N8

reacts to form carbon monoxide and hy- drogen This partially reformed gas mixture

IS then passed into the autothermal reactor, together wdh the methane/carbon droxide

bypass flow and oxygen, where R reacts

agarn to form hydrogen and carbon mono-

xide By altenng the amount of methane In the main and bypass flows, the ratlo of

carbon monoxide to hydrogen in the syn-

thesis gas product can be vaned Water IS the only waste product from this

process No carbon dioxide is released Into

the atmosphere, that removed from the

syntheses gas IS returned for re-use No

processes are yet running commercially

but, as envlronmental legislation tightens

up, the process must have a promrsrng

future

I have seen the package and it IS im- pressrve It is concerned with heteroge-

neous catalysis, specifically with auto ex- haust catalysts It comprises a booklet

contarning a great number of useful facts and figures, a package on information

handling, a set of problem sheets, and

comprehensrve teacher notes There are,

in addition, a number of relevant experi-

ments which can be performed n class The package has already been dlstnbuted

to 350 children and a further 4909 will be

distributed next year

Dr Golunski would be happy to hear

from anyone interested In the project He

may be contacted at the following address

Dr SE Golunski, Johnson Matthey

Technology Centre, Blount’s Court, Son-

nrng Common, Reading RG4 9NH, UK K SESHAN

R BURCH

Stimulating Interest In Catalysis et School

It IS certainly true in the UK, and may well

also be true in many other countries, that

most of our brightest children are “turned-

off” science at school There are many

reasonswhy this IS so, although as a chem-

ist I can never understand how two hours

of Shakespeare can be more enjoyable than two hours in a laboratory (I can still

remember scanning Twelfth Night for “rude bits” to try to overcome the tedium of Eng- lish Literature classes)

The need to do something to stimulate

Interest in science at schools has been recognised by Dr S E Golunskr and his colleagues at the Johnson Matthey Tech-

nology Centre near Reading, UK Over the

past two years, they have been working in close collaboration wrth local school tea- chers to produce a teaching package for 14/15 year old secondary school children

applied catalysis B: environmental

Personal Notes

We have in the past included rtems of a personal nature on people in the catalyst

business, both academics and rndustnal-

IS& to cover moves from one estab-

lishment to another, the winning of prizes,

retirements and so on It has been sug- gested that rt would be useful to have srmr-

lar one sentence items about people under

the heading of “Personal Notes”, covering all those who are (or should be) readers of “Applied Catalysis B”, as well as para- graphs about the great and the good The

News Brief editors are sympathetic -

which of us has not been surprised to learn that X moved from A to B over two years ago?- but we shall depend on our readers

sending details of personal changes (their own or someone else’s) The News Brief ednors, all three Irving in Celtrc countries, have well developed psychic powers but

Volume 1 No 1 - 19 February 1992

N9

these will not be sufficient to keep a Per-

sonal Notes section going The test of

whether such a section would futfil a real need WIII be in the response of our readers

So, for a start, let us know what is going on,

down to the latest restq places of lttnerant

post-dots

Calendar of Forthcoming Events (For detalled Information on the cited events, please refer to the Applied Catalysis issue

mentioned wrth the entry )

5-1oApr 1992 San Franctsoo, CA, USA

ACS Symp. on Octane and Cetane Enhancement Processes for Reduced Emissions Motor Fuels Contact E lglesra, Corporate Research Labs , Exxon Bes and Eng Co , Route 22 East, Annandale, NJ Cb5861, USA, (+ lQCl8)73CR5Ql or P O’Connor, Also Chemrcals BV, P 0 Box 9753800 At Amersfoort, Netherlands, (+31-33)676571 (Appl Catal ,76(1991)N5)

20-23Apr 1992 Prague, Czechoslovakia

Energy and Environment: Transitions In Eastern Europe Contact Czechoslovakia Conference Coordnator, Uraversity of N Da- kota Energy and Environmental Bes Center, Box 8213, University Sta- tron, Grand Forks, ND 582028213 (USA), (+ l-701)7773120 (Appl

Catal, 77(1QQl)N7)

11-15 May 1992 Advances In Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Interlaken, Swrtzerland Contact T Bridgwater, Chem Eng Dept , Aston University, Brrmng-

ham 84 7ET, UK, (+44-21) 3593611X4647 (Appl Catal ,76(1QQl)N5)

14-18 June 1992 *Int Conf. on Global Cllmate Change - Impacts on Terre- Bad Durkherm, Germany strlal Ecosystems

Contact K Russell. Elsevrer Scrence Pubkshers, Conf Dept , Mayfreld House, 256 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DH, UK, (+44-865)512242

17-21 Aug 1992 84th Int. Conf. on Statistical Methods for the Environmental Espoo, Finland

28-3DOct 1992 Kruger National Park, S Af- noa

1-6Nov 1992 Palm Beach, FL, USA

Sciences and the 3rd General Meeting of the Int. Envlron- mental Society Contact AH El-Shaarawr, National Water Research Institute, P 0 Box 5050, Burlington, Ontano, Canada L7R 4A6, tel (+ l-358)6181492

South African Catalysis Sot. Conf. on Catalysis and Cata- lytic Processing Contact U Duvenhage, Chem Dept , University of the Wrbvatersrand, Johannesburg, P 0 Wits, 2D5Q, (+27-l 1) 7162165

Symp on Catalytic Systems for a Better Environment Contact N A Bhore, Paulsboro Res lab , Mobrl R&U Co , Pauslboro, NJ 68666, USA, (+ 1-5DQ)2242501 (Appl Catal, 79(1QQl)N2D)

applied catalysis 8: environmental Volume 1 No 1 - 19 February 1992