In The News
This new pump system improves efficiency for desalination operations
A new hydraulically driven, positive-displacement-pump system can lower the energy requirements for pumping water by 10% in large seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants, where electricity typically represents the largest cost. Recently launched by GE Water & Power (www.ge-energy.com) at…
A move toward bio-based malic acid, acrylic acid and butadiene
A move toward bio-based malic acid... Novozymes A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) has developed a strain of metabolically engineered Aspergillus oryzae fungus that is capable of producing the four-carbon, dicarboxylic acid compound malic acid. The chemical building block malic acid is…
A high-temperature F-T process demonstrated in China
Synfuels China Technology Co. (Beijing; www.synfuelschina.com.cn) says it has developed a high-temperature slurry Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process (flowsheet) that produces mainly clean diesel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products, with unique features including: high productivity of proprietary catalyst; efficient recovery…
Air Products to build world’s largest energy-from-waste facility in the U.K. and more business news
Plant Watch Air Products to build world’s largest energy-from-waste facility in the U.K. August 7, 2012 — Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) plans to build and operate a renewable energy plant in the U.K. using advanced-gasification energy-from-waste (EfW) technology.…
This osmium-based catalyst is rendered nontoxic by polymer incarceration
Professor Shu Kobayashi and his research group at The School of Science, University of Tokyo (Japan; www.chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/synorg/index_E.html) have developed an osmium-based catalyst for performing asymmetric syntheses of drug precursors. While showing the same catalytic performance of its predecessor — a…
A commercial move toward algae farming for CO2 recovery
Advanced Algal Technologies (Sydney, Australia; www.advancedalgal.com) has signed a $100-million deal with Fuzhou Xiangli Enterprise Management Consulting (Fuzhou, China) — an LED-lighting manufacturer — for a license to build 500 algal-farming-conveyor modular units per year. These units will be used…
This silicone coating keeps electrical insulators safe
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) has commercialized a solvent-free coating for electrical insulators. Powersil 570 Plus is said to be the world’s first insulator coating based on a patented silicone-in-water emulsion technology. Its viscosity displays a strong dependence on…
Sterile ice fog improves control of freeze-drying
Linde Gases (Murray Hill, N.J.; www.linde-gases.com) has developed a novel cryogenic technology that promotes uniformity in the formation of ice crystals during freeze-drying (lyophilization) processes for proteins, vaccines and other injectable pharmaceutical products. Lyophilization involves freezing a solution of the…
Linde to build Vietnam’s largest ASU
The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) has been awarded a long-term contract to supply Vietnamese steel-company POSCO SS-Vina (PSSV) with industrial gases. PSSV and local Group member Linde Gas Vietnam (LGV) recently signed an agreement to this effect. The deal…
JGC awarded contract for EPC services of Japan’s first oxygen-blown coal IGCC plant
JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) has been awarded a contract by Osaki CoolGen Corp. for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services of the core facilities for an integrated coal-gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) demonstration plant. The lump-sum turnkey contract, which was awarded…