A collaboration between LanzaTech (Skokie, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com) and the IOC-DBT Center for Advanced Bio-Energy Research (Faridabad, India; www.iocl.com) has led to a carbon-capturing process that synthesizes omega-3 lipids in algae. Via a continuous fermentation step that takes place in a…
A process that continuously produces methanol from methane is being developed by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI; Des Plaines, Ill.; www.gastechnology.org), with support from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (Washington, D.C.) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The process operates at…
A new lithium-ion battery that can be recharged in only two minutes — 20 times faster than with current technology — has been developed by scientists from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore; www.ntu.edu.sg). The battery will also have a lifespan of…
Protective-enclosure maker Intertec Inc. (Sarnia, Ont.; www.intertec.info) is building a unique, explosion-proof, pressurized shelter for a granulated urea warehouse at what will be the world’s largest, single-stream, gas-to-urea plant in Nigeria. The three-section enclosure protects personnel and electronics from potentially…
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has signed a longterm contract to provide hydrogen to Repsol, one of the world’s largest producers of petrochemicals. The new steam methane reformer (SMR) will be constructed at Repsol’s La Pampilla petroleum refinery, in the…
Airgas, Inc. (Radnor, Pa.; www.airgas.com) has announced plans to build a liquid hydrogen plant in Calvert City, Kentucky. The new facility is targeted to be onstream in the summer of 2016 with the capacity to produce 10 tons per day…
Charles Ross & Son The CDA-100 dual-shaft mixer is a 100-gal model that enables efficient powder dispersion and batch temperature control in the manufacture of both high- and low-viscosity formulations. The CDA-100 is equipped with an air-oil hydraulic lift for…
PLANT WATCH Kemira inaugurates its largest water-treatment chemicals plant October 9, 2014 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki; www.kemira.com) has inaugurated its biggest manufacturing plant for water-treatment chemicals. Located in Dormagen, Germany, the facility will produce 14 different specifications of acidic and alkaline…
A high-temperature pressure-swing-absorption (HT-PSA) process that reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to conventional PSA technology is being developed by Tokyo Gas Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.tokyo-gas.co.jp), with support from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).…
AkzoNobel N.V. (www.akzonobel.com) has partnered with Dutch start-up company Photanol (both Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.photanol.com) to manufacture specialty chemicals using a photosynthesis-like process that combines sugar production with fermentation in a single organism. Photanol has developed genetically engineered cyanobacteria that…