In The News
Making complex silicone parts by 3-D printing
The field of additive manufacturing (AM) — often referred to as 3-D printing — has seen explosive growth in recent years (Chem. Eng., February 2015, pp. 20–23; www.chemengonline.com/3-d-printing-accelerates-creating-cpi-opportunities). In AM, no tools or molds are required to shape the desired…
Extremophilic algae selectively recovers precious metals from solution
The research group of Ayumi Minoda at the University of Tsukuba (Japan, plmet.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp) has discovered that the cellular surface layer of the sulfothermophilic red algae, Galdieria sulphuraria, can efficiently adsorb gold and palladium ions, even in highly acidic conditions. G.…
Microbes make a meal of PET
Research groups at Keio University (Hiyoshi; www.bio.keio.ac.jp/labs/kmiyamoto) and Kyoto Institute of Technology, in collaboration with Teijin Ltd. and Adeka Corp., have discovered a bacterium that can degrade and assimilate poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and have clarified the decomposition mechanism. This is…
Chementator Briefs
Fe-free HTS catalyst Last month at the Nitrogen + Syngas 2016 conference (Berlin, Germany; February 29–March 3), Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) introduced SK-501 Flex, a new high-temperature shift (HTS) catalyst with the unique ability to operate at any…
Business News
Plant Watch NET Power breaks ground on clean-power demonstration plant March 10, 2016 — NET Power, LLC (Durham, N.C.; www.netpower.com) has broken ground on a first-of-a-kind 50-MW demonstration power plant in La Porte, Tex. NET Power’s zero-emission Allam Cycle technology burns natural…
Bio-based heat-transfer fluid for solar-thermal applications
A recently introduced heat-transfer fluid is made from corn sugar, rather than from petroleum. Known as So-Blu, the fluid was developed through a joint effort of Dupont Tate & Lyle BioProducts (Loudon, Tenn.; www.duponttateandlyle.com) and SolarUS Inc. (Branford, Conn.; www.solarus.com),…
A technique for making superhydrophobic metals
A scalable technology for allowing the cost-effective manufacture of superhydrophobic metallic coatings has been demonstrated in the laboratory. The method could have applications for heat exchangers, condensers, high-temperature and high-conductivity applications and other types of equipment. The startup company Maxterial…
Engineering bacteria to tolerate higher temperatures
Vigorous microbial growth in bioreactors raises cell density, which is a source of heat stress and can hinder production efficiency. To address the issue, scientists have tried introducing genes for heat-shock proteins (HSPs) into workhorse industrial bacteria like Escherichia coli,…
A new process to make olefins from syngas
Light olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, are primarily made by the catalytic cracking of crude oil. Alternatively, two other methods were developed during the time of high oil prices, both of which convert synthesis gas (syngas) to olefins: the…
First commercial-scale gas fermenter in U.S. to break ground
The first commercial-scale, natural-gas-fermentation facility in the U.S. will break ground by the end of 2016, according to Alan Shaw, CEO of Calysta Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.calysta.com). In a collaboration with agricultural giant Cargill Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.; www.cargill.com), Calysta…