Oji Paper Co. (OJI; www.ojipaper.co.jp), in collaboration with Nippon Steel Engineering Co. (www.nsc-eng.co.jp) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; all Tokyo, Japan; www.aist.go.jp), has started pilot testing of a new, integrated process for making cellulose-based…
A reduction of CO2 emissions of 50% can be achieved in steelmaking, using renewable carbon from biomass, according to The Australian Steel Industry CO2 Breakthrough Program, an R&D program conducted by a team from: BlueScope Steel Research (Port Kembla, New…
Fine polyester fibers Teijin Fibers Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; teijinfiber.com), the core company of the Teijin Groups polyester-fiber business, is commercializing a new version of its Nanofront, high-strength polyester nanofiber with a diameter of 400 nm — nearly half that…
Harnessing renewable energy by catalytic dissociation and synthesis of ammonia has shown promise for distributed power applications, according to a team from the Center for Energy at the University of Western Australia (www.uwa.edu.au), led by professor Dongke Zhang. In the…
The Micro Auto Gasification System (MAGS) is a compact solid-waste disposal system that is designed for energy-efficient operation onboard naval vessels, in forward-operating military bases and in other isolated installations. Developed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR; Arlington, Va.;…
A group from the University of Canterbury (www.canterbury.ac.nz), and Industrial Research Ltd. (both Christchurch, New Zealand; www.irl.cri.nz), has produced hydrogen from ethanol via steam reforming in a non-thermal plasma reactor. The project is part of an Industrial Research concept called…
A team from the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang; www.eng.usm.my) has carried out a study for optimizing non-catalytic supercritical (SC) methanol extraction and transesterification of Jatropha curcas seeds to produce biodiesel fuel. Jatropha curcas is a species…
To date, determination of the shear forces exerted on vessel walls by moving fluids has required inferring the value from other measurements. Now Lenterra Inc. (Newark, N.J.; www.lenterra.com) has introduced the first instrument capable of direct measurement of wall-shear forces…
The Brinkman method is one of several approaches used to predict the effective viscosity of oil-water mixtures, and is effective in simulations when one or the other phase is dominant. However, a significant level of uncertainty exists in mixtures where…
New cellulase enzyme Last month, Codexis, Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.; www.codexis.com) introduced the CodeXyme Cellulase enzyme product line for converting biomass to sugar. The company is in its final stages of customizing the enzymes with currrent partners, and plans…