A microfluidic, paper-based analytical device (µPAD) — in conjunction with confirmation by a “lab-on-a-chip” analysis — was developed for detection of three explosives (trinitro aromatics) by a team from the University of Technology Sydney (Sydney, Australia; www.uts.edu.au), the University of…
An ultra-sensitive, low-cost and portable system for detecting mercury in water has been developed by University of Adelaide (Australia; www.adelaide.edu.au) researchers, in collaboration with the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain; www.urv.cat). Project leader Abel Santos, of the Adelaide’s…
Operators and engineers in the chemical process industries (CPI) who are responsible for the daily operations associated with sludge dewatering and drying equipment are undoubtedly aware that wastewater-sludge drying is not an easy task. A large number of the problems…
Plant Watch Jacobs awarded contract for ExxonMobil projects in Baytown and Mont Belvieu August 12, 2014 — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) was awarded a contract from ExxonMobil Chemical Co. to provide engineering, procurement and construction services as…
Clay Naef Barbieri Ferris Kieny Specialty chemicals producer Lanxess (Cologne, Germany) names Matthias Zachert chairman of the board, and promotes Jorge Nogueira to head of the Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit. The Sensors Div. of Honeywell Life Safety (Morris…
Magnetically driven (mag drive) centrifugal pumps have been in use since 1947 when the first magdrive pump was developed. Mag drives have always been the workhorse pump in applications with corrosive and often toxic fluid applications, and particularly over the…
Water and wastewater treatment are extremely important at liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and other industries that are blossoming due to the shale-gas boom. Engineering concerns are similar to those of other industrial water-treatment and power-generation systems, but with the…
Last June, Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) started commercial operation of its new 100,000-ton/yr ethyl acetate plant at Oita Complex. The new plant is the first commercial facility in Japan to use the company’s proprietary production-process technology. The…
A sludge-optimization technology for municipal water-treatment facilities is poised for rapid growth after the exclusive worldwide patent-licensing rights for the technology were acquired by CNP Technology Water and Biosolids Corp. (Kenosha, Wisc.; www.cnp-tec.com). The technology, known as AirPrex, was initially…
It seems that more and more, security concerns — both physical and cyber — have become part of our daily lives both off and on the job. The all-too-frequent news stories on the topic as well as repetitive prompts, such…