In The News
3-D Printing for Finished Products
Moving 3-D printing beyond prototyping toward production of finished parts has driven innovation and spurred investment, but has also forced the industry to address a host of challenges Industrial use of 3-D printing (3DP; also known industrially as additive manufacturing;…
Smart Flow Monitoring for Better Process Control
Tighter control, increased safety and versatility result from improved flow-measurement technology Flow monitoring and control are very important in the chemical process industries (CPI) because data gathered by flow-measurement equipment can pinpoint areas where a process can be improved and…
Paint a thermoelectric device onto any shaped surface to recover waste heat
Scientists from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST; Ulsan, South Korea; www.unist.ac.kr), led by Prof Jae Sung Son, have succeeded in producing high-performance, solid-state thermoelectric (TE) materials with liquid-like properties that can be easily brush-painted on surfaces of…
Laminate packaging that is easier to recycle
A collaboration between ExxonMobil Chemical Co. (EMCC; Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobilchemical.com) and Thanh Phu Plastic Packaging Co. (TPPP; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; www.thanhphupack.com) has resulted in the development and commercialization of laminate packaging materials that can be collected and recycled…
This process converts organic food waste to liquid fertilizer
Large supermarkets routinely waste 500 lb of food daily from past-due produce, deli and meat scraps and other sources. A new process developed by California Safe Soil (CSS; McClellan, Calif.; www.calsafesoil.com) converts the nutrient-rich waste food into a liquid fertilizer…
Chementator Briefs
Bio foam control Last month, Novozymes A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) introduced Fermax, an enzyme protease that prevents foam development during the sugarcane ethanol fermentation process, while delivering improved control and replacing chemicals. For an average size plant, trialing partners experienced…
This mine is the first to target scandium
Scandium International Mining Corp. (Sparks, Nev.; www.scandiummining.com) is about to become the first company to achieve production from a primary scandium mine, with its project near the small town of Nyngan, New South Wales, Australia. The production of scandium from…
Business News for December 2016
Plant Watch GTC to provide aromatics extraction technology to JG Summit’s Batangas site November 11, 2016 — GTC Technology US LLC (Houston; www.gtctech.com) has signed an agreement with JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. (Mandaluyong City, the Philippines; jgspetrochem.com) to provide its…
Low-cost carbon-fiber production plant poised to break ground
Demand for carbon fiber (CF), which can be used to make strong, lightweight composite materials for improving vehicle fuel economy and wind-power generation, has been growing. However, widespread use of these advanced composites has been limited by the high production…
CPI Employment Landscape: Snapshot 2016
Insights about complex CPI workforce issues come from a variety of sources, including survey data on corporate attitudes, salary and diversity The chemical process industries (CPI) continue to face an interconnected web of workforce challenges, including the retirement wave of…