In order to produce ethanol with nearly 100% purity from fermentation broth, conventional processes use a two-step distillation operation, which accounts for almost 55% of the total energy requirements. Therefore, improving the concentration step is a key to reducing the…
A paper-thin battery, with an electrode made from a redox-active organic polymer film (200 nm thick), has been designed by researchers at Waseda University (Tokyo; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-547). The polymer has nitroxide-radical groups that act as charge carriers. According to professor Hiroyuki…
Fired heaters are used considerably in the chemical process industries (CPI), for heating crude oil in the petroleum refining and petrochemical sectors. Unfortunately, fired heaters are often taken for granted and neglected more than other equipment in terms…
A fungus that is said to be more effective than baker's yeast for the conversion of waste to ethanol has been discovered by researchers at Boras University College (Sweden; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-544). The fungus, a saprophyte (of the zygomycetes order of fungi),…
The cost of producing ethanol promises to be reduced by 50% through a process being developed by TNO (Zeist, Netherlands; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-536). The reason for the dramatic cut is that ligno-cellulosic material is hydrolyzed in a single step, using concentrated sulfuric…
Cleaning the interior of firetubes in oil-, biomass- or coal-fired boilers is a time-consuming task that can normally be done only when a boiler is offline. Now, a system that can do the job automatically while the boiler is in…
Another online boiler-cleaning system, in this case for coal-fired watertube boilers, is offered by GE Energy (Kansas City, Mo.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-539). GE's automated system, called Powerwave+, is more efficient and less expensive than sootblowing with high-pressure steam, the commonly used online…
Demonstration plants to test six processes for producing ethanol from non-food-based biomass will be built with support from the U.S. DOE (edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-543). Between them, the plants will produce more than 130 million gal/yr of ethanol from cellulosic feeds, including agricultural…
The use of shell-and-tube heat exchangers is widespread in the chemical process industries (CPI). In applications where contact between shell- and tube-side fluids is not tolerable, it is important for the engineer to understand some of the design…
A more efficient process for producing synthesis gas (syngas; hydrogen and carbon monoxide) from natural gas has been developed by JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6893-541) in cooperation with Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan), as part of a national project…