The Garyville facility of the Nalco Chemical Co. was awarded the 1999 U.S.Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its development of Ultimer technology, a new kind of polymer that is a water-based, environmentally friendly approach to cleaning and treating wastewater and industrial water.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge was established in 1995 by President Clinton to recognize technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry. The award is a challenge to companies topromote and develop innovative chemical methods that clean up pollution and have a broad application in industry.

Ultimer technology is a family of polymers, or long chains of molecules used to clean up wastewater in industrial processing. What makesUltimer different is that it is water-based. Other polymers are oil-basedand as a result leave oily residues after the clean-up. The Ultimer familyof polymers are water-based and therefore leave no residue after they have done their clean-up jobs.

Since it’s inception in 1993, Ultimer technology has prevented several million pounds of oils and other pollutants from entering the world’s waterways.

At present the Garyville facility is the only place in North America where Ultimer polymers are made. The technology is being sold to paper plants,oil refineries, off-shore oil rigs and food plants. Worldwide, Nalco hassold over 60 million pounds of these Ultimer polymers in the last five years, garnering over $50 million.

Because the family of Ultimer polymers is always growing, Nalco is building another reactor in the Garyville facility to manufacture the next generation of these polymers. Dr.Neil Marron, technology director forNalco, said the new reactor should be up and running within six to eight months.

“This is a ‘platform technology’ ,” Marron said. “Ultimer is a break-throughtechnology that is good for the environment.”Hall Bohlinger, deputy secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, presented the award to Nalco’s Garyville Plant Manager Guy Blackmar and Nalco Senior Vice-President of Manufacturing and Logistics Dave Bertran.

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