Chementator
Commercial debut for a batch reverse-osmosis system
Earlier this year, Salinity Solutions Ltd. (Coventry, U.K.; www.salinitysolutions.co.uk) signed an agreement with Te-Tech Process Solutions (Totton, Southampton, U.K.; www.te-tech.co.uk) to manufacture commercial water-purification systems based on batch reverse-osmosis (RO). This technology, originally characterized and developed at the University of…
CO2-conversion catalyst for making ‘e-fuels’
Infinium (Sacramento, Calif.; www.infiniumco.com) recently announced that it has manufactured ton-level quantities of a proprietary catalyst that is integral in the company’s process for making liquid fuels from waste CO2 and hydrogen derived from renewable power. Infinium plans to manufacture…
World’s largest double, re-slurry crystallization unit starts up in China
Last month, the world’s largest double re-slurry para-xylene crystallization unit was started as part of Shenghong Refining and Chemicals Co. Ltd.’s integrated refining/chemicals project in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China. Double re-slurry crystallization takes advantage of freezing-point differences among the three…
Recovering proteins — and more — from rapeseed
Last month, a pilot plant officially opened at the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (CBP; Leuna, Germany; www.cbp.fraunhofer.de). The plant aims to further develop a process that recovers multiple products from rapeseed, including high-grade, pre-raffinate-quality rapeseed oil, a high-grade, protein-rich…
Use existing refinery infrastructure for hydrogen storage and transport
Hydrogen is a clear piece of the decarbonization puzzle for many industrial sectors, including petroleum refining, but a major challenge lies in the storage and long-distance transport of hydrogen in its gaseous form. One proposed solution is the use of…
Onsite bioelectrochemical treatment for ultra-concentrated wastewater
The combination of electrochemical principles and microbial activity is the backbone of a treatment technology designed specifically for ultra-concentrated and challenging industrial wastewater. The Bioelectrochemical Treatment Technology (BETT) developed by Aquacycl (Escondido, Calif.; www.aquacycl.com) involves “microbial fuel-cells” that produce direct…
Chementator Briefs
Using Waste Heat To convert large amounts of waste heat into electricity as efficiently as possible, turbines with a high degree of efficiency are required that work with a special conversion process — the organic Rankine cycle (ORC). In a…
A hydrogen-fired furnace for ceramics
This month, a demonstration experiment will begin on a new firing furnace for ceramics that is being developed by NGK Insulators, Ltd. (NGK; www.ngk.co.jp). The furnace is fired with hydrogen instead of fossil fuels, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. H2-fired combustion…
Spinning reactor recovers metals from spent Li-ion batteries
Recycling lithium batteries (LIBs) requires extensive use of hydrometallurgy, which requires multiple steps of extraction-stripping processes, each requiring separate reactors and different parameters. Although there have been attempts to devise a single-step, one-pot solution by partitioning the reactor using membranes,…
Pilot trials for a carbon-capture process that combines VPSA and MOFs
This summer, pilot trials will begin at a Buzzi Unicem S.p.A. (Casale Monferrato, Italy; www.buzziunicem.com) cement plant in Monselice, Italy, which will perform field tests of a new carbon-capture process developed by Nuada, the new tradename of MOF Technologies Ltd.…