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Chevron Phillips Chemical selects site for new PE facilities, and more business news

Plant Watch Outotec’s EOS process is selected for sinter project in India May 14, 2012 — Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been selected by Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. (BPSL) to design and deliver technology for a new iron-ore…

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A less-expensive process to recover CO2 from PSA offgas

At Achema 2012 (June 18–22; Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Union Engineering A/S (Fredericia, Denmark; www.union.dk) will be presenting its patented FlashCO2 process — both at the exhibition (Hall 9.1, Stand E29) and in a congress lecture (Monday, June 18th at…

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‘Visible’ photocatalyst

The research groups of Masahiro Miyauchi at Tokyo Institute of Technology (www.eim.ceram.titech.ac.jp) and Kazuhiko Hashimoto at the University of Tokyo (www.light.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp) have developed a photocatalyst that is highly active for the destruction of volatile organic compoiunds (VOCs) using visible radiation.…

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Manufacturing bee silk with bacteria

A partnership between Australian research agency CSIRO (Melbourne, Australia; www.csiro.au) and Lonza Group Ltd. (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com), aims to market new insect silk products globally. Potential applications of insect silk include composite fibers for the aviation and marine industries, and…

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A non-crop-based sugar feedstock for bio-based chemicals and biofuels

Proterro Inc. (Princeton, N.J.; www. proterro.com) has demonstrated technology for directly producing sucrose as a feedstock for bio-based chemicals and biofuels that avoids the need for cellulosic biomass and energy crops. Using a genetically engineered strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria and…

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Detecting VOCs with a quantum-tunneling composite

A sensor that detects volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at levels of 10–100 parts per million (ppm) is being developed by Peratech Ltd. (Richmond, U.K.; www.peratech.com), with collaboration from the University of Durham (U.K.; www.dur.ac.uk). The so-called Electronic Nose is based…

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The first synthesis and isolation of a ‘heavy ketone’

For the first time, researchers from Riken (Saitama, Japan; www.riken.go.jp) have synthesized stable crystals (photo) of a so-called heavy ketone — a compound in which the carbon of the C=O bond is replaced by Si, Ge, Sn or Pb. These…

Chlorine dioxide single-stage NOx scrubbing technology lowers costs

A new process for removing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from industrial foul-air and cool combustion exhaust uses ClO2 in a unique way to remove over 99% of both NO and NO2 with a single scrubbing stage. The reaction vessel is…

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Distillation: Avoid Problems During Tower Startup

A variety of performance problems can arise in distillation towers during startup. Many are caused by equipment, hardware or process conditions. Hardware issues may be related to instrumentation, tower internals or ancillaries. Instrumentation malfunctions are also common during startup and…

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Chemical Engineering Education Evolution

A host of conditions, including globalization of industry, expanding access to information and a shifting workforce profile present challenges for university chemical engineering departments as they prepare aspiring engineers for work. To address the challenges, the educational system for chemical…