Researchers from the University of Wollongong (Australia; www.uow.edu.au), led by professor Gordon Wallace and Caiyun Wang, built a battery with electrodes and a solid electrolyte out of silk. Previous attempts at making such biodegradable, dissolvable batteries used natural, biocompatible materials…
Many ZnO@TiO2 core-shell nanorod arrays (the notation means ZnO is the core inside the TiO2 shell) with good photocatalytic activity have been designed and synthesized. There has been an increasing interest in the design and synthesis of those arrays to…
Plant Watch Dow plans for significant U.S. growth with five-year investment strategy May 11, 2017 — The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced a five-year investment plan that includes expansion of Dow’s new TX-9 ethylene cracker through the addition…
Carbon fibers, an increasingly essential component for lightweight materials, are typically made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in a three-step process consisting of oxidation/stabilization, carbonization and surface treatment/sizing. 4M Industrial Oxidation, LLC (Knoxville, Tenn.; www.4mio.com) intends to commercialize a technology to produce…
An overview of how the chemical process industries are looking to the IIoT to help form new business models in a competitive environment Today, technological advances are being made and implemented at an accelerated pace that is quickly changing the…
Predictive process models enable more efficient operations and higher-value products When they hear the words “process modeling,” some may envision an engineer sitting in front of a laptop waiting for a distillation column flowsheet to converge. While flowsheet simulations are…
New motors and drives provide energy efficiency and reliability in chemical applications Always on the lookout for ways to reduce downtime and energy costs, chemical processors are turning to advanced motors and drives to help achieve these goals. Sometimes as…
Construction has been completed on a 1,000-ton/yr facility to produce surfactants — mainly sucrose esters for use as additives in dairy products and beverages. The plant will be operated by TMT Co. — a joint venture (JV) established by Microwave…
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) running on hydrogen are an attractive proposition, particularly as a power source for motor vehicles. In situ release of the required H2 from a stable liquid ensures its safe storage and transportation before use.…
Plant Watch LyondellBasell announces HDPE technology license in Dalian April 12, 2017 — LyondellBasell’s (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) Hostalen ACP process technology was selected by Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Chemical Co. for a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit to be built in…