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The January/February issue of the ACerS Bulletin is in mailboxes and available online, too.

The cover story addresses a timely topic—recovery of natural gas and oil from shale deposits by hydrofracturing. Hydrofracturing—or fracking—involves forcing fissures open in shale deposits and propping them open with particles. Estimates are that annual demand for proppants will range from 30–45 million tons.

Pennsylvania State University professor John Hellmann‘s article describes his group’s work applying ceramic engineering processes to waste stream materials, such as glass cullet, mine tailings, and even drill-cutting waste,  to manufacture valuable engineered proppants. Often, waste streams exist near recovery sites, which means proppants could be manufactured close to the shale reserve locations and minimize transportation and storage costs while mitigating local waste disposal problems.

Also in this issue, learn more about the ASTM International Committee C28 on Advanced Ceramics and the important contribution of standards to materials engineering.

Be sure to read the “Meet ACerS president David Green” article, as well as a summary of the 115th Annual Meeting and highlights from MS&T.

Finally, Joel Moskowitz, ACerS Distinguished Life Member, outlines an exciting new initiative that the Society is undertaking, The Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation. 

All back issues of the ACerS Bulletin are free to members. Consider joining today!

Author

Eileen De Guire