Frozen Smoke

Reference:

Aerogel, aka frozen smoke: An oil spill quicker
picker-upper? By Jordan Lite |Feb
19, 2009 05:15 PM |

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=aerogel-aka-frozen-smoke-an-oil-spi-2009-02-19

Summary:

Industrial engineers have developed a new substance called Aerogel, often called
"frozen smoke". Scientists believe that this substance can have many beneficial
uses. Among these would be cleaning oil spills. It would also make an efficient
water filtration device. The reason for its usefulness is because of its sponge
like qualities. This is combined with its ability to attract organic materials,
like waste in water or oil. It is also very absorbent, being able to hold
fourteen time it weight in oil-water mixture. In addition, to its absorption
and cleaning properties, it is more efficient than current filters; the only
hold up is whether or not it can be manufacture in sufficient qualities without
being too costly.

Reaction:

I feel that this new substance, if used properly, can be very beneficial and help
solve some very threatening issues. Its many uses make it an attractive new
product that will make lives of others much easier. If it could be produced in
a costly manner, I believe it would be very helpful and take a lot of troubles
off of people hands. Obviously, it helped with absorbing the oil out of the
water. If that product had not existed, people would be struggling to clean the
gulf. In fact, they could solve the problem and create this new product by
assistance from industrial plans. This news and the way that the problem was
solved is what exactly the industrial engineers work on. Industrial engineers
always try to solve these kinds of problems, whatever and wherever they are.