Ultrasound Brewery Co. (Naruto, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-535) has developed a process that separates the water from dilute solutions of alcohol to achieve 99.5%, without using conventional evaporation or distillation. The company has tested the process in a pilot plant that produces…
Arkema, Inc. (formerly Atofina Chemicals, Inc.; King of Prussia, Pa.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-536) has commercialized a patented technology, based on nitroxide compounds, which can be used to control free-radical polymerization reactions. Each alkoxyamine of the BlocBuilder technology contains a functional group for…
Last month, “Series C” funding in the plastic-electronics development company, Plastic Logic Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-537), reached $24 million, with the addition of investments from four new companies, including BASF Venture Capital GmbH (Ludwigshafen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-538). Other companies that have…
A simple tank-and-siphon system for removing oil from wastewater has been launched internationally by an engineering team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW; Sydney, Australia; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-541). Called the Extended Gravity Oil Water Separator (EGOWS), it is described as…
Process System Enterprise Ltd. (PSE; London, U.K.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-542) has launched the latest of a series of gPROMS Advanced Model Libraries (AMLs) for Gas-Liquid Contactors (GLCs). This “open model” library of high-fidelity, non-equilibrium-component models covers a wide range of gas-liquid-separation operations,…
Last month, BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5825-543) started up its first plant for producing cyclohexane. The $12-million investment, located on the Friesenheimer Island, produces 130,000 m.t./yr cyclohexane from benzene using a new process developed by BASF. Without disclosing details, BASF…
The EDDL (electronic-device-description language) Cooperation Team (ECT; Karlsruhe, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5828-532) has released Phase 1 EDDL enhancement specifications. The enhancements on the existing EDDL include new capabilities, such as graphs, charts and images, the possibilities for archive data, and an EDD…
It is likely that in your work, you have crossed paths with a person you admire for a career involving excellence in chemical engineering. To perhaps bring that person recognition, nominate him or her for our 2006 Award for Personal…
Reader feedback tells us that maintaining process-plant safety is an area of perennial concern. That, doubtless, explains why Carolyn Merritt, chair and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB; Washington, D.C.), drew a large…
Whether working on retrofits or new-plant construction, engineers involved with chemical-process projects nowadays are likely to find themselves under pressure to reach completion quickly, sometimes even at the cost of bypassing traditional procedures and project controls. The downside becomes a…