Processing & Handling
New modules enable higher suction volumes from these pumps
This company has extended its series of dry-running Mink claw vacuum pumps, with a module designed to achieve suction capacities of up to 900 m3/h and more. These Mink MP vacuum modules were designed for applications that require high suction…
Rapidly hydrate gums and thickeners with this mixer
High-shear mixers from this company are ideal for challenging mixing operations, such as dispersing gums and thickeners to disintegrate any agglomerates and exposing an increasing surface area of powdered ingredients to the surrounding liquid. The high shearing action of the…
These lift check valves have a replaceable seat design
A new range of lift check valves from this company uses a clamp-in-place seat design that allows easy inline maintenance and helps avoid plant downtime. New valve models are constructed using cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel and SG iron,…
BASF to increase production capacity for copper and copper-chrome catalysts
BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) announced this week that its catalyst division will begin a new round of capital investment projects to increase production capacity for copper and copper-chrome catalysts. These investments are aimed at improving catalyst manufacturing efficiency to meet…
Commercial launch of a new asymmetric hydrogenation catalyst
The Fine Chemicals Div. of Takasago International Corp. (Takasago; Tokyo, Japan; www.takasago.com) has commercialized a new, highly efficient asymmetric hydrogenation catalyst for producing chiral alcohols — key chemicals for the production of pharmaceuticals, fragrances and agrochemicals. The ruthenium-complex catalyst is…
Silicon passes a test in water-splitting
The use of solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen is an appealing idea, given that sunlight is abundant in many parts of the world, but one of the challenges to its development is to find a suitable…
A new HPCA monomer
Last month, BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) launched a new crosslinking acrylate monomer, hydroxpropl carbamate acrylate (HPCA), which is said to shorten the processing time for the manufacture of carbamate-based polymers. HPCA enables crosslinkable carbamate units to be incorporated into…
U.S. power plant goes dry for handling bottom ash
Practically all of the coal-fired power plants in the U.S. collect ash from the bottoms of their boilers using a wet system — the ash falls into hoppers that are partially filled with water, and once or twice per shift…
Fuel-cell anode
A new anode material with nanostructured interfaces between barium oxide and nickel prevents deactivation by coking in solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using carbon-containing fuels. The material offers a path to low-cost, low-emission SOFCs that can convert gasified carbon fuels to…
August Chementator Briefs
Graphene from dry ice Researchers at Northern Illinois University (NIU; DeKalb, Ill.; www.niu.edu) discovered a new method for producing graphene that involves burning pure magnesium metal in dry ice. The method, which is capable of producing large quantities of…