In a move to further optimize its value-adding chains and boost product availability, Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) has successfully increased its manufacturing capabilities for synthesis gas (syngas) at its Bay City, Texas plant by 10%. Syngas is the main…
Aveva (Cambridge, U.K.; www.aveva.com) today announced the acquisition of Z+F UK Ltd. (Manchester, U.K.; www.zf-uk.com). The strategic acquisition includes only the division of Z+F that produces the LFM software suite. This follows a long and successful partnership with Z+F UK…
A rapid pressure-swing-adsorption (rPSA) system to separate carbon dioxide from fluegas is being developed by W.R. Grace & Co. (Columbus, Md.; www.grace.com) and three partners under a $3 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE; Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov).…
A huge market for lithium ion batteries is expected to develop as car makers move toward electric vehicles. However, improvements in the batteries’ energy and power density are needed. It is also desirable to replace the common, high-cost lithium cobalt…
Renewable jet fuel Houston-based bioenergy company Terrabon Inc. (www.terrabon.com) has been awarded a $9.6-million, 18-month contract from Logos Technologies (Arlington, Va.; www.logos-technologies) to produce 6,000 L of renewable jet fuel for the Defense Advanced Research Products Agency (DARPA; Arlington,…
An underground coal-to-liquids (UCTL) technology is undergoing pilot testing at Oak Park, near Melbourne Australia, where a metric ton of brown coal is expected to yield about one barrel of oil suitable for use as refinery feedstock on an oil-parity…
At the 2nd Annual ChemInnovations Conference and Expo (Houston; September 13–15), Hemi-O Technologies LLC (Corpus Christi, Tex.; [email protected]) introduced its patent-pending technology that enables external access to individual tubes in a heat exchanger while the exchanger is in service and…
A technique that improves the efficiency of ethanol plants by lowering the cost of dewatering the byproduct stillage (a slurry of corn solids and water) from the fermentation process has been developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s…
Professor Yuki Taniguchi at the Chemicals Research Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan, www.res.titech.ac.jp/~gosei/taniguchi/index.html) has developed a new catalyst system that decomposes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at lower temperatures than that required by conventional catalysts. The SILP (supported ionic liquid…
Plant Watch Ineos Technologies licenses its technology for a PP plant in China September 1, 2011 — Ineos Technologies (www.ineos.com) has licensed its Innovene PP (polypropylene) Process for the manufacture of homopolymers, random copolymers and impact copolymers to the Shaanxi…