Shell Development Emeryville
Encyclopedia
The Emeryville Research Center of Shell Development Company in Emeryville, California
was the major research facility of Shell Oil Company
in the United States from 1928 to 1966. Shell Development's Emeryville facilities were located on about 27 acres (109,265.2 m²), included nearly 90 buildings at its peak, and when decommissioned in 1972, employed a staff of about 1500.
, long advertised as "TCP," was developed for use as a gasoline additive at Emeryville, as were other gasoline additives. Tar sands
extraction and other techniques to increase oil reserves were studied at bench scale and in pilot plants. Here Shell also pioneered de-sulfurization
methods and standards for gasoline and motor oil, which were significant in reducing acid rain
and other environmental effects of acidity in auto exhaust gases.
The epoxy
resins were created at Shell / Emeryville. In an early dramatization of the new material, Shell Development's team recorded and pressed a musical performance on epoxy resin rather than on vinyl. The wife of a scientist, who was a classical harpsichordist, performed. Epoxy / carbon fiber and other advanced composites were also pioneered there.
Shell polymer scientists revised the scientific community's understanding of polymerization physics for styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), a principal component of most tires. Ziegler and Natta had received a Nobel prize for the creation and production scale-up of SBR, the world's first synthetic rubber
. Pragmatic but flawed, the Ziegler-Natta equations provided tires for the Allies' military vehicles after natural rubber from rubber trees was made unavailable by the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia. Shell's Charles Wilcoxen later demonstrated that, though the polymerization method worked in practice, the kinetics assumed in the Nobelists' equations were not the true kinetics of the polymerization process.
Toward the end of its operation, Shell Development fabricated and pioneered applications for a class of compounds called block copolymers, intended for medical applications such as heart-valve replacements.
Shell Development had significant capital assets and technical resources, including a cyclotron, an early and long-running electron microscope facility, an elaborate radiation laboratory (which became Veedercrest Winery), and other then-advanced scientific tools.
Shell Development Emeryville made many contributions to the US space program, including development of rocket fuel compounds, and handling techniques and storage methods for these highly explosive compounds. Shell Development's labs also contributed significant support to California-based land speed recordholder Craig Breedlove
and the Spirit of America vehicles.
Though self-identified as a conservative employer, many Shell scientists were politically progressive, often championing causes such as the Sierra Club, no-growth economic strategies, and so on. A '60's anti-war counterculture rock band, Country Joe and the Fish, dedicated an early album to Martin Dimbat, a Shell Development scientist who contributed financially to their musical venture. Shell Development scientist Thomas Schatzky pioneered fingerprinting techniques to identify oil spills' origins.
Unionized, with a comfortable work pace, elaborate medical benefits for employees, a company-paid lifetime retirement plan, and almost-ironclad job security, Shell Development for decades provided the comforts of a socialistic work environment, within the organization of a corporate giant of capitalism.
Shell Development's senior scientific ranks included scientists who had been graduate students of Glenn Seaborg, a Berkeley scientist who pioneered techniques to create, and verify the existence of, transuranium elements. Shell Development also bore the indirect imprint of Robert Oppenheimer, the leader of the Manhattan Project. Manhattan Project alumni worked at Shell / Emeryville, and Oppenheimer himself is asserted to have been an offstage force in unionizing parts of Shell Development's workforce.
Distinguished scientists often experienced reduced professional recognition, which is associated with private-sector research, compared to scientists in academia. This is due to the competitive disadvantages the company would experience if employees could publish freely.
CORPORATE CULTURE / Postscript: After parent company Shell Oil dissolved the Shell Development / Emeryville organization and decommissioned its facilities, the employee culture proved robust. For over forty years after Shell Development ceased to exist, its employees continued monthly meetings at a marina restaurant nearby. Meetings were finally suspended in 2007. A spokesperson reported, citing uninterrupted recordkeeping among the surviving employees, that somewhat less than half of the known employees from Shell Development were still alive in late 2006.
FACILITIES / Postscript: Following Shell's 1972 departure from its Emeryville campus, its facilities languished briefly, then became an early home of biotechnology pioneers Cetus
and Chiron
. In the 21st century, many of the buildings of the former Shell Development campus are occupied by pharmaceutical giant Novartis
.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
was the major research facility of Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
in the United States from 1928 to 1966. Shell Development's Emeryville facilities were located on about 27 acres (109,265.2 m²), included nearly 90 buildings at its peak, and when decommissioned in 1972, employed a staff of about 1500.
Inventions, technical contributions, resources
Tricresyl phosphateTricresyl phosphate
Tricresyl phosphate, abbreviated TCP, is an organophosphate compound that is used as a plasticizer and diverse other applications. It is a colourless, viscous liquid, although commercial samples are typically yellow...
