This summer, GFBiochemicals Green Future S.r.l. (Milan, Italy; www.gfbiochemicals.com) will start commercial-scale production of bio-based levulinic acid using its proprietary, continuous-production process. The company says it will produce 2,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) at its plant in Caserta, Italy…
Calibration-free, modular and automated gas analyzers offer benefits to the chemical process industries While there are countless types of gas analysis instruments available, users of every type are asking for technologies that require less of their time. Processors are demanding…
Photosynthesis is one of the best ways to convert carbon dioxide into renewable energy and at the same time, reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. In plants, there are two main steps in photosynthesis: First, water is split…
The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO, Kawasaki; www.nedo.go.jp) and partners IHI Corp. (Tokyo; www.ihi.co.jp), Kobe University (www.kobe-u.ac.jp) and Neo-Morgan Laboratory Inc. (NML; Kawasaki, all Japan; www.neo-morgan.com) have completed construction on an outdoor test site with 1,500-m2 of…
Plant Watch Prayon to build food-grade sodium hexametaphosphate plant in Georgia February 11, 2015 — Prayon S.A. (Engis, Belgium; www.prayon.com) plans to build a manufacturing plant for food-grade sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) in Augusta, Ga. Projected capacity of the new SHMP…
Perfluorinated compounds — firefighting foams — such as perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOS) have been used as fire suppressants, but some of them, such as perfluoroalkyl acids have been associated with serious environmental contamination. Also, several new fluorinated surfactants have been developed…
New sensor, sealing and vapor-recovery technologies aim to reduce methane emissions On January 14, the Obama Administration announced a new goal to cut methane emissions from the oil-and-gas (O&G) sector by 40–45% from 2012 levels by 2025. The announcement builds…
Takahiro Yamashita and colleagues at the Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO, Tsukuba, Japan; www.naro.affrc.go.jp) have developed an aerobic bioreactor that can reduce nitrous oxide emissions by nearly 90% in the treatment of…
Integration between instruments and systems allows manufacturers to align process parameters with business performance As technological advances in instrumentation and control continue to progress, processors are beginning to realize that not only can their process control system keep a watchful…
Composite coating A new composite material that prevents metal corrosion, even under extreme conditions, has been developed by researchers from the INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials GmbH (Germany; www.inm-gmbh.de). The patented composite consists of layers of particles placed…