In The News
Moving to Modular
If the word “modular” brings to mind a trailer office parked on site, it’s time to revisit modular systems. Today’s modular system go well beyond office space and tool sheds, and can contain almost anything from a skid-mounted filtration system…
Tunable Enzymes and the Leaner, Greener CPI
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…
Recently Published Books January 2015
Voids in Materials: From Unavoidable Defects to Designed Cellular Materials. By Gary M. Gladysz and Krishan K. Chawla. Elsevier Inc., 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02144. Web: elsevier.com. 2014. 214 pages. $175.00. How Safe is Safe Enough? Technological Risks, Real…
Who’s Who
Greene’s Energy Group LLC (Houston), a provider of testing services, equipment rentals and specialty services for the oil-and-gas industry, names Robert Fraser regional business-development manager, based in Dubai. Philippe Sauquet becomes president of refining and chemicals, and a member of…
Bayer MaterialScience inaugurates TDI plant in Dormagen; and more latest news
PLANT WATCH Bayer MaterialScience inaugurates TDI plant in Dormagen December 9, 2014 — At its site in Dormagen, Germany, Bayer MaterialScience AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.materialscience.bayer.de) has started up a new production plant for toluene diisocyanate (TDI). Valued at around €250…
Solar-electric hybrid furnace could enable improved magnesium processing
A new high-temperature reactor that can draw power from conventional electricity as well as from a solar-thermal heating system could enable a cleaner, lower-energy route to lightweight magnesium alloys. The custom-made reactor was built by thermal processing equipment company Harper…
Generating power from kerosene and ammonia
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; Tsukuba City, Japan; www.aist.go.jp), in collaboration with Tohoku University (www.tohoku.ac.jp), succeeded in demonstrating what is said to be the world’s first ammonia-fired power. The achievement was carried out in a…
This ‘superomniphobic’ texture repels all liquids
Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA; www.ucla.edu) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have created what is claimed to be the first surface texture that can repel all liquids, no matter what material the…
Direct fermentation to produce propylene
Global Bioenergies (Evry, France; www.global-bioenergies.com) says that last month it developed a proprietary strain of microorganism that directly produces propylene by the fermentation of glucose. The company claims this is the first time propylene has been produced entirely by a…
Biodegradable drilling lubricant garners positive field results
An encapsulated, biodegradable drilling-fluid additive designed to reduce friction on drill bits and piping inside oil wells has been demonstrated successfully in more than 30 wells across North America following its launch in mid-2014. The lubricant product, known as Encapso,…