Scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, N.Y.; www.bnl.gov) and collaborating institutions have engineered a highly selective catalyst that can convert methane into methanol in a one-step reaction. The system could help make better use of “stranded” natural gas…
Conventional combustors that employ air-blast and pressure-swirl injection technologies are very sensitive to fuel properties, especially viscosity, limiting their ability to utilize certain classes of fuels and blends, including bio-based fuels. The new swirl-burst (SB) fuel-injector technology developed at Baylor…
Although wastewater streams with high organic content — such as those from breweries and dairy facilities — can be difficult to treat and expensive to dispose of, there is potential to valorize their carbon content with the right process. Based…
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers This conversation started in a course I was presenting in Sydney, Australia. I was about 15 minutes into my presentation when a delegate from a major petroleum refinery stopped me. “How…
Advanced level measurement devices enhanced with intelligence solve CPI challenges Chemical processes often require handling media that is corrosive, flammable, explosive or toxic with wide ranges in temperature and pressure and characteristics that include steam, dust, foam, turbulence and condensation.…
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biologics, vaccines, advanced therapies, and oncolytic viruses, announced the completion of an expansion of its cell-therapy manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks, California. The event also celebrated the recent European…
Honeywell International, Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) announced that it has agreed to sell its Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) business to Protective Industrial Products, Inc. (PIP), a portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners, for $1.325 billion in an all-cash transaction. The transaction…
KBR, Inc. (Houston) announced that it has signed an agreement with AMUFERT for the development of a new ammonia plant in Soyo, Angola. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide a technology license, proprietary engineering design, equipment and…
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium) announces the official inauguration of the second biomass boiler at its Rheinberg soda ash and bicarbonate plant in Germany, phasing out the use of thermal coal for energy use at the site. With the commissioning of…
Syensqo (Brussels, Belgium) has significantly increased its U.S. production capacity for advanced polymers used in critical health, water, and energy applications. By expanding production of its Udel polysulfones (PSU) sulfone polymers at its Marietta, Ohio facility by more than 25%,…