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Varcoe, Graeme Laurence (1937 - )

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Research scientist and Industrial chemist
Born: 13 November 1937  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Graeme Laurence Varcoe worked out how to dehydrogenate pyridine as a step in the production of diquat, a broad spectrum herbicide. This concept also provided the basis for design of the full scale plant. Responding to the rapidly accelerating demand for urea formaldehyde resins for the particle board industry in the sixties, he radically modified the production process to achieve a ten-fold gain in productivity. Varcoe obtained an early patent on the oxychlorination of ethylene to vinyl chloride, which led to the world’s first commercialisation of the process, at ICIANZ Botany site, for which he was the plant commissioning superintendent.
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Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.Prepared by: Rosanne Walker
Created: 25 May 2001
Modified: 25 May 2006

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P004027b.htm

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