Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) have developed a continuous process for generating crude oil from algae that they believe can lower the cost of producing algae-based fuel. The process works by combining hydrothermal liquefaction and…
A new water-gas shift catalyst has undergone 1,000 h of successful operation in a demonstration carried out by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO, Kawasaki; www.nedo.go.jp) and Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.hitachi.com). The tests were performed…
FilterMag International (Scottsdale, Ariz.; www.filtermag.com) has developed neodymium magnetic devices that can boost the performance of lubricant filters for mining vehicles and industrial machinery. When the device is in place, filters retain 50–75% of contaminant particles that would otherwise be…
Converting CO2 into methane is a way to mimic the natural carbon cycle and close the energy cycle by producing synthetic hydrocarbons (see, for example, CO2 Utilization, Chem. Eng., July 2013, pp. 16–19). However, the Sabatier reaction (CO2 + 4H2…
A stabilized palladium catalyst system that can be used for making materials for organic solar cells and pharmaceuticals has been developed by the research groups of of Yoichi Yamada at Riken (Wako city; www.riken.jp) and Shigenori Fujikawa at the International…
Australian researchers have developed a method of cleaning arsenic out of contaminated water by combining the effects of bacteria and microalgae. Professor Megh Mallavarapu and his team, from the Cooperative Research Center for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment…
A high-throughput method for synthesizing ionic-liquid-containing electrolytes developed by Boulder Ionics Corp. (Arvada, Colo.; www.boulderionics.com) has been refined to enable its use in commercial production. Boulder Ionics had previously piloted the continuous process for producing advanced ionic-liquid (IL) electrolytes at…
Offgases containing compounds of chlorine or fluorine are typically burned to enable the recovery of HCl or HF and prevent release into the environment. However, conventional combustion chambers require a long time to heat up, and thus are typically run…
Extraction of palm oil generates large amounts of lignocellulose-rich byproduct known as empty fruit bunch (EFB), which is usually wasted. A new process for utilizing this waste to make lactic acid has been developed by a team of researchers in…
Professor Takao Masuda and colleagues at Hokkaido University (Sapporo; www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/labo/cse), in collaboration with Idemitsu Kosan Co. (Idemitsu; Tokyo; both Japan; www.idemitsu.com), have developed a two-step process that converts wood-based lignin into phenols. They believe the achievement could lead to an…