New materials and designs help processors improve efficiency and reliability As in other areas of chemical manufacturing, processors want more efficiency from their distillation and mass-transfer operations. Increasing capacity, finding solutions to issues such as foaming and fouling that slow…
The amino acid L-arginine plays a crucial role in our neurological and cardiovascular systems. It is sometimes consumed as a dietary supplement and its efficient industrial-level production is essential for its commercialization. L-arginine is a product of microbial fermentation and…
Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toshiba.co.jp) has started up a highly efficient electrolyzer for the generating hydrogen. The system is based on ceramic, solid-oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs), and is said to consume less power than alternative technologies, such as alkaline electrolysis…
A new technology demonstrated by Shell Sulphur Solutions (London; www.shell.com/sulphur) aims to incorporate micronized elemental sulfur (which provides nutrients to fertilized plants) into urea. The technology, UreaPluS, employs a patented emulsification technique that evenly distributes sulfur throughout the urea matrix,…
Electrically conductive plastics have been available for several years, but the use of carbon black as the conductive agent in the plastic resins limits their use to low-conductivity applications. Now, newly commercialized plastic pellets impregnated with metal-coated carbon nanofibers allow…
The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO, Kawasaki, Japan; www.nedo.go.jp) and the Japan Research Association of Artificial Photosynthetic Chemical Process (ARPChem) achieved a world-leading solar-energy conversion efficiency of 2% in the photocatalytic splitting of water to make H2…
A new process for partially devulcanizing and functionalizing micronized rubber powders (MRP) may allow the use of higher levels of the material than originally allowed in vehicle tires and other applications. Currently, MRP from end-of-life rubber is being used in…
A safe, low-cost technology for supplying H2 to fuel-cell powered vehicles is being developed by researchers at Nisshin Kasei Co. (Osaka, Japan; www.nisshinkasei.co.jp). Unlike alternative methods that store H2 by adsorption on solid materials at high pressure, Nisshin is utilizing…
Plans are underway to build a pilot plant for a fast-pyrolysis process that will convert 10 ton/d of biomass into bio-oil and bio-char. The bio-oil can be used as renewable fuel oil or catalytically upgraded to transportation fuels, while the…
At Achema 2015 (June 15–19; Frankfurt, Germany), KSB AG (Frankenthal, Germany; www.ksb.com) will launch a new smartphone application (app) that enables non-specialists to quickly determine the power consumption of a pump during operation. Within seconds, the user can know if…