Pilot bioreactor
A next-generation photobioreactor is scheduled to be installed in June at the Orlando, Fla. pilot facility of biofeedstock company Proterro (Ewing, N.J.; www.proterro.com). Proterro is working with advanced fabrics and engineering firm ILC Dover (Dover, Del.; www.ilcdover.com) on developing the updated photobioreactor, which is a key element of Proterros process for converting CO2 and sunlight and water to fermentable sucrose using a patented cyanobacteria strain (see Chem. Eng., June 2012, p. 12). Speaking at a recent biofuels conference, Proterro CEO Kef Kasdin said that the company has met its sugar-production milestones for the first quarter of 2014, and the results from the pilot plant verify the scalability of the process.
Graphene membrane
A stable, porous membrane that is just two carbon atoms thick has been produced by a team of researchers at the Dept. of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich (Switzerland; www.ethz.ch), led by professor Hyung Gyu Park. The membrane is made of a double layer of graphene in which precisely defined pores are etched by a technique known as focused ion-beam milling. The beam of helium or gallium ions can be controlled to create the desired number and size of…
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