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BASF to close Styropor plant at Tarragona; and more

Plant Watch PET resin capacity expands in Saudi Arabia June 15, 2009 — Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH (Berlin, Germany) has entered into a contract with the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) to provide the technology license and the basic engineering for…

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New catalyst boosts liquid-fuel yield from heavy hydrocarbons

A new zeolite catalyst that increases yields of light cycle oil (LCO) from high molecular weight “bottoms” hydrocarbons in petroleum fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units was commercialized last month by Grace-Davison, an operating segment of W.R. Grace & Co. (Columbia,…

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Direct conversion of cellulose to HMF demonstrated

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pln.gov) have published the first direct route for converting plant cellulose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a valuable platform chemical for the production of both plastics and biofuels. Appearing in the June issue…

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A new support for biofilters

Researchers from the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Center (Sydney and Perth, Australia; www.ebcrc.com.au) have developed a new way to harness bacteria to biodegrade odor-causing substances. Traditional biofilters typically employ compost supported on wood chips to trap the odor-producing substances, and…

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Using gold to catalyze oxidation reactions

Polymer-supported nanoclusters of gold have recently been shown to catalyze the oxidation of alcohols to ketones at room temperature in air by the research group of chemistry professor Shu Kobayashi, University of Tokyo (www.chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp), in a project supported by Japan…

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Scaleup is set for an air-separation membrane

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI, Palo Alto, Calif.; www.epri.com) has signed an agreement with Air Products (Allentown, Penn.; www.airproducts.com) to support the company’s development of a ceramic ion transport membrane (ITM) for air separation. The membrane is being tested…

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A less-expensive way to make platinum catalysts

The cost of producing platinum catalysts could be reduced by up to 90% by a process being developed jointly by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL, Livermore, Calif.; www.llnl.gov) and Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.; www.stanford.edu). The process involves the deposition of…

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Extracting drinking water from humidity

An energy-autonomous process for capturing air humidity for drinking water has been developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB; Stuttgart; www.fraunhofer.de) and Logos-Innovationen GmbH (Bodnegg, both Germany; www.logos-innovationen.com). The concept is suitable for supplying…

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This photocatalyst works with visible light

A photocatalyst that uses visible light to deodorize and disinfect air has been developed by Hiroshi Taoda at the Materials Research Institute for Sustainable Development, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Chubu, Nagoya, (AIST; Chubu, Nagoya, Japan; www.aist.go.jp).…

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Teijin transfers 50% ownership in NatureWorks back to Cargill

Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo; www.teijin.co.jp) announced today that it had transferred its 50% ownership in NatureWorks LLC back to Cargill and terminated the joint-venture (JV) contract with Cargill regarding NatureWorks as of June 30. NatureWorks, established in 1997 and operated as…