Processing & Handling
A new generation of dry running agitator seals
This company has launched a new generation of dry-running shaft seals for agitators. In addition to the known benefits of this type of mechanical seal, the new SeccoMix1 is also silent running and has been prototype-tested for use in ATEX…
Tank cleaning in explosion-proof zones
By means of high-pressure water, various incrustations can be removed inside of autoclaves, reactors, spray towers and vessels. The pump unit discharges high-pressure water (up to 1,600 bars) through the company’s Tank Cleaning Head Nozzles. The water jet cuts through…
A new line of electrically driven solids-handling pumps
These-auto prime pumps have a capacity of 100 to a maximum of 6,500 m3/h. The BA diesel-driven pumps have been actively used on the market for many years. Now, with the development of a new standard norm block construction (NMC)…
Mechanical Seals Update: Pharmaceutical and Food Applications
Second only to electric motors, centrifugal pumps are the most common machine used in the chemical process industries (CPI). Pumps are serving in every conceivable fluid application. They move all manner of fluids from wastewater to paper pulp, from ultra-clean…
This production process cuts Pt usage in catalytic converters in half
Chemists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and technology (AIST; Tsukuba City, Japan; www.aist.go.jp) have developed a procedure for making the catalysts used in catalytic converters for treating the exhaust from diesel engines. The process, developed with support…
Demonstration of methane fermentation to lactic acid
What is said to be the world’s first fermentation pathway from methane to lactic acid has been demonstrated by Calysta, Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.calysta.com). The fermentation process begins with an organism that feeds off of methane rather than typical…
Cobalt: a less-expensive and more efficient catalyst than rhodium
The research group of Shigeki Matsunaga, associate professor at the University of Tokyo (Japan; www.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~kanai), in collaboration with Ken Sakata at Hoshi University, has developed a new Co-based catalyst system that outperforms the existing rhodium-based catalyst system for the production…
This chloride leaching process recycles resources
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has developed a new chloride-based leaching process for recovering nickel from nickel matte — a commercial intermediate product of nickel smelting that contains about 65% of nickel. Developed since the 1980s, originally for Cu recovery…
A two-step process for making graphene
A Korean team has developed a carbon material that is as effective as graphene in applications, such as solar cells and semiconductor chips, using a process that requires only two steps instead of the usual eight. High-quality graphene is usually…
A sorbent that enhances the water-gas shift reaction
Scientists at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL; Morgantown, W. Va.; www.netl.doe.gov) have demonstrated a process for enhancing the efficiency of the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction. The process revolves around a magnesium hydroxide sorbent material that can remove CO2 from…