Chementator
A bioleaching process moves closer to commercialization
In February 2009, Talvivaara Mining Company Plc. (Espoo, Finland; www.talvivaara.com) delivered its first in a series of commercial shipments of metals to Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta refinery in Finland. Talvivaara expanded the crushing circuit and has restarted the metals precipitation process…
A Japanese push for bio-ETBE over bioethanol
Last month, Nippon Oil Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.eneos.co.jp) started production bio-ETBE (ethyl tertiary butyl ether), which will be blended into gasoline as an alternative to ethanol as an oxygenate. Nippon Petroleum Refining Co., a subsidiary of Nippon Oil, inaugurated the…
December Chementator briefs
The power of osmosis Last month, Statkraft (Oslo, Norway; www.statkraft.com) opened what is claimed to be the world's first osmotic power plant. Although the prototype is very small (designed for 10 kW), the company believes data gained from the…
A boost for acetonitrile
Acetonitrile, a byproduct of acrylonitrile production, has been in short supply for about a year because of a dramatic reduction in the demand for acrylonitrile, used in plastics for the manufacture of cars, appliances and electronic goods. A process modification…
Electronic marshalling uproots 35 years of spaghetti wiring practices
Last month, in unveiling the S-Series release of its DeltaV digital automation system, Emerson Process Management (Austin, Tex.; www.emersonprocess.com) introduced electronic marshalling, a new concept in input/output (I/O) configuration that promises to streamline the design and installation of automation systems,…
Scaleup planned for a scale-reducing RO process
Rotec Ltd. (Ashkelon, Israel; http://www.rotec-water.com), a technology-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGN; Beer-Sheva, Israel), is developing a new desalination technology that promises to increase the water-recovery rate of reverse osmosis (RO) systems from 75–85% up to 95%.…
November chementator briefs
Process Systems Enterprise Ltd. (PSE; London, U.K.; www.psenterprise.com) is to make new advanced thermodynamic modeling tools for prediction of liquid and gas thermodynamic properties available through its gPROMS process-modeling environment. The technology makes it possible to considerably speed up the…
This high-efficiency cooling tower slashes emissions from metallurgical processes
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has commercialized a new cooling tower that offers increased cooling capacity with significantly lower emissions to air when cooling solutions in metallurgical processes. The new tower can be used in a wide range of process…
Capsosomes: a new launching platform for delivering drugs where needed
Transport systems that can encapsulate medications for release when and where needed are the subject of much research and development, especially for two potential synthetic vessels: liposomes and multilayered polymer capsules. Both, however, entail limitations. The permeability of polymer capsules,…
A new spin on reducing membrane-filtration fouling
Last month at Filtech (Wiesbaden, Germany; October 13–15), Fil Max Inc. (Brea, Calif.; www.fmxfiltration.com) exhibited a new application for its FMX vortex-generating, membrane-filtration technology — treating wastewater from a biogas plant. Fil Max installed its first commercial system — three…