UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-542) has partnered with the University of Southern California’s (USC) Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute (Los Angeles; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-543) to develop and commercialize new technology to transform carbon dioxide into clean-burning alternative fuels. USC developed fundamental chemistry…
Animal and vegetable oils and fats are a key renewable feedstock for making detergents, soaps, lubricants, paints, coatings, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, as well as additives for plastics, rubber and textiles. However, a consequence of the current EU renewable-energy policy is…
At Pollutec 2007 (Paris, France; November 27 – 30), Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (Paris, edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-531) introduced the next generation of its Actiflo clarifier process for potable and process water — Actiflo Turbo. Like its predecessor, the patented Actiflo Turbo…
Toyo Engineering Corp. (TEC; Narashino, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-532), Modec Inc. (Tokyo, both Japan) and Velocys Inc., (Plain City, Ohio) have agreed to jointly develop a commercial gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant to be installed on a mobile platform or ship for monetizing small-to-medium…
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-533) is marketing a new process that captures carbon dioxide from flue gas (FG) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The KM-CDR process uses a proprietary amine-based solvent (KS-1) in a packed column to…
Metallic nanoparticles are usually produced by wet chemical methods, often using toxic and flammable substances, or by physical methods such as evaporation and laser ablation. A group from the Laboratory for Sustainable Technology, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, at…
A prototype solar reactor that will break carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen, or split water into hydrogen and oxygen, will be started up this spring by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7368-535). The ultimate goal of…
A method for the purification of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in four sequential steps — oxidative pretreatment, acid treatment, silica dissolution, and froth flotation — has been proposed by a team from the Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok,…
Japan Oil, Gas, & Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC; Kawasaki; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-534) and six private companies have established a research consortium to build a confirmation test-plant for a new Japanese gas-to-liquids (JGTL) process. Construction on the 500-bbl/d facility, located at Niigata, Japan,…
The standard temperature range for waste-rubber pyrolysis has been reported as 480 – 1,740ºF. Within 480 – 750ºF, shredded tire scrap decomposes into increasing amounts of gases and oil; and above 750ºF, oil and solid char yields can decrease relative…