Oil spills and other environmental pollution, including low level leaks from underground pipes and storage tanks, could be quickly and easily spotted in the future using colour coded bacteria.

Because of the ability of bacteria to break down a variety of compounds into their basic elements, bacteria are used extensively in environmental biotechnology. One of the applications where bacteria are gaining greater use is in the oil industry.

Metal dowels and cramps were often incorporated in traditional masonry structures to secure stones, such as copings, parapets and cornices, that might otherwise be prone to movement or displacement. They were also widely used in ordinary ashlar walls to tie relatively thin stone facings back to the core. Dowels and cramps were also embedded in the facing itself to help maintain its structural integrity.

The diamond-like carbon has subsequently withstood endless in vitro tests in several manufacturers’ laboratories and has shown itself to be well tolerated by human tissue, extremely hard wearing, and resistant to the relatively aggressive environment in the human body. Despite this, when DLC-coated joints were first implanted into human patients, serious problems arose after only a few years. The DLC coatings were not worn away, but rather they detached from the implant material for no apparent reason.

Materials known as thermoplastic fiber composites can be replaced less-suitable materials in stressed load-bearing structures and crash components in automobiles.

A newly developed surface preparation process, bristle blasting is presented that can satisfy all of the tasks in a single step. Like grit blasting, the bristle blasting process is an impact/crater-formation based technique that repeatedly strikes the target surface with sufficient kinetic energy to remove contamination and expose a fresh, consistently textured surface.

Using MEA as a sweetening agent, amine plants always exhibit some degree of corrosion. The latter is minimized by keeping the amine clean, holding acid gas loading within specifications, operating the still at the lowest temperature possible and maintaining a regular testing program.