In The News
Siemens to supply wastewater-treatment systems to refinery in China
Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany; www.siemens.com) has received an order from Sinopec Jiujiang Petrochemical Co. for the supply of a petroleum-refinery wastewater-treatment system that includes PACT biological treatment, Wet Air Regeneration (WAR) and a Hydro-Clear filter system, and a Zimpro wet…
Foster Wheeler awarded PMC contract for grassroots refinery in Turkey
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction (E&C) Group has been awarded a contract by STAR Rafineri A.Åž., a subsidiary of SOCAR Turkey, for project management consultancy (PMC) services for…
Jacobs acquires FMHC Corporation
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) announced today that it has acquired the assets of FMHC Corp. (FMHC; Chicago, Ill). FMHC is a nationwide provider of turnkey wireless communications site development, design, network deployment, construction, and related services to…
Air Products increases U.S. Midwest liquid CO2 supply
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…
Bacteria and algae team-up to tackle arsenic-contaminated water
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…
Advanced battery electrolytes made with low-cost, high-throughput method
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…
This graphite burner enables on-demand treatment of offgases
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…
Bacteria make lactic acid from palm waste
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…
A two-step process that makes phenols from lignin
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 efficient cycle for utilizing waste heat
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…