In The News
Chementator Briefs
Glycolic acid Researchers from the group of professor Miho Yamauchi at the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) of Kyushu University (Fukuoka City, Ito Campus, i2cner.kyushu-u.ac.jp) have fabricated a liquid flow-type electrolyzer that can continuously produce an alcohol from…
Air-filtration systems: Clearing the Air
Modern air-filtration systems provide more-efficient dust collection and assist with air quality compliance Air-filtration and dust-collection systems are the go-to gear for protecting employees and equipment from dust exposure and for complying with air-quality, safety and combustible-dust regulations enforced by…
A bio-based caprolactam joint-development project is now underway
Last month, Genomatica (San Diego, Calif.; www.genomatica.com) and Aquafil (Trento, Italy; www.aquafil.com) announced a partnership to commercialize a Genomatica process for making caprolactam derived from renewable feedstocks, rather than from petroleum. The cyclic amide caprolactam is a key intermediate for…
Wastewater treatment with peracetic acid
In what is said to be the largest municipal wastewater application using peracetic acid (PAA) disinfectant to date, the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District in Denver, Colo. recently began disinfecting wastewater effluent with a PAA formulation from Enviro Tech Chemical Services,…
A promising catalyst for low-temperature ammonia synthesis
Researchers led by professor Hideo Honoso at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Yokohama City, Japan; www.titech.ac.jp) have discovered a new catalyst that enhances the efficacy of NH3 synthesis by two orders of magnitude over that of a conventional Ru catalyst at…
Chementator Briefs
RE-free magnets Tetrataenite (L10-FeNi) is a promising alternative to rare-earth- (RE) based magnets due to its favorable magnetic properties, such as a high uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and saturation magnetic-flux density. Compared to other non-RE alternatives, such as Nd-Fe-B and Sm-Fe-N,…
Catalytic advances enable methane conversion without coking
The large supply of unconventional natural gas from shale deposits in the U.S. has increased attention on utilizing small alkanes to synthesize higher-value chemicals and fuels, while avoiding thermal steam-cracking, which is energy-intensive. Attempts to catalytically convert methane, ethane and…
Business News February 2018
Plant Watch Asahi Kasei to increase global production capacity for LIB separators January 11, 2018 — Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) will increase production capacity for lithium-ion battery (LIB) separators at its plants in North Carolina and Shiga, Japan.…
Placing Data Analytics in the Hands of Engineers
The field of data analytics is evolving quickly, and an increasing number of tools are being designed with chemical engineers in mind Big data, smart devices, Internet of Things (IoT) — these are terms heard more and more frequently in…
Size Reduction: Improving the Daily Grind
New milling, grinding and size-reduction equipment helps processors obtain better efficiencies and develop new products Although milling and size-reduction equipment may be mature — some technologies date back to the 1800s — evolving needs of chemical processors, including the demand…