[CPEO-MEF] Pressure to clean up the earth

[mervtano@iiirm.org]

>>From the Financial Times

Pressure to clean up the earth
polluted land may be cleansed using a process developed in Yorkshire, says
David Spark
Published: August 28 2001 18:03GMT | Last Updated: August 28 2001 19:13GMT

Much industrial and military land lies unused around the world because it=
 is
contaminated with dangerous chemicals.

Now a Yorkshire company is developing what could be Britain's first
technique for cleaning soil without digging it up. Peter Hammond, managing
director of Express Separations, a small company spun off by the University
of Leeds, says that often contaminated soil is merely dug up, mixed with
clean soil to bring the contamination down to the permitted level, then
dumped.

Express Separations - a third of the company is owned by Leeds university,=
 a
third by the workforce and a third by a French company, Separex - has grown
out of the work of Professors Keith Bartle and Tony Clifford on
supercritical fluids.

Many years ago, plastics producers discovered they could make plastics
faster if the ingredients were under pressure. Drug companies use
supercritical fluids, particularly pressurised carbon dioxide, to extract=
 or
purify pharmaceuticals and produce fine powders. Express Separations, keen
to offer replacements for organic solvents, is seeking to use superheated
water. It has a link with the University of North Dakota. So far, it has
provided equipment to extract natural indigo dye from farm-grown woad.=
 Under
the company's approach, explosives will be dissolved and rendered harmless
by superheated water. Mr Hammond hopes to offer the service at a cost of=
 =A330
per tonne of soil. He sees it as a safe way to clean land contaminated with
explosives from old ammunition dumps, in Yorkshire and farther afield.

For the rest of the article see:
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=3DView&c=3DArticle&cid=3DFT3WNYHY=
XQC&liv
e=3Dtrue

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