A desalination system developed by Watervap LLC (Marble Hill, Ga.; www.h2ovap.com) separates saltwater of any concentration into highly purified water and dry solid minerals with high efficiency. The company’s Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) process represents a low-cost alternative to brine…
Tokyo Chemical Industry Co. (TCI; Tokyo; www.tokyokasei.co.jp) is planning full-scale production of a new palladium-complex catalyst, trade-named SingaCycle-E1, for performing Heck-Mizoroki carbon-carbon coupling reactions and the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction — both reactions of importance for producing pharmaceuticals. TCI says SingaCycle-E1…
The Gas Technology Institute (GTI, Des Plaines, Ill.; www.gastechnology.org) has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with CRI/Criterion Inc. (Houston; www.cricatalyst.com) to commercialize a GTI process for converting biomass directly into cellulosic gasoline and diesel fuel blendstocks. The technology, called…
Energy Fuels Inc. (Lakewood, Colo.; www.energyfuels.com) has been granted a radioactive materials license by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for the first uranium mill to be built in the U.S. in 30 years. Energy Fuels says the…
CO2 for plastic Last month, a pilot plant that produces an intermediate for polyurethane, using carbon dioxide as feedstock, started up at Chempark Leverkusen, Germany. The plant — designed, built and operated by Bayer Technology Services GmbH (Leverkusen; www.bayertechnology.com)…
A novel process for removing hydrogen sulfide from natural gas has been started up at Sinopec Zhongyuan Petroleum Co.’s Puguang natural gas plant in China’s Sichuan Province. The plant, Asia’s largest sour natural-gas treatment facility, can process up to 36-million…
A pilot plant for a process that uses a fluidized bed of sand to gasify coal and other carbonaceous materials will be started up this summer in Kanab, Utah by Viresco Energy LLC (Riverside, Calif.; www.virescoenergy.com). Initially, the plant will…
A manufacturing facility for bio-based intermediate and specialty chemicals under construction by Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. (Bolingbrook, Ill.; www.elevance.com) is on track to begin generating products late this year, according to the company. Located in Indonesia, the facility is currently…
A pulsed-electric-field (PEF) pre-treatment technology to facilitate extraction of oils from algae cells was introduced recently by Diversified Technologies Inc. (Bedford, Mass.; www.divtecs.com). Algae have drawn considerable interest as a renewable source of biofuels, but the costs of algae-derived fuels…
Nippon Ketjen Co. (Tokyo; www.nippon-ketjen.co.jp) has developed two new catalysts with enhanced properties for petroleum residue hydrotreating. KFR 15 removes metallic impurities, and KFR 93 removes sulfur from residues and contributes to the efficiency of residue hydrotreating units. For the…