Technology to copolymerize carbon dioxide and propylene oxide (PO) was first discovered in 1960s, but has not been commercialized due to the formation of cyclic propylene carbonate (CPC) by a “back-biting” reaction, which leads to the formation of unstable, low-molecular-weight…
Within five years, four large power plants in Europe will be outfitted — for testing at the pilot scale — with energy-efficient CO2-filtering membranes that are being developed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; Trondheim; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6901-531). Professor…
A plasma-based waste-treatment process will be installed in Dow Corning Corp.’s silicon-products-manufacturing plant in Midland, Mich., where it will recycle chemical wastes, help lower the site’s consumption of natural gas by 400-billion Btu/yr and help reduce the plant’s total emissions…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6901-543) is acquiring a 20% stake in Li-Tec Vermögensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG (Kamenz, Germany). With its participation in Li-Tec, Evonik is now starting mass production of battery components. Evonik has developed materials for use…
American Electric Power (AEP, Columbus, Ohio; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6901-541) has agreed to cut its emissions of air pollutants by 813,000 ton/yr at an estimated cost of more than $4.6 billion in a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, Washington D.C.)…
Global revenues for suppliers of air-pollution-control systems, services, consumables and components will reach $80 billion by 2015, up from about $50 billion in 2007, according to a survey by McIlvaine Co. (Northfield, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6901-540). The market will be driven by…
A program to develop ionic liquids and formulations to improve the performance and efficiency of solar cells has been initiated by BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany) and G24 Innovations, Ltd. (G24i; Cardiff, Wales; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6901-545). G24i produces photovoltaic cells that use the…
China will likely achieve and may even exceed its target to obtain 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020, according to a new report released by the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org). If China's commitment to diversifying its energy supply and…
Better control of baghouses and cartridge-type dust collectors can pay dividends in energy savings, longer filter life and effort spent in tracking environmental compliance. That’s the message from Richard Kapcha, a control specialist with MikroPul (Charlotte, N.C.), which manufactures a…
As the chemical process industries (CPI) make the transition from communication protocols and systems that are cable-ready to those that are wireless, the conversation is changing. On the plant floor and in the executive suite, terms such as mesh network…