In The News
Uhde wins mega contract for fertilizer plants in the U.S.
ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH (Uhde; Dortmund, Germany; www.uhde.eu) has, through its U.S. business partner, Uhde Corporation of America (Pittsburgh, Pa.), been selected by CF Industries, one of the world's leading fertilizer producers, to provide engineering and supply services for two fertilizer…
Wanted: CPI Engineers
A number of factors, including plans for new plants and expansions, as well as the retirements of experienced personnel, are creating an especially competitive labor market for engineers and technical workers in the chemical process industries (CPI). The situation is…
Novasep to build the world’s largest chromatography plant for APIs and more news
Plant Watch Novasep to build world’s largest chromatography plant for APIs October 10, 2012 — Novasep (Pompey, France; www.novasep.com) has announced an investment of €30 million to build what will be the world’s largest chromatography plant for the production of…
This filtration system saves space, time and money
In the production of deionized (DI) water from river water, sand filters are commonly used to remove solid particles prior to the ion-exchange units. However, sand beds occupy a large space — as large as 3-m wide and over 5-m…
Two technologies combined to treat oil and gas wastewater
A partnership between New Sky Energy (Boulder, Colo.; www.newskyenergy.com) and 212 Resources (Houston, Tex.; www.212resources.com) combines the two companies’ technologies to generate freshwater and usable inorganic chemicals from produced water in petroleum and natural-gas drilling operations. 212 Resources…
A new catalyst enables lower-temperature H2 production using the sulfur-iodine cycle
Among the many different ways being investigated for making hydrogen “from water” is the so-called sulfur-iodine (S-I) cycle, which involves three chemical reactions whose net products are H2 and O2: the decomposition of sulfuric acid into SO2, H2O and O2;…
Quick-charging lithium ion batteries on the horizon
Conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are unsuitable for high power applications as in electric vehicles, because they take a long time to charge, according to a team from the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy, of the Ulsan National Institute of Science…
Odor control in small doses
A team headed by professor Zhiguo Yuan, from the Advanced Water Management Center, University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia; www.awmc.uq.edu.au) claims to have developed a new method for corrosion and odor control in sewers that is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly…
Demonstration for a process that makes H2 from sewage sludge
Japan Blue Energy Co. (JBEC; Tokyo, Japan; www.jpo-net.co.jp), Daiwa Lease Co., Toyota Tsusho Corp., and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. have established the Business Research Group of Hydrogen Innovation Town (BRG-HIT) to start verification tests for a new technology for making hydrogen…
Chementator briefs
Water treatment The recently introduced FoodPro ST line of water-treatment chemicals from GE Power & Water (Trevose, Pa.; www.ge.com) prevents corrosion and scale in stainless-steel sterilizers and pasteurizers in the food and beverage industry, and they are less expensive than…