The chemical process industries (CPI) are looking for ways to decrease and control costs, and mixing operations are not exempt from this belt tightening. But because mixing is vital to most chemical processes, it can’t be eliminated. As a…
Traditionally, most students have learned about chemical reactions in laboratories using test tubes, beakers and flasks. Those who have gone on to discover and develop new products have typically done so using these batchwise techniques. This mind-set has continued through…
Last month, at the AIChE Spring Meeting in Chicago, Henry Kister, director of Fractionation Technology at Fluor Corp. (Aliso Viejo, Calif.; www.fluor.com) presented a patent pending process (U.S. Patent Application WO/2011/016797) that promises to cut energy demand and capital costs…
Last month, Brain AG (Zwingenberg; www.brain-biotech.de) and Dechema e.V. (Frankfurt am Main, both Germany; www.dechema.de) began a collaboration in the biotechnological production of perillic acid — a patented natural monoterpene owned by Brain, with promising applications as a bioactive compound…
Ube Industries, Ltd. (UBE; www. ube-ind.co.jp) and HighChem Co. (both Tokyo; www.highchem.co.jp) will license their technologies for transforming coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas) into manufacturing ethylene glycol (MEG) — a polyester feedstock — to Qianxixian Qianxi Coal Chemical Investment Co. (Guizhou,…
A new method for removing hydrogen sulfide from natural gas at ambient temperatures could allow significant energy savings compared to the current technique and increase the range of H2S concentrations in natural gas that are economically viable to extract from…
By the end of this year, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. (Tokyo; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) plans to complete development on two processes that utilize excess C2 and C4 fractions for producing propylene and butadiene, and if all goes smoothly, implement them by March…
Up to now, the combination of energy-saving functionality of refrigeration dryers with the exceptional low-pressure dew points of desiccant dryers has only been cost effective for applications requiring large to very large volumes of treated compressed air. The new Hybritec…
These corrosion-resistant process pumps with explosion-proof a.c. motors (photo) offer safe solutions for gas and liquid handling in potentially hazardous locations. These pumps are compliant with Class 1, Division 1, Groups C & D and ATEX hazardous locations. They offer…
Troika is a progressing cavity pump that makes it possible to transfer multiphase liquids straight from the well to a central separation station, thereby eliminating the need for onsite separation. The pump’s design overcomes the main obstacle to multiphase pumping…