Dow Chemical Company and Preferred Sands’ Win the 2014 Polyurethane for TERAFORCE Technology

The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) announced that Dow Chemical Company and Preferred Sands’ innovation, TERAFORCE Technology, won the 2014 Polyurethane Innovation Award.

The winner, which was selected from among three finalists, was announced during the Closing Session of the 2014 Polyurethanes Technical Conference in Dallas.

“The polyurethanes industry is built on more than 80 years of innovation,” said Lee Salamone, senior director of CPI. “Dow and Preferred Sands’ important contribution, which we honored today, continues this tradition and sets the bar high for next year’s innovation award nominees. I’m proud to say that we received a record number of submissions for the Innovation Award this year, and I know we will continue to see the technical excellence exhibited by all of our finalists.”

The winning polyurethane chemistry, TERAFORCE Technology, is a collaborative innovation between Dow Chemical Company and Preferred Sands that expands the frontiers of polyurethane applications by improving oil productivity and the sustainability profile of the hydraulic fracturing process.

“What an honor it is for Dow and our partner, Preferred Sands, to be recognized this way- especially considering the record number of entries CPI received this year,” said Chris Chrisafides, commercial director for Dow Polyurethanes in North America. “I want to congratulate the other finalists from BASF and Novomer, as well all the companies that submitted their projects. It’s a privilege to represent the polyurethane industry with this award, and one example of how we can bring polyurethane chemistry into new spaces that create value for our society. That’s how we all win.”

TERAFORCE Technology is an important element of the U.S. energy boom and manufacturing renaissance and can play an integral role in job creation. Preferred RCS Resin Coated Sand with Dow TERAFORCE Technology (the enabling polyurethane) saves energy during production of the resin-coated proppant through shorter production cycles and low temperature, and reduces hazardous risks associated with proppant flowback. The technology also eliminates the need for an external activator, or additional chemicals, that competing technologies require to be injected into oil wells. The two companies continue to develop technologies for broader applications across energy markets, and ever-more efficient and sustainable oil and gas recovery.

Other finalists for the Innovation Award were BASF’s Infinergy particle foam for use in athletic footwear and Novomer Inc.’s environmentally conscious feedstock formulation, Converge.

“BASF and Novomer presented incredible new uses of polyurethanes,” Salamone said. “It was a very close race, and all finalists did an outstanding job.”

More than 900 people attended the 2014 Polyurethanes Technical Conference, which featured 59 technical presentations, 57 Table Top exhibits, 33 poster presentations and eight Professional Development Program courses.