In The News
Chementator: A bioprocess to make natural plastic makes its commercial debut
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…
Chementator: A new spin on making emulsions
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…
Chementator: Hydrogen power
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…
Chementator: Removing boron from drinking water
Next month, Mekorot, Israel National Water Company Ltd. (Tel Aviv, Israel) will start up what is claimed as the world’s first ion-exchange system for selectively removing boron from potable water. The plant, designed and constructed by Treitel Chemical Engineering Ltd.…
Chementator: New chiral compounds
BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-546) has developed a new process for producing chiral intermediates for pharmaceutical products. Without disclosing any details, BASF says the process is based on dehydrogenase enzymes for making optically active styrene oxides and aliphatic alcohols. The…
Chementator: H2 separation
Researchers at the Dept. of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-547) have developed a rubbery membrane that can be used purify hydrogen. The membrane, based on ethylene oxide polymers, is 40 times more permeable to CO2 than H2,…
Chementator: An improved PC resin
PolymersNet Co. Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-548) and Cyclics Corp. (Schenectady, N.Y.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5827-549) announced the first commercial application of CBT (cyclic butylene terephthalate) resin as a modified polycarbonate (PC). PC is used for making compact disks and automobile components, but…
Chementator: Nanoscopy
The Technical University of Denmark (Lyngby; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-552) has received a grant from the A. P. Møller and Chastine McKinney Møller Foundation to develop the world’s most powerful miocroscope. The so-called environmental transmission electron miocroscope is said to be five time…
Chementator: Heat exchangers
Last month, Aspen Technology, Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-553) launched its new generation of applications for the design, rating and simulation of heat exchangers: Aspen Tasc+, for shell-and-tube heat exchangers, and Aspen Acol+, for air-cooled heat exchangers. Used for optimizing heat…
Chementator: …and there’s a new CTL licensee and patent for Rentech
Last month, Rentech, Inc. (Denver, Co.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-539) signed its first domestic license agreement with DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC (Houston, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5826-540) for the use of Rentech’s patented F-T CTL technology (CE, May 2004, p. 23). At the same time, DKRW’s…