In The News
March Chementator Briefs
Bioethanol Ethanol from plant and forestry waste and dedicated energy crops could replace approximately one-third of U.S. gasoline requirements by 2030 on a sustainable basis, according to a study by Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, Calif.; www.sandia.gov) and General Motors Corp.…
Chementator: A more efficient way to extract energy from coal
A process that produces hydrogen from coal with close to 80% energy conversion efficiency, plus coproduction of a carbon-dioxide-rich stream for sequestration, is being developed at Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio; www.osu.edu). This compares with around 60% conversion efficiency for…
Chementator: Multiscale reactors come of age for making fine chemicals
In the framework of the Impulse project (Integrated Multiscale Process Units with Locally Structured Elements; CE, April 2005, p. 19), researchers from the Industrial Chemistry Group at RWTH Aachen University (Germany; www.itmc.rwth-aachen.de) have developed a continuous production plant capable of…
Chementator: A process to make butadiene from under-utilized cracker C4 fractions
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC; Tokyo, Japan; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) has developed a new technology for producing 1,3-butadiene (butadiene) from waste butenes using a self-developed, proprietary catalyst. The process has been pilot tested (200-ton/yr capacity) at MCC’s Mizushima site in Japan, and the…
Chementator: A new feedstock for carbon and graphite electrodes: coal
A less-expensive way of making the raw materials for carbon anodes (for aluminum smelting) and graphite electrodes (used to make steel in electric arc furnaces) has been developed by West Virginia University (UWV; Morgantown, W.Va.; www.wvu.edu). The conventional starting materials…
Chementator: Toxic plant yields a potential skin protector
Milkweed, a plant that is toxic to farm animals and other creatures, may be a future source of a base material for sunscreen and other skin care products. Milkweed is harvested for floss, used as a hypoallergenic filler for pillows…
Chementator: Using the sun to keep Australians cool
CSIRO Energy Technology (Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia; www.csiro.au) is developing a solar-powered air conditioning unit for residential use, using a desiccant-evaporative process to provide cool and dehumidified air. Thermally driven ab- or adsorption chillers are commonly used to provide…
Wacker plans polysilicon production facility in U.S.
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) has mid-term plans to construct a new hyperpure polycrystalline silicon facility in the U.S. and has purchased land in Tennessee for this purpose. The land in Bradley County covers approximately 550 acres (220 hectares),…
Axens technology for Kremenchug refinery
The Ukrainian based holding company Ukrtatnafta (www.ukrtatnafta.com), has awarded Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) a contract for upgrading the gasoline pool at the Kremenchug refinery, which is the largest throughput capacity refinery in the Ukraine. The upgrading project is the first…
BASF launches 2-propylheptyl acrylate
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is systematically expanding its portfolio of specialty monomers and launching its new product, 2-propylheptyl acrylate (2-PHA), on the market. This is a new raw material and building block for functional polymers. 2-PHA belongs to the…