Simulations of chemical processes that involve many reactants with continually changing compositions can be set up and run in minutes, rather than the previously required hours, with a newly commercialized software package, Reaction Engineering Lab, says developer Comsol (Stockholm, Sweden,…
The presence of arsenic minerals, such as enargite and tennantite, in some copper-bearing ore bodies, can be a problem for those wishing to recover the copper. When delivering copper concentrates to smelters in Australia, for example, miners are subjected to…
Solvay (Brussels, Belgium; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-536) is planning to build a new plant for producing epichlorohydrin at its Tavaux, France, site. When the facility starts up in the first half of 2007, it will produce 10,000 m.t./yr of epichlorohydrin using Solvay’s Epicerol…
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Decatur, Ill.; edlinks.com/5827-542) plans to build the world’s first commercial plant to produce PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates), which are high-performance plastics made from renewable resources, such as corn sugar. The plant, to be located at a major ADM…
BP (London; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-544) and Edison Mission Group, a subsidiary of Edison International (Rosemead, Calif.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-545), are planning a $1-billion, hydrogen-fueled power plant — said to be the first-of-a-kind — for generating electricity with minimal emissions of carbon dioxide. Detailed engineering…
Kokusan Co. (Tokyo; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-531) has developed a new type of emulsifier that uses centrifugal force to drive mixtures through specially designed nozzles. The system is said to be less complex than conventional high-shear mixing devices, and operates at much lower…
A gas-liquid nozzle that reduces the size of the gas bubbles blown into a liquid — thus increasing the rate at which the gas is absorbed into the liquid — has been developed by a research team led by Jie…
Haldor Topsøe (Lyngby, Denmark; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-533) has introduced two new hydroprocessing catalysts, which are based on its proprietary BRIM technology. Both catalysts are nickel-molybdenum types that optimize both hydrogenation at so-called brim sites (situated on the basal-plane of the catalyst) and…
Lanxess Deutschland GmbH (Leverkusen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-548) has commissioned a parallel reactor for the screening of catalysts use in hazardous reactions, such as phosgenation and chlorination, which are commonly used to make fine chemicals. Up to now, existing automated screening devices…
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Calif.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-549), Boston College (edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-550) and MIT (both Mass.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-551) have discovered that by heating a single-walled nanotube of carbon to 3,600°F, its strength is increased by 280%. The discovery is expected to…