Breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into its constituent monomers under mild conditions is a key goal of plastics recycling. Knowledge of how many naturally occurring enzymes are capable of breaking down PET, and which would be most effective in industrial…
Despite the abundance of nitrogen and hydrogen, industrial ammonia synthesis remains an energy-intensive process. Electrochemical methods have been suggested as potentially lower-energy alternatives to traditional ammonia synthesis, but these newer technologies often struggle with achieving key performance metrics. By integrating…
Capital intensity is among the current constraints on industrial-scale fermentation, because the hardware for steam sterilization of bioreactors is complex and expensive. After recently emerging from stealth status, the startup company Biosphere (Oakland, Calif.; www.biosphere.io) has launched a new reactor…
Many separation processes depend on chemical or thermal principles, such as solvent extraction or distillation, but in some cases, mechanical methods can provide effective separations with lower cost and energy requirements. Eirex (Vaughan, Ont., Canada; www.eirex.ca) has developed a proprietary…
An ExxonMobil Corp. (Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) adhesive-resin finishing facility in Baton Rouge, La. has become the first commercial process-manufacturing facility to be controlled by an open, standards-based process automation system. This is a departure from the closed, proprietary systems currently…
When temperatures drop, industrial water heating becomes a challenge. Maintaining precise outlet temperatures is critical in processing, and Hydro-Thermal’s Direct Steam Injection technology ensures instant, on-demand heating. This allows faster startups and reduces downtime—even in extreme cold. Unlike heat exchangers,…
Captura Corp. (Pasadena, Calif.) announced the start of operations at its latest pilot plant, capable of capturing 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. Located in Kona, Hawaii, and developed in partnership with multinational energy company Equinor, the facility marks…
Thyssenkrupp Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany), in partnership with Novonesis Group (Lyngby, Denmark), announced the launch of their joint offering: Uhde Enzymatic Esterification. This new technology bears the potential to revolutionize ester production by significantly reducing energy consumption and enhancing product…
Recycling materials, such as plastics and metals, is an attractive, but challenging path toward sustainable material manufacture. Now, researchers have made a discovery that may have far-reaching implications in material manufacture by positioning carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers as a sustainable…
Construction is imminent for a carbon-capture project aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from steel production while producing carbon-neutral calcium carbonate. At the U.S. Steel (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ussteel.com) manufacturing facility in Gary, Ind., a carbon-capture system designed by CarbonFree (San Antonio,…