By Larry Westrum, PhD- Organic Chemistry
Boulder Scientific Company in Mead presently operates Colorado manufacturing sites in Mead and Longmont. It performs custom manufacturing of high-purity, proprietary products used in the production of polymers, semiconductors and aerospace materials.
Like most chemical manufacturers in its marketplace, BSC has a three-layer structure consisting of research and development, pilot scale-up and production. For quality assurance and control, the company uses well-equipped laboratories with analytical chemists who constantly monitor product quality. To successfully produce such products, a manufacturer must be fastidious and attentive to detail.
—R&D—
With over 200 employees across two locations, BSC is able to draw on a wealth of experience and talent. Over two-thirds are operators, engineers, and environmental and safety staff who do the heavy lifting of safe production. The people who do the operations work come from a variety of local cities and industries to train and work at BSC.
Manufacturing an entirely new chemical product begins with R&D staff working out an economic method of production to the customer’s specifications. Occasionally a product proves to be simple to make. More often, however, producing a new catalyst requires artful synthetic chemistry, and this is where BSC excels.
—What are catalysts?—
Catalysts are substances that hold chemical components in proximity and activate them in a way that lowers the barrier to reaction. This is much like how enzymes work.
If you look at a plastic drop cloth, milk jugs, squeezable bottles, trash bags or a piece of plastic playground equipment, you would be excused if you conclude that nothing could be more bland and unexciting than plastic. What you’ll miss, however, is the sophisticated manufacturing behind the plain old trash bag.
In the early 1990s, a new type of organometallic catalyst found application in the polymer industry. It began gradually as cutting-edge technology often does. A type of sandwich-shaped substance from an unexpected lab result in 1951, later called a metallocene, suddenly lurched forward from a scientific curiosity to a potent catalyst for the production of highly engineered polyethylene and polypropylene plastics.
Ethylene can be made from a variety of petroleum products or natural gas feedstocks containing the 2-carbon ethane molecule, which is steam cracked to form hydrogen and ethylene gases. The 2-carbon-atom ethylene molecule is a very special hydrocarbon. When it comes in contact with positively charged metal atoms like titanium or zirconium, an interesting thing happens.
The 2-carbon-atom ethylene molecule becomes highly reactive, and units begin to connect end-to-end, producing a long chain many thousands of carbon atoms long. The ethylene gas is converted into a plastic solid with very useful properties. It can be blow-molded into films, injection molded into consumer goods and even recycled.
As an interesting aside, ethylene isn’t just for making plastic. Some plants produce it for biological reasons. Ethylene gas is a plant hormone used by certain plants to activate ripening, softening and sweetening in fruit such as bananas. Fruit can be picked green and ripened on demand in the warehouse with man-made ethylene gas.
—BSC leadership—
The present CEO of BSC is Rich Preziotti. With an MBA and an engineering degree, Preziotti has considerable manufacturing experience in the chemical industry.
When BSC changed ownership in 2019, Preziotti arrived and recruited a talented staff of engineering, finance and operations experts who set to work modernizing the company and expanding the business horizons further into associated markets. BSC ships specialty chemical products across North America, Europe and Asia.
Since Preziotti’s arrival, BSC has supported the Mead community with the Wall That Heals, mobility carts, a replica of the Vietnam Wall and wildfire operations. It has also supplied a comprehensive chemical emergency response trailer to the Mountain View Fire Department. In addition, BSC has proactively shared air quality resources with the Town of Mead.
The company operates entirely in the business-to-business market with nothing direct to consumers. BSC does not produce agricultural, cosmetic, medicinal or food-related products.