Lummus Technology (Houston) announced that its Green Circle business and Synthos S.A. (Oswiecim, Poland) have started collaborating to commercialize Synthos’ biobutadiene technology. The first step of the commercialization program includes the development of a feasibility study for a biobutadiene plant…
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC; Tokyo) has acquired all the shares of Nakai Industrial Co., Ltd., (Kyoto, Japan), a film coating manufacturer, and converted the company into a consolidated subsidiary. Nakai Industrial is a comprehensive coating manufacturer that has built up…
Prime Polymer Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) and Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd. (Tokyo), announced the decision to construct a new polypropylene manufacturing facility as part of its plans for a scrap-and-build-style restructuring of its production system.…
Construction has begun on a market demonstration facility for manufacturing chloromethyl furfural (CMF) and hydrothermal carbon (HTC) from a variety of waste biomass feedstocks. With subsequent chemical transformation, these flexible intermediates can be converted into final products, such as polyethylene…
Biomass Corn stover is among the major feedstocks for biorefineries, and can be converted to bioethanol. When corn stover contains moisture above certain levels, it can clog conveyers and chutes during processing, leading to operational problems and process stoppages. To…
A newly launched modular waste-to-energy system is capable of delivering off-grid heat and power with competitive economics to a variety of locations, including military bases, remote sites and commercial installations, according to creator Enexor BioEnergy LLC (Franklin, Tenn.; www.enexor.com). Under…
Industrial heat pumps (diagram) are a relatively mature technology that converts low-temperature waste heat into a more usable heat at a higher temperature (above the “pinch point”). However, the technology has been limited to applications of up to 100°C. Now,…
Researchers from the Biological Systems Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST; Japan; www.oist.jp) have developed a bioelectrochemical system that uses bacterial communities to break down organic material from raw wastewater, and removes both nitrates…
Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries for storing large quantities of renewable energy (see Chem. Eng., September 2016, pp. 14–20), but they have always been too expensive for the mass market. Now, researchers at the…
The purification of seawater and wastewater for agriculture and human consumption is becoming increasingly important in water-scarce regions. Along with the removal of salt, rendering ocean water and wastewater suitable for humans and plants also involves removal of elements that…