laboratory for research on national security, energy, and the environment. The laboratory conducts research into areas of national concern, including the synthesis and study of new materials, energy resources, high-speed computer design, and environmental cleanup and restoration. It is located on the campus of Iowa State University.
Food engineering is a scientific, academic, and professional field that interprets and applies principles of engineering, science, and mathematics to food manufacturing and operations, including the processing, production, handling, storage, conservation, control, packaging and distribution of food products. Given its reliance on food science and broader engineering disciplines such as electrical, mechanical, civil, chemical, industrial and agricultural engineering, food engineering is considered a multidisciplinary and narrow field.
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is one of India's premier nuclear research centres. It is the second largest establishment of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), next to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), located at Kalpakkam, 80 km south of Chennai, India. It was established in 1971 as an exclusive centre dedicated to the pursuit of fast reactor science and technology, due to the vision of Vikram Sarabhai. Originally, it was called Reactor Research Centre (RRC). It was renamed to Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) by the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in December 1985. The centre is engaged in broad-based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering directed towards the development of fast breeder reactor technology in India.
The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) is a public-private partnership to promote hydrogen vehicles (including cars and buses) in California. It is notable as one of the first initiatives for that purpose undertaken in the United States. The challenge is which come first, hydrogen cars or filling stations.
The National Historic Chemical Landmarks program was launched by the American Chemical Society in 1992 to recognize significant achievements in the history of chemistry and related professions. The program celebrates the centrality of chemistry. The designation of such generative achievements in the history of chemistry demonstrates how chemists have benefited society by fulfilling the ACS vision: Improving people's lives through the transforming power of chemistry. The program occasionally designates International Historic Chemical Landmarks to commemorate "chemists and chemistry from around the world that have had a major impact in the United States".
Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation is a Canadian based Renewable Energy Company which specializes in fast pyrolysis, a process which creates a product named bio-oil. Its only other residue is char.
Refined coal is the product of the coal-upgrading technology that removes moisture and certain pollutants from lower-rank coals such as sub-bituminous and lignite (brown) coals, raising their calorific values. Coal refining or upgrading technologies are typically pre-combustion treatments and processes that alter the characteristics of coal before it is burned. Pre-combustion coal-upgrading technologies aim to increase efficiency and reduce emissions when coal is burned. Depending on the situation, pre-combustion technology can be used in place of or as a supplement to post-combustion technologies to control emissions from coal-fueled boilers.
Nitrogen generators and stations are stationary or mobile air-to-nitrogen production complexes.
Government Engineering College, Kozhikode (GECK), is a public engineering institute established by the Department of Technical Education under the Government of Kerala in India. It was one of the five public engineering institutes sanctioned in 1999 by the Government of Kerala. It is one of the 138 institutes affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University since 2015.
Electrochemical engineering is the branch of chemical engineering dealing with the technological applications of electrochemical phenomena, such as electrosynthesis of chemicals, electrowinning and refining of metals, flow batteries and fuel cells, surface modification by electrodeposition, electrochemical separations and corrosion.
Food physical chemistry is considered to be a branch of Food chemistry concerned with the study of both physical and chemical interactions in foods in terms of physical and chemical principles applied to food systems, as well as the applications of physical/chemical techniques and instrumentation for the study of foods. This field encompasses the "physiochemical principles of the reactions and conversions that occur during the manufacture, handling, and storage of foods."
A separation process is a method that converts a mixture or a solution of chemical substances into two or more distinct product mixtures, a scientific process of separating two or more substances in order to obtain purity. At least one product mixture from the separation is enriched in one or more of the source mixture's constituents. In some cases, a separation may fully divide the mixture into pure constituents. Separations exploit differences in chemical properties or physical properties between the constituents of a mixture.
Ralph Landau was an American chemical engineer and entrepreneur active in the chemical and petrochemical industries. He is considered one of the top fifty foundational chemical engineers of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the 75 most distinguished contributors to chemical enterprise. He has published extensively on chemical engineering and holds a significant number of patents.
E-diesel is a synthetic diesel fuel for use in automobiles. Currently, e-diesel is created at two sites: by an Audi research facility Germany in partnership with a company named Sunfire, and in Texas. The fuel is created from carbon dioxide, water, and electricity with a process powered by renewable energy sources to create a liquid energy carrier called blue crude which is then refined to generate e-diesel. E-diesel is considered to be a carbon-neutral fuel as it does not extract new carbon and the energy sources to drive the process are from carbon-neutral sources.
Carbon Engineering Ltd. is a Canadian-based clean energy company focusing on the commercialization of direct air capture (DAC) technology that captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.
Exxon donor solvent process (EDS) is a coal liquefaction process developed by Exxon Research and Engineering Company, starting in 1966. The process converts solid coal directly to liquid synthetic fuels which could be used as a substitute for petroleum products. The process does not involve an intermediate step of coal gasification. Exxon operated a pilot plant in Texas from 1980 until 1982.
Douglas Carlyle Cameron is an American engineer, inventor, and investor. He is a senior managing director for the U.S.-China Green Fund. He is on the board of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and is a technical and business advisor to organizations including the VTT (Finland), and the Center for Bioenergy Innovation (USA).
Monolith Inc. is an American chemical and materials producer based in Nebraska. The company is known for being the first company to use methane pyrolysis to split natural gas into carbon and hydrogen gas on a commercial scale. The carbon resulting from the process is converted into carbon black. The company is building a plant where the hydrogen gas from the process will be converted to anhydrous ammonia. Monolith was founded by Robert Hanson and Pete Johnson in 2012, in Redwood City, California.