Responses from 2015 CE ethics survey range from hopeful to cynical, and both similarities and differences emerge when compared to earlier surveys In October 2015, Chemical Engineering conducted a survey among chemical process industries (CPI) professionals about workplace ethics and…
Passage of the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act has created a long and challenging road ahead for U.S. EPA rulemaking On June 22, 2016, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (LCSA) was signed into law with…
More intuitive software allows new users to address optimization and complex tasks Modeling and simulation software is finding more use in chemical processing facilities because software vendors are making it easier to use and, therefore, more accessible to a wider…
Toshiba Corp. (www.toshiba.co.jp), Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc. (MHIR; both Tokyo, Japan; www.mizuho-ir.co.jp) and 11 other industrial and academic partners have been selected to carry out a five-year project, “Demonstration of Sustainable CCS Technology Project,” sponsored by Japan’s Ministry…
Last month, Weatherly Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) introduced its new dual-pressure nitric acid (DPNA) technology, which enables economically viable production of HNO3 in large scale [over 1,000 metric tons per day (m.t./d)], as part…
Converting natural gas to liquid hydrocarbons can theoretically be accomplished at high temperatures with the help of zeolite catalysts, but the reaction is hindered by two major factors. The conversion to products is thermodynamically limited, and coke formation on the…
Spent invert drilling fluids, slop oil, rag layers, and tank bottoms often present as very tight emulsions having high brine and solids fractions that render them difficult and economically unfeasible to break and separate by traditional means, says Ron Drake,…
Processing oil sands is a mechanically intense process that involves pumping steam underground to emulsify crude petroleum. The procedure presents what MCW Energy Group (Toronto, Ont.; www.mcwenergygroup.com) CEO and former Exxon executive Jerry Bailey calls an “environmental nightmare.” Among the…
Ionic liquids are being investigated as a way to break down cellulosic plant material in biofuels-production processes. A significant hurdle to their use is the fact that ionic liquids are toxic to the microbes used in biofuel production. Researchers from…
A newly developed process for manufacturing cyclohexasilane (CHS; Si6H12) offers a lower-cost and safer pathway to a material whose molecular architecture allows a wider range of material possibilities than alternative starting materials for several important silicon-based products. CHS can be…