EnviroGold Global Ltd. (Toronto, Ont., Canada; www.envirogoldglobal.com) has filed a patent application for a proprietary electrochemical process designed to achieve advanced metal recoveries from refractory ores with reduced capital expenditures (capex) compared to industry standard solutions. “The residual metals contained…
A hydrometallurgical process for recovering vanadium from slag, a byproduct of steelmaking, has been significantly scaled up. Previously deployed at mini-pilot and bench scales, the process, developed by Neometals Ltd. (West Perth, Australia; www.neometals.com.au), has now been expanded by a…
Bionext and its partners — a consortium of six industrial companies — have successfully completed the test program on BioTfueL demonstration units, setting the stage for commercialization of the thermochemical process that makes low-carbon-footprint sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other…
Automated synthesis One of the most modern infrastructures for automated process control in chemistry is being built by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; www.kit.edu) together with BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com). The facility will initially produce new substances in…
A family of oxidation catalysts known as TAML has been revamped to increase activity by several orders of magnitude, even at very dilute catalyst concentrations. Developed by Sudoc (Cambridge, Mass.; www.sudoc.com), these peroxidase-mimicking catalysts present a more environmentally sustainable option…
Buildup of biofouling on membranal surfaces necessitates treatments with corrosive chemicals, such as hydrochloric acid, and even replacement of membrane cartridges, which can be costly in desalination operations. A new coating, developed in the laboratory of Ran Suckevereine at Kinneret…
Until now, waste tires have been used mainly for recovering energy. Only small proportions of the carbon black contained in these tires are recycled, since the mineral ash generated by pyrolysis consists of about 20 wt.% of additives used to…
A new technology developed by Enertopia Corp. (Kelowna, B.C., Canada; www.enertopia.com) aims to improve the efficiency of solar panels by collecting excess waste heat and using it to heat water. Besides improving energy output, the technology also significantly lengthens the…
According to statistics from the World Bank, thousands of tons of valuable minerals are imported to Germany from Chile every year, including raw materials for lithium-ion batteries. But their extraction causes ecological and social problems. “The use of the limited…
Synhelion S.A. (Lugano, Switzerland; www.synhelion.com) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa; Dübendorf; www.empa.ch) are conducting a joint research project, co-funded by the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse, to further develop a high-temperature energy-storage technology that is…