Latest Technologies
Expanded database tool for olivine samples
Olivine, a magnesium-iron silicate mineral, is common in the earth’s subsurface, and can sometimes contain other valuable elements, such as cobalt, manganese and nickel. Olivine has been explored as a possible sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in carbon-capture methods that…
Algae-based wastewater treatment with lower energy consumption
Algae show promise for removing nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater due to their natural absorption abilities. However, the widespread use of algae-based wastewater treatment is limited by challenges related to system footprint, mass transfer and maintaining optimal conditions…
Recycling fiber-reinforced polymers with oxygen-free static thermolysis
A new thermolysis technology developed by Composite Recycling (Ecublens, Switzerland; www.composite-recycling.ch) breaks down fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) into their fundamental constituents, enabling reuse as valuable feedstock for the creation of new composite materials. “Past efforts to recycle composites have allowed waste…
New screening method reveals microbial enzymes for breaking down PET
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…
Winter-Proof Your Process: The Hydro-Thermal Heating Advantage
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,…
Direct-ocean carbon-capture pilot plant starts up in Hawaii
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 and Novonesis launch new enzymatic esterification technology
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…
Creating ultrathin gold films with the largest continuous area
Thin gold films offer a broad range of benefits for electronics due to their high electrical conductivity and transparency. Current manufacturing methods are unable to achieve gold films thinner than 10 nm, and are also limited in the area and…
Flow chemistry yields a more sustainable route to isocyanates
The wide range of performance properties of polyurethane foams makes them essential in many consumer goods. Thus, there is much effort going into creating a more environmentally friendly production process for polyurethane’s main building blocks, polyols and isocyanates. While much…
Pilot project planned for thermocatalytic ethanol-to-butene process
In December 2024, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) announced a three-year collaborative project with vehicle-tire manufacturer Bridgestone (Tokyo, Japan; www.bridgestone.com) to scale up a thermocatalytic process for converting renewably derived ethanol to n-butene. Conventionally, n-butene is…