Researchers from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; Tsukuba City, Japan; www.aist.go.jp), with support from New Energy and Industry Technology Development Org. (NEDO; Kawasaki City; Japan; www.nedo.go.jp) have developed a technology to efficiently synthesize tetra-alkoxy-silane —…
Algae Systems LLC (Daphne, Ala.; www.algaesystems.com) has inaugurated a demonstration plant that integrates municipal wastewater treatment with the cultivation of biofuel-producing algae. Pretreated and disinfected municipal wastewater is passed to Algae Systems offshore floating-bag photobioreactors (PBRs), which are located in…
A step closer to bio-based acrylic acid Last month, BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com), Cargill (Minneapolis, Minn.; www.cargill.com) and Novozymes (Copenhagen, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) achieved another milestone in the joint development of technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable resources.…
A bioreactor technology for removing organic and inorganic contaminants from industrial wastewater has been commercially launched by developer Honeywell and its subsidiary UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com). The launch is part of a wider initiative by UOP to respond…
A commercial prototype perovskite solar cell that is less expensive than current thin-film solar cells is under development by a team from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore; www.ntu.edu.sg), in collaboration with Dyesol Ltd. (Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia; www.dyesol.com) and professor Michael Grätzel…
Plant Watch Lanxess expands new plant for inorganic pigments in Ningbo September 11, 2014 — Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is adding a mixing and milling plant to the pigment plant already under construction in Ningbo, China. The new pigment…
A philosophical shift in the way universities treat intellectual property (IP) resulting from industry-sponsored research could mean substantial benefits to companies in the chemical process industries (CPI). Specifically, large research universities in the U.S. are adopting, developing or considering policies…
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) says that its joint venture (JV) with AMEC and Balfour Beatty has been selected by Sellafield Ltd. to deliver its Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP) project in West Cumbria, U.K. Sellafield officials noted that…
After having worked together for years across the globe, GEA Process Engineering (Søborg, Denmark; www.gep.com) announces the acquisition of Scan-Vibro A/S from Svendborg in Denmark. The acquisition is a perfect match and the plan is to further grow and develop…
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) is making its Steam Active Reforming (STAR) process available to Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC) for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Texas. The PDH plant is to be built at the petrochemical complex…