Splitting water with sunlight is a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to make hydrogen, but the conversion efficiency is presently very low, because current photocatalysts only work using ultraviolet radiation — a small fraction (3–5%) of sunlight. Now, a promising…
Bio-isoprene Yokohama Rubber Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.yokohama.com) has developed what is said to be the world’s first technology capable of efficiently producing isoprene from biomass. The new breakthrough is the result of joint research with Riken (www.riken.jp) and Zeon Corp.…
Plant-based extracts, such as antioxidants, phytochemicals and polyphenols, are used in a number of end-markets, including cosmetics, foods and nutritional supplements. A proprietary, low-polarity, pressurized-water extraction method is set to drastically improve the recovery of useful ingredients from botanical sources.…
Almost all phosphoric acid is produced via the wet-acid process (WAP), which requires relatively pure raw materials and produces large volumes of a potentially hazardous, special waste called phosphogypsum, which is highly regulated in terms of storage and disposal. A…
In a first-of-its-kind endeavor, a hydrogen-fluoride-based alkylation unit producing linear alkyl benzene (LAB) is being converted into a solid-bed alkylation unit that employs UOP’s (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) Detal-Plus alkylation technology for LAB. LAB is used in the production of…
At Achema 2018 (June 11–15; Frankfurt am Main, Germany), EvCon GmbH (Pliening-Landsham, Germany; www.evcon-water.com) showcased its new UPWater treatment system, which employs a patented vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation (VMEMD) technology to obtain ultra-pure water using less energy than comparable water-treatment…
The two main barriers to widespread use of fuel cells have been securing a reliable source of hydrogen that avoids CO2 emissions, and cost — they have traditionally depended on expensive platinum and palladium catalyst materials. GenCell Energy Ltd. (Petach…
Last month, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) launched industrial-scale water electrolysis systems that make large-scale hydrogen production from renewable electricity economically attractive. The advanced water electrolyzer (diagram) features a well-proven cell design paired with an especially large (2.7…
Last month, Nano Sun, a water technology start-up founded by a scientist from Nanyang Technological University (NTU; Singapore; www.ntu.edu.sg) launched a 3-D-printing facility to manufacture a new type of water-treatment membrane. Unlike conventional membrane-manufacturing processes, which use acids to make…
TPA from PET bottles A chemical method previously developed for recovering monomers from polyester blend fabrics and textiles has now been adapted for use with waste plastic bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The BCD Group (Cincinnati, Ohio; www.bcdinternational.com) developed…