Coil coating is a continuous process for producing prepainted sheets of metal (steel or aluminum), which can then be fabricated into various building and other materials. Because organic coating materials are used, the process requires substantial energy for the curing…
Flashing occurs when the pressure of a fluid passing through a valve is lower than the same substance’s vapor pressure. This causes the fluid to boil — otherwise known as “flashing.” “By reducing flow capacity and eroding the valve itself,…
When searching for catalysts for the energy transition, materials consisting of at least five elements — so-called high-entropy alloys (HEAs) — are considered highly promising. But to find the right combination of elements and composition ratios needed for the best…
The production of substitute (or synthetic) natural gas (SNG) by methanation of CO2 with hydrogen is energy intensive and also requires a purification step to remove the byproduct water and remaining reactants. To address these issues, researchers at The Swiss…
Recovering valuable metals, such as cobalt and nickel, from used lithium-ion batteries is emerging as a key capability because of anticipated high battery demand and material shortages. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, Calif.; www.lbl.gov) have developed a technology…
Plant Watch Arlanxeo starts up new polybutadiene production line in Brazil February 14, 2023 — Arlanxeo B.V. (Maastricht, the Netherlands; www.arlanxeo.com) opened a new polybutadiene production line in Brazil. The new production line supplements Arlanxeo’s existing production capacity in Brazil…
From headsets to gloves to fabric sensors, technologies that can be worn on the body are providing many new benefits for plant workers Apace with innovations in all “smart” technologies, wearable devices for industrial personnel are rapidly evolving to incorporate…
Fractional crystallization is a stage-wise separation technique that relies upon the liquid-solid phase change and enables the purification of multi-component mixtures, as long as none of the constituents can act as a solvent to the others. Thanks to the level…
The inherent characteristics, requirements and special concerns of pilot- and laboratory-scale distillation columns differ from those of commercial-scale equipment. The scale-related differences of distillation assemblies are presented here Distillation processes at any scale share many of the same theoretical and…
When it comes to water used in boilers, it is important to remove potentially problematic impurities. This offers a potentially huge return on investment, even with the prevention of just one major upset, let alone recurring failures Several decades ago,…