In The News
JGC awarded EPC contract for refinery upgrade in Singapore
JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) has been awarded a contract by Singapore Refining Co. Ltd. (SRC) — jointly owned by Singapore Petroleum Co. and Chevron — to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work for the construction of…
Engineered wetlands technology now available for wastewater treatment
Water treatment technology from Alcoa Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.alcoa.com) that includes engineered areas of natural wetland vegetation is now available commercially for the first time. The engineered wetlands technology can lower capital and operating expenses, as well as energy consumption,…
Honeywell to expand refrigerant production in Louisiana, and more business news
Plant Watch Arkema to double production capacity for organic peroxides in China January 9, 2014 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has announced the construction of a new organic peroxide plant on its Changshu site in China. This investment will double…
A self-cleaning electrolytic cell that converts waste streams into disinfectants
Dealing with wastewater streams in petroleum refineries and petrochemical operations is often a trying task — environmentally, economically and logistically — especially as regulations on salinity in waste streams are tightened. However, many waste streams actually contain useful components, such…
Selectively recover CO with this soft nano-porous material
Professor Susumu Kitagawa’s group at Kyoto University (Kyoto, www.sbchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kitagawa-lab/index-e.html) has developed a new soft nanoporous material that selectively adsorbs carbon monoxide from gas mixtures. The researchers believe their achievement will enable the separation and recycling of CO from the emissions…
Making liquid fuels from waste plastics
Gasoline-like fuel suitable for internal combustion engines can be obtained from the pyrolysis of plastic waste, according to a study conducted by a team of people from Gadjah Mada University (Yogyakarta, Indonesia; www.ugm.ac.id), University Sains Malaysia (Penang, Malaysia; www.usm.my), and…
Continuous crude-oil production from algae
Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) have developed a continuous process for generating crude oil from algae that they believe can lower the cost of producing algae-based fuel. The process works by combining hydrothermal liquefaction and…
A new low-temperature shift catalyst passes longterm testing
A new water-gas shift catalyst has undergone 1,000 h of successful operation in a demonstration carried out by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO, Kawasaki; www.nedo.go.jp) and Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.hitachi.com). The tests were performed…
Rare-earth magnets enhance filtration of engine lubricants
FilterMag International (Scottsdale, Ariz.; www.filtermag.com) has developed neodymium magnetic devices that can boost the performance of lubricant filters for mining vehicles and industrial machinery. When the device is in place, filters retain 50–75% of contaminant particles that would otherwise be…
A sorption-enhanced catalyst improves CO2 methanation
Converting CO2 into methane is a way to mimic the natural carbon cycle and close the energy cycle by producing synthetic hydrocarbons (see, for example, CO2 Utilization, Chem. Eng., July 2013, pp. 16–19). However, the Sabatier reaction (CO2 + 4H2…