, long advertised as "TCP," was developed for use as a gasoline additive at Emeryville, as were other gasoline additives. Tar sands
Tar sands
Bituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The sands contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen...
extraction and other techniques to increase oil reserves were studied at bench scale and in pilot plants. Here Shell also pioneered de-sulfurization
Hydrodesulfurization
Hydrodesulfurization is a catalytic chemical process widely used to remove sulfur from natural gas and from refined petroleum products such as gasoline or petrol, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel fuel, and fuel oils...
methods and standards for gasoline and motor oil, which were significant in reducing acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
and other environmental effects of acidity in auto exhaust gases.
The epoxy
Epoxy
Epoxy, also known as polyepoxide, is a thermosetting polymer formed from reaction of an epoxide "resin" with polyamine "hardener". Epoxy has a wide range of applications, including fiber-reinforced plastic materials and general purpose adhesives....
resins were created at Shell / Emeryville. In an early dramatization of the new material, Shell Development's team recorded and pressed a musical performance on epoxy resin rather than on vinyl. The wife of a scientist, who was a classical harpsichordist, performed. Epoxy / carbon fiber and other advanced composites were also pioneered there.
Shell polymer scientists revised the scientific community's understanding of polymerization physics for styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), a principal component of most tires. Ziegler and Natta had received a Nobel prize for the creation and production scale-up of SBR, the world's first synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber is is any type of artificial elastomer, invariably a polymer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress than most materials and still return to its previous size without permanent deformation...
. Pragmatic but flawed, the Ziegler-Natta equations provided tires for the Allies' military vehicles after natural rubber from rubber trees was made unavailable by the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia. Shell's Charles Wilcoxen later demonstrated that, though the polymerization method worked in practice, the kinetics assumed in the Nobelists' equations were not the true kinetics of the polymerization process.
Toward the end of its operation, Shell Development fabricated and pioneered applications for a class of compounds called block copolymers, intended for medical applications such as heart-valve replacements.
Shell Development had significant capital assets and technical resources, including a cyclotron, an early and long-running electron microscope facility, an elaborate radiation laboratory (which became Veedercrest Winery), and other then-advanced scientific tools.
Shell Development Emeryville made many contributions to the US space program, including development of rocket fuel compounds, and handling techniques and storage methods for these highly explosive compounds. Shell Development's labs also contributed significant support to California-based land speed recordholder Craig Breedlove
Craig Breedlove
Craig Breedlove is a five-time world land speed record holder. He was the first to reach , , and , using several turbojet-powered vehicles, all named Spirit of America.-Land vehicle speed records :...
and the Spirit of America vehicles.
Corporate culture
The American Chemical Society's archives refer to Shell Development as one of a small number of large, pre-eminent private research facilities on the West Coast. A number of Shell scientists served as officers of ACS during the decades when the facility was in operation.Though self-identified as a conservative employer, many Shell scientists were politically progressive, often championing causes such as the Sierra Club, no-growth economic strategies, and so on. A '60's anti-war counterculture rock band, Country Joe and the Fish, dedicated an early album to Martin Dimbat, a Shell Development scientist who contributed financially to their musical venture. Shell Development scientist Thomas Schatzky pioneered fingerprinting techniques to identify oil spills' origins.
Unionized, with a comfortable work pace, elaborate medical benefits for employees, a company-paid lifetime retirement plan, and almost-ironclad job security, Shell Development for decades provided the comforts of a socialistic work environment, within the organization of a corporate giant of capitalism.
Shell Development's senior scientific ranks included scientists who had been graduate students of Glenn Seaborg, a Berkeley scientist who pioneered techniques to create, and verify the existence of, transuranium elements. Shell Development also bore the indirect imprint of Robert Oppenheimer, the leader of the Manhattan Project. Manhattan Project alumni worked at Shell / Emeryville, and Oppenheimer himself is asserted to have been an offstage force in unionizing parts of Shell Development's workforce.
Distinguished scientists often experienced reduced professional recognition, which is associated with private-sector research, compared to scientists in academia. This is due to the competitive disadvantages the company would experience if employees could publish freely.
CORPORATE CULTURE / Postscript: After parent company Shell Oil dissolved the Shell Development / Emeryville organization and decommissioned its facilities, the employee culture proved robust. For over forty years after Shell Development ceased to exist, its employees continued monthly meetings at a marina restaurant nearby. Meetings were finally suspended in 2007. A spokesperson reported, citing uninterrupted recordkeeping among the surviving employees, that somewhat less than half of the known employees from Shell Development were still alive in late 2006.
FACILITIES / Postscript: Following Shell's 1972 departure from its Emeryville campus, its facilities languished briefly, then became an early home of biotechnology pioneers Cetus
Cetus Corporation
Cetus Corporation was one of the first biotechnology companies. It was established in Berkeley, California in 1971, but conducted most of its operations in nearby Emeryville. Before merging with another company in 1991, it developed several significant pharmaceutical drugs as well as a...
and Chiron
Chiron Corporation
Chiron Corporation was a multinational biotechnology firm based in Emeryville, California that was acquired by Novartis International AG on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. Chiron's business and research was in three main areas:...
. In the 21st century, many of the buildings of the former Shell Development campus are occupied by pharmaceutical giant Novartis
Novartis
Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...
.