In The News
Chementator: Fuel from CO2
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-542) has partnered with the University of Southern California’s (USC) Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute (Los Angeles; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-543) to develop and commercialize new technology to transform carbon dioxide into clean-burning alternative fuels. USC developed fundamental chemistry…
Chementator: A Fat Shortage in 2008?
Animal and vegetable oils and fats are a key renewable feedstock for making detergents, soaps, lubricants, paints, coatings, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, as well as additives for plastics, rubber and textiles. However, a consequence of the current EU renewable-energy policy is…
Newsfront: CPI Capital Spending Outlook for 2008 & 2009
At the beginning of 2008, it’s clear that global economic growth is slowing. The housing downturn has adversely affected the U.S., and the ensuing credit problems (and tightening) have spread to other nations. A key issue is whether or…
Chementator: Save Space, Money and Water with This New Clarifier Process
At Pollutec 2007 (Paris, France; November 27 – 30), Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (Paris, edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-531) introduced the next generation of its Actiflo clarifier process for potable and process water — Actiflo Turbo. Like its predecessor, the patented Actiflo Turbo…
Economic Indicators: Business News
Plant Watch A new plant for crude-oil processing to be built in Italy December 10, 2007 — ABB has won a contract worth more than $86 million from Eni SpA to design and construct a new oil processing plant in…
Chementator: A New Offshore GTL Production System Takes Advantage of Microchannel Reactors
Toyo Engineering Corp. (TEC; Narashino, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-532), Modec Inc. (Tokyo, both Japan) and Velocys Inc., (Plain City, Ohio) have agreed to jointly develop a commercial gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant to be installed on a mobile platform or ship for monetizing small-to-medium…
Chementator: Commercialization Is Set for a Fischer-Tropsch Process
Rentech, Inc. (Los Angeles, Calif.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-537) will build its first commercial synthetic fuels plant, using the company’s proprietary Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, near Natchez, Miss. The plant will gasify locally purchased petroleum coke or barged-in coal, along with at least 5%…
Chementator: This CO2 -Recovery Process Set to Enhance EOR
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-533) is marketing a new process that captures carbon dioxide from flue gas (FG) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The KM-CDR process uses a proprietary amine-based solvent (KS-1) in a packed column to…
Chementator: Gas-to-Polypropylene
Basell Corp. (Frankfurt, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-540), the National Gas Co. of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), Ltd. (NGC) and the National Energy Corp. of T&T, Ltd. (NEC; both Point Lisas, Port of Spain) have entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to construct…
Chementator: Using Living Plants to Synthesize Metallic Nanoparticles
Metallic nanoparticles are usually produced by wet chemical methods, often using toxic and flammable substances, or by physical methods such as evaporation and laser ablation. A group from the Laboratory for Sustainable Technology, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, at…