X-Materials (Orlando, Fla.; www.x-materials.com), the advanced materials division of Semplastics Inc., has developed a method for manufacturing a coal-containing ceramic polymer-composite material that is being used to make building materials, such as roofing tiles, as well as other products. According…
Use this guide to aid the selection of conveying technologies for applications in powder and bulk solids handling Many sectors of the chemical process industries (CPI) — including chemicals, plastics, batteries, mining, power generation, plastics, food, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and others…
Platinum is widely used for many catalytic reactions, and because the precious metal is so expensive, efforts have been ongoing to reduce the amount of Pt required to perform reactions. Among these efforts are the use of nano-dispersions, clusters and…
The Green Chemistry Challenge Awards recognize scientific solutions to environmental problems that reduce hazards associated with the design, manufacture and use of chemicals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention sponsors the awards in…
Plant Watch Solvay completes PVDF capacity expansion in Changshu June 13, 2022 — Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has significantly increased production capacity for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) at the company’s site in Changshu, China. Solvay has now more than doubled…
The production of clinker used for making cement continues to be a major source of global CO2 emissions. Now, three engineers from the University of Cambridge (U.K.; eng.cam.ac.uk) have filed a patent and been awarded new research funding for their…
Presented here is a fast and flexible solution that removes solids, traces of water and gel in a single operation, therefore significantly reducing the time it takes to perform the process during silicone production Reliable silicone manufacturing operations depend on…
A new steam-fed electrolyzer aims to bridge the gap between liquid-water electrolyzers, many of which require exotic materials and intricate membranes, and solid-oxide electrolyzers, which require superheated steam and temperatures as high as 800°C. This ‘symbiotic’ electrolyzer, developed by Advanced…
Nickel alloys have long been the default choice for demanding applications in the chemical process industries (CPI). A new grade of stainless steel offers an alternative Demanding chemical engineering applications, such as plate heat exchangers (PHEs; Figure 1), tubing, pipes…
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers On an assignment to troubleshoot a vacuum tower for a petroleum refinery, my team was tasked to “run simulations to determine why the heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) has a very…