In The News
Quantifying varnish removal in lubricated systems
In lubricated systems, varnish and deposits can form on metal surfaces as lubricant oils degrade, often leading to inefficient operations and equipment failure. There are many chemical cleaning products to break down varnish, but the effectiveness of these compounds in…
Bifunctional catalyst enables economically viable production of bio-based acrylates
The prospects for a bio-based route to acrylates (diagram) received a significant boost recently, when startup company Låkril Technologies Corp. (Chicago, Ill.; www.lakril.com) licensed technology from the laboratory of Paul Dauenhauer at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.; twin-cities.umn.edu). Dauenhauer…
Commercial production of glucaric acid from sugar substrate
The synthetic biology company Kalion Inc. (Milton, Mass.; www.kalioninc.com) recently completed its first commercial-scale production run of high-purity (98–99%) glucaric acid via fermentation of glucose at a custom-manufacturing facility owned by Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com). The high purities…
Predicting aluminum-alloy mechanical properties at high temperatures
Aluminum is used for a number of applications because it is lighter than iron and easy to machine. However, Al is usually alloyed with Cu, Mg or other elements for improved strength. Developing such alloys that maintain their strength at…
Bulk polymerization of elemental sulfur yields new flame-retardant plastics
A group of researchers from the University of Arizona (Tucson; www.arizona.edu), led by chemistry and biochemistry professor Jeff Pyun, are aiming to make use of sulfur waste streams from petroleum refineries. To meet environmental regulations, sulfur must be removed from…
Business News: January 2022
Plant Watch Air Liquide enters a longterm partnership for production of rare helium isotope December 8, 2021 — Air Liquide S.A. (Paris; www.airliquide.com) entered into a longterm agreement with Laurentis Energy Partners to produce and distribute helium-3 (3He), a rare…
A new spin on ultrasonic algae control in wastewater-treatment applications
Ultrasound treatment is a non-chemical method to control algae using specific sound frequencies emitted through water to cause internal damage to polluting algae cells. Most previous work in the area of ultrasonic algae control has focused on very loud emitted…
Taking a Holistic Approach to Column Internals
Combining new and improved high-performance column internals and a whole-system view provides a comprehensive solution with more benefits Today’s economic and environmental pressures have chemical processors looking into projects that will help them achieve more throughput from existing columns while…
Structured catalyst improves efficiency and hydrogen yields in steam methane reforming
Commissioning has begun on a pilot plant designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a structured catalyst module for steam-methane reforming (SMR) that solves the main heat-transfer inefficiencies associated with the conventional process. The structured catalyst technology improves the efficiency of…
This steam-methane reforming technology has higher efficiency
A collaboration between Clariant Catalysts (Munich, Germany; www.clariant.com/catalysts) and Technip Energies N.V. (Zoetermeer, the Netherlands; www.technipenergies.com) has led to steam-methane reforming (SMR) SMR technology that is said to achieve higher throughput and heat recovery in SMR. Technip Energies’ Enhanced Annular…