Processing & Handling
The Biogas Boom
It probably isn’t going to solve all the world’s energy needs, but producing biogas from waste can help slash the energy bills at some production plants, sewage-treatment plants and even farms. And for those companies offering biogas technology, business is…
Development Speeds up In Catalysis
There might be as many categories of catalysts as there are chemical processing applications. And, no matter what the specialty or application, most catalyst producers are in a constant state of research and development in order to meet the demands…
Algae-harvesting technique applied to produced water
Technology originally developed for dewatering algae has shown success in separating hydrocarbons from produced water that results from oil and gas drilling. The method could be used in treating produced water for onsite re-use as hydraulic fracturing fluid. To harvest…
A step closer to replacing platinum in catalytic converters
The research group of Masaru Ogura, an associate professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo (www.u-tokyo.ac.jp), has clarified the degradation mechanism and the role potassium carbonate plays in the catalyst systems used for reducing soot from the…
The quest for a more-efficient gas-fired power generator
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) will begin developing basic technologies for a triple combined-cycle power-generation system that integrates solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation system. Under the umbrella of the…
A compact thermal storage system
Theres a growing trend toward generating electricity from biogas (see pp. 15–17), but roughly half of the total energy content of the fuel is released as heat, which is dissipated into the atmosphere unused. To improve the overall efficiency, researchers…
Winning copper from low-grade ore
India holds large reserves of low-grade sulfide copper ore containing 0.3 wt.% copper, which cannot be processed through conventional routes since the cut-off grade for treatment in concentrators is about 0.45 wt.%. India is in short supply of copper and…
A less-expensive process to recover CO2 from PSA offgas
At Achema 2012 (June 18–22; Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Union Engineering A/S (Fredericia, Denmark; www.union.dk) will be presenting its patented FlashCO2 process — both at the exhibition (Hall 9.1, Stand E29) and in a congress lecture (Monday, June 18th at…
‘Visible’ photocatalyst
The research groups of Masahiro Miyauchi at Tokyo Institute of Technology (www.eim.ceram.titech.ac.jp) and Kazuhiko Hashimoto at the University of Tokyo (www.light.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp) have developed a photocatalyst that is highly active for the destruction of volatile organic compoiunds (VOCs) using visible radiation.…
Manufacturing bee silk with bacteria
A partnership between Australian research agency CSIRO (Melbourne, Australia; www.csiro.au) and Lonza Group Ltd. (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com), aims to market new insect silk products globally. Potential applications of insect silk include composite fibers for the aviation and marine industries, and…