Graphene continues to show new, promising properties Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) have discovered that graphene oxide sheets can change their structure and become liquid droplets spontaneously. Because graphene droplets change their structure in response to an…
Last month, NET Power, LLC (Durham, N.C.; www.net-power.com) announced the completion of major project agreements for its first-of-a-kind power plant — a 50-MWth demonstration plant that will validate the world’s first natural-gas power generation system that produces no air emissions,…
Last month, the first commercial-scale, post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant started up in Saskatchewan, Canada. The SaskPower facility at the Boundary Dam Power Station is expected to capture around 1 million m.t./yr of CO2, which is up to…
Scientists from the Materials Science and Technology Div. of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, D.C.; www.nrl.navy.mil) have developed a one-step process to form oxide nanoparticles. The technique is capable of producing large quantities (10 g) of oxide nanoparticles —…
Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) have discovered that graphene-oxide sheets can change their structure and become liquid droplets spontaneously. Because graphene droplets change their structure in response to an applied magnetic field, they could be used for controlled…
Aiming to understand the nature of the synergistic effect of ultrasound and enzymes in the production of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass, researchers from the Institute of Chemical Technology (Mumbai, India; www.ictmumbai.edu.in) have studied the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis of waste…
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP; Saarbrücken, Germany; www.izfp.fraunhofer.de) have developed the so-called Magnus hybrid — an inspection system that combines micromagnetic and ultrasound techniques to characterize materials. The micromagnetic method helps determine hardness, tensile strength and…
A group at Texas A&M University (College Station, Tex.; www.tamu.edu) is developing a process that converts organic municipal solid waste (MSW) into straight-chain alkanes, a primary component in gasoline. The four-step process (diagram) begins with a proven industrial waste-sorting method…
Before the end of 2016, Neste Oil Oyj’s (Espoo, Finland; www.nesteoil.com) refinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands will start producing 30,000–40,000 ton/yr of biopropane. The feedstock is a sidestream from the company’s 800,000-ton/yr renewable diesel-fuel plant. The refinery, which started up…
Construction has begun on a unique refinery project that will convert Canadian bitumen into ultralow-sulfur diesel while producing high-purity CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and subsequent carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The project, located near Edmonton, Alta. and run…