A group of organizations, lead by the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI; San Antonio, Tex.; www.swri.org) has begun a project to design a power-generation pilot plant featuring a flameless, pressurized oxyfuel combustion technology that allows the capture of 100% of the…
Starch is essential for imparting strength to corrugated cardboard boxes, but millions of tons of starch are lost in cardboard recycling processes annually because conditions are ripe for bacteria to thrive, and the microorganisms degrade starch by converting it to…
A new process for making long glass fiber polypropylene (LGF-PP) concentrates (glass-fiber-containing plastic pellets) allows a higher glass-fiber content than is possible with conventional processes. Plastics maker Trinseo (Berwyn, Pa.; www.trinseo.com) has developed the process, which is capable of making…
Cotton dyes Cotton Inc. (Cary, N.C.; www.cottoninc.com) and Archroma (Reinach, Switzerland) have collaborated to present what they believe is the first ever dye derived from cotton-plant residues. EarthColors is Archroma’s method of creating dyes in warm, ternary shades from natural…
Saida FDS Inc. (Shizuoka, http://saidagroup.jp/fds_en/) has commercialized a flow reactor that uses microwaves to produce fine chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates at high temperatures and pressures. The system has been shown to boost productivity by a factor of 3–6 compared to…
At a pilot plant near Ames, Iowa, a team of researchers from Iowa State University (Ames; www.iastate.edu) and Chevron Corp. (San Ramon, Calif.; www.chevron.com) has validated the production of bio-oil via a new process technology called solvent liquefaction. Developed by…
A new patent-pending solution-mining technique known as SMER (selective mining with enhanced recovery), developed by Innovare Technologies Ltd. (Carlyle, Sask.; www.innovaretechnologies.ca), can increase yields of potash (potassium chloride; KCl) and achieve lower operating and capital costs compared to traditional potash…
In response to water scarcity and declining grades of ore, the mineral processing industry has been investigating ways to improve processes, such as bioleaching to deal with increased impurity concentrations in process streams. Advantages of bioleaching for low-grade ores, such…
Scientists at the U.S. DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; Tenn.; www.ornl.gov) have developed an electrochemical process that directly produces ethanol from CO2. The researchers used a catalyst consisting of copper nanoparticles embedded in carbon spikes, and applied voltage to…
A partnership between materials company NuMat Technologies (Skokie, Ill.; www.numat-tech.com) and The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.the-linde-group.com) is set to bring metal-organic-framework (MOF) materials into the mainstream industrial-gas sector. Touted for their extremely high surface area and adsorption capacity, MOFs…