In The News
Plant Watch: November 2018
Plant Watch Covestro to invest €1.5 billion in new, world-scale MDI plant in Baytown October 9, 2018 — Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) approved an investment of around €1.5 billion to build a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) plant in…
Thin, organo-ceramic coating improves corrosion and fouling resistance of metal components
A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process that bonds a silicon-oxide film to metal surfaces of any shape is being scaled up by Wicoatec GmbH (Ulm, Germany; www.wicoatec.com). Serial production started in 2017 with pilot-scale equipment, and capacities will be tripled…
Another go for underground coal gasification
Leigh Creek Energy (Adelaide, South Australia; www.lcke.com.au) has received final approval from the South Australian government to start a three-month trial of underground coal gasification (UCG) at the site of the old Leigh Creek Coalfield, about 550 km north of…
A bi-functional catalyst enables one-step, ‘tunable’ F-T synthesis of liquid fuels
An integrated catalytic process for the direct, Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) conversion of synthesis gas (syngas) into different types of liquid fuels, without subsequent hydro-refining post-treatments of F-T waxes, has been developed by the research group of professor Noritatsu Tsubaki at the…
A one-step solution for remediating two challenging groundwater contaminants
A research team from the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT; Newark, N.J.; www.njit.edu) Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science has discovered a new bacterium that may help to alleviate concerns about two of the most pervasive and toxic groundwater…
Printing 2-D piezoelectric materials for sensors and energy harvesting
A new, inexpensive method to print large-scale sheets of two-dimensional (2-D) piezoelectric material has been developed by a team from RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia; www.rmit.edu.au) led by professor of electronic engineering Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh (now a professor of chemical engineering at…
Bio-based adsorbent material removes PFAS compounds from water
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used for high-performance fire-fighting and in the manufacture of durable goods for their chemical inertness, non-stick properties and fire resistance. They have also raised health concerns because they do not degrade in…
Measure bulk solids in piles and silos
Advances in sensing and imaging technologies have enabled new levels of accuracy in the measurement of bulk-solid materials stored in piles, silos and bins. BinMaster (Lincoln, Neb.; www.binmaster.com) and Stockpile Reports (Redmond, Wash.; www.stockpilereports.com) have collaborated to introduce the industry’s…
Japan takes a major step toward a hydrogen-based economy
A Japanese consortium has started the construction of the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R), which is said to be the world’s largest hydrogen-based energy system — a step towards a hydrogen-based economy. Located in Namie-cho, Fukushima Prefecture, FH2R will…
Advanced thermal hydrolysis pretreatment boosts biogas production
Thermal hydrolysis of wastewater sludge before it enters anaerobic digestion units can increase the rate of residuals-to-biogas conversion (biogas production) and increase the feed concentration, the combination of which significantly reduces anaerobic-digester reactor volume. An advanced thermal hydrolysis process (THP)…