The growth in use of centrifugal compressors in chemical process industries (CPI) applications in recent decades has been brought about by four factors: 1) advances in dry gas seal technology; 2) modern aerodynamic, rotor-dynamic and thermodynamic knowledge and techniques; 3)…
A novel cold-dry process makes possible the utilization of fine form-factor silicon, such as granules and sand-like fines, in the production of high-purity polysilicon for solar photovoltaic cells and semiconductors, where such fine-grained material would normally have to be sent…
Peristaltic pumps work by compressing a tube against a circular pump housing with rollers on a rotating arm. The fluid that is ahead of the roller gets pushed forward, while new fluid is drawn into the tube by the vacuum…
Recovery boilers, in which pulp and paper companies burn spent black liquor from the kraft pulping process to recover and recycle sodium and sulfur, are a bottleneck in many paper mills. The reason is that they operate at their upper…
A new catalyst that converts H2 and CO2 into formic acid under mild conditions has been developed by researchers at the Solar Light Energy Conversion Group of Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST;…
A new solid-state basic catalyst for forming carbon-carbon bonds has been developed by Masaru Ogura, an associate professor, and his research group at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo (www.u-tokyo.ac.jp). The catalyst has been shown to accelerate the…
This month, Borregaard Industries Ltd. (Sarpsborg, Norway; www.borregaard.com) will start up an integrated, pilot-demonstration plant to further develop a new pretreatment process for converting biomass into lignin and fermentable sugars. Located at the company’s R&D Center in Sarpsborg, the pilot…
Failures of piping due to vibration-induced fatigue are a serious problem in the chemical process industries (CPI) and a matter of concern for the safety and reliability of plant operations. Due to the complexity of flow-induced vibrations in pipes, no…
Use these pumps where product containment is important Wilden This company recently announced the availability of its PX800 Advanced Series Stainless Steel AODD Pump (photo). The new PX800 design is center-ported and features a full 51-mm (2-in.) flow path and…
Drilling-mud mixers from this company feature high-efficiency gearboxes designed specifically for agitator service and have configurations for application requirements that are unique to mud-mixing. The advanced impeller technology enhances mixing performance, the company says, and proprietary analysis software is available…