A team of engineers from the Center for Energy Technology, University of Adelaide (South Australia; www.adelaide.edu.au), the University of Nantes (France) and Mie University (Japan), have proposed a more efficient way to generate power from low to medium temperature (90–260°C)…
Researchers from the Department of Environmental and Applied Chemical Engineering, Gangneung-Wonju National University (Gangneung, South Korea; www.gwnu.ac.kr) are developing a two-step enzymatic route to biodiesel fuel that promises to reduce production costs. The process employs a lipase-producing bacterium and, sequentially,…
Next spring, Exelus, Inc. (Livingston, N.J.; www.exelusinc.com) plans to pilot a new process that converts crude bioethanol (beer) into Bio-Alkylate — a fuel that is chemically identical to gasoline. New Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency…
At last month’s Sulfur 2010 Conference (November 1–4; Prague, Czech Republic), Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) introduced its latest sulfuric-acid catalyst, VK-701 Leap5, which promises to help operators of sulfuric acid plants meet more-stringent SO2-emission limits. When used in…
A demonstration plant for a biological process that produces ethanol and 2,3 butanediol (2,3-BD) from the offgases of industrial plants will be started up in the third quarter of 2011 at a steel mill operated by Bao Steel (Shanghai). Developed…
A nanotechnology-based, bottom-up approach to synthesizing catalysts for converting natural gas to ethylene could enable an alternative to the steam-cracking of crude oil, an energy-intensive process conventionally used to produce ethylene, the world’s most valuable commodity chemical. Scientists at the…
A green hydrometallurgical process for recovering gold from ore, developed by Haber, Inc. (Arlington, Mass.; www.habercorp.com), may make its commercial debut in Suriname. Albert Conti, Haber’s CEO, says the Republic of Suriname has made a commitment to develop a strategic…
Professor Shu Kobayashi, University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan; www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp), has discovered that bimetallic nanoclusters can catalyze the oxidation of alcohols. Kobayashi’s group has demonstrated the ability to control the reaction pathways of alcohol oxidation to aldehydes, carboxylic acids or esters…
Aerzen Maschinenfabrik GmbH (Aerzen, Germany; www.aerzen.com) has commercialized the first rotary lobe compressor, the Delta Hybrid, which combines the technologies of both a rotary lobe blower and a screw compressor. This union reduces the energy consumption by up to 15%…
A microreactor system for producing hydrogen peroxide from H2 and O2 has been developed by Sohei Matsumoto and Tomoya Inoue at the Research Center for Ubiquitous MEMS and Micro Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; Tsukuba,…