In The News
Membrane reactor may reduce wastage of natural gas
A small-scale ceramic membrane reactor to convert natural gas to transportable liquids in a single step is being developed by Ceramatec, Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah; www.ceramatec.com) under a $1.7-million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Advanced Research Project…
Using sunlight to incorporate CO2 into alpha-amino ketones
The research group of Masahiro Murakami at Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan; www.sbchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp/murakami-lab) have synthesized a promising pharmaceutical precursor using only sunlight (as energy source) and CO2 (as co-reagent). The solar-driven process involves two consecutive reactions (diagram): first, light transforms an…
A starch-based cationic polymer for oil recovery
Cationic polymers have been used in the petroleum industry as shale-control agents, demulsifiers, blocking agents, and filtrate reducers for drilling fluids, but process complexity and high cost have limited their application. Now researchers from Zhejiang Normal University (Jinhua; www.zjnu.edu.cn) and…
A step towards artificial photosynthesis
A photocatalyst that reduces CO2 into carbon monoxide is being commercialized by Tokyo Chemical Industry Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.tcichemicals.com/en/jp/index.html). Developed by Osamu Ishitani and his research group at Tokyo Institute of Technology (TiTech; Japan; www.chemistry.titech.ac.jp/~ishitani/index-jp.htm), the catalyst is a step…
Nanoscale particles help produce steam
A research group at Rice University (Houston; www.rice.edu) has developed a method for vaporizing water into steam using sunlight-illuminated nanoparticles, with only a small fraction of the energy heating the fluid. Sub-wavelength metal or carbon particles are intense absorbers of…
This reactor will produce methanol directly from methane
Under an ARPA contract Gas Technology Institute (GTI, Des Plaines, Ill.; www.gastechnology.org) is developing a process to convert natural gas directly into methanol and hydrogen. The process is much simpler and more efficient than the conventional high-temperature and capital-intensive steam-reforming…
KBR’s first VCC-technology processing unit in Russia enters construction phase
In February 2012, KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) signed an agreement with TAIF-NK (www.en.taif.ru) to establish a Veba Combi Cracker (VCC) technology processing unit to be implemented at the Nizhnekamsk petroleum refinery in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia (www.chemengonline.com/only_on_che/latest_news/9005.html). The unit, whose…
BASF to sell Meyco Equipment business to Atlas Copco
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has signed a contract with Atlas Copco to sell its Meyco Equipment business providing concrete spraying machines to the tunneling and mining industries. The machinery manufacturer, which is based in Stockholm, Sweden, will continue operations…
Evonik expands U.S. production of precipitated silica
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) plans to increase its annual production capacities for precipitated silica at its site in Chester, Pa. by around 20,000 metric tons. The new facility, which received an investment in lower double-digit euros range, is…
MHI, Sojitz and RC receive order for acrylic acid plant from Gazprom
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) and Sojitz Corp., jointly with Renaissance Construction (RC), have received an order from JSC Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat (GNS) of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation, for a project to construct a new…