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BioAmber opens world’s largest succinic acid plant; and more business news

Plant Watch Chambroad commissions China’s first C3/C4 coproduction plant August 12, 2015 — UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) announced that Shandong Chambroad Holding Co. has become the first company in China to commission a combined propylene and isobutylene (C3/C4)…

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This wastewater-treatment process also captures carbon dioxide

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, Colo.; www.colorado.edu) have developed a technology that combines wastewater treatment and carbon capture, resulting in a carbon-negative process that actually produces energy. The technology — called microbial electrolytic carbon capture (MECC) —…

Concrete: Modern Engineering for an Ancient Material

Novel additives, improved understanding of cement chemistry and thoughtful mix design are making modern concrete increasingly sustainable, durable and versatile Concrete’s origins can be traced back to the ancient world. For example, many believe that missionaries in North America learned…

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Improve Efficiency with Better Evaporation and Drying Equipment

For every application, there’s an evaporator or dryer that can boost performance  In today’s economy, chemical processors must deliver high product quality and uniformity while maintaining high yield and low production costs in order to be successful. For this reason,…

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Chementator Briefs

First FDI adopter With its Field Information Manager software, ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) has become the first host company to adopt new field-device integration (FDI) technology. The FDI platform offered by the FieldComm Group (Austin, Tex., www.fieldcommgroup.com) brings together for…

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Iron nanocatalysts boost ammonia production

Nanoscale iron catalysts, designed for industrial chemical applications, have been validated in commercial ammonia-production reactors in China. According to manufacturer QuantumSphere, Inc. (QSI; Santa Ana, Calif.; www.qsinano.com), incorporation of the nanocatalysts resulted in a 10–15% increase in ammonia production rate…

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Water Takes the Stage at Achema 2015

The emphasis on water management at Achema 2015 indicates the critical nature of water to all industry sectors as the CPI expand and evolve In June, chemical engineers from around the world convened in Frankfurt am Main, Germany for Achema…

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Total starts up lubricants plant in Singapore; and more business news

Plant Watch Asahi Kasei to construct production facility for cellulose nonwoven fibers July 9, 2015 — Asahi Kasei Fibers Corp. (Osaka, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/fibers) will construct a new production facility for cellulose nonwoven fabric in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan. The new plant’s…

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Making hydrogen from methanol

The research group of professor Ken-ichi Fujita at Kyoto University (Kyoto, www.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp) has developed an efficient catalytic system for the production of hydrogen from an aqueous methanol solution. The process uses a new, anionic iridium complex bearing a functional bipyridonate…

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Commercial debut slated for redox flow batteries

A new concept for large-scale redox-flow batteries (RFB) for energy-storage applications has been developed by ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com). The system is based on the oxidation and reduction of vanadium ions (diagram, top) for either storing electrical…