EDITH FLANIGEN: Zeolites as oil refiners

EDITH FLANIGEN

She is a well-known chemist, famous for her work with Zeolites used to refine petroleum.

BIOGRAPHY

Edith Flanigen was born on 28th, January 1929 in Buffalo, New York. She got into the chemistry world at an early age thanks to her teacher at school- sister Mary, and developed her skills in D’Youville collegue, where she graduated with top marks. Edith went on studying chemistry at Syracuse University and got her master degree. 

Once she finished her studies, she joined Union Carbide company (in Tonawanda) and first started working with silicone polymers and afterwards with molecular sieves (materials of uniform size pores). From 1988 she worked for Honeywell UOP (a petroleum refining company) until she retired in 1994, but she remained as a consultant.

 Along her career, she has invented more than 200 different synthetic substances and awarded 109 patents.

INVENTION

Edith began working on molecular sieves in 1956. This are crystalline structures with lots of pores capable to purify complex mixtures/substances. 
Edith promote the field of molecular sieves by developing Zeolites (molecular sieves) as eficient oil refiners. This consists of transforming the initial oil into more elaborated and useful products, like gasoline and diesel. This development made her famous and in 2014 she received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation because of her work with Zeolites and her brilliant career.

Picture of Zeolites used in the process of Refining petroleum. Taked from:
Zeolita. (2017, 27 de diciembre). Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Fecha de consulta: 16:33, febrero 15, 2018 desde https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zeolita&oldid=104494014.

AUTHORS’ NOTE

We think it’s important to promote women in science as the field is mainly dominated by men. We have to keep studying, working and improving ourselves so the science world can have more Edith Flanigens, Marie Curies, María Blascos and more to come.   ;)

Leonor Elcid and Violeta Ibargüen, 3ºC      😀

• Edith M. Flanigen. (2018, January 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:45, February 17, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

• title=Edith_M._Flanigen&oldid=821423868https://mujeresconciencia.com/2017/01/28/edith-marie-flanigen-quimica/n

• Oil refinery. (2018, February 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:43, February 17, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oil_refinery&oldid=825663652

• Molecular sieve. (2018, February 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:36, February 12, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Molecular_sieve&oldid=823898300

• www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/chi-edith-flanigen-national-medal-technology-innovation-bsi-20141121-story.html

• https://www.linguee.es/espanol-ingles/search?source=auto&query