Processing & Handling
These mixing and melting kettles are rated for full vacuum
Mixing and melting kettles from this company are rated for full vacuum and for temperatures of 250ËšF. The 185-gal, hemispherical vessels are jacketed for 15-psi steam. A submerged steam calandria is also supplied for additional heating. Both the vessels and…
Safely transfer potent materials with this transfer valve
The Bio aseptic transfer valve is said to set new standards for the safe and clean transfer of sensitive product from process to process. The Bio overcomes issues with traditional methods of transfer where there is a brief time period…
Rhodia and Avantium to jointly develop bio-based polyamides
Rhodia (Paris, France; www.rhodia.com,) member of the Solvay Group, and Avantium (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.avantium.com) have entered into a partnership to jointly develop a range of new bio-based polyamides targeting a variety of applications. This partnership expands and completes the…
DuPont and NexSteppe collaborate on feedstocks for bio-based products
DuPont (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) and NexSteppe (Malibu, Calif.; www.nexsteppe.com) have entered into a collaboration to develop advanced feedstocks for biofuels and other bio-based products. The collaboration will focus on the development of new sweet sorghum and high-biomass sorghum hybrids that…
Reforming ethanol into hydrogen
A group from the University of Canterbury (www.canterbury.ac.nz), and Industrial Research Ltd. (both Christchurch, New Zealand; www.irl.cri.nz), has produced hydrogen from ethanol via steam reforming in a non-thermal plasma reactor. The project is part of an Industrial Research concept called…
Making biodiesel with SC methanol
A team from the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang; www.eng.usm.my) has carried out a study for optimizing non-catalytic supercritical (SC) methanol extraction and transesterification of Jatropha curcas seeds to produce biodiesel fuel. Jatropha curcas is a species…
This gold catalyst takes the crown for high activity and selectivity
Gold catalysts have been shown to have superior activities for oxidation reactions, especially at low temperature, compared to other metal-based catalysts. But the high price of gold makes it necessary to develop Au catalysts with ever-higher activities, reducing the amount…
PDVSA will commercialize a heavy-oil upgrading process
Venezuela’s state-run petroleum company, PDVSA Petroleo, S.A. (PDVSA, Caracas; www.pdvsa.com), will commercialize a company-developed process for upgrading heavy crude oil in its Puerto La Cruz refinery, about 300 km (190 miles) east of Caracas. The 210,000-bbl/d plant will employ PDVSA’s…
Demo plant for high-yield biomass-to-gasoline process under construction
Construction of a demonstration plant has begun for a biomass-to-gasoline process that boosts biomass conversion efficiency in producing bio-gasoline. The demonstration, to be located at the Hillsborough, N.J. headquarters of Primus Green Energy (www.primusge.com), is slated for completion in the…
This distillation column promises substantial energy reductions
A new distillation system capable of reducing energy consumption by up to 50% compared to conventional columns has been developed by Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, www.toyo-eng.co.jp), in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST;…