Processing & Handling
Pipe & Fittings
Reinforced PVC makes a kink-free hose Kink- and crush-resistant Vardex hose (photo) for both pressure and vacuum applications is now available from this manufacturer. Made of clear PVC with steel wire reinforcement, Vardex is suitable for either fluid…
A new PET resin
Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6519-549) has launched its next-generation PET (polyethylene terephthalate) resin, tradenamed ParaStar, which is made using the company’s proprietary IntegRex technology (CE, October 2004, p. 15). ParaStar is a drop-in replacement for standard PET on bottle-manufacturing…
Stay-clean surfaces
Surfaces treated with Top on Top — a new surface refinement technology developed by Degussa AG (Düsseldorf, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6519-552) — are easy to clean and remain clean for months, according to Degussa. The product consists of two components that when…
Making Emulsions
When Estee Lauder begin stirring up recipes for facial creams recipes in her kitchen some 70 years ago — the start of a $6.5-billion cosmetics empire that still bears her name — making high-purity emulsions was…
This efficient micromixer is less prone to fouling
By repetitive dividing and merging of laminar flows within complex patterns of narrow (25–40 µm) channels, static micromixers are very efficient at making homogeneous mixtures. However, the narrow channels are susceptible to clogging, and the cost to precisely manufacture the…
This catalyst converts cellulose into sugar alcohols
Cellulose accounts for about 40% of the planet’s total photosynthesis yield (about 1.8 trillion m.t./yr), but the material has not been fully utilized as a chemical resource so far. That’s because the methods currently available for converting cellulose into useful…
A cleaner way to remove olefins from aromatics
ExxonMobil Chemical Technology Licensing LLC (Houston, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6518-541) has commercialized its new Olgone technology, a catalyst-based process for removing olefins from aromatic streams. If not removed, such olefinic materials interfere with downstream equipment, adsorbents, sieves and catalysts, says the company.…
Progress on H2O2-based process to make PO
Last September, construction commenced on the world's first commercial-scale hydrogen peroxide, propylene oxide (HPPO) plant at the Antwerp, Belgium, site of BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6518-542). The 300,000 m.t./yr facility is a joint venture of BASF and Dow Chemical Co.…
Air separation: Mature processes, modern improvements
The fortunes of many an industrial sector have risen and fallen in the face of fluctuating oil and gas prices. Today, the industrial gas industry’s fortunes are being buoyed — in a roundabout way — by the…
Chiral catalyst
Chemists at Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6517-546) have discovered a silylation catalyst that attaches a silicon atom to an alcohol group not only with high selectivity, but also in such a way that only one enantiomer is formed. Silyation…