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Chemical Engineering

Substituting cobalt in high-strength alloys

A team of scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) recently unveiled a modified version of the “superalloy” Inconel 617, in which cobalt — a component of the alloy that is also a critical material with significant…

Nanofiltration approach recovers aluminum from process waste

The industrial production of aluminum involves electrolysis of alumina (Al2O3) in molten cryolite, a mineral used as a solvent for the aluminum oxide raw material. Over time, the cryolite accumulates impurities, such as sodium, lithium and potassium ions, which degrade…

The industry’s most comprehensive biodegradability assessments — even for large polymers

For product developers, understanding a substance’s biodegradability is essential in many applications to ensure compliance with toxicity and environmental regulations. Aropha, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio; www.aropha.com) has developed a platform for biodegradability testing that reaches far beyond the typical breadth of…

Upcycling of difficult plastics with metathesis

Polybutadiene (PB) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) are widely used polymers in a number of products (including vehicle tires, kitchen appliances, computer hardware, toys and others), but are not generally recycled. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; Oak Ridge,…

Metal complex surfactants allow reactions in water without organic solvents

One way to develop safer, more-sustainable chemical processes is to substitute potentially harmful chemicals with less-risky alternatives. Organic solvents, which are widely used in industrial processes, can pose health, safety and environmental risks. Researchers at Rice University (Houston, Tex.; www.rice.edu)…

Facts At Your Fingertips: Corrosion Monitoring Using Weight-Loss Analysis

Effective measurement of corrosion on process equipment and plant structures offers several benefits to plant operators. These include providing early warnings about damaging process conditions that could lead to corrosion-induced failures, establishing correlations between changes in process parameters and their…

Advancing Additive Manufacturing Using Data Visualization and AI

Establishing novel materials and systems is challenging for new companies. However, startup companies can streamline their research and drastically accelerate product development with effective tools and strategies While long-standing organizations are often challenged with digitizing large volumes of unstructured historical…

Plant Watch: April 2025

Plant Watch Saint-Gobain Ceramics to construct catalyst carriers plant in New York March 11, 2025 — Saint-Gobain S.A. (Courbevoie, France; www.saint-gobain.com), through its subsidiary Saint-Gobain NorPro, intends to build a new manufacturing facility in Wheatfield, N.Y. With an investment of…

A world-first process for recycling aluminum-smelter waste to be piloted in Tasmania

Aluminum smelting operations require molten cryolite, also commonly called bath, to serve as the electrolyte and dissolve alumina. A typical smelter produces excess bath over time, and there are few markets for reuse or recycle of this material, especially as…

Varo Energy to acquire Swedish energy firm Preem

VARO Energy (Zug, Switzerland) has reached agreement to acquire Preem Holding AB and Preem AB (Stockholm, Sweden), Sweden’s largest fuel company, through the purchase of 100% of the share capital of the parent company, Corral Petroleum Holdings AB (CPH), in…