A new smartphone-operated portable chemical analyzer provides a platform for chemical leak detection and other industrial applications, according to developer MyDx Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.cdxlife.com). The company designed the handheld analyzer for consumers, but the technology platform has origins…
Biomass to sugar Plans are underway to build a commercial-scale sugar-production facility that uses a novel process for converting corn stover into high-purity glucose. The 95%-pure glucose syrup produced there will be used as a raw material in the production…
Shell Thiogro (www.shell.com/sulphur/thiogro) and Uhde Fertilizer Technologies (UFT; www. uhde-fertilizer-technology.com), part of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Essen, Germany), have established a partnership to integrate UFT’s fluidized-bed (FB) granulation technology with Shell’s Urea-ES (enhanced sulfur) technology, which was introduced in May…
A design-of-experiments (DoE) approach has resulted in better-performing fluids for metal grinding, cutting and machining applications. These fluids serve to lubricate cutting surfaces, remove heat, prevent corrosion and carry away fine particulates that can distort machined surfaces. In recent years,…
The Clark-Reliance Corp. (Strongsville, Ohio; www.clark-reliance.com) has been awarded a U.S. Patent for its Eye-Hye SmartLevel system for remote indication of water level for industrial boilers. The patent recognizes the uniqueness of the system’s self-diagnostic technology, which intelligently monitors the…
Plant Watch TCV begins construction of new liquid polybutadiene plant in France April 15, 2016 — Total Cray Valley (TCV; Paris, France; www.crayvalley.com) has begun construction of a new plant for liquid polybutadiene in Carling, north-east France. The plant will…
A novel food-packaging material that is free from chemical additives and that can slow down fungal growth — doubling the shelf-life of perishable foods — has been developed by researchers from the National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg). The researchers used…
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, Mass.; www.mit.edu) have demonstrated a two-stage process to convert synthesis gas (syngas) into lipids that can be used in biodiesel production. Eventually, such a process could be used to convert waste…
A Korean team, headed by professor Sang Yup Lee of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Daejeon, South Korea; www.kaist.ac.kr), has obtained various forms of PLGA [poly(lactate-co-glycolate)] from natural sources, allowing plastics to be made in an environmentally…
The field of additive manufacturing (AM) — often referred to as 3-D printing — has seen explosive growth in recent years (Chem. Eng., February 2015, pp. 20–23; www.chemengonline.com/3-d-printing-accelerates-creating-cpi-opportunities). In AM, no tools or molds are required to shape the desired…