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…
Graphene continues to show new, promising properties Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) have discovered that graphene oxide sheets can change their structure and become liquid droplets spontaneously. Because graphene droplets change their structure in response to an…
An increasingly tight labor market for engineers in the chemical process industries (CPI) is pushing salaries for engineers higher, while a strengthening wave of retirements is driving efforts in several communities to address the gaps in experience and education. Data…
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA; Washington, D.C.) there were 95 Federal disaster declarations in the year 2013 in the U.S. The state-by-state disaster statistics show even higher numbers of events, emergencies and disasters in 2013 for many…
Track energy consumption with this new software This month, this company is releasing Energy Performance Analytics (EP-Analytics; photo), a software tool that uses energy performance indicators (EnPI) to track how energy is being consumed in a plant, identifies gaps between…
GEA Refrigeration Technologies GmbH (Bochum, Germany) names Nadine Kipphardt marketing manager. Ralph Exton, chief marketing officer, water and process technologies, for GE Power & Water (Schenectady, N.Y.), has been appointed to serve as the 2014–2015 treasurer on the board of…
Bulk solids are frequently used as reactants, catalysts or products in chemical process industries (CPI) operations. Often, they must be heated or cooled so that they can be handled safely or processed at a desired temperature. Traditionally, heat transfer to…
Experiments are done to quantify cause-and-effect relationships between adjustable parameters (inputs, factors, x) and the results (outputs, responses, y). They help to answer questions like: How do the ingredients and proportions of a mixture (inputs) influence its properties (outputs)? How…
Figure 1. During tightening, hydraulic pressure load within a bolt should be uniformly and accurately applied to avoid gasket damage and other issues that can create leakage Common knowledge dictates that planning ahead ensures effective results, regardless of the task…