Consisting of a land-based mechanical facility and underwater pipelines and accumulators, the underwater compressed-air energy-storage (UCAES) system from Hydrostor Inc. (Toronto, Ont., Canada; www.hydrostor.ca) takes electricity (potentially excess solar or wind energy) and uses it to run a compressor, which…
Improved seals, gaskets and valve packings stand up to tougher process conditions Chemical processors expect more from their seals, gaskets and valve packings than ever before, as sealing components must meet tighter and stricter regulations regarding emissions, stand up to…
The recently commercialized high-speed turbo (HST) compressors from BOGE Kompressoren Otto Boge GmbH & Co. KG (BOGE; Bielefield, Germany; www.boge.de) produce 100% oil-free (Class 0) compressed air at the highest degree of efficiency and with minimal maintenance effort, according to…
There are many critical parameters that are important to monitor and measure in industrial polymer reactions, including molecular weight, viscosity and residual monomer concentration. Typically, polymer reactions are characterized offline and intermittently in a quality-control laboratory, or via inferential models…
PET recycling Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be quickly depolymerized into virgin monomers using a patented process that was developed, and is being scaled up by Ioniqa Technologies BV (Eindhoven, the Netherlands; www.ioniqa.com). The company recently finalized a multi-million-euro funding round…
Plant Watch Dow to increase capacity for glycidyl methacrylate at Freeport site December 10, 2015 — The Dow Chemical Co. (Dow; Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) plans to complete a debottlenecking project at its Freeport, Tex. facility to increase capacity for…
A new desalination membrane has been developed by an industry-academia collaboration team, led by professor Toshinori Tsuru at Hiroshima University (Japan; http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/membrane/en/index.html). The work is the culmination of a five-year project that began in 2011 with support from the Japan…
A refinery pilot test was successfully completed on the Kvanefjeld rare-earth (RE) project located in the southern tip of Greenland, about 10 km from Narsaq. The project is wholly owned by Greenland Minerals and Energy Ltd. (Perth, Western Australia; www.ggg.gl).…
As world leaders agree on the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, major milestones and new technologies point toward potential solutions Last month, delegates from 195 countries converged on Paris, France for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21;…
Modular construction provides many benefits, but the decision to go modular should be thoroughly investigated Modular construction, which includes projects from small- and large-scale process systems to pilot plants to entire modular facilities, is a growing trend in the chemical…