Any time experts invest effort in recommending directions for research and development with relevance for chemical engineering, their work seems worth a close look. Thus, this Editor’s Page has welcomed chances to air such recommendations as: Technology Vision 2020:…
For many years, the job of a control room operator at a petroleum refinery or chemical plant was seen as relatively simple: Keep the process running and fix it when it breaks. That perception is changing as more…
Forza fuel-cell power module, constructed by Nuvera Fuel Cells, Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-542) and installed by Uhdenora S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-543), has started operating at the chlorate production plant of Caffaro S.r.l. in Brescia, Italy. Integrating the fuel cell into…
Emerson Process Management (Austin, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-544) and Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D; Nuremberg, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-545) are expanding their system interfaces to enable both companies to support global fieldbus standards. The companies will exchange technology and engineering support in order to…
Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-546) has acquired Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. (OEE; Huzhou, Zhejiang, China). The acquisition will enable Dow to expand its water-purification offerings into three component technologies: ultrafiltration, membrane-bioreactor (MBR) membranes and electrodeionization.
BP Solar (Frederick; Md.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-547) has developed a new silicon growth process that is said to significantly increase the cell efficiency over traditional multicrystalline-based solar cells. Solar cells made with these so-called Mono2 wafers, together with other BP Solar advances…
Researchers at CSIRO Exploration and Mining (Kensington, Australia; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-548) have discovered that a bacterium, called Ralstonia metallidurans, may be responsible for the formation of secondary gold grains in nature. Cultures of the R. metallidurans - identified, using molecular biology techniques,…
At ARC's 14th annual forum (June 26-28; Boston, Mass.), OPC Foundation (Scottsdale, Ariz.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-549) released its latest interoperability solution, OLE for Process Control Unified Architecture (OPC-UA). This new series of specifications aims to provide secure, reliable interoperability for moving data…
Two chemicals producers have recently reaped the benefits of high-throughput-screening technologies, through research collaborations with Symyx Technologies, Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-550). In April, Celanese Corp. (Dallas, Tex.) deployed a new catalyst at one of its vinyl acetate plants. The…
Last month, Expander Energy Inc. (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-551) licensed the Carbo-V process from Choren Industries GmbH (Freiberg, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6515-552) for the production of synthesis gas derived from biomass. Carbo-V is a three-stage gasification process (CE, August, 2003, p. 16)…