Cement manufacturing is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions due to two factors: carbon dioxide is released when calcium carbonate calcines to lime (CaO) in the cement manufacturing process; and cement kilns are operated at temperatures of 1,500°C, which…
The selective, one-step biocatalytic hydroxylation of benzene to phenol — at ambient pressure and temperature — has been demonstrated by professors Yoshihito Watanabe and Osamu Shoji at Nagoya University (Nagoya, Japan; bioinorg.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp). The achievement was made using a wild-type of…
Sapphire Energy, Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.sapphireenergy.com) and The Linde Group (Munich; www.linde.com) have signed an agreement, with a minimum span of five years, to commercialize Sapphire’s process for producing crude oil from algae. The agreement expands an existing partnership…
A process that is expected to produce high-octane gasoline from non-food biomass for an average cost of $1.50/gal, depending on feed costs, will be commercialized by Cool Planet Energy Systems (Denver, Colo.; www.coolplanet.com). The company has tested the process in…
Last month, Southwest Research Institute (SWRI; San Antonio, Tex.; www.swri.org) was awarded $1.5 million by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA; Arlington, Va.; www.darpa.mil) for a three-year project to develop alternative technologies for depositing thin films. The project is…
A typical fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) generates about 200 tons/d of dry gas — a mixture of off-gases that is burned as refinery fuel. However, about 40 tons of that gas is ethylene, which would have much greater value…
JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (JX_NOE; Tokyo, Japan; www.noe.jx-group.co.jp) has demonstrated enhanced propylene and butenes yields by its high-severity, fluid-catalytic cracking (HS-FCC) technology. In a 3,000-bbl/d semi-commercial plant, which has been operating at the company’s Mizushima Refinery since May…
With the first phase launch of the Neles globe control valve (photo) in Asia Pacific, China and India, this company now plans a global launch to follow in 2014. The new globe valve builds and expands on technology and service…
The new Euro Trim Model E2 in stainless steel is designed for use with the company’s Model E and E3 Wet Alarm Valves (photo). This new trim has a rated working pressure of 175 psi and 300 psi, respectively, and…
The ADPC 302 (photo) is a unique, in-process contamination management system for particle contamination monitoring in the semiconductor industry. The system measures the number of particles in wafer-transport carriers, and its fully automated, patented process localizes and counts particles from…