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A simulation demonstrates the potential of NH3 as a power source

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…

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Next-generation cross-coupling reactions

Professor Kenichiro Itami and coworkers at at Nagoya University (Nagoya, Japan; synth.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp) have developed a new, next-generation type of cross-coupling reaction for synthesizing biphenyl compounds — one of the most important backbone structures for pharmaceutical and electronics chemicals. The chemists…

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pH Electrodes and Temperature Dependence

Acidity is a critical parameter in the chemical process industries, and accurate measurements of pH can be important indicators for process quality control. A refreshed understanding of pH measurement can help to overcome process-specific challenges to measurement and to select…

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Nano-engineered glass absorbs organic contaminants and serves as a nanoreactor

An organosilica material with unique structural properties due to its nanoscale architecture has been used to extract hydrocarbons and other organic contaminants from water. Marketed as Osorb by ABS Materials Inc. (Wooster, Ohio; www.absmaterials.com), the nanostructured glass represents a platform…

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Reforming ethanol into hydrogen

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…

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Making biodiesel with SC methanol

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…

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First inline, direct measurement of wall shear

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…

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Modeling algorithm adjustment can improve equipment sizing

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…

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January Chementator briefs

  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…

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This gold catalyst takes the crown for high activity and selectivity

Gold catalysts have been shown to have superior activities for oxidation reactions, especially at low temperature, compared to other metal-based catalysts. But the high price of gold makes it necessary to develop Au catalysts with ever-higher activities, reducing the amount…