Chemical Engineering
Chementator briefs
L-Alanine DMC Biotechnologies, Inc. (DMC; Boulder, Colo.; www.dmcbio.com) has successfully demonstrated full commercial scale (85 m3) fermentation for its first product, the amino acid L-alanine. The scaleup results identically tracked the performance at bench and pilot scales, further validating the…
Engineering catalysts with ALD
Atomic-layer deposition (ALD), a surface engineering technique that applies layers of coatings in a conformal way at single-atom thicknesses, is being investigated for its potential to improve the selectivity and durability of industrial catalysts under a U.S. Dept. of Energy…
Piezoelectric wood
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa; Dübendorf; www.empa.ch) and ETH Zurich (both Switzerland; www.ethz.ch) have made wood compressible and turned it into a piezoelectric generator. The research, reported last month in the journal Science…
Integrating intelligent technologies for smarter rice mills
Bühler AG (Uzwil, Switzerland; www.buhlergroup.com) is making a major step towards digitally connected rice mills of the future. The first rollout for integrated rice mills is entering the final stages, with the initial setup using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine…
Plant Watch: Business News for April 2021
Plant Watch Thermo Fisher Scientific plans $600-million bioprocessing expansion March 12, 2021 — Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.; www.thermofisher.com) plans to invest more than $600 million in capital investments to expand its bioprocessing production capabilities through 2022. These investments…
Cybersecurity: Continuous Vigilance Required
As digitalization becomes more common and remote operations become necessary, guarding against cybersecurity breaches grows even more critical The hacking of a Florida water plant, which made headlines in February, was a poignant reminder of the dangers posed by breaches…
A Mixer Makes a Better Sunscreen
Changing from a conventional mixer to an ultra-high-shear mixer led to improved dispersions, increased production capacities, and reduced electricity and labor costs As the days get sunnier, people will be looking to sunscreens to protect their skin from the harmful…
Sewage-to-Hydrogen plant reaches completion in Tokyo
Renewable hydrogen systems manufacturer Ways2H Inc. (Long Beach, Calif.) and its shareholder and technical partner Japan Blue Energy Co. (JBEC) announced the completion of a Tokyo facility that will convert sewage sludge into renewable hydrogen fuel for fuel cell mobility…
Plug Power and Brookfield Renewable Partners to build green hydrogen plant in Pennsylvania
Plug Power (Latham, N.Y.), together with Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P., which is, together with its institutional partners, an owner and operator of one of the world’s largest publicly traded pure-play renewable power platforms, announced plans to build a green hydrogen…
DSM acquires bio-based intermediates assets from Amyris
Royal DSM N.V. (Herleen, the Netherlands) has reached an agreement to acquire the flavor and fragrance (F&F) bio-based intermediates business of Amyris, Inc. (Emeryville, Calif.), which extends DSM’s offerings in Aroma Ingredients with bio-based ingredients for the flavor and fragrance…