Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has developed a new chloride-based leaching process for recovering nickel from nickel matte — a commercial intermediate product of nickel smelting that contains about 65% of nickel. Developed since the 1980s, originally for Cu recovery…
A new remediation approach for industrial heavy-metal waste has been developed by Lewis Environmental Services, Inc. (LES; Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.lesvc.com). The patented Enviro-Clean process adsorbs heavy metals from liquid waste streams onto a bed of specially treated granular activated carbon.…
Advance in UF module The latest offering of ultrafiltration systems from Evoqua Water Technologies (Alpharetta, Ga.; www.evoqua.com) incorporates an advanced polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane into a hydraulically balanced, modular filtration system. Known as Memcor CPII, the product employs a…
A huge growth in demand for lithium compounds is expected when automotive manufacturers start mass producing hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles using lithium-ion batteries. In anticipation of the expanded business, many minerals-processing companies have been developing technologies for processing…
A Korean team has developed a carbon material that is as effective as graphene in applications, such as solar cells and semiconductor chips, using a process that requires only two steps instead of the usual eight. High-quality graphene is usually…
Plant Watch ExxonMobil invests in new delayed coker unit at Belgium refinery July 7, 2014 — An affiliate of ExxonMobil (Irving, Tex., www.exxonmobil.com), Esso Belgium, a division of ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical B.V.B.A., plans to install a new delayed coker…
Scientists at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL; Morgantown, W. Va.; www.netl.doe.gov) have demonstrated a process for enhancing the efficiency of the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction. The process revolves around a magnesium hydroxide sorbent material that can remove CO2 from…
Aveva (Cambridge, U.K.; www.aveva.com) has launched AVEVA Information Standards Manager (AVEVA ISM), a software product that enables both EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contractors and asset owner operators to achieve greater control over critical engineering information across their projects and enterprises. It…
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has purchased the assets of Kalogeo Anlagenbau GmbH (Leobersdorf, Austria) after the company became insolvent. Kalogeo has provided solutions for biomass, sludge and wastewater treatment and designed, built and operated several mid-size thermal sludge-treatment plants…
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) and Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) announced today its new Ziegler-Natta (ZN) polypropylene catalyst production plant in Louisville, Kentucky, is on schedule to begin production in 2015. The plant is part of a long-term strategic partnership…