Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has signed a long-term agreement for the production of liquid CO2 with Big River Resources Boyceville, LLC (Boyceville, Wisc.). Air Products will operate a facility to produce 250 ton/d of liquid CO2 at Big…
Australian researchers have developed a method of cleaning arsenic out of contaminated water by combining the effects of bacteria and microalgae. Professor Megh Mallavarapu and his team, from the Cooperative Research Center for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment…
A high-throughput method for synthesizing ionic-liquid-containing electrolytes developed by Boulder Ionics Corp. (Arvada, Colo.; www.boulderionics.com) has been refined to enable its use in commercial production. Boulder Ionics had previously piloted the continuous process for producing advanced ionic-liquid (IL) electrolytes at…
Propylene — one of the most important petrochemical feedstocks — has traditionally been supplied, together with ethylene, primarily from naphtha crackers. The recent exploitation of shale gas in North America is causing a shift to ethane cracking as a source…
Offgases containing compounds of chlorine or fluorine are typically burned to enable the recovery of HCl or HF and prevent release into the environment. However, conventional combustion chambers require a long time to heat up, and thus are typically run…
Plant Watch Praxair starts up carbon-dioxide purification plant at Honeywell site December 10, 2013 — Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has started up its new carbon-dioxide (CO2) purification facility at the Honeywell Resins & Chemicals site in Hopewell, Va. Under…
Extraction of palm oil generates large amounts of lignocellulose-rich byproduct known as empty fruit bunch (EFB), which is usually wasted. A new process for utilizing this waste to make lactic acid has been developed by a team of researchers in…
Professor Takao Masuda and colleagues at Hokkaido University (Sapporo; www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/labo/cse), in collaboration with Idemitsu Kosan Co. (Idemitsu; Tokyo; both Japan; www.idemitsu.com), have developed a two-step process that converts wood-based lignin into phenols. They believe the achievement could lead to an…
An Australian team has implemented several changes to the conventional organic rankine cycle, resulting in a highly efficient regenerative thermodynamic cycle for producing electricity from waste heat and other thermal sources. The University of Newcastle’s Priority Research Center for Energy…
A metal-free catalyst system involving ionic liquids and doped carbon nanofibers can efficiently reduce carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, offering a cost-effective electrochemical route from CO2 to synthesis gas (syngas), and further, to liquid transportation fuels. A research group at…