In The News
A very efficient heat exchanger for very hot applications
At the end of last year, Mino Ceramics Co. (Nagoya City, Japan; www.mino-ceramic.co.jp) began shipping its first commercial high-temperature heat exchangers, which were developed in a project by Thermal Management Materials and Technology Research Assn. (TherMAT, Tokyo, Japan; www.thermat.jp). Developed…
Using air and hydrostatic pressure to store energy underwater
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…
Oil-free compressed air at a fraction of the cost
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…
Polymer-reaction monitoring
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…
Technology for Environmentally Friendly Paints
Driven by consumer demand and regulatory pressure, paint and coating formulators, along with makers of chemical additives for those markets, have brought to the forefront products with improved environmental and health performance Modern paints and coatings are complex mixtures of…
Sealing Solutions to the Rescue
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…
A ‘greener’ route for making red pigments
Early this year, Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) will start production of bright red iron-oxide pigments at its Ningbo, China production site. The production facility will utilize — for the first time — the Ningbo Process, a highly sustainable production…
Chementator Briefs
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…
Dow and DuPont to combine in massive merger; and more business news
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…
Progress to Limit Climate Change
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;…