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Direct metal conversion streamlines cathode-material supply chain

As application demands evolve, battery materials have gotten more complex, incorporating not only lithium, but higher nickel, manganese and cobalt content, while also including various dopants like aluminum or zirconium and stabilizing coatings. Processing all of these disparate components into…

FRS reduces downtime with automated CIP processes

The new No Intervention fines-return system (FRS; photo) allows dairy- and food-powder producers to automate the clean-in-place (CIP) processes of their spray-dryer FRS, leading to reduced downtime, improved working conditions and guaranteed product safety. Explicitly designed for food and dairy…

Feeling video fatigue?

It has been a full year since our world was changed by the coronavirus pandemic. The disruptions to our lives have been many, and the one perhaps most invasive to our day-to-day routines has been the need for social distancing.…

Piezoelectric wood

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa; Dübendorf; www.empa.ch) and ETH Zurich (both Switzerland; www.ethz.ch) have made wood compressible and turned it into a piezoelectric generator. The research, reported last month in the journal Science…

High-capacity cooling die for extruding meat substitutes

Extrusion is a highly versatile process that can be applied to a wide range of plant-based raw materials to create meat or fish alternatives. An integral part of the process is the cooling die. Cooling dies work with extrusion technology…

Integrating intelligent technologies for smarter rice mills

Bühler AG (Uzwil, Switzerland; www.buhlergroup.com) is making a major step towards digitally connected rice mills of the future. The first rollout for integrated rice mills is entering the final stages, with the initial setup using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine…

Plant Watch: Business News for April 2021

Plant Watch Thermo Fisher Scientific plans $600-million bioprocessing expansion March 12, 2021 — Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.; www.thermofisher.com) plans to invest more than $600 million in capital investments to expand its bioprocessing production capabilities through 2022. These investments…

Cybersecurity: Continuous Vigilance Required

As digitalization becomes more common and remote operations become necessary, guarding against cybersecurity breaches grows even more critical The hacking of a Florida water plant, which made headlines in February, was a poignant reminder of the dangers posed by breaches…

Store acids safely in the laboratory with these cabinets

The Acid Storage Cabinet (photo) is designed for the storage of corrosive chemicals and is available in seven different widths between 12 and 48 in. The standard size is 35 in. high and 22 in. deep. The molded one-piece fiberglass…

Thermal-energy storage system can decarbonize industrial heat

A closed-loop, long-duration energy-storage system (diagram) developed by Malta, Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.; www.maltainc.com) could provide a carbon-neutral path to industrial heating. “One of the exciting facets of this technology is that it generates a lot of discharge heat. When we…