Processing & Handling
Facts at your Fingertips: High-Shear Mixing
High-shear, high-speed mixing equipment supplies the mechanical energy necessary to reduce the size of solid particles and liquid droplets in emulsions and dispersions. Emulsions are mixtures of two normally immiscible liquids in which tiny particles of one liquid are suspended…
Ceramic pump makes molten metals motive
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Ga. Tech; Atlanta; www.gatech.edu) have demonstrated a precision-machining technique to manufacture an entire pumping loop from materials that can withstand temperatures as high as 1,400–1,600°C. These materials are typically thought to be too…
Making anodes for super-fast charging batteries
A new process for producing lithium titanate oxide (LTO) anode materials could lead to smaller batteries with ultrafast recharging. LTO offers a significantly higher surface area than graphite anode materials, which enables rapid electron transit and, ultimately, much faster recharging…
Technology Profile: Bio-acrylic acid production from glucose
This column is based on “Bio-Acrylic Acid Production from Glucose – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/acrylic-acid-production-cost. Acrylic acid is a moderately strong carboxylic acid, primarily used in the production of emulsion and…
Recently Published Books for the CPI: November 2017
The following are recently published titles relevant to the chemical process industries (CPI) Sustainable Water Management and Technologies, Vol. 2: Sustainable Water Technologies, By Daniel Chen, Taylor and Francis Group, 2017, 828 pages, $279.95. What Every Engineer Should Know About…
Confronting Issues in Industrial Crystallization
Reliable information about industrial crystallization can be difficult to find and to apply to new situations. The work process outlined here will help engineers approach crystallization challenges Project and plant engineers frequently face issues with crystallization processes, but often possess…
Technology Profile: Calcium Hypochlorite Production (sodium method)
This column is based on “Calcium Hypochlorite Production via Sodium Method – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/calcium-hypochlorite-production-cost. Calcium hypochlorite, Ca(OCl)2, is among the few metal hypochlorites that is stable enough to be…
Lower costs for converting alkylation units from hydrofluoric to sulfuric acid
For petroleum refineries, the cost of converting hydrofluoric-acid-based alkylation units to the relatively safer sulfuric-acid-based alkylation process (diagram) has been cost-prohibitive and has lacked specific economic benefits. Now, DuPont (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) has developed a low-cost approach to converting existing…
A new C2-based production route to MMA
Chemists and engineers from the Performance Materials Segment of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) have developed a new process for making methyl methacrylate (MMA). With a yield of over 90%, the so-called Leading in Methacrylates (LiMA) process can be…
‘Molecular pulleys’ make a better battery anode
Silicon anodes are an attractive alternative to graphite anodes currently in use in lithium-ion batteries, because they can deliver up to five times higher capacities. However, silicon anodes have a limited charge-discharge cycle number. Their volume expands during each cycle,…