Heat Transfer
Chementator: Grätzel cell
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE; Freiburg, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-575) have developed a solar-cell prototype that is semi-transparent, color-tunable and (thus far) resistant to weather degradation. A "classical Grätzel cell" according to Andreas Gombert head of Fraunhofer’s…
Maintaining and Repairing Heat Exchanger Tubes
Tube plugging is probably the most frequently used maintenance and repair technique for the tube side of an exchanger. This article provides information on how to locate the positions of tube failures and discusses why it is important to know…
Chementator: This platinum-free fuel cell runs on hydrazine
Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7369-532) has designed a fuel cell for powering automobiles, using nickel and cobalt for the electrodes (instead of conventional platinum and carbon), and hydrazine hydrate (N 2H4. H2O) as its fuel (instead of hydrogen).…
Chementator: Commercial production and debut of a new solid-acid catalyst for making biodiesel
Last month, Benefuel, Inc. (Mt. Prospect, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7369-533) established an exclusive global agreement with Süd-Chemie India Pvt. Ltd. (SCIL; New Delhi) whereby SCIL will manufacture proprietary solid-acid catalysts for Benefuel’s biodiesel production facilities around the world. The patent-pending catalysts —…
Chementator: New solid-state heat engine cycles H 2 through MEA like a fuel cell
Johnson ElectroMechanical Systems, Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7369-536) in conjunction with professor Heshmat Aglan of Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, Ala.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7369-537) has received a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE; Washington, D.C.) to further develop the firm’s solid-state heat…
Newsfront: The Heat Is On
As the price of electricity, natural gas and other fossil fuels continues to climb, chemical processors are more closely examining high-temperature operations and heat-transfer systems to see if more efficiency can be had. In many cases it can, and, as…
Chementator: A New GTL Process Takes a Step Closer to Commercialization
Japan Oil, Gas, & Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC; Kawasaki; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-534) and six private companies have established a research consortium to build a confirmation test-plant for a new Japanese gas-to-liquids (JGTL) process. Construction on the 500-bbl/d facility, located at Niigata, Japan,…
Chementator: With These Turbines, Waste Energy Can Now Be Recovered from Saturated Steam
Traditionally, the cogeneration of steam and electricity has been restricted to plants that generate superheated steam, making the recovery of energy losses from saturated steam impossible for many industrial sites ranging from distilleries to pharmaceutical plants and pulp-and-paper mills. At…
Metals complex
Last month, UC Rusal (Moscow, Russia; edlinks.chemengonline.com/ 6901-542) signed an agreement with the government of Russia's Saratov region for the construction of a major energy and metals complex, which includes the expansion of the Balakovsky nuclear-power plant. UC Rusal will…
Scaleup is in the works for a CO2-sequestration process
A “clean†combustion process that includes carbon dioxide sequestration may get its first commercial-scale tryout in Jamestown, N.Y., where the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is planning to replace two old, coal-fired boilers by a 43-MW circulating fluidized bed…