February Chementator Briefs
Cellulose nanocrystals New research from Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.; www.purdue.edu) has shed some…
Commentary
Is there a university- industry disconnect?
I felt somewhat insulted when he said, “At universities, we do the difficult work and…
In The News
Chementator
Optimized carbon-adsorbent material for natural gas storage
Techniques for manufacturing carbon adsorbent materials with highly tuned pore properties have been developed by…
Engineered wetlands technology now available for wastewater treatment
Water treatment technology from Alcoa Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.alcoa.com) that includes engineered areas of natural…
A self-cleaning electrolytic cell that converts waste streams into disinfectants
Dealing with wastewater streams in petroleum refineries and petrochemical operations is often a trying task…
Selectively recover CO with this soft nano-porous material
Professor Susumu Kitagawa’s group at Kyoto University (Kyoto, www.sbchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kitagawa-lab/index-e.html) has developed a new soft nanoporous…
Making liquid fuels from waste plastics
Gasoline-like fuel suitable for internal combustion engines can be obtained from the pyrolysis of plastic…
Continuous crude-oil production from algae
Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) have developed a continuous process…
A new low-temperature shift catalyst passes longterm testing
A new water-gas shift catalyst has undergone 1,000 h of successful operation in a demonstration…
Rare-earth magnets enhance filtration of engine lubricants
FilterMag International (Scottsdale, Ariz.; www.filtermag.com) has developed neodymium magnetic devices that can boost the performance…
A sorption-enhanced catalyst improves CO2 methanation
Converting CO2 into methane is a way to mimic the natural carbon cycle and close…
Business News
JGC finalizes license agreement for sulfides in China
JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) has signed a license agreement for its proprietary hydrogen sulfide…
Kemira acquires BASF AKD emulsion business
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland; www.kemira.com) announced today that Kemira…
ABB opens fifth factory in Brazil
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) officially inaugurated its fifth factory in Brazil in the presence of…
ZeoGas secures Air Liquide’s MegaMethanol technology license
ZeoGas LLC (Houston; www.zeogas.com) secures MegaMethanol technology license from Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions, a…
KBR to provide Purifier technology for two Russian ammonia plants
KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) says that Eurochem will use KBR’s Purifier technology licensed through Tecnimont S.p.A.…
UOP’s Oleflex technology selected for petrochemical plant in China
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell (NYSE: HON) company, announced that Ningbo Fortune…
Uhdenora receives first order for new energy-efficient electrolysis technology
Uhdenora S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.uhdenora.com) and Befar Group Co. have signed a contract for the…
Technip to supply proprietary furnace technology and services in Russia
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) was awarded, by Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) Kazanorgsintez, a contract…
Air Products provides oxy-fuel solution to recycled-copper manufacturers
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has recently signed contracts with more than 20 recycled-copper…
Air Liquide signs major contract with ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) is further strengthening its position in Germany by signing a…
SNC-Lavalin wins contract for sulfuric-acid project in Saudi Arabia
SNC-Lavalin Inc. (Montreal, Quebec, Canada; www.snclavalin.com), in consortium with Sinopec Engineering Group (SEG), has signed…
Solvay to increase its natural soda ash production capacity in the U.S.
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) plans to increase its annual production capacity of natural soda…
JGC awarded EPC contract for refinery upgrade in Singapore
JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) has been awarded a contract by Singapore Refining Co. Ltd.…
Honeywell to expand refrigerant production in Louisiana, and more business news
Plant Watch Arkema to double production capacity for organic peroxides in China January 9, 2014…
Technical & Practical
Polypropylene Production via Gas-Phase Process: Stirred-bed reactor
Since 1956, polypropylene has been commercially produced using catalysts and technology that were developed from…
Compressible Fluid Flow Calculation Methods
Compressible gas flow with significant variation in density along pipes is commonplace in the chemical…
Quick Pipe and Duct Flow Calculations
Would you like to make a quick mental calculation to determine approximate flowrate, velocity, or…
Small-matrix, Model-less Multivariable Control
Beginning with the early days of automated multivariable control in the 1980s, the trend has…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Chemical Protective Clothing
Workers in the chemical process industries (CPI) can wear chemical protective clothing to protect themselves…