Researchers at Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toshiba.co.jp) have developed an artificial photosynthesis system that uses solar energy to convert CO2 and water into CO with 1.5% efficiency — the highest efficiency achieved to date. The company believes the technology has…
Illumination is required for visual inspection of a process through a sight glass in a vessel or tank. A newly demonstrated light source, developed by L.J. Star Inc. (Twinsburg, Ohio; www.ljstar.com) and marketed as the LumiStar3000, is said to be…
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Umsicht; Sulzbach-Rosenberg; www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de) and RWTH Aachen University (both Germany; www.rwth-aachen.de) have developed a new phase-change material (PCM) trade-named CryoSolPlus. The PCM is a dispersion of solid paraffin beads and…
Gold mines using traditional cyanide-leaching extraction processes will benefit with the launch of a new technology allowing onsite production of sodium cyanide. The technology, developed by Synergen Met Pty Ltd (Brisbane, Australia; www.synergenmet.com), will eliminate a range of hazardous activities…
Researchers from North Carolina State University (Raleigh; www.ncsu.edu) and Qatar University (Doha; www.qu.edu.qa) have developed a new metal alloy that is claimed to have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than any other existing metal material. The low-density, nanocrystalline alloy — Al20Li20Mg10Sc20Ti30…
Last month, Novozymes (Copenhagen, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) launched a new enzyme, dubbed Eversa, which is said to be the first commercially available enzymatic solution to make biodiesel fuels from waste oils. The enzymatic process converts used cooking oil or other lower-grade…
A modular, skid-mounted hydrogen-production plant developed by Linde AG (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) uses a modified version of conventional steam-methane reforming (SMR) to generate hydrogen from inexpensive natural gas, rather than relying on more costly methods of hydrogen production, such as…
Enzymes, nature’s catalysts, have been used in industrial processes for centuries. Now, they are coming into their own in the chemical process industries (CPI). As green chemistry becomes an industry mantra, pressures to reduce product cost, facility carbon footprint and…
For the first time, polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyol, a versatile polymer made from CO2, is available at a commercial scale. Produced by Novomer Inc.’s (Waltham, Mass.; www.novomer.com) polymerization process, PPC polyol has been adopted into a formulation for polyurethane hot-melt…
A cement plant in Taiwan has been retrofitted with the largest CO2-capture plant to use calcium-looping technology to date. The project, run by Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; Hsinchu, Taiwan; www.itri.org), demonstrates ITRI’s high-efficiency calcium-looping technology (Heclot) at a…