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Processing & Handling

Landfill Gas Processing: Plant-Design Considerations

There are several technologies used in the disposal of landfill gas (LFG). Here are some key elements that can guide engineers in designing an optimized LFG processing plant People generate trash. Trash is stored in landfills. Landfills contain bacteria, which…

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Embedding active enzymes into plastics

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP; Potsdam-Golm, Germany; www.iap.fraunhofer.de) have developed a process for embedding active enzymes into plastics. This has been difficult before, since plastics are normally processed at temperatures above 100°C. The technology offers…

Polyolefin deconstruction process could provide new use for post-consumer plastic waste

A catalytic process to selectively break carbon-carbon bonds within the polymer chains of polyethylene and polypropylene could allow the use of waste plastics to make biodegradable surfactant molecules. Researchers led by the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) at…

Facts At Your Fingertips: Adsorption bonding

Physical adsorption phenomena play a critical role in many separation and purification processes, including separations of industrial gases, purification of gases, moisture removal from fluids, water purification and others. Adsorption is a surface phenomenon in which a fluid (gas or…

Technology Profile: Production of Caprolactam from Benzene

Caprolactam (Figure 1) is a cyclic amide widely used as a chemical intermediate. The main forms of caprolactam are molten (liquid) and flakes. At ambient temperatures, it is a white, hygroscopic, crystalline solid. Almost all caprolactam is used as monomer…

Air Liquide partners with Samsung Engineering for a Methanol plant in Malaysia

Following a successful Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study in 2019, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) will continue its partnership with Samsung Engineering to build a methanol production plant for Sarawak Petchem, a state-owned oil and…

Axens to supply a modular Prime-G+ unit to Raizen Buenos Aires Refinery

Raízen Argentina, Shell licensee, has selected Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France) for the modular supply of a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline hydrodesulfurization unit Prime-G+ in its Buenos Aires refinery. Raízen Argentina is developing a modernization and expansion program for its existing…

Improve aircraft fuel efficiency with ‘sharkskin’

Lufthansa Technik AG (Hamburg; www.lufthansa-technik.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) have developed a surface film, tradenamed AeroSHARK, that mimics the fine structure of a shark’s skin for reducing friction. The technology is to be rolled out on Lufthansa Cargo…

Converting woody biomass to intermediates allows carbon-negative products

Construction has begun on a market demonstration facility for manufacturing chloromethyl furfural (CMF) and hydrothermal carbon (HTC) from a variety of waste biomass feedstocks. With subsequent chemical transformation, these flexible intermediates can be converted into final products, such as polyethylene…

Modular waste-to-energy system is cost-competitive at smaller scales

A newly launched modular waste-to-energy system is capable of delivering off-grid heat and power with competitive economics to a variety of locations, including military bases, remote sites and commercial installations, according to creator Enexor BioEnergy LLC (Franklin, Tenn.; www.enexor.com). Under…