As part of the European BioDME project, Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) and Chemrec will design and build a new plant for producing dimethyl ether (DME). Located at the Smurfit Kappa paper mill in Piteå, Sweden, the facility will…
Last month, Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) launched Levotan X-Cel, an polymer mixture based on expandable microcapsules, for retannage in leather processing. With a diameter of 5 – 20 µm, the microcapsules are small enough to penetrate into the collagen…
A method for identifying less-expensive catalysts, compared to commercial, precious-metal-based ones, is starting to deliver results by researchers at the Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design, Dept. of Physics, Technical University of Denmark (CAMD; Lyngby; www.camd.dtu.dk) and their collaborators. The computer-aided…
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL; Berkeley, Calif.; www.lbl.gov) has developed a new xenobiotics bioremediation system that can be used to treat contaminated soil and water. Whereas conventional bioelectrical remediation methods rely on the addition of chemicals to provide electron…
In order to make ethanol from cellulose, the polysaccharide must first be broken down into sugars (saccharrified) that can be fermented. Normally, this hydrolysis reaction is catalyzed by sulfuric acid or enzymes. However, H2SO4 -based hydrolysis generates spent acid, which…
A new activated-sludge-treatment process that promises to slash energy consumption is being developed by Sanki Engineering Co., Ltd., (Tokyo, www.sanki.co.jp), in cooperation with Ebara Corp., (Tokyo) and Touhoku University (Sendai, all Japan), and the support of NEDO (New Energy &…
Since the original invention of the steady-stream eyewash over 50 years ago, the accepted practice in the chemical process industries (CPI) and other industrial circles has been to flush the eyes with two, separate, arc-shaped water streams, each one flowing…
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) will form a joint venture (JV) with Ensyn Corp. (Wilmington, Del.; www.ensyn.com) to offer technology for the production of fuel oil and transportation fuels from second-generation biomass, such as forest and agricultural residues. Ensyn…
Liberty Engineering (Hamburg, N.Y.; www.libertypsa.com) has developed a bioremediation system that fully removes carcinogens from soil in 90 days. The process is based on microbial oxidation of organic compounds by petrophyllic pseudonomads in an oxygen-rich environment. The bacteria are specifically…
Azotobacter are nitrogen-fixing bacteria that do a useful job in soil by converting N 2 to ammonia. As a side reaction they also produce hydrogen, most of which they oxidize for their own energy consumption. In a project of the…