YALE UNIVERSITY: Yale researchers turn CO2 into ge gel/new molecule could be used in extracting oil.

0 Comments | M2 Presswire, November, 1999

M2 PRESSWIRE-19 November 1999-YALE UNIVERSITY: Yale researchers turn carbon dioxide into gel/new molecule could be used in extracting oil (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD RDATE:181199 New Haven, Conn. -- A Yale research team has succeeded for the first time in turning supercritical carbon dioxide, which is CO2 under tremendous pressure, into gel form.

The discovery could have widespread application in a number of industries, including oil drilling, in which the gel form of CO2 would be used instead of water to extract oil from the ground. The new process might be less expensive and much more environmentally friendly. "The chemical and oil industries use hundreds of millions of gallons of organic solvents in their processes and their disposal creates an